Flying Books and Aviation Writer Websites

Looking for a great aviation or space read? Why not go directly to the source on an aviation writer's very own web-site:

Enjoy passionate philosopher of flight Richard Bach.
Read about Antoine De Saint-Exupéry (French Language Site).
Lose yourself at Charles Lindbergh.com.
Fly with legendary Walter Boyne.
Learn more about the late 'Fighter Writer' Jeff Ethell.
Fly with triple ace Bud Anderson
Like navy aviation? So does Barrett Tillman!
See what novelist Stephen Coonts is doing.
As well as the busy John Nance.
And what's hot with non-fiction Bob Gandt.
Or Henry Matthews collection of books on experimental test flying.
Then take a look at Barry Schiff's homepage, complete with autographed books.
Ride with former Flying Pros Nest columnist Michael Maya Charles.
Or for lots of fun and a technical education see Rod Machado's site.
Got a question? Chances are it's been answered by Patrick Smith.
Maybe master instructor Greg Brown will inspire and educate.
Also William Ippolito has a very nice book on his long career at Delta airlines.

And to see just what is possible when you commit to excellence in aviation books, see Brian Shul's classic Sled Driver.

Want to own an aviation or space book? If you know what you want, you can go the cheap way and buy second-hand. This may be the only way to obtain old and out-of-print titles. You can browse an aviation only store like Aeroplanebooks.com, Airways Collection and FlyingBooks.co.uk. For space books see Boggs or Astrobooks. Or if you know what you want, you can use search sites that link thousands of stores, FetchBook & Bookfinder.com are two good ones. An amazing resource for finding old, rare, or just out-of-print books is Alibris. If you are starting out, take a look at the article, 'Collecting Books in the Area of Space Exploration.'

Or maybe you would like searching and bidding for old aviation books and collectibles at auction site ebay. There are two other routes to super books — collectables and closeouts. You can pay (upto) hundreds of dollars for special signed copies at AviationAutographs.com or cruise a cheap-o discount place like Bookcloseouts.com. So many books, so little time!

And every month there are magazines, most of which, like Flying, are much cheaper if you subscribe rather than buying them monthly.

There are many many 'must-have' aviation books. But I'll limit myself here to five personal choices:

	Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach Short. Sweet. Required reading!
	A Gift of Wings by Richard Bach Forty-eight amazing magazine articles from the the late 1960's/early 1070's
	Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Intensely autobiographical aeronautical adventures told by a philosopher and poet.
	Fate is the Hunter by Ernest Gann Former American Airlines pilot pens the classic tale of serious flying.
	Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche In print since 1944, this is the way and the how of flying an airplane. If you are learning to fly this is, shall we say, important information!

A couple of aviation books are now available free on-line. Take a look at The Red Fighter Pilot (1917) by Manfred von Richthofen and Fighting The Flying Circus (1919) by Edward V. Rickenbacker.

Other great places for aviation books include:

Aero Vintage Books
Airlife Books
ASA Books
Ashgate Publishing
Balloon Books
B D King Press
Historic Aviation
Icarus Books
Wind Canyon Books

If you know of others, or have links to aviation book buying and collecting please e-mail me and I'll add them to this page. Thanks!

Happy reading!