Reading Material

[bwildcat]

Hey! I am Nav BDCP - Pilot OCS July 2007. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any reading i.e. books that would be good to read on Naval Aviation. I have Bogeys and Bandits and Flight of the Intruder but any others would be appreciated. Thannks!

 

[gtg941f]

Airwarriors is another Bogey and Bandits-style book. I've also purchased the "The Navy" and "U.S. Naval Aviation" by the Naval Historical Foundation. They're the huge hard cover leather bound books that normally go for ~$150. I got each of them for <$10 on Amazon used.

 

[SlickAg]

Read Punk's War and Punk's Wing by Ward Carroll. Good insight (so I hear) into present-day naval aviation life as seen by a JO.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Ironclaw is a pretty good read and Chuck Yeager's autobiography (though not specific to naval aviation, good none the less). Both are available in mass paperback editions.

 

[bch]

None of the below are specific to the navy, but all were great reads that share some extrordinary experiences that you might learn something from.

In the Company of Heros, Mike Durant
American Soldier, Gen Tommy Franks
My American Journey, SEC Coling Powell
Faith of my Father's, Sen John McCain.

 

[Fly Navy]

Fly Boys by James Bradley

The Right Stuff by Wolfe

 

[Road Program]

I'll have to add Punk's Fight to the list. Ok, so he spends some time on the ground, but still a good read if you liked the other two.

Faith of My Fathers is a book I liked, but I've heard you either love it or hate it.

And to throw my own personal bias into the mix, just about anything by or about Thomas Jefferson is a good read.

 

[Slammer2]

Faith of my Father's, Sen John McCain.

Just saw the movie of this the other night. Didnt know that it was made into a movie until I saw it in blockbuster. It was pretty good.

 

[NeoCortex]

I'm a Big fan of Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein. Has nothing to do with the military but it'll keep yah well rounded. Actually anything by Heinlein is great.

 

[Screamtruth]

What are some good one's covering primarily present day combat aviation? I have read the books by Ward, but I was looking for something along the lines of an autobiography or a first hand account of a fighter pilot.

 

[Ryoukai]

Read Boyd. That man was crazy brilliant.

 

[NeoCortex]

Boyd by Coram. Great Bio!!!

 

[corona]

Any Dale Brown books are good aviation books. Mostly an Air Farce point of view though.

 

[nyy]

Fly Boys by James Bradley

I'm reading that right now. It's a good book, but Bradley comes off as a little too sympathetic to the Japanese in my opinion.

 

[Fly Navy]

I'm reading that right now. It's a good book, but Bradley comes off as a little too sympathetic to the Japanese in my opinion.

I don't find him sympathetic at all, just realistic. Keep reading.

The Japanese were terrible and atrocious, but we weren't innocent either. We were just on the side of good.