Pilot Gear

May 2008 Flight Attendants by Alix Browne and Brian Finke (powerHouse, 2008, ISBN: 9781576874271). Flying the friendly skies, Brian Finke began photographing flight attendants as he crisscrossed the country on the airlines. In London, he visited a flight attendant school, complete with emergency rafts and billowing smoke. For the grand finale of his two-year trip, […]

April 2008 Introduction to Flying DVD (Sporty’s, 2008, ID# D386). This new DVD takes the mystery out of flying for the nonpilot by exploring how flying works for both visual and instrument flight. Designed for passengers and not the pilot, the program uses lay terms to explain aviation concepts. Passengers will learn more about what […]

Take off from your den!

Flying The Light Retractables: A Guided Tour Through The Most Popular Complex Single-Engine Airplanes by LeRoy Cook (ASA, 2007, 9781560276074). As the author states in his introduction, “It is for the prospective buyer!that this book was written.” The small 180/200 hp four-seat light retractables are the most popular class of GA airplane, and Cook offers […]

Black Wings: Courageous Stories of African-Americans in Aviation and Space History by Von Hardesty (HarperCollins Publishers, 2008, ISBN: 0061261386). Beginning with Bessie “The Barnstormer” Coleman—the first female African-American pilot to achieve national fame for her aerial aerobatics—this book continues with inspiring stories from the Golden Age of Flight. Chronicling the famed Tuskegee Airmen and astronaut […]

Artful Flying by Michael Maya Charles (Artful Publishing, 2006, ISBN: 0976827409). Michael Maya Charles’ book is intended to raise your flying to an artform. It’s the only aviation book that shows you new ways to approach your hours in the cockpit, resulting in more awareness, increased levels of safety and more enjoyment from flying. Bomber […]

Using portable gadgets to fly safer

Fly Now: The Poster Collection Of The Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum by Joanne Gerstein London (National Geographic, 2007, ISBN: 9781426200885). This is the companion book to the Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum’s Fly Now! exhibition. Spanning a century and a half, the prints reflect the fascinating visual history of flight as it […]

A Mighty Fortress by Chuck Alling (Casemate, 2006, ISBN: 1932033599). This is a personal account of the captain and crew of a lead bomber in the enormous formation raids made by the 8th Airforce during the last 10 months of World War II. The narrative demonstrates the courage and bravery of the crew of one […]

VFR Communications DVD (Sporty’s, 2006, ID# D993A). Designed to help pilots converse competently with radio control, this DVD allows viewers to “ride along” on three flight scenarios (in a Piper Pacer, a glass-panel Cirrus and a Cessna 210) to experience the full range of communication skills required for every type of flight in VFR airspace. […]