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Posted

My son graduates from WOCS in 2 weeks. I thought I would get him some flying books for graduation and wondered what the best books for a beginning Army pilot would be. I considered Principles of Helicopter Flight. Does anyone here have any recommendations?

 

Thanks,

 

LJ

Posted
My son graduates from WOCS in 2 weeks. I thought I would get him some flying books for graduation and wondered what the best books for a beginning Army pilot would be. I considered Principles of Helicopter Flight. Does anyone here have any recommendations?

 

Thanks,

 

LJ

 

The Army will give him so many books they'll be coming out his ears. If you want to get him aviation related books, I'd stick with fiction (or military non-fiction).

 

The Lieutenants by WEB Griffin is one of my favorites (I read the entire series before going to Ft. Rucker). Also CW2 by Layne Heath, Chickenhawk by Robert Mason and Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills are all on my bookshelf - they are classics.

 

I'm sure there are some more current/pertinent novels out there, but I'm an old-timer and don't know about them. :rolleyes:

Posted

Not a Good Day to Die is a good book about Chinook pilots in Afghanistan... it is long though.

 

Having just left Ft Rucker, Books were something that were really 'Army issue only' just for the simple fact I didn't have any time to read anything else.

 

If you are looking for other things, The Hangar (name of the store) is just outside the Daleville gate has a bunch of good stuff for new pilots. Flashcards, fingerlights, flightbags, etc are excellent and also needed during Flight School. If you go in there, just ask the girls what has been popular for new pilots, they will suggest things for you.

 

 

 

CHAD

Posted
ChickenHawk is a book about a Vietnam era pilot and stories about Vietnam. Haven't read it but heard it was very good.

 

 

yes, it's a very good read, good insite to what a pilot went thru there.

Posted
yes, it's a very good read, good insite to what a pilot went thru there.

 

 

+1 on Chickenhawk. The lessons learned (and forgotten/ignored by top brass) are applicable in many environments, not just jungles. When I was at Ft. Rucker in 1990 it was required reading. I've heard lately that it's off the reading list. The author got in some legal trouble which he discusses in the epilogue and the Army probably doesn't want you reading that part.

 

Anatomy of a Division and Pleiku are also great books which cover the same parts of Vietnam that Chickenhawk is about. They are less about helicopters and more about the tactics of helicopter warfare and how the AirMoblie concept was developed, used and mis-used. I really enjoyed reading three different perspectives on the same time and events.

Posted

I loved chickenhawk! It was hard to find, a lot of the stores around here just didn't sell them.. A friend of mine had found a copy, and hid it.. I came in there a couple days later, found it, and bought it.

 

Great read! For sure!

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