Christmas book recommendations

[jemax]

Hi all,

Well I don't know about you all but I'm fed up of ties and socks and want to give some relatives a wish list of great heli books to fill my santa's sock, assuming I've been a good enough boy ;)

I'm only a couple of years into my career, but want to learn more as well as be entertained.

I'd be intersted to get recommendations from three points of view,

Great Heli Sories - Goes without saying really, Chickenhawk, Snake Pilot

Technical books - To increase my understanding of how the damn things stay in the air, Principles of Heli Flight, Wagtendonk

Airmanship - How to improve my piloting skills, Fatal Traps for heli pilot's

Thanks and here's to lots of appropriate heli pressies this year.

[Steve76]

Note to Danny and Heliport:
Your website is losing credibility and patrons with crap like this. We are hear to discuss Rotary Wing Aviation and the bandwidth is being soaked up by BS like this topic.
TIME to split ROTORHEADS UP. Newbies and Experienced.
...really who gives a $hit about what watch you wear or book you give for XMAS; make our Xmas and give us a section for drivers with 1000hr PIC minimum via invite only. Some of us have been here a long time. We have even had great PPRUNERS pass away while actively participating in this website.
Time to ante up guys, time for change - does anyone else agree???

Steve = the nagging voice in the wilderness

[Whirlygig]

Well I disagree - surely some of the books which jemax would like in his stocking for Chrimbo will have been read and indeed, written by experienced Rotorheads.

There are some experienced pilots out there who don't mind spending the time reading and replying to posts from those with less experience.

jemax - I'd recommend Shawn Coyle's Cyclic and Collective; very readable and the footnotes are amusing! Ray Prouty's three volumes are now available as one from Mojave Books but you might have to order it directly from them. That was in MY Christmas stocking last year.

Cheers

Whirls

[Gordy]

I too have 1,000 hours many times over and still enjoy reading most posts. If you don't want to read a post then feel free to move onto a different thread. It is also a pet peeve of mine to not be called a "driver"---drivers drive buses, pilots fly period, just like maps are for roads and "charts" are for aviation, however I choose not to lecture people about it in open forums.

For pure pleasure reading and looking at the amazing photos, I recommend the book by Dick Smith. I have it at home, (a long way away right now), and cannot remember the title but it was when he first flew around the world solo. He took hundreds of pictures and produced a book. I will look next week at home and get the title for you unless someone else knows. If I remember, I had to order it from Australia.

[flyby_heli]

One additional book that I highly recommend is "Nine Lives Of An Alaska Bush Pilot" by Kenneth Eichner. He was one of the founders of TEMSCO and his book is full of short stories about the challenges they met as early aviators in the Alaskan wilderness.


drivers drive buses, pilots fly period


Almost true.....drivers drive buses, people fly airplanes and PILOTS fly HELICOPTERS!!:}

Flyby

[gadgetguru]

googled/amazon(ed) :
http://www.amazon.com/Solo-around-world-Dick-Smith/dp/186276008X/sr=1-10/qid=1162430907/ref=sr_1_10/104-7358666-5983118?ie=UTF8&s=books

Solo around the world (Unknown Binding)
by Dick Smith

* Unknown Binding: 246 pages
* Publisher: Australian Geographic (1992)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 186276008X

[paco]

Certainly Shawn's book!

I also found First Light by Geoffrey Wellum an extremely good read - it's the equivalent of Chickenhawk for Spitfire pilots.

Talking of spitfires, Dark Blue World on DVD is also recommended. Tells the story of 2 czech pilots in the RAF during WWII who fought bravely yet ended up in jail in their own country because it was thought they might rebel. They fall in love with the same women, and purists will notice an unholy mix of spitfire marks in the same squadron, but the photography is excellent - a lot better than Battle of Britain.

Phil

[i4iq]

As a relative newbie to the industry, I can say from experience that this web site was extremely helpful in finding answers to all kinds of questions prior to making a career change. And I'm thankful for all those with decades of experience willing to help the new guys and their questions.

Thanks everyone!

P.S. I found Cyclic and Collective really helpful.

[Gordy]

I stand properly admonished and apologize.:O On the one hand, helicopter pilots want to be taken seriously as a profession (and if you read many of these threads, you certainly know that), yet on the other, demean themselves by referring to themselves as 'drivers' and the like. You can't really have it both ways, I'm afraid. Better people than we have tried and failed.
As to the more basic threads, I had many questions when I started and I'm sure many of them seemed silly to the people I asked (who were by necessity always the same small group of people), but for the most part I was answered patiently, and I try to do the same. If I don't feel I can help, I simply don't answer. And when I read these threads, somebody from another part of the globe often recommends a great book I've never even heard of. I'm for it!:ok:
Apology accepted---however I was not admonishing you, but just making general comments and personal opinion. I was more making comment at Steve76, although I sometimes agree with his comments, I always remind myself that I was once a "newbie", and green for information. There is an old saying that "it is difficult to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys". I often hear "more experienced" pilots refer to the "newbies" as turkeys. I happen to think that there are just as many "turkeys" in the "experienced" end of rotorheads as the lower end. Maybe the "newbie turkeys" are young "fledgling eagles" who just need some direction. I am glad you were answered patiently, this is the way it should be. Time for me to get off my soap box, humor out, pour me a "martooni" and chill.

[brame]

I'm with you Steve76.....

I don't post that ofter - guess you could say that I am a voyeur - but I'm on-line almost everyday and as an industry professional, get a lot out of the posts by "Professional Pilots". To me - it's the pulse of the helicopter industry, worldwide.

No beef about the others, and let them have their own area to seek advice, and to ask the silly questions, but let us get on with the gossip, rumours, info and debate about our industry:ugh: .

[jemax]

Steve 76/Brame

Well, I'am amazed, OK I wrapped it up in a bit of gentle humour, but the point is want to learn.

I contribute to serious issues, debate and rumour, but I hoped everyone would get a bit of value out of this.

In the last 2 years I have worked my arse off getting to a position, invested a lot of money and am just on the beginning of a journey to aquire more knowledge about this industry which I hope will continue for many years to come.

Some of the advice in Fatal Traps has already helped me become aware of some safety issues of use.

If you don't want to pass that on to others then so be it. This is an industry that is already crying out for experienced pilots, how the hell are those with less experience supposed to improve with this type of elitist attitude.

It's a professional pilots rumour network and like it or not I'm one of them now, It's my forum too.

For the reccomendations, thank you.

Happy Christmas

[whatsarunway]

Steve76.....


I dunno,


Im here a while and i still like watches and books and torches etc, I thought the best bit about being a helicopter pilot was you never grow up!

I think the whole idea of pprune, especially rotorheads was if you had a question about helicopters then you would have somewhere to ask, the helicopter industry is so small that we need to stick together new and old!

I suppose a newbie asking a question on books / watches etc is like you asking nick lappos a blade iceing question, boring for him but maybe extremly helpfull to the rest of us!!

. Ill probably edit this after i get my first coffee of the morning,


Ciao.:zzz:

[helilad]

I have to agree Steve reading this crap drives me crazy ,Jemax put your efforts into writing to santa claus if Xmas is your thing. If you want a good "stocking" filler get a girlfriend ..........

If you want advise ask for it and cut out the childish element.

[REDHOTCH0PPERPILOT]

I'm with you steve76. These newbies make me want to :yuk: . Flying helicopters is a serious business. There are peoples lives on the line for god sake and this forum should be kept clear to sort out issues as they arise. If I want to have a laugh I will buy a joke book. If I want advice on xmas presents I will get it elsewhere.
Sign me up for this new forum. ps. I only have 200 hours pic but its all been real flying experience, none of this trial lesson, I'm an instructor bs. Hopefully I can join your club.

[chester2005]

Correct me if i'm wrong but Pprune is for "professional pilots" and once you hold a CPL you hold a professional licence you are by virtue of that licence a PROFESSIONAL PILOT.

According to Jemax's profile he holds such a CPL and therefore he has just as much right to post on here as anyone else.

I cannot believe the apparent arrogance and ignorance of some of the people who have evidently short memories and who have forgotten that someone surely must have helped them with "silly" questions when they were newbie.

My answer to them is :mad: F*&^%$£££:mad: the industry is so small we should support each other to the last.

Knowledge should be shared , whether its about a book or a POF question.

Remember it is better to give than to receive!!!:ok:

Steve76/Brame/helilad
IMHO you should be ashamed := := :=

[Steve76]

Well thanks for the opinions people. Good to hear both sides. I don't mind chatting about watches and books (all topics covered dozens of times...) but I would like to be segregated. I am all for the aparthied version of PPRUNE with membership by invitation if required.

Why do I get pissy about this?
A. I am a prat (just ask my many buddies)
B. I am an opinionated arsehole.

C. I spend 10 mins sorting through crap to locate information about a collegue wAho was involved in an accident a couple of days ago. Thanks to the imperative shopping information and the copious questions about J1 farking visas to the USA; that extremely important info is relegated to page 3 and the other thread involving the death of another collegue the week before is buried on page 4.

Some of us out here use the PPRUNE as a virtual lifeline to the worlds events. Not all of us are sipping lattes in Shetland waiting for a blustery day to pass while planning our next cross country flight.
To find out 2 days later that a friend has been injured because of irrelevant drivel is annoying.

Like I said - PPRUNE stands or falls on its own merit. How much is your advertising dollar worth Danny?

Time for another poll Mr Heliport please....

PS: YES I am a driver. I drive a helicopter and I don't have a carrot up my arse. I am still a professional but completely aware I am not part of NASA's space programme and soon to be replaced by automation. AND I do deserve more money....

[Steve76]

hey Chester2005 - after all that crap you typed you still didn't give him a good book title for Chrissy.

Quote: Remember it is better to give than to receive!!!

Nobody has an issue with Jemax (welcome mate...) he has just been ****** with by having to read drivel posts like yours above. He thinks that is a reasonable line of questioning for a professional forum. I would hope (and I aim for better) that any of my students, once CPL's would have better things to think about than watches, books, and sunglasses.
Citizen, Shawn Coyles (signed personally) and tacky Raybans.....

[Whirlygig]

Steve76, may I suggest the search function and then, once you have found the threads in which you are interested, you subscribe to them and then you won't have to hunt them out again.

Of course, if you had wanted a thread like this to disappear, the easiest thing to do would have been to ignore it. jemax would have got his suggestions and it would be done and dusted. However, by turning something like this into a controversy, you are guaranteeing its lifespan on Page 1.

May I also suggest that you're feeling out of sorts because of the bad news you have received about a friend and colleague. Talk to Auntie Whirls and I can try to help put you back to the helpful and egalitarian pilot that we all know you are ;)

Cheers

Whirls

[Steve76]

Dear Auntie Whirls,

The other day I came home to find my beloved curled up in bed with a cosmo avidly reading '101 sex tricks to do with your tongue...' While this enthuses me in an odd way, I would rather see her delving into the finer works of "Walter Wagtendonks - Principles of Helicopter Flight"
Dear Aunty Whirls - HELP ME PLEASE! What can I do to convert her???

PS: hard to find a subject if you don't know your looking - if you get my drift?
PPS: Yes, she does know I am a Driver (DAMMIT: sorry PILOT... doh!!...sorry sorry ... HELICOPTER PILOT)
PPSS: Thanks again; but the implant didn't impress last time either.... something about my low blood pressure.

[Whirlybird]

Well, I dunno about this forum, I really don't. I see the title, click on it to get some advice about what books to read....I'm grounded with a heavy cold and helicopter reading will have to do. And what do I find? Arguments about whether or not this thread should be here. More arguments about how many hours PIC you need to be one of the elite....who presumably don't read or don't get given Christmas presents, or both. Yet more arguments about whether we're drivers or flyers or pilots or what. Even more arguments about....well, dunno, I gave up at that point.

I have fairly close to that magic 1000 hours now - just let a few more students struggle to hover and get themselves lost and and try to kill me, and I'll be there. So....jeez...I must be almost a REAL helicopter pilot....ooooops, do I mean driver? So I guess I'll now have to work really, really hard to develop into an egotistical, touchy, bad-tempered sod who turns every little thing into an argument. Well, I've done a lot in the last few years, so I guess I can manage that too. And hey, I can do it with a headache and stuffed up nose and runny eyes, can't I. So I'll start....NOW!!!!

Watch out for the new, nasty Whirly!!!!!!!!!!!

(And don't mix me up with nice, lovely auntie Whirls)

[Blind]

Oh my god!! I can't believe not one of you has said it is the First of November for Chrissakes!!!

Christmas allready? Try and enjoy bonfire night at least first:ugh:

But actually if you really want a tip try LASORS???

[jemax]

Red Hot,

OK so maybe I shouldn't have tried to dress it up with a bit of humour, or worse still been a bit childish,

"Flying helicopters is a serious business. There are peoples lives on the line for god sake and this forum should be kept clear to sort out issues as they arise. If I want to have a laugh I will buy a joke book" Red hot

But read the first post, I also asked for advice about better understanding of POF, reading that will help improve airmanship and safety, I violently agree with you red hot, but maybe my posting title pi**ed people off.

Perhaps it should have been, Suggestions for expanding my extensive aviation library to check there aren't a couple of key titles I have missed. Just though I'd bring in a bit of good read for Xmas too.

Fo info my previous life was v serious, involved life and death and professionalism, we often used humour to get through some of the tougher moments while remaining professional.

I am still seeking ways to improve my skills which will include posting here, asking, listening to those with more experience than myself and just about any other damn thing I can think of.

[R1Tamer]

steve 76 (aka toenails)

To bastardise a memorable line from "Good Morning Vietnam"

"I've met folks from all over the world and never have I met a person so badly in need of a b@&# j#b"

jemax

I suggest you route around on the web and find a book entitled "KAMAN Our Early Years" Its a fascinating autobiography by Charles Kaman. Real 'derring do' and 'cut and see' rotary aviation pioneering

R1tamer

[Whirlygig]

I suspect that that is what Mrs. Steve76 has been trying to tell him! :E :ok: :D :p

Cheers

Whirls

PS - jemax, you don't need to justify yourself!

[Gerhardt]

Sorry to interrupt this serious discussion, but I was just lurking with my eight year-old daughter (Emily) reading over my shoulder. "Dad, how do they put the smiley faces on the computer?"

"here, watch this".....:sad: < - - this was her favorite

p.s. Whirls Sr, you may have just under 1,000 hours but surely your 3,566 posts put you positively in the professional pilot category. So I would think you shouldn't have to worry about getting in the Rotorheads Sr forum when they split this into two forums (jr. and sr.)

[8P-AUL]

Lordy lordy - give steve76 a break - I've been following his posts for years and its obvious this is not one of his typical posts - he's on a downer at the moment and yes - some posts appear trivial in the face of perhaps more pressing or urgent matters - but that is not what I think this forum is about.

We are all here for a mutual love of helicopter aviation, whether the topic involves watches, torches or the latest accident or rotor blade development.

I'm not an old aviator, nor a new aviator, but I still want to learn, and pass on what I know.

We're all in this together.

P.S. Whirls...I've got to meet you someday. I'll organise a trip to the motherland especially!

PPS Gordy - Was hoping to see you the other day - had dropped in for some gas but you had just left. Next time!!

[Gordy]

PPS Gordy - Was hoping to see you the other day - had dropped in for some gas but you had just left. Next time!!
Did you drop into KTIX? You know I am no longer there, moved on again---Currently KRDD doing "other" stuff. Feel free to come up here though.

[8P-AUL]

Yes KTIX, was on ferry to Barbados - I heard you were moving on. Nice choice though - love that part of the globe!! Hi to Kat.

[VeeAny]

Whilst I don't neccesarily agree with the segregation suggested earlier,
Is there no way the software that runs the forums can be configured to allow an 'unsubscribe from thread' then once anything considered drivel is spotted it can be binned as far as that user is concerned.
I know what Steve means about using PPrune as a lifeline, I find quite bit of industry stuff on here, which would take me months to stumble upon otherwise.
I don't think you can qualify a number of hours to gain access to the xhrs+ rotorheads forum, and some of us there would still be ar$ehole$.
It would be nice to be able to mask out some threads though.
Apologies for going off thread but I can't even remember how I stumbled upon this one.
Jemax, what dd you get for christmas ?
This year I got nothing heli related, but last year was Proutys 'Helicopter Aerodynamics' to add to the collection,
Cheers
V.