Recommendation for a short aviation story?

[IO540]

My 10 year old boy is very keen on planes, to the extent of flying VOR-VOR legs on FS2004, but he really doesn't like reading and is getting well behind at school because of that.

But he obviously can read and likes reading stuff that interests him.

I gave him Frederick Forsyth's "The Shepherd"; a short story (about 2 hours' reading for an adult) about a Vampire pilot who gets a total loss of electrics over a fog-covered England. He's really got into it and can't put it down.

Can anyone recommend similar short stories? There has to be some real aircraft-technical content and must not be too intricate a plot.

[Pianorak]

You might be able to find such stories here (http://www.aviation-bookshop.com/hub.htm)
A. de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince may also fire your boy's imagination.

[Chesty Morgan]

A Stranger to the Ground - By Richard Bach.

Unputdownable, I've had it for years and still read it from time to time.

[kevmusic]

"Biggles of the Camel Squadron" and "Biggles of 266" are packed with short stories within a contextual whole. Great stuff! :ok:

(Oodles on Amazon.)

Kev

[TheKentishFledgling]

Biggles? Not really "short stories" for a 10 year old, but there is definite aviation content, and the plots are quite good fun :8

tKF

[MikeJ]

'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull' by Richard Bach.
A slim book, loved by pilots, often regarded as rubbish by non-pilots.
I think it was written for the childrens book market.

[Sedbergh]

Why not try him on a good full size book with some decent action?

"The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann had me rivetted when I was 10.

[IO540]

It's much harder to motivate today's kids than it was with us.

When I was 10 I was getting through Jules Verne and Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn and even Uncle Tom's Cabin etc as quick as I could find them.

Today's kids have loads of electronic gadgets to play with, they have their parents on a constant "quality time" guilt trip (which in turn supports a whole "parenting" publishing industry) whereas we just used to get left alone, and their attention span is the size of a fly's. They also have a lot less time because schools compete for the performance tables and load up kids with a lot of homework each day.

And that is the bright kids I am talking about.

I am after some short stories with a real aircraft-tech content. Thank you for the pointers so far; the Aviation Bookshop one looks good.

[xraf]

'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull' by Richard Bach - no question:ok:

Also the follow up is interesting too 'Illusions' I think it was!

Regards
Xraf:ok:

[Human Factor]

Try "Talkdown" by Brian Lecomber.

[Whirlybird]

I have a rather good book of short stories called "Great Flying Stories". It's edited by Frederick Forsyth, and includes "The Shepherd". It also has stories by H. G Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Roald Dahl, and Richard Bach, among others. It was published by Corgi in 1992, so I'm sure you can get a secondhand copy if it's out of print.

I'd also recommend Richard Bach's "A Gift of Wings", in my opinion far, far better than Jonathon Livingston Seagull. And I agree with human factor - even if he isn't too keen on reading, he'll find Brian Lecomber's "Talk Down" un-put-downable. :ok:

[stevef]

That's what I call a coincidence, Whirls - I was going to suggest the same book (Great Flying Stories, Corgi, ISBN 0-552-13896-7).
If you want something really short, IO 540, you might try:
http://ukauthors.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3597
and
http://ukauthors.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2683


Well, on second thoughts, maybe ten is a little young for these two.

[FB11]

Gentlemen, please.

He's 10 years old.

Every 2 weeks there are, after nearly 20 years out of print, 3 new 'Commando' magazines and at least one of them has an aircraft theme.....

Didn't do me any harm.

[niknak]

In addition to the mag's - which is a sure fire way of developing an interest in developing reading skills, try audio books.
Listening to someone else read to them definately encouraged my children to read themselves.
Many audiobooks are now narrated by someone your chap will relate to, so I'd strongly recommend any of them.

[QDMQDMQDM]

Going Solo by Roald Dahl.

[scooter boy]

I find the books that I can't put down are the ones that contain the accident reports.
Compilations along the lines of ILAFFT and the like contain some salutory tales - and they are all true!

SB

[172driver]

Why don't you write one yourself ? You're pretty prolific here, so I guess you enjoy writing. Something along the lines of 'The Adventures of Little TB 20 in the Eastern Med' could make fun reading ! Plus it''ll get you Brownie Points no end from your little buy :)

[AfricanEagle]

Richard Bach's "A Gift of Wings".

I read it when I was 10 - 11 years old, I still love it.

[rug-rats]

Try True adventure stories of the air. I read it in the late 60's or early 70's its a compalation of short stories that were good. The one I remember is Flight to nowhere, about a Tudor that took off with the control surface locks inplace so was flown using trim. A good read if you can find a coppy

[stevef]

Agree with that, Rug-rats; got it on my bookshelf. The Tudor that took off with the elevator locks in was piloted by than none other than Donald Bennett. It was loaded with diesel fuel as cargo if I remember rightly.

[yawningdog]

A Tudor? What's that then?

[Lister Noble]

An important part of our national heritage,throned,mounted or winged.
:}

[kevmusic]

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aeroplaneart.com.au/Images/JB_Avro_Tudor_1_4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aeroplaneart.com.au/JAB_Tudor_%26_York_Galllery.htm&h=737&w=1024&sz=210&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=eJn3YErpm1VdRM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Davro%2Btudor%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26s afe%3Doff%26sa%3DG