An amazing, unmissable autobiography is 'Wings on my Sleeve' by Capt. Eric Brown RN, famous Naval Aviator and early helicopter pilot.
God only knows how he is still alive and walking around after his naval and Farnborough test flying experiences - which included the bizarre 'flexible deck' idea, where the plan was to save weight on naval jets by covering the flight deck with a sprung rubber sheet, and belly in without benefit of undercarriage!( they would be catapulted off on a trolley like an Me Komet). He did this in a Vampire.
When,late in the War, the first helicopter arrived from the USA in a crate, he was sent to fly it back to Farnborough. The mechanic who assembled it handed him the Pilot's Notes and walked off..the solo trip home was his first rotary wing flight.
Read this book.