A Rabbit in the Air
There have been a few references in recent threads to good aviation reads and here is another one. After much searching, I recently found a copy of David Garnett's "A Rabbit in the Air", subtitled "Some notes made whilst learning to handle an aeroplane".
Bloomsbury novelist and editor of TE Lawrence, Garnett learned to fly in 1928-9 (Tiger-Moth: you should read this one), when he was in his late thirties (like me). He took even longer to solo than I did, and wrote about the whole thing most amusingly. Many of his experiences seemed familiar, and give the impression that the basic process of learning to fly has not changed all that much, although we now get PPLs instead of A-licences.
During the war Garnett's writing skills and enthusiasm for aviation were put to good use by the Ministry of Info in turning out RAF-related propaganda, addressed partly at the (then) still-shirking US. It would be nice to see the book re-published by someone like Crecy (or do they only do military stuff?) or another specialist publisher.
Of a similar vintage is "England Have My Bones" by Arthurian author TH White (Sword in the Stone etc). I read his account of his first solo (in a Tiger Moth)in an anthology edited by Neville Duke, and wonder if anyone has read the whole thing and can recommend it, as Alibris has several copies for sale.