I've generally found aviation fiction to be rather disappointing and invariably full of technical boobs. If you know the subject intimately it is hard to ignore these even if the rest of the yarn itself is quite well put together. A few aviators, like Ernie Gann, have been exceptions to this for probably obvious reasons.
It is often said that fact is more exciting than fiction. Apollo 13, for example, must rate with any of Roddenberry's best Star Trek episodes, excellent as they were. The development of aerospace in such a short time period has been full of all the excitement, drama and humour that can be found in the best novels. Fortunately, there have always been participants able to record these events in books that are highly readable to those who love this subject.
Some of those books are now hard to find but they are still out there somewhere. Some of my personal favourites are mentioned on this post, especially FATE IS THE HUNTER which was reprinted after Gann's death, a few years back. What is so striking about this book is that, although the equipment has advanced enormously, the actual problems, personalities and way of life of airline flying remain almost unchanged. The numbers game, the introduction of new designs which may not be fully tested, the politics, management. The parallels are endless. It's a sobering thought.
One of my favourite (British) books is CROYDON TO CONCORDE (ISBN: 0-7195-3741-X) by the late Capt Ron E Gillman, a founder member of BEA.
Of the space-age books, THE RIGHT STUFF (ISBN: 0-224-01443-9), by Tom Wolfe, still contains caveats for those now running NASA and Congress who ignore the past at their (usually, someone else's) peril. In conjunction, STARFALL (ISBN: 0-690-00473-7), by Betty Grissom and Henry Still, adds to "TRS" with a personal view of the life and untimely death of Gus Grissom. The US space programme returns $7+ into the economy for every $1 spent but a $1 billion cut in the venture still looks great on the balance sheet when you are aiming for the social workers' votes.
Finally, for the thrill of the post-WW2 years when, for a brief moment, the development of aviation seemed to know no bounds, YEAGER (ISBN:0-553-05093-1), by Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos, tells it how it was when it was vital to the politicians.
Never mind the novels, read the events!