poultry hawk

[collective bias]

Just wondering whether anyone knew what became of Robert Mason the author of 'Chickenhawk'. It didn't sound like things were going too well for him at the end of the novel.
Additionally, can anyone suggest further helicopter related casual reading.

[Lu Zuckerman]

If you can find it, get a copy of Brandywines War

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The Cat

[Out of Balance]

'CW2' by Layne Heath is a good helicopter novel. Other good aviation novels/biographies are:

'Fate is the Hunter' - E.K Gann
'Song of the Sky' - Guy Murchie
'Wind, Sand and Stars' - Saint-Exupery
'Southern Mail/Night Flight - Saint-Exupery
'Sagittarius Rising' - Cecil Lewis
'Serenade to the Big Bird' - Bert Stiles
'West with the Night' - Beryl Markham
'Flying for Fun' - Jack Parham
'A Gift of Wings' - Richard Bach

Happy reading!

[roundwego]

I have been trying to get a copy of Brandywine's War for twenty years. The advent of the Internet allowed my to search Amazon.com. They wanted 99 dollars for a second hand copy. If anyone is feeling charitable and willing to lend a copy to me I will return it to them with a bottle of their favourite whisky. Post a message here and I will contact you.

thanks in anticipation.

[Nick Lappos]

Hey Out of Balance, that's a great list. I have read maybe half, so I can attest to how good those are, and that makes me want to hunt down the rest of your list.

I also suggest:

"The Spirit of St. Louis" and "We" by Charles Lindbergh

"The Lonely Sky" by Bill Bridgeman

"Flight-My life in mission control" by Chris Kraft

A great way to buy used books is by searching on www.abe.com (http://www.abe.com)

It is the advanced book exchange, and they are a database of 2000 bookstores worldwide!

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[Nick Lappos]

Hey roundwego, I searched on ABE and found dozens of hits on "Brandywine's War" some for only a few dollars.

Here is the pointer to the search page:

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/IList

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[collective bias]

CW2 was a really good read. I just remembered 'Whirlwind' by James Clavell is also related to aviation. Clavells novels are all suberb and its a shame he has passed away.
Is 'Brandywines War' a helo related novel? Thanks for the names guys and I hope someone knows what happened to Mason. I understand the character 'snoopy'? (grubby chocolate bar eating character)is an instructor with Flight Saftey in Florida. Good for him!

[The Nr Fairy]

Robert Mason wrote a follow up book about his experiences after Vietnam, can't find my copy nor does it appear on Amazon. He also wrote some novels, "Weapon" being one.

[Edited to add this ] I found his follow on book on ABE (http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookSearch) - it's called "ChickenHawk - Back in the World - Life After Vietnam.

As for other aviation books, I've got one about Australian helicopter pilots in Vietnam called "Get the Bloody Job Done" ( Steve Eather, pub. Allen and Unwin, ISBN 1-86448-802-6 ).

And in the US, most large bookstores have a reasonable selection of first and second-hand accounts of helicopter in Vietnam books - "Low Level Hell" and "Let a Soldier Die" are two that spring to mind.

[This message has been edited by The Nr Fairy (edited 30 June 2001).]

[Thomas coupling]

Chicken hawk - a fantastic insight on how to fly a helo in extreme anger!! Brilliant book, wish I'd kept my copy.
Another great book for reading about the antics of genius aviators: The life of Chuck Yeager, again a brilliant pilot getting up to all sorts of superhuman feats - strongly recommended
Pprune comes up trumps again....

Can one of you short list the suggestions we've received on this thread with the emphasis on helo antics, please?

many thanks

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Thermal runaway.

[The Nr Fairy]

I'll shortlist all the books mentioned so far including name, author publisher and ISBN if possible, plus if I can find them, any others in my attic which relate.

All this will happen if I can convince my 18month old that he wants to play outside, not smash the keyboard to smithereens which watching 72point font in Word. Otherwise, later tonight.

[rotorque]

I read the book 'Black Hawk Down' by journalist Mark Bowden. I have to admit it was an incredible read. Maybe skirts around the actual flying of a Helicopter in most respects, but still worth looking at.

I believe they are in the process of ruining it by making a motion picture of the book. Hope they get it right.

Cheers

[The Nr Fairy]

As promised, collation of the list of books mentioned above, plus those that I've dug out of my attic.

Vietnam & helicopter related - factual
--------------------------------------
Chickenhawk, Robert Mason, Corgi, 0-552-12419-2
Chickenhawk - Back to the World - Life after Vietnam, Robert Mason, pub and ISBN unknown
Wings of the Eagle, WT Grant, Ivy Books, 0-8041-1062-X
Hunter-Killer Squadron, Matthew Brennan, Pocket Books, 0-671-74453-4
Maverick, Marvicsin & Greenfield, Jove, 0-515-10662-3
Low-Level Hell, Hugh Mills, Jr., Dell, 0-440-21549-8
Centaur Flights, Richard Spalding, Ivy Books, 0-8041-1560-5
Get the bloody Job Done, Steve Eather, Allen & Unwin, 1-86448-802-6

Vietnam & Helicopter related - fictional
Let a Soldier Die, William Holland, Corgi, 0-552-12659-4

Other helicopter related
Chinook, David McMullon, Simon & Schuster, 0-684-84017-0
Weapons Free, Richard Boswell, Crecy, 0-947554-67-X
Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden, Bantam Press, 0-593-04538-6

Others mentioned
BrandyWine's War, Vaughan and Monroe, Bartholomew House
CW2, Layne Heath, William Morrow, 0-688-05265-7
Fate is the Hunter, E.K Gann
Song of the Sky, Guy Murchie, Houghton Mifflin
Wind, Sand and Stars, Saint-Exupery
Southern Mail/Night Flight, Saint-Exupery
Sagittarius Rising, Cecil Lewis
Serenade to the Big Bird, Bert Stiles
West with the Night, Beryl Markham

[sling load]

Heres a few more,

"A lonely kind of war, FAC Vietnam" Marshall Harrison Presidio Press 1989 (Excellent)

"Life on the Line" Stories of Vietnam Air Combat Philip Chinnery 33 Stories of Individual Pilots alive and dead, also a good read....

Dustoff, Michael Novosel, Havn't read it but he won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam,


Highly recommend the Lonely Sky, Bill Bridgeman,