Handling The Big Jets of Flying The Big Jets Book!?

[Miguel.]

Morning all!

Looking to see if anyone else recommends the book "Handling The Big Jets" or is it "Flying The Big Jets". Which one of the two comes recommended. They both sound almost the same! :eek:

Cheers!!

[sonsal]

Read Handling the big jets, its a good book basically for people flying the jets and some stuff to prepare for the interview as well, flying the big jets is not that deep. it has limited stuff.

It depends on your level, if you have CPL i would recommend you to go for Handling the big jets, it will clear lots of doubts, thought little bit outdated, i recommend you to read the abbreviations before starting the book because it has some words whose meaning is different in todays world for example AOA is being written as angle of incidence etc.....:ok:

[Miguel.]

Cheers dude! Nice one! :ok:

[Tinstaafl]

'Flying the Big Jets' is more suited to passengers who'd like some idea of what happens getting the big aeroplane from one airport to another. Don't waste your time with it.

'Handling the Big Jets' is targeted towards someone wanting to understand jet aircraft design & handling philosophy/principles as background preparation to flying them.

Be careful when buying the book - 'Flying TBJ' & 'Handling TBJ' have similar covers.

[Easy Glider]

Handling the big jets is probably the most mind numbingly boring read imaginable. I would highly recommend it for anyone suffering with insomnia. It'll send you to sleep in micro-seconds.

[captain.weird]

I bought the Handling the Big Jets book but honestly, I don't understand a :mad: out of it.. It is very hard for someone with no aviation related background to read this book.. Maybe the Flying the Big Jets book was a better option for me though..

[manucordier]

Handling The big jets is the best book I ever read about aerodynamics and engines, performance. Accurate, detailed, well explained, easy to read. It will give you a good comparison between propeller (piston) aircrafts and turbojets.

David Davies, the guy who wrote it, was highly competent (test pilot,... he flew 175 different aircraft types), he had very good skills to transmit his knowledge.

The last edition is the third one, published in 1971. It seems quite old but trust me it is not, it is a very actual book !

However you will need to have thoroughly studied and understand the Jar ATPL to understand HTBJ.

[Easy Glider]

Trust me it IS old. Most of the info applies to AC now well past their sell by date. Very little bearing on modern AC. Anyone who says this book is the best they have ever read obviously has too much time on their hands.

[Luke SkyToddler]

Agree with previous poster ... HTBJ is an acknowledged classic but it's 50+ years old, bugger all use for modern folk whose first jet is probably a 737NG or A320.

Having said that I believe half the Cathay interview question bank is still taken from it though

[Booglebox]

My opinion: Handling the Big Jets is a fantastic book. Dated, yes, but the principles ARE valid, and understanding of "what it was like" helped me put the current state of equipment, procedures etc. more in context. Just because a lot of the stuff mentioned doesn't really affect the modern day pilot, doesn't mean that the pilot shouldn't know about it.

It's extremely well written - Davies had a knack for communicating efficiently without being boring or condescending. It's also historically interesting if you're a bit of a nerd :cool:

Should be compulsory reading for all pilots!

[Miguel.]

Arrived today. :cool:

[cjd_a320]

Excellent Book .

[SFI145]

In my opinion HTBJ is an excellent read with information that is certainly not outdated. The only real advances we have had in the last 40 years are mainly in the engine and avionics departments. So from an aerodynamics point of view all of it still holds good. Also the writing style is very good. I particularly remember this - ' Boeing states that the 747 landing gear will withstand a no-flare landing. I proved this on my first attempt'. A nice touch of humility from the CAA chief test pilot at the time.

[Piltdown Man]

In it's day, this had to be the book to read. But...

The only real advances we have had in the last 40 years are mainly in the engine and avionics departments.

The only real advances? These advances have been so phenomenal that this book has been virtually relegated to little more than background reading. Virtually all of the flying aspects can be ignored if you fly an Airbus - there is as good as damn it, a computer (or seven) between you and the aircraft. I think most modern engines are now FADEC and have good auto-throttles. Displays have advanced to the point whereby I don't believe a non-EFIS aircraft has been built for many years. This combined with other modern sensors means that the modern day pilots has information presented which DP Davies could only dream about. So I'd suggest that this book has little relevance to current commercial aviation.

However, if some crusty retro types ask questions from this book at job interviews, then read it by all means - but remember, it has little to do with what happens today and... the book is an interesting read (in bite size chunks) in its own right.

PM

[boogie-nicey]

As someone previously mentioned some airlines may still extract their interview questions from there. Considering that those who will be of a more senior rank than yourselves conducting your interview may well have read this book of Gospel in the 1970/80s. Therefore it's not your concern regarding whether subject matter is dated or not, after all they may throw in a couple of turboprop questions/scenarios doesn't mean they operate ant TPs within their fleet. If you have a few spare moments here and there why not give it a read at least you'll be able to gauge how far aviation has come and may even be able to impress the interviewer! :)

[Groundloop]

A lot of the replies on this thread show a fundamental problem with some people. The idea that in-depth background knowledge is NOT important - all you need to succeed is the absolute minimum. Really sad.

[ea340]

Groundloop very well said

[cjd_a320]

R.V Davies book would make a good accompaniment now its around 3 quid...

r.v davies | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=r.v+davies&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A525 1&rt=nc&_dmpt=Non_Fiction&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1)

[turbine100]

I bought this book upon the advice of a friend who has been flying for years and it was well worth spending the money.

[Desert185]

Until they publish a book titled: "Handling the Big FMS/FADEC/Computers" by Magenta Line Dude, I would recommend HTBJ, Third Edition, by D.P. Davies. While much information might be dated, the basics covered in the book still apply.

For the light airplane and piston pilot making the transition to heavy turbojets, the introduction to flying faster, stability, high altitude characteristics, takeoff and landing performance and even asymmetric flight certainly still applies to today's aircraft design.

There is much complaining here about low-time pilots getting hired. Why wouldn't we encourage those who actually have an interest in doing the job well to read specifically informative books about the profession? :ugh:

[pilotbear]

The only thing that has changed since the HTBJ book came out is the automation. Any comments about it being out of date and not important is very very scary. To say it is too complex is bizarre, it is not Microsoft flight sim you are flying, it needs to be understood. That sounds like an 'entitlement generation' comment....cash for certificates.
If the pilots of AFF447 had understood that book they would not have stalled into the ocean. AOA is AOA, mach buffet is mach buffet, stall is stall.

My bible is stick and rudder by Langweisse and that was written in 1930 something.

Buttons and knobs do not change the aerodynamics or performance. If you understand this there will be less 'whats it doing now? because you will know what it is doing:ok:

[ZeeDoktor]

I know of at least three pilots that very recently killed a bunch of people thanks to a magenta line attitude. They might have done better had they understood that basic aerodynamics from a 1960's text are valid and applicable to an A330 still.

Doc

[themidge]

Tell you what, get both. I enjoyed reading Flying the Big Jets, it was interesting and informative. Understood most of the info before ground school, should probably take another look now I've done ground school.