a gift of wings

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:47 pm

i really enjoy this book by richard bach.
i have a 1st edition signed by him,
and read it once per year.
i have never been able to catch
up to him at oshkosh.
dave

aturner · Post by **aturner** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:45 pm

If you like "Gift of Wings", make sure you also read Stranger to the Ground, Biplane, and Nothing by Chance. These are Bach's best books, but they were written early in his writing career. He didn't do much of literary value after these books, though some of the later works were large commercial successes. I've always been puzzled as to how a writer with such huge talent could just fade away - so far as I can tell, he doesn't write anymore. I recall a magazine article on paragliding, published in AOPA Pilot in the early 90's, but as far as I know he hasn't published anything else in the past 20 years.

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:05 pm

thanks andy
i also have those books!
richard also has a list
of good books listed
in 'a gift of wings'
dave

aturner · Post by **aturner** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:33 am

Iowa, here are two more recent books that belong on a "must read" list:

1) "America from the Air", Wolfgang Langewiesche. This is a new compilation of Langewiesche's work, and it brings together elements from two of his early books. I just read it this past summer (while on a cross-continent trip), and was blown away by the writing. He was a very good pilot, but a better writer.

2) "Flight of Passage", Rinker Buck. Story of the cross-continent flight taken by the author and his brother when they were teenagers. Outstanding writing, weaving a heartfelt story of family, flying, and youth. Anyone with a pulse will fall to the floor with laughter while reading this one.

Any others that I should read?

canderson · Post by **canderson** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:38 am

I also agree with Andy. I remember reading these several years ago and enjoying them very much. Bach writes well and conveys his topics, in this case, in a way any pilot can understand and appreciate.
I'm currently in the process of reaquiring the above mentioned books and recommend them to others.
Doesn't Bach say in one of them something to the effect that every engine should be designed to fail at given intervals just so we would all know it IS going to happen and therefore be ready for it when it does?
Perhaps a good assumption to live by, if nothing else.

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:09 pm

i'll post my
must read list later
dave