Friday, August 19, 2011

Boeing's 'Aviation Reading List' is just the thing for 'National Aviation Day'

Yesterday (Thursday) was National Aviation Day, a special day set aside to celebrate all things related to aviation and airplanes. First celebrated in 1939, the day also marks the birthday of aviation pioneer Orville Wright, who was born on Aug. 19, 1871.

In the days leading up to this holiday, a friend put me on to a cool “Aviation Reading List” but together by The Boeing Co. Boeing is a Seattle-based, aerospace and defense corporation founded in 1916 and is now among the world’s largest global aircraft manufacturers.

Several years ago, officials at Boeing put together an “Aviation Reading List” that includes books about airplanes manufactured by Boeing and McDonnel Douglas as well as flying and general aviation. The recommended books about flying and general aviation are divided into categories for readers in preschool through sixth grade, middle school and high school students and beyond. Without further ado, here’s the list.

Flying and General Aviation:

High School Students And Beyond (Ages 16 Through Adult):

- A Field Guide to Airplanes of North America by M.R. Montgomery
- Becoming an Airline Pilot by Jeff Griffin
- Epic of Flight (Time-Life Books)
- Flight in America, 1900 – 1983 by Roger E. Bilstein
- Flying Book: Everything You've Ever Wondered About Flying on Airplanes by David Blatner
- Jane's Aerospace Dictionary by Bill Gunston
- Jane's All the World's Aircraft (Published annually in book form)
- Knights of the Air by Ezra Bowen, et al.
- Legends of the Air by Sean Rossiter
- Night Flight by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
- Skystars: The History of Women In Aviation by Ann Hodgman and Rudy Djabbaroff
- The Fullness of Wings: The Making of a New Daedalus by Gary Dorsey
- The Leading Edge by Walter J. Boyne
- The Smithsonian Book of Flight by Walter J. Boyne
- West with the Night by Beryl Markham
- World Aviation Directory: A Comprehensive Catalog of All Aerospace Companies.

Middle School Students (Ages 12 Through 15):

- Amelia Earhart: The Final Story by Vincent V. Loomis
- At the Controls: Women in Aviation by Carole S. Briggs
- Flying the Frontiers of Space by Don Dwiggins
- The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur & Orville Wright by Tom Crouch
- Text The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall
- The National Air & Space Museum by C.D.B. Bryan
- The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles A. Lindbergh
- The Visual Dictionary of Flight
- Women of the Air by Judy Lomax
- World Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft, edited by Enzo Angelucci

Preschool Through Grade Six (Through Age 11)

- Aircraft Technology by Mark Lambert
- Draw 50 Airplanes, Aircraft and Spacecraft by Lee J. Ames
- Experimenting with Air and Flight by Ormiston H. Walker
- Facts About: Planes by Donna Bailey
- Flight: A Panorama of Aviation by Melvin B. Zisfein
- Going on an Airplane by Fred Rogers
- Helicopters by Phyllis Emert
- The Big Book of Real Airplanes by Gina Ingoglia
- The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman

Books About Boeing And Its Airplanes:

- A Cold War Legacy: A Tribute to the Strategic Air Command by Alwyn T. Lloyd
- Boeing 757 and 767 by Thomas Becher (Crowood Aviation Series)
- Boeing Airplanes Since 1916 by Peter M. Bowers
- Boeing in Peace and War by Eugene E. Bauer
- Boeing by Donald Hannah
- Boeing by M.J. Hardy
- Boeing: An Aircraft Album No. 4 by Kenneth Munson & Gordon Swanborough
- Boeing: Planemaker to the World by Robert Redding and Bill Yenne
- Boeing: The World's Greatest Planemakers by Christopher Chant
- Flying High : The Story of Boeing and the Rise of the Jetliner Industry by Eugene Rodgers
- Hubbard-The Forgotten Boeing Aviator by James A. Brown
- Last of the Flying Clippers: The Boeing 314 Story by M.D. Klaas
- Legend & Legacy: The Story of Boeing and Its People by Robert Serling
- Nuts: Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Frieberg
- Planemakers No. 1: Boeing by Michael J. Taylor
- Tex Johnston, Jet Age Test Pilot by A.M. “Tex” Johnston
- The Boeing 247: The First Modern Airliner by F. Robert Van Der Linden
- The Eleven Days of Christmas: America's Last Vietnam Battle by Marshall Michel III
- The Road to the 707 by William H. Cook
- Twenty-First-Century Jet: The Making and Marketing of the Boeing 777 by Karl Sabbagh
- Vision: A Saga of the Sky by Harold Mansfield
- Vision: The Story of Boeing by Harold Mansfield
- Vision by Harold Mansfield
- Wide-Body: The Triumph of the 747 by Clive Irving

Books About Boeing North American And Its Airplanes:

- North American Aircraft, 1934-1998, Vol. 1 by Norm Avery
- Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System by Dennis R. Jenkins

Books About McDonnell Douglas And Its Airplanes:

- Appointment in the Sky: The Story of Project Gemini by Sol Levine
- Barons of the Sky From Early Flight to Strategic Warfare by Wayne Biddle
- The Big Eight: The DC-8 Story by Richard G. Hubler
- Climb to Greatness: The American Aircraft Industry, 1920-1960 by John B. Rae
- Conquest of the Skies: A History of Commercial Aviation in America by Carl Solberg
- The Dakota by Arthur Percy Jr.
- DC-3: The Story of a Fabulous Airplane by Glines and Moseley
- Donald W. Douglas: A Heart with Wings by Wilbur H. Morrison
- The Douglas Skyraider by B.R. Jackson
- Douglas Twinjets: DC-9, MD-80, MD-90 and 717 by Thomas Becher
- Ed Heinemann: Combat Aircraft Designer by Heinemann and Rausa
- Engineering the F-4 Phantom II: Parts into Systems by Glenn E. Bugos
- F-4 Phantom by Bill Gunston
- F-4 Phantom II by Robert F. Dorr
- F-4 Phantom II by G.G. O'Rourke
- F-4 Phantom II in Detail and Scale by Bert Kinzey
- F-15 Eagle by Jeff Ethell
- Fifty Glorious Years: A Pictorial Tribute to the Douglas DC-3 by Arthur Pearcy
- Flight Plan for Tomorrow: The Douglas Story, A Condensed History by Crosby Maynard
- Grand Old Lady by Glines and Moseley
- Harrier by Francis K. Mason
- Hornet: The Inside Story of the F/A-18 by Orr Kelly
- McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920 by R.J. Francillo
- McDonnell Douglas: A Story of Two Giants by Bill Yenne
- The McDonnell Douglas Story by Douglas J. Ingells
- The Mighty THOR by Julian Hartt
- Phantom by Francis K. Mason
- Phantom in Combat by Walter J. Boyne
- The Plane that Changed the World by Douglas J. Ingells
- The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
- St. Louis: City of Flight by James J. Horgan
- We Seven: The Mercury Astronauts by the Astronauts Themselves

In the end, how many of these books have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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