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Summary: Good for Flight Simulator too
Review: If you are (like me) a fan of Microsoft Flight Simulator... get this book so that you can understand what the heck is going on. You won't regret it. I have an autographed copy of this book (lucky me)... I treasure it.
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Summary: Relives Pucker
Review: If you are planning on flying an aircraft, BEFORE, you do anything else read this book. This goes for 3 axis Ultra-light through the big birds. Detailed instruction on the mechanics of flight and flight controls for the beginner and it wouldn't hurt a couple of hi-timers I know to get a copy either. This book takes the student from how planes fly (In english not engineer.) To disaster recovery. THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR CERTIFIDE INSTRUCTION. (But it out to be a requierd check off.)
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Summary: " Prove to yourself what makes an airplane fly" (It's Fun!)
Review: It is refreshing for a pilot/instructor to read a book that tells the truth about "What makes an airplane fly" instead of a bunch of theories that cannot be proven in flight. I salute Mr. Langeweische for the heat he must have taken over this book way back in the 40's. My only regret is that I never met him so I could personally say thank you...Jim Trusty ... FAA/Aviation Industry National Flight Instructor of the Year (1997) ...
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Summary: Stick and Rudder
Review: Langewiesche explains aerodynamic basics from a pilot's perspective. The author shows how the behavior of wings is often counterintuitive. When pilots integrate this understanding into their flying they become more confident and safer pilots which is the author's primary objective.
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Summary: Best book on flying technique, period.
Review: Langewiesche has written the definitive book on aircraft manipulation. I learned more from this book than all the others I have read combined. Clear, concise, and well-written, no pilot should be without it.
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Summary: Tough but fair
Review: Langewiesche writes a brilliant explanation of things that we have learned to take for granted in modern aviation. Stick and Rudder covers many important aspects of flight from an angle not available in modern texts. Stick and Rudder is tough reading and is only appropriate for those passionate about aviation who want to understand why things work, not just how they work. With that mindset, any pilot will be able to improve their skills after reading Langewiesche's explanation of all the fundamentals of flight. While not easy to read, the concepts taught in Stick and Rudder are well thought out and explicated. It's amazing that 60 years after it was written, instructors still haven't learned from Langewiesche's style. This book is a must read for pilots and wannabe's.
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Summary: Self-serving, outdated, containing a few inaccuracies
Review: Langewiesche's book was written more than sixty years ago. While many principles of aerodynamics have not changed, there has been some important progress since then. Despite widespread belief, this book does not describe how airplanes fly. Langewiesche also makes some silly predictions about airplanes of the future, such as how they will have no rudder pedals and that they will not stall. Neither of these predictions have come true. Even many airplanes that were built as Langewiesche predicted, such as the Ercoupe, have since been retrofitted with rudder pedals.
The book reads like a quack diet book, filled with a considerable amount of repetitive self promotion. The truth is that even when the book was written that understanding of aerodynamics and aviation was better than Langewiesche claims. The advantages of tricycle gear had been understood from very early on, for example, but had only just become practical with the development of new engines and propellers.
Although this is still a good book, there are now many others that are written more clearly, are more up to date, and considerably less self-serving.
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Summary: You are Flying in Your Imagination
Review: My suggestion is to read this book first if you are thinking of taking flying lessons. If and when you start flying lessons you of course will pilot the plane and become familiar with the controls, but during the flying lessons in the air you will also be involved in dealing with what seems like an overwhelming amount of other information. The plane seems small and strange. It is cramped and a bit noisy. There are many instruments. Often you will be thrown about if there is some weather. And the instructor might be yelling command plus you must communicate with others by radio. So there are many things unfamiliar and they must be absorbed and then the lesson is over quickly - or so it seems. All of the details are important but before you start it helps if you can develop an intuitive feel for how a plane moves and is lifted in the air. The aim of the book is to explain in simple terms the physics of flight and to develop within the reader an intuitive feel for air flight. Flying is a three dimensional activity and does not come easily or obviously. The ideas about the control of flight can become somewhat intuitive if you read this book. It presents flying in its basics without the hype - in a way in which you can visualize flying - and can start develop the intuition and the appreciation. Four or five stars. Jack in Toronto.
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Summary: One of a Kind
Review: One of the finest books I have read. It is a very lucid, easy to understand and pragmatic book about flying. As the title clearly states, this books explains the art of flying. There are plenty of books geared towards obtaining the Private Pilot license which aims as giving the reader similar information. But having commited to the purpose of 'training' you towards the Private 'certificate' these books stick to a 'syllabus' and hence loose flavour. Learning to fly is an art , articulating about it is an art in itself. The author simply excells. The book focusses on discussing how and why an airplane does what it does, and how to make it do what we want it to do. The author begins with the simple fact that an airplane is nothing but a 'plane' surface that flys in the air by deflecting it downwards, and sticks to this premise till the end, and goes on to say that mastering the art of deflecting the air is all there is to learning to fly. The discussions are wonderful and very insightful. I have just begun to take flying lessons, and I cannot say enough about how this book is helping me to learn to sharpen my reflexes and instincts. This book definitely is One of a kind!
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Summary: Greatest book on how to fly an airplane
Review: One of the first things your flight instructor drills into your mind is the phrase: "aviate, navigate, communicate." Meaning, worry first about flying the plane, then worry about where you are, then worry about telling somebody. This book is the best description of how to do the "aviate" part I've ever seen. True, it was written in 1943. But, then again, airplanes fly according to pretty much the same principles as they did back then. Be aware - Langeweische doesn't spend a lot of time on theory. I like his approach: "Bernoulli - forget it." He concentrates more on practical issues. But, to him, practical issues include a pretty in-depth knowledge of angle of attack. His description of Angle of Attack and the Working Speeds of an Airplane were revolutionary in my understanding of how an airplane flies, and how to fly it in each flight condition (glide, cruising flight, climb, power on descent, etc.) One more feature (advantage or drawback, depending on your point of view): it gives you clear instruction on how to fly a tail dragger. You won't find that much of any place else.
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