Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying

I'm pursuing a PPL under part 61 so I'm basically building my own ground school curriculum from books here at Amazon. The various FAA books are good, and cover the basics, but in terms of describing how an airplane is flown, how it's maneuvered, and how to avoid digging a big hole in the ground, this is the book. Just buy it already... I don't care how long you've been flying I'm convinced you'll find this a good read. I read through it the first time right after reading the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, and even though it was written in the 40's (and has a few dated ideas... like how rudders will be gone from airplanes in "a few years") it still does a much better job of describing the basics. The book is well-written, well-illustrated, and comprehensive. The single most important thing I learned from reading this, and what is missing from every other book I've read, is how to avoid killing yourself in an airplane. The author talks about how accidents actually happen, and most importantly how to avoid them. It's simple, to-the-point, and not necessarily what you'd think (although it is completely logical). Those chapters alone should make it mandatory reading for any pilot, and that's only about 20% of the book. Consider the rest a bonus.

At VAF (Van’s Air Force), this book kept getting mentioned as one of their favorites. I couldn’t imagine what would be so great about it, especially when the content in it was so old. But, like many others, it’s probably one of my favorite aviation books now, and is loaded with good information that I’m convinced will make you a safer pilot. I know it has made me more self aware, and flying experimental planes, we need to do more to improve our safety record. Understanding the concepts more clearly in this book, is as good a start as any. I can’t really add anything that others haven’t already done, but do want to stress one point. Wolfgang says that pilots are quite apt at recovering from stalls, when they expect them. But the real problem, is, pilots when not practicing it, most don’t realize they have got themselves in a stall when in the pattern, so instead of pushing down on the stick (or yoke) to regain airspeed back, they are pulling back, not ever knowing they were in a stall before it is too late. That still seems like the major problem today too; particularly when turning left base and left downwind. Steeper turns while turning don’t help the situation since it increases the stall speed as well, and worst case scenario you’ve fooled around and got yourself into a spin. I can't imagine no one benefiting from this book.

Very good condition.

The book is excellent once you get past the archaic language ie ailerons/elevators being called flippers etc. it describes why things happen as they do and is probably the best description of how the rudder functions during a turn. Also remember that this book is written primarily from a ‘taildragger’ perspective as when this book was written the tricycle gear was a novel theory and taildraggers were called ‘conventional landing gear’ planes. All in all a great book on WHY airplanes fly as opposed to the much more common approach of ‘how to fly an airplane’

I received it sooner than I would have expected and it is of fine quality.

Funny, the title is Stick and Rudder and yet the author spends half the book complaining that the stick should be restricted to prevent dangerous excessive elevator and rudders shouldn't exist because they are the major cause of crashes. The book was written in the 30's and focuses on tail draggers. It is interesting to hear the author's predictions on how "future" aircraft will be designed. For example, he predicts safety improvements in aircraft design will eliminate fatalities due to stalls. He praises safety aircraft that do not allow the angle of attack to approach a stall - protecting pilots from themselves (but unsafely limiting aircraft maneuverability, in my opinion). He also suggests rudders will be unnecessary in the future, e.g., with the "new" tricycle landing gear allowing cross-wind landings while "crabing" (without the aircraft aligned to the runway). Somewhat amusing. Mr. Langewiesche rants too loud and often on the angle of attack and the big engineering mistake of rudders. Still, in reading through the book, I did get some new insights on glide control, landing technique and emergency aircraft maneuvers. Overall, I (250 hour private pilot) found useful conceptual models in the book actually helped me solve some control problems I was having. With the publication date in mind, it is definitely worth reading for a flight student or for an experienced pilot.

Hermosa calidad de las hojas

Très bien

Cosa dire di nuovo su questo libro? Un testo che, per quanto datato, continua a fornire delle informazioni che devono fare parte del bagaglio culturale di chi vuole capire COME vola un aereo e non solo quali comandi muovere per farlo volare in sicurezza. Se si sa perché succedono le cose a bordo di un velivolo, si può anche reagire meglio ai suoi comportamenti e alle situazioni difficili. Lettura istruttiva e piacevolissima.

An interesting book that gives the lay man an in depth understanding of what flying really is..

Ich habe mir das Buch geholt, weil ich noch ziemlich am Anfang der Flugausbildung stehe. M.E. ist das eine ideale Ergänzung zum Theoriekurs und den deutschen Theoriebüchern (kein Ersatz, will es auch gar nicht sein). Während sich die Theorie und auch die Theorieprüfung mit allen das reine Fliegen umgehenden Faktoren beschäftigen (Metereologie, Aerodynamik, Menschliches Leistungsvermögen, Navigation, Sprechfunk, Flugplanung u.a.), die alle unerlässlich und wichtig für den sicheren Flugbetrieb sind, aber eben eher das Gesamtbild vermitteln, konzentriert sich dieses Buch einzig und allein auf das praktische Fliegen an sich. Das Buch beschäftigt sich damit, wie man zu fliegen hat, warum man im Anflug die Höhe mit dem Gas und die Geschwindigkeit mit dem Höhenruder steuert (und nicht anders herum), warum man den Anstellwinkel immer beachten muss, wie man landet, und wie der Wind relativ zum Flugzeug zu verstehen ist. Also eine theoretische Anleitung zum praktischen fliegen, nicht mehr, und nicht weniger. Die essentiellen Basics werden dabei dauernd wiederholt, bis man sie verinnerlicht hat. Sprachlich trotz des hohen Alters gut verständlich und ohne moralischen Zeigefinger, hebt sich dadurch auch wohltuend ab von den manchmal arg verwissenschaftlichten deutschen Büchern, bei denen man dazu neigt, diverse Fachbegriffe einfach um ihrer selbst willen zu verwenden (ich sage nur feuchtadiabatischer Hebungsgradient). Erstaunlich auch, dass das Buch noch nicht veraltet ist, obwohl es schon fast 80 Jahre alt ist. An einigen Stellen merkt man das Alter zwar (so wird an einer Stelle an die Gewichtsabnahme eines Flugzeugs nach dem Abwerfen von Bomben erinnert, was der Zeit 1944 geschuldet ist), auch die Illustrationen sind etwas Retro, aber das hat keinerlei Auswirkungen auf die praktische Relevanz des Buchs. Englisch muss man allerdings schon können, wenn man das Buch liest. Es ist zwar bewusst einfach geschrieben, aber trotzdem nicht ganz einfach zu verstehen.

I had been promising myself this book for a long time. One of those aviation classics you feel you should read but perhaps never get around to. Well this time I did get around to it when I saw it on Amazon for a sensible price, so many times it has come up at silly money I just couldn't entertain the idea of buying it but finally a sensibly priced copy appeared from a seller in the States and even with postage it was the chance to get the book I had promised myself. It is packed full of excellent information for the pilot, whether starting out or experienced. It is written in a style which explains the concepts being discussed in a very informative way without using jargon and thus paints the images in the minds eye with clarity. A book I would thoroughly recommend. Furthermore my copy arrived very quickly from America and so purchasing internationally was as easy as buying fro a UK supplier.