Stick and Rudder

It shows precisely what the pilot does when he flies, just how he does it, and why. These basics are largely unchanging. The book applies to large airplanes and small, old airplanes and new, and is of interest not only to the learner but also to the accomplished pilot and instructor. Today, several excellent manuals offer the pilot accurate and valuable technical information. Stick and Rudder remains the leading think-book on the art of flying. 

One thorough reading of it should be the equivalent of many hours of practice. 

• The invisible secret of all heavier-than-air flight: the Angle of Attack. 
• Why airplanes stall.
• The landing approach.
• The visual clues by which an experienced pilot unconsciously judges: how you can quickly learn to use them.
• "The Spot that does not move."
• The elevator and the throttle.
• The paradox of the glide.
• What's the rudder for?
• How a turn is flown.
• The landing--how it's made.
• The "tail-dragger" landing gear and what's tricky about it.
• The tricycle landing gear and what's so good about it.
• Why the airplane doesn't feel the wind.
• Why the airplane usually flies a little sidewise.

Plus: a chapter on Air Accidents by Leighton Collins, founder and editor of AIR FACTS. His analyses of aviation's safety problems have deeply influenced pilots and aeronautical engineers and have contributed to the benign characteristics of today's airplane.