Customer Reviews

Van Sickle's Modern Airmanship

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This is the All-in-one, Swiss-army-knife reference for pilots. The "must-have" book. This completeness and coprehensiveness does not come at the cost of detail or quality of contained info, to the contrary, it is one of the most accurate books in this field. Whether you are an occasional PPL holder who flies every other weekend or you are an airline pilot who fly for a living, this reference would never leave your side. Worth every cent.

I found this book at a used bookstore and subsequently bought it used through Amazon at a very bargain price. The 6th edition was published in 1990; an 8th edition published in 1999 is available and, although more recent, is still over a decade out of date. When looking at a book like this one has to evaluate its treatment of principles that remain constant (aerodynamics, aircraft structures, propulsion, atmosphere/weather, aeromedicine, and basic flying and navigation) versus those that even today continue to go through fast-paced changes (aircraft types, composite construction, avionics, flight control systems). I find Van Sickle's treatments of the foundation subjects to be comprehensive and summary. I look forward to picking this book up to quickly review a subject for my work. And on subjects like avionics where there are much newer references, I find the systems covered in this book to provide a nice bridge from the "steam" gages and mixed displays still found in many light aircraft and the fully integrated display and avionics systems now common in the heavies. I think this book will make an excellent companion to the Standard Handbook for Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineers edited by Mark Davies published in 2002. Between these two volumes you can find both the engineering guidance and hands-on application information that is necessary for any practicing aircraft engineer.

I have not had an opportunity to review the eight edition of Neil D. Van Sickle's "Modern Airmanship," but I can state unequivocally it is a first class publication. I was privileged to have contributed to several chapters of a previous edition and, thereby, know the accuracy and quality that goes into this book.

Myron W. Collier