Dreams of Flight

January 4, 2010 7:22 AM

The young man (12 years old, from India) who I sponsor wants to be a pilot.

The young man who I sponsor through Compassion International has written to me that he dreams of being a pilot someday. I'd love to be able to send him some inspiration.

I can't send a book, because of mailing restrictions, but I can maybe get a book and send it chapter by chapter (Xerox). He has a pretty good command of English, and so the book should be age appropriate. Any suggestions?

posted by roomthreeseventeen to education (17 answers total)

Roald Dahl's second memoir, Going Solo, involves piloting (but in wartime). Antoine de St-Exupery's Little Prince might be too childish for a 12-year-old, but is also about a WWII pilot (St-Exupery also wrote a few memoir-type books geared toward older people that you should be able to find in English translation).

Allied/Indian relations were pretty awkward during World War II, so if the kid has a highly-developed sense of colonial history, I might think twice about sending WWII pilot narratives-- but these are good reads if that won't be an issue.
posted by oinopaponton at 7:47 AM on January 4, 2010

Start him off with Cleared for Takeoff.

Stick and Rudder is a classic, though I have never read it.

The Killing Zone is very informative, especially for new private pilots.
posted by charlesv at 7:47 AM on January 4, 2010

The Young Eagles is the big US organization around getting young people excited about flying. There's a heavy emphasis on getting kids into planes, which won't be any help to you, but I'm guessing their site has some recommended books or articles. If nothing else, I'm sure they'd be glad to answer your question.
posted by Nelson at 7:52 AM on January 4, 2010

Maybe Michael Collins' Carrying The Fire, which is obviously about going to the moon but also gets into Collins' early life as a test pilot. I can't imagine anything more inspiring for a future pilot.

Really, any book written by any of the Apollo astronauts might work. Most of them started as test pilots. Gene Cernan's The Last Man On The Moon is also very inspiring.

Stick and Rudder is the classic book on flying, but it's more to do with the mechanics of flight. It's a book every pilot should read once in flight school, but might be a bit dry for a kid who isn't quite there yet.
posted by bondcliff at 8:00 AM on January 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Right Stuff

Besides the book, send him the video (VHS and/or DVD)
posted by jchaw at 8:29 AM on January 4, 2010

Besides the book, send him the video (VHS and/or DVD)

Unfortunately, I can't send books, videos or DVDs to rural India.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:39 AM on January 4, 2010

I read The Right Stuff at about that age, so that might be a good option.

St-Exupery's Night Flight is very short (the copy that I have is physically very small), which you might actually be able to mail a real copy of.

I recommend against Cleared for Takeoff, as it's really more of a whole flight training curriculum and the book isn't worth much without the accompanying CD-ROM videos.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:39 AM on January 4, 2010

Can you send him kits to build model airplanes?
posted by jchaw at 8:48 AM on January 4, 2010

Can you send him kits to build model airplanes?

If they are less than 1/4 inch thick.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:03 AM on January 4, 2010

Richard Bach's aviation books
posted by leigh1 at 9:36 AM on January 4, 2010

Are the mailing restrictions from the organization you're working through, or are they due to the difficilities of mailing internationally? Because if it's the later, I'm currently based in India and would be happy to help.
posted by bookish at 9:54 AM on January 4, 2010

Could you print out some paper airplane designs and send those?
posted by electroboy at 9:55 AM on January 4, 2010

Can you hook him up with a local Air Cadet squad? I have no idea is such a thing exists where he is. There also used to be "Tiger Clubs" in some parts of the commonwealth, so if he is in a CW nation, look them up.

I was crazy for air planes and piloting when I was his age. A really cool, age-appropriate intro to all aspects of flying is "The Flier's World" by James Gilbert.
posted by clvrmnky at 9:57 AM on January 4, 2010

Rinker Buck's Flight of Passage is pretty good. It's about two teenage boys flying across the US in a Piper Cub. A twelve year old with good English should be able to appreciate it.

I enjoyed Going Solo but it's sort of thin on the flying.
posted by MarkAnd at 10:23 AM on January 4, 2010

Are the mailing restrictions from the organization you're working through, or are they due to the difficilities of mailing internationally? Because if it's the later, I'm currently based in India and would be happy to help.

It's organizational but thanks.

I've ordered some of the books you guys suggested. Thank you! I plan to make color copies and send them to my friend a few pages at a time.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:32 AM on January 4, 2010

roomthreeseventeen,

Can you not just strip the bindings from the books ie: cut out/razor out the pages and send them directly, in small sections? I'm guessing that you can't based on what you are saying, but I thought I'd ask, just in case it can save you the huge expense of color copying books.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:41 AM on January 4, 2010

Not a book but you might be interested to know, I had a roommate and some friends at Western Michigan University who were all from india and were all studying aviation/flight sciences of one form or another.
posted by rebent at 1:34 PM on January 4, 2010