Donald M. Pattillo

I think it's a real challenge to write a compelling book about the history of general aviation (GA) aircraft. There were many different companies in the beginning, and so many of them split up, went bankrupt, re-formed, changed names, merged, or got bought out, which basically resulted in a weird inbred industry that just had about 3 or 4 names by the end. It's difficult to keep track of all of the players. This book does an admirable job of providing details on them, but gets caught up in the minutiae, which frequently makes it hard to follow.

This book is pretty much 100% centered around the manufacturers of GA aircraft and doesn't include any (or much, if it was included at all) details about airspace, navigation, certification, or other aviation-related topics.

Although no fault of this book, it is now 20 years old. There aren't many (any, in fact, that I know of) recent (less than 5 years old) books about GA. This is a shame considering the huge changes that things like special light sport certification have brought to the industry.… (más)