Aviation Biography Books by Charles E. MacKay

About this collection

These four biographies profile figures whose careers shaped experimental flight, inter-war British air racing, Royal Navy carrier deck testing, and Cold War naval combat. Soaring with Wings: Percy Pilcher Wants To Fly (ISBN 9781838056766) reconstructs Percy Sinclair Pilcher's 1895 to 1899 glider experiments at Auchensail and Wallaceton near Cardross on the Clyde and in England, the Hawk glider he displayed at Kelvingrove Park, his correspondence with Lawrence Hargrave and Octave Chanute, his two meetings with Otto Lilienthal, his lectures at the University of Glasgow, and his fatal crash at Stanford Hall. Mother of the Few (ISBN 9781838056711) records how Lucy, Lady Houston DBE financed the 1931 Schneider Trophy Supermarine S.6B and the 1933 Houston-Mount Everest expedition. Captain of the Clouds (ISBN 9780957344365) follows Royal Navy test pilot Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown from his escapades in pre-war Germany to flying the Me 163 Komet, including his time aboard HMS Argus, the first carrier deck landing of a jet aircraft in a Sea Vampire, and his post-war evaluations of captured German aircraft. Skyraider 04 Down (ISBN 9781838056773) tells the story of US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and his 1966 escape from Laos.

Read more about Aviation Biography

• Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown: Test Pilot, Carrier Landings and the Records That Still Stand
• Percy Pilcher, 1895-1899: Cardross, the Hawk Glider, Otto Lilienthal and Early Flight in Scotland
• Mother of the Few: How Lucy, Lady Houston Financed the 1931 Schneider Trophy and the 1933 Everest Flight
• Dieter Dengler Biography: Skyraider 04 Down and the Laos Escape, 1966

All research articles

Other collections

• WWII Aviation (4 titles)
• Scottish Aviation History (3 titles)
• WWI Aviation (3 titles)
• Industrial History (2 titles)
• Military History (2 titles)
• Helicopter History: The Sycamore Seeds (1 title)
• Jet Age Aviation: Sabres from the North (1 title)
• Naval Aviation: Beardmore Built HMS Argus 1914 to 1947 (1 title)
• Travel Literature: Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland 1803 (1 title)