'Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying' can arguably be considered one of the best books ever written on aviation topics. It may be at times somewhat dense to read, and you need some real - life flight experience as a pilot or student with at to have at least a couple of hours to get the most of it, but is nevertheless brilliant.

The book explains in detail but in a layman's language how and why aeroplanes fly; it was written taking into consideration small, light general aviation aircraft such as the ubiquitous Piper Cub, and at a time when taildraggers and tricycle-geared aircraft were both common.

This fact makes Mr. Lagewiesche's work doubly useful, for it contains the best explanation that we have seen so far about how to land a conventional-gear aircraft; that is, a taildragger. In fact, we have tried following the tips and principles contained in this book in a real PA-11, which is a classical taildragger that doesn't even carry flaps, and we saw that consistently, student pilots who naturally had problems executing three - point landings solved the matter in just one hour of flight (about six landings).

The book explains in good detail the mechanics of stalls, spins and the dreaded ground loop, as well as power descents, glides, and the most useful landing techniques thus making it easier and safer to practice them; learning those maneuvres truly accelerates once you understand the underlying principles and mechanics. So it makes sense to invest in this book and save on real-life flight lessons, which are far more costly.

Whether you are a student pilot, someone looking for a taildragger endorsement or simply someone who wants to know how aeroplanes fly, we highly recommend this book for you.

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