Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying

by Wolfgang Langewiesche

"Stick and Rudder" is the first exact analysis of the art of flying ever attempted. It has been continuously in print for thirty-three years, and has enjoyed steadily increasing sales. Flight instructors have found that the book does indeed explain important phases of the art of flying, in a way the learner can use. It shows precisely what the pilot does when he flies, just how he does it, and why.

Genres: Aviation, Nonfiction, Science, Engineering, Reference, Aeroplanes, Technology

400 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the 50s art of the cover fool you. This book is just as relevant and informative now as when it was originally written. Practical insights into understanding for pilots and those who are curious about how airplanes work. Cleverly written, this book does not become too technical, but remains grounded in the fundamental physics underlying flight.

A very enjoyable read.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't add much to the general consensus. This should be required reading for anyone who wants to fly a fixed-wing craft. Parts of it are getting a little dated, though (it's over 60 years old), but it generally holds up quite well.

For anyone interested in this book, let me also point you to John Denker's See How it Flies , a really excellent discussion of flying techniques and aviation physics presented in a manner accessible to all pilots. It is a great compliment and follow up read to Stick and Rudder and is available in it's entirety free online.

[Esteban del Mal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a book about drag queens. Turns out it's about flying. I suspect that in the final analysis, the two aren't very different. I'll let you all know when I finish.

***

"Someone once said that if you will look at an airplane long enough, sit in it long enough, fool with the controls long enough you will decide you can fly it."

Not this cowboy. Call Bernoulli's Principle whatever you want, it's still voodoo.

[Jackie V · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only taken a few flight lessons and wanted to get a better knowledge of the mechanics of flight. This book was perfect. Langewiesche is a master of describing complicated subjects in the most digestible way possible. I love how he interjects the voice of the confused student "But, why would the plane do that?". It's usually what the reader is thinking (at least I was) and it felt oftentimes that it was more of a conversation which was great.

This is one of the few flight books I've read so far so I can't easily compare it to others. BUT I can say that the way he stereotypes pilots is quite outdated. All those mentions of "Learn [flight stunt] to impress your girlfriend" or "Now you can even explain [flight mechanic] to your girlfriend so even she will understand!" really rubbed me the wrong way, but I'll let it slide.

[Alasdair53 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If ever you aspire to take the controls of an aircraft, read this first.

There's even some really good stuff about instrument flying, but (as the name suggests), it's really all about what you do with your hands and feet, and how you convince your brain to give the right orders!

[Randy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was flipping through old issues of the Readers Digest from the 1950s when I saw an article about flying over the arctic circle. Wolfgang Langeweishe wrote this fascinating article about how airplanes have to navigate through the Arctic circle without a compass because they don’t work near the magnetic north.

I got deeper into his career and discovered this book was his most popular writing. I found a copy through Interlibrary loan and read it slowly over several months. First off, I have no interest in flying planes so this was quite the slog but I still found it worth reading. It was written for a nontechnical audience, student flyers mostly and the concepts weren’t that difficult to grasp but without an interest in being a pilot, I couldn’t visualize the circumstances of piloting an airplane.

I did appreciate how he presented complex topics in a simple and straightforward way. Yet he doesn’t condescend to his audience. He assumed we are intelligent if ignorant on the subject. And if there is only one thing to learn from this book it is that the key to flying is the angle of attack!

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manual de "buenas prácticas" para pilotos, muy interesante, con un montón de casos prácticos y que se mete en harina en más de una ocasión, superando el nivel del aficionado no piloto como yo. Desde las explicaciones iniciales (podemos preguntar al ingeniero sobre el principio de Bernouilli, pero al final el ala mueve hacia abajo el aire que le viene de frente y gracias a ese empujón volamos. Más Newton y menos Bernouilli) hasta las diferentes entradas en pérdida o cómo calar el altímetro para volare y aterrizar en aeropuertos que están a mucha altura, el autor nos hace un repaso de multitud de situaciones en las que el sentido común y la decisión correcta no coinciden. Me ha quedado muy claro que tirar hacia atrás de la palanca cuando queremos subir es uno de los errores que más pilotos hace besar el suelo, al igual que los giros a baja altura y baja velocidad. Muy entretenido, aunque obviamente de más utilidad para un piloto de verdad.

[Timber · Rating 2 out of 5]

After nearly 2 years of trying to force myself to get through this book, I'm throwing in the towel. I really wanted to love this book, but I didn't. So many people recommended this book and I'm sure my grandfather enjoyed this book when he was in flight training so I was sure I'd love it. Nope. There are so many modern books that explain aviation so much better than this 1940s relic. I found it to be nearly entirely outdated and some advice it gives is incorrect for standard procedure nowadays. There are a few moments I enjoyed in the book, but overall, all the principles of flight are explained better elsewhere.

[Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that we hunans can fly above the clouds and travel the world.
Flying an aircraft is amongst the most mesmerizing experiences that human can experience. This book is a very intuitive and brief guide of flying an airplane. It covers all the basics for pilots to grasp the concept of flying. As a general aviation point of view its a very good guide but not so much for airliners. Still it's a good read for any aviation enthusiast.

This book targeted to a specific niche. If someone can't relate or have no interest to know about the art of flying then this book is not for them. Reading it can be dry and boring.

[Arukiyomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascintated by flying and, since building myself a computer that can cope with it, I’ve been using a flight simulator to teach myself how to fly. Stick and Rudder is one of those texts that anyone learning to fly is recommended to read. It was first published in 1944 when getting people (read: men) to fly was somewhat of a US government requirement.

Getting people in the air was one thing. Helping them stay there was an increasing problem. The world had rushed headlong into flight but hadn’t put as much thought into what people might do while they were up there. It turned out that they were likely to do many things that seemed logical but were actually going to kill them.

Along came Wolfgang who compiled articles he’d written for aviation magazines along with a section by a colleague and a classic was born. The fact that it is still widely read today when aviation technology has changed beyond recognition belies the fact that, when it comes down to it, the fundamentals of flying remain unchanged.

As someone who has literally only had 2 hours and 55 minutes’ real flying time (Piper PA-28) in his life (and prob. over 100 on a sim), Langewiesche’s lessons are invaluable. The basic premise is this: it’s all about making sure that your angle of attack isn’t too high. I don’t think there was any situation described in the book in which death wasn’t immediately preceeded by stalling and stalling by too high an angle of attack.

If the phrase “angle of attack” is a mystery to you, it’s either because you have no interest in flying and don’t need to know or because you do have an interest in flying but have been learning the wrong things. It’s you, budding aviator, who needs to get a copy of this. Some it is a bit repetitive, but that’s probably necessary. It’s essential reading.

You can probably leave aside all the quaint advice about tightening the stays between your wings and landing aircraft with wheels under the tail. However, you ignore the rest of the book at your peril … and that of anyone with you or beneath you.

For more reviews and the 1001 Books Spreadsheet, visit http://arukiyomi.com

[Sadia Nahreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a student pilot, I found this book to be an excellent read, as it cleared quite a lot of misconceptions regarding airplane aerodynamics for me, gave me counterintuitive insights into airplane's behavior in abnormal situations and ideas about common (and uncommon) ways things go wrong in an otherwise boring flight.

I docked a point because I found it very repetitive (or maybe that was the point in order to make the point?) in explaining the concepts. It also assumed a few 'misconceptions' which I don't think is as common as it was made to look like, and consequently wasted a lot of time 'clearing' them out.

If anyone has a good summary of this book please let me know, I'd love to revise it from time to time.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a private pilot I was recommended this book 35 years ago when I was learning to fly. I have reread parts of this many times in flying over those years. It is a required touch stone for anyone who wants to fly, is learning to fly, or who does fly. If you fly a small private aircraft, military plane or an airliner all of the tenants, principles and dictum's in this book will make and keep you a better flyer.

[Jon Kirwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an old and very practical book, from 1944 I think. I'm a pilot of limited experience (which means I have a few hundred hours of experience as a pilot, mostly on single engine aircraft and in VFR conditions -- I do have some experience on twin engine.)

This is a book that should be read at least two time -- preferably three I think, at least for those starting out in this hobby as non-professionals. It takes several rounds through the book to assimilate what's there. And it is fantastic.

I come from a physicist's point of view. This means that for all my life I've been immersed in theory but also in experimental results, as well. I had come into the whole idea of being a student pilot (before getting my license) with all these ideas of the theory side of things. I spent countless hours, decades ago, studying the old NACA (the name of NASA, years ago) on airfoil design. I examined thousand and thousands of different airfoil designs.

But when I was first put into a Cessna 150 and 152 for my first training experience, all that theoretical knowledge was of little value to me. I kept trying to think about flying the aircraft from these theoretical ideas. And it became very confusing.

The reality is that while theory is correct, the practice of flying well requires acquiring more practical, emergent ideas. This book reflects well these practical ideas and avoids getting overly mired in all the relative details that a physicist may prefer (orthogonal axes, for example, that make analysis work out well but really are far less important for someone at the controls of an aircraft.)

I would highly recommend this book to those haven't yet started their training at an airport, or who are earlier in their progress. Go through this book multiple times, until things sink in better. Then ask your instructor to work you through each of the various gaits indicated in the book -- put you into those positions (most of them, anyway) so that you can develop your skills quickly and early. The book serves well as a source of discussion with your instructor and in encouraging them to put you through these paces earlier than later.

I've been through ground school and through hundreds of hours of flight instructor training. And nothing in either of these gave me the vocabulary or the ideas that I needed in order to ask for better training at the time. The result is that I'm poorer for the experiences I've gained because I lacked the ability to ask for help from my instructors on the important gaits (the book uses that term) where I needed to improve.

It's cheap. It's valuable. If you plan to spend serious money on getting your VFR pilots license, then spend the time (over and over, 2 or 3 times at least) to read/listen to the book. It will go a long way when it comes to time where you interact with your flight instructor and ask for specific training in a variety of modes of operation of a light aircraft, whether single or twin engine.

[AJ Warden]

For those who are interested in flying and the science/physics behind it, this is a must-read book. It was originally published in 1944, so it is the definition of "an oldie but a goodie". The book is split into 7 chapters, each having 3-4 sub-sections. The book explains the key parts of flying including the wings of the airplane, understanding the air, airplane controls, maneuvers, dangers, and "more air sense". The first chapter covers the reason wings cause the airplane to do the things it does, and clearly explains the physics behind it. This is a fairly complex book to understand, but there are drawings and diagrams every few pages to help with a visualization of the text.

As someone who struggles with reading for long periods of time, and understanding complex texts, these diagrams are extremely helpful and really help visualize the meaning of the text. This is a book that you can sit down for hours and read, or pick up and have a "quick read". Since this is a non-fictional book of information, there is no chronological story that needs to be followed and does not leave you sitting on the edge of your seat. Instead, the book has you desiring to continue to learn and read more and more. Because of this, I have had great enjoyment reading the book. I can read it for however long, and wherever I would like and still retain the same amount of great information.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for all pilots, highly recommended to read during PPL training, or soon after so you can get the most value by understanding the terminology and basic concepts of flight.

This book explains the shortcomings of common flight training, which has been mostly unchanged through the years. It shows how a lot of pilots come out of school without truly understanding what the flight controls do. E.g. pilots think pulling back on the stick makes it go up, when in reality the elevators should be thought of as an Angle of Attack lever.

This book also explains how the majority of fatal air accidents occur. It’s not engine failures or extreme weather like most pilots would believe, but rather the pilot reacting incorrectly, specifically in sharp turns, that causes them to induce a spin and spiral nose down straight to the ground.

All in all, the answer almost always is to push the stick forward, lower the angle of attack, build up your speed and then return to your normal attitude flight.

I love flying, and am terrified of death, so reading this book was great for me, seeing how most fatal accidents can be avoided with some simple understanding of the flight controls, not taught very well in flight school.

Can’t recommend enough! Also the the book isn’t dry at all, and the author has some very slight dark humor which I found to be entertaining. It was an enjoyable experience.

[John Sperling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is useful practically and theoretically. First published in 1944, it is still incredibly relevant. It was probably the first good attempt to bring engineering analysis to the actual practice of flying airplanes, and one of the first to emphasize the importance of angle of attack in all phases of flight. There is at least one not-so-minor error, such as the idea on p. 33 that a stalled wing doesn't produce lift. In fact, at the stall a wing's coefficient of lift is at maximum; a stalled wing still produces lift, just not enough to keep the aircraft in the air. The control wheel as the speed control, and the throttle as the altitude control-all of which may initially seem counterintuitive-is explained thoroughly. The anachronistic sexism (the flier is always "he/him", the aircraft always "his") is an annoying presence throughout the book. Perhaps a new edition is in order. Good flight training doesn't teach a student pilot everything they need to know (there is far too much), but teaches the essentials and gives them tools to explore safely. This book is a good addition to that training.

[Chris Vig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, the single most important book ever written about the art of flying airplanes. To a modern reader it may no longer be as revolutionary as it was when first released in the 1940s, but that’s only because Langewiesche’s ideas have already been thoroughly integrated into the modern pilot curriculum. That said, it should still be required reading for anyone who flies a fixed-wing aircraft, at any skill level, from student pilots all the way up to the space shuttle. Fascinating, lucid, detailed, and often quite funny, it *will* make you a better pilot.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book despite that it is, at times, dry and repetitive.

A book of this length would usually be a 9 to 11 day read for me, but this one took me 15 days. Mostly because it's very information-heavy and I found myself taking a lot of notes.

On a positive note, despite this book being 80 years old, virtually everything in this book still applies today. What other books about technology/machinery/means of travel can that be said about?

This is still a considered a primary reference book in the world of pilots and aviation today.

[Brandon Fosdick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A not-entirely-timeless classic, but still a classic that should be required reading for all pilots.

The artwork is out of date, yet also nostalgic and very easy to understand; there's definitely something to be said for simplicity. The writing style is very informal, and uses colloquialisms that probably made more sense 80 years ago, but it still readable and enjoyable. The end result is an easy to absorb and intuitive understanding of how an airplane flies. Reading this book won't make you an aerospace engineer, but it will help you avoid becoming a statistic.

[David Bristow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be the first (or next) book any prospective student pilot or current pilot reads (especially flight instructors). Instructor turnover at flight schools is rapid and increasing, leading to new pilots, who were trained by new pilots, training still newer pilots. This book contains the information that won’t necessarily be specifically asked for on a practical test, but that will keep pilots alive.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! I've never read a more useful flying aid. Students who fly conventional geared (taildragger) airplanes are going to get the most out of this book. The last two chapters didn't hold up well to the rest. The author was also very thoughtful about "future improvements" to airplane design...but learning on very antique antiques is a very common thing in my area which made it idealistically cute. Good thing the rest was highly practical.

[Edin Kapić · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book on flying that has aged remarkably well. It's written in the 1940s but the sound advice is still sound for flying GA propeller planes. The repetitive nature of the chapters (due to the book being published as columns, I think) distracts a little bit as the core advice is repeated and hammered on almost every page: rudder doesn't turn the plane (it cancels the adverse yaw), the stick is the plane speed control and the throttle is the plane climb/descent control.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a pilot trained after WWII, calling the elevators “flippers” will never not sound silly. That said, a phenomenal book about practical flying. Much of the cowboy type flying suggested in the book (feeling the stall and flying just above that on final approach) is not really in style or considered safe anymore. The practical examples of proper rudder use and how wings and trim set airspeed are amazingly helpful.

[Ben Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through and through this book is absolutely phenomenal. My mind is blown at how advanced and precise Mr. Langewiesche's knowledge of aerodynamics was in the 1940's. The exact same "theories" that puzzle pilots today were solved a long time ago... Proper information must be taught early in flight training (this should be required reading)! Every aspiring aviator and enthusiast alike MUST read this book.

[David Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every aspiring pilot should read this; it may save your life. While it is an older work, the fundamentals of physics are unchanging. The triumvirate of relative wind, angle of attack, and the urge to pull the nose up (even when that's what will kill you) are critical to internalize, and this book does a good job of driving it home.

[Evan Hanau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches you to think like a pilot. Not like an aeronautical engineer, but as a pilot. I read it a month before I first soloed and airplane and I credit it with making me a safer aviator. While technology has long since progressed past what is written here, the fundamentals will never change.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be more aptly named "Don't be an idiot, get the stick forward (and also don't do that with your rudder)"

It will take a while to read but it's worth trying to understand everything written in these pages.

[Nicholas Kokolakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quintessential and relevant description of the practical application of aerodynamics. Although an old book, it has concepts that apply to the modern aircraft just as well today. A fantastic read during Air Force pilot training. L

[Claire (find me on Storygraph) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for student pilots (or other aviation enthusiasts) who understand things more when they're explained rather than shown. A true explanation of the art of flying, and a glimpse of the aviation world in the 1940s.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about how airplanes actually work - a recommended read for any would-be pilot. It addresses common misconceptions about how to fly a plane - and it should probably be renamed "Stick and Throttle (and don't touch the damn rudder unless you really, really, know what you're doing)"