Propellerhead

by Antony Woodward

Join the real Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines as they compete in the Round Britain race. .Woodward’s warm, wry account of learning to fly will lift hearts everywhere. BBC2 documentary based on the book - 30 January 2012.
Antony Woodward wasn’t interested in flying, he was interested in his image. So in his world of socialising and serial womanising, a microlight plane sounded like the ideal sex aid. So why – once he discovers that he has no ability as a pilot, it costs a fortune and its maddening unreliability loses him the one girl he really wants – does he get more and more hooked?

As he monitors the changes to the others in the syndicate; as he learns that there is a literal down-side to cheating in flying exams, shunning responsibility and pretending to know stuff you don’t, the question keeps on surfacing. Why? As the misadventures mount – accidents, tussles with Tornadoes, arrest by the RAF – he keeps thinking he’s worked it out. But it isn’t until The Crash, in which he nearly kills himself and Dan (taking a short-cut in the Round Britain race) that the penny finally drops….

Flying is the antidote to modern life he didn’t even know he needed. It’s the supreme way to feel real.

Genres: Nonfiction, Aviation

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 2001

Reviews

[Kevin Sene · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in the lighter end of flying, such as light aircraft and microlights, this book is a must read. However, with its tales of flying adventures it does a good job of conveying the pleasures and excitement of flight to a wider audience and is written in a funny and engaging way. It is about the author’s time learning to fly what – by current standards- is a fairly old design of microlight and his successes and mishaps as he spread his wings to travel around the UK. However, please don’t take it as a good practice guide to how to be a pilot because it’s definitely not!

[Sam Huish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant book - would have liked it to go on longer! Great sense of adventure - reminds me of when I first started in Aviation, and could certainly inspire many people!

Also some absolutely terrible airmanship in it.

[Richard Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up there with Fate is the Hunter, the highest praise you can give to an aviation book. Full of humour and heart.

[Gareth Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thrilling account of a couple of guys hair-raising adventures in a microlight. As a pilot, I found some of their antics highly irresponsible, but this isn't a manual about how to do it right. Instead, it's a well-written tale of two naive non-flyers and the often hilarious and sometimes downright dangerous adventures they had as they took the the skies.

[Jen Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why other people enjoy this book so much. The author bumbles through learning to fly, blithely confident that everything will go more or less OK without him having to invest much in the way of effort, and if it doesn't, someone else will be along to sort things out. There's a sort of dreadful fascination in reading about the trail of chaos he and his friends leave behind them as they infringe controlled airspace, get lost, and narrowly escape death (on separate occasions).

This isn't a book about flying, or even microlighting, really - the author doesn't go into much detail on the mechanics, difficulties or triumphs of learning to fly, and he doesn't seem to have spent much time with pilots outside his own four-man syndicate (or if he did, didn't find it interesting enough to write about) so there's very little about the microlighting community. The narrative is more about the interactions between the members of the syndicate and their various misadventures - most of which could have been prevented by a little forethought or common sense.

As a book, the narrative skips along at a brisk pace. It's a butterfly sort of book: it flits here and there, never settling anywhere for long. This makes for a light, pacy read, but anyone looking for depth had better look elsewhere.

If you're looking for a book about microlight flying, you've probably discovered by now that you're not exactly spoilt for choice. With very few exceptions, microlighting and writing books seems to go together like fish and bicycles. This one, therefore, is worth a read. Just be aware that Woodward is probably the exception, rather than the rule... in many ways. :-)

[Neil Barriskell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top Gun it’s Not

As a fellow microlighter, and three axis at that this book captures not just the joy, but the absurdity of it beautifully. On more than one occasion the narrative was a little too close to home. Wonderful read, superbly engaging, don’t pass this book by irrespective if you are a pilot, wanna be one, or not.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aviation aspect earned it four stars.

[Miron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contagious.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read as I recall. Apparently the trick to landing is to try not to land.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very charming book that captures the joy of flight. Anyone who wonders why pilots love what they do should read this book.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The old ones are the best ones. One of my favourite reads of all time, I think, and I breezed through this like a micro-lite through a Sussex summer's evening. One of the very few novels that I believe I'll read for a third and fourth time.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the world of macrolights. Doesn’t make me feel reassured at all, though!

[Iain Spence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, really enjoyable read following the adventures of this slightly daft, disorganised but adventurous soul.