Propellerhead - Hardcover

‘Inspirational...one of the best books ever written about flying.’ PILOT, May 2011

‘What Nick Hornby did for football, Antony Woodward has done for flying ... Wonderful.’ OBSERVER

‘Hugely engaging ... refreshingly amateur and low-tech ... a true love affair, albeit with clouds and air.’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Hilarious ... chock-full of incident, heartache, historical detail and near-death-experience, in as entertaining a non-fiction narrative as I have read ... Woodward has a gift for storytelling and comic timing and his acute awareness of the absurdities of maleness make this an impossible book not to like. INDEPENDENT

'A must-read for all pilots, everywhere, ever. But would I get in a plane with this nutter? F***, no.' (Captain) ALEX JAMES, BLUR

'Nick Hornby meets Jeremy Clarkson in a cockpit. Acutely funny', MARIELLA FROSTRUP

'Woodward's a truly terrible aviator - but his enthusiasm makes even the most timid flier want to take to the skies.' FHM

‘A genuine original–smartly written, eccentric, funny, engaging, with just the right combination of anorak and anarchy...The flying sequences are fabulous, the historic ghosts of Bomber command are strangely moving, and the whole book stays wonderfully airborne throughout. It reminds me of the early lunatic Redmond O’Hanlon, and a bit of Roger Deakin’s weird, soul-searching, swim-across-England book “Waterlog”.’ RICHARD HOLMES

'Lunatic... written so engagingly as to ensnare even those who know nothing about flying.' TIM BINYON, EVENING STANDARD

'Propellerhead is one of the best aviation books of the lot, and it has almost universal appeal...Take it from me, anyone who has even an incipient trace of flying in their blood will want to read Propellerhead.' PHILIP WHITEMAN, GENERAL AVIATION

'This eccentric, charming and poignant book is full of gems...sublime.' COUNTRY LIFE

'Woodward's a truly terrible aviator – but his enthusiasm makes even the most timid flier want to take to the skies.' FHM

‘A genuine original–smartly written, eccentric, funny, engaging, with just the right combination of anorak and anarchy...The flying sequences are fabulous, the historic ghosts of Bomber command are strangely moving, and the whole book stays wonderfully airborne throughout. It reminds me of the early lunatic Redmond O’Hanlon, and a bit of Roger Deakin’s weird, soul-searching, swim-across-England book “Waterlog”.’ RICHARD HOLMES

'Lunatic ... written so engagingly as to ensnare even those who know nothing about flying.' TIM BINYON, EVENING STANDARD

'Propellerhead is one of the best aviation books of the lot, and it has almost universal appeal. It was recommended to me by a Boeing 747 pilot, and entertained my late father – a 900-hour farm-strip flyer – and my non-pilot brother in equal measure. Woodward has the happy knack of being able to make you laugh – the book is screamingly funny in places – and move you, at the same time. Above all, he captures the essence of light aviation: the challenge; the romantic history; the beauty of the view from that private seat in the sky – the manifold things that drive us into the air. Take it from me, anyone who has even an incipient trace of flying in their blood will want to read Propellerhead.' PHILIP WHITEMAN, GENERAL AVIATION

‘What Nick Hornby did for football, Antony Woodward has done for flying. Wonderful.’ Lucy Moore, The Observer

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.