Propellerhead

Described by Pilot magazine in 2011 as ‘Inspirational … one of the best books ever written about flying’. 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 – 23 January 2012.

Antony Woodward hated flying. It was, quite simply, not his thing. But when his flatmate Richard returned from Africa with a pilot's licence – and instant sex appeal – there was only one option …

Eccentric characters, recalcitrant lawnmower engines, lousy weather, unhappy landings – can these really be the things to get a relationship off the ground? As Woodward's passage from man to airman hits ever-increasing turbulence, he finds himself embarked on a jaunt of self-discovery that will strike a chord with many a disaffected urbanite.

Reviews

‘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

About the author

Antony Woodward's first book, the bestselling flying memoir PROPELLERHEAD, published in 2001, was described by Pilot magazine in May 2011 as 'one of the best books about flying ever written'. His most recent book, THE GARDEN IN THE CLOUDS, Confessions of a Hopeless Romantic, about his obsession with making a garden on top of a Welsh mountain, was picked as Book of the Year 2010 by The Times and The Spectator and was a winner of the National Trust-Hay Festival Outdoors Books of the Year 2011.