Tag Archives: aviation

The Professionals

Posted on April 10, 2025 by smellincoffee

Since 1915,  Martin Falconer has been flying birds above France in His Majesty’s Royal Flying Corps,  but  as the days pass he’s beginning to wonder how much longer he can buck the odds.  The aerial carnage has gotten especially bad … Continue reading →

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The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

Posted on June 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Constance is a young woman who’s just arrived in Hazelbourne, there to take care of an older family friend who’s just had a bout with flu. She enters into a new social circle thanks to this connection, and despite the … Continue reading →

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Breaking Point: Beating Hitler with Spits and math

Posted on May 17, 2024 by smellincoffee

Britain, late summer 1940. Jerry plans to pay southern England a visit, and Johnny Shaux and the other boys in the RAF intend on giving him a warm reception. Breaking Point is an unusual and fascinating fictional take on the … Continue reading →

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To So Few

Posted on April 30, 2024 by smellincoffee

France has fallen, the British army barely got out of Europe running from Hitler’s panzers, and now Britain stands alone. Only her brave lads in the Hawker Hurricanes stand between Hitler and global domination! …well, the guys in the Spitfires, … Continue reading →

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The Way to Go

Posted on March 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Longtime readers here know that I love reading about transportation, and not just Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Ships, horses, bicycles — if it moves, I’ll follow and read books about it happily. A few years ago I delighted in the … Continue reading →

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Millenium

Posted on October 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

So there you are, dear reader, engrossed in an interesting story about two airplanes smashing into one another, and of a man named Bill Smith who’s trying to find why. And then, perhaps a half hour into your reading journey, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Night Witches

Posted on August 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

The German army has invaded deep into Mother Russia, and Stalingrad itself is a battlefield. Young Valentina desperately wants to use her flying skills to defend her city, joining her sister Tatiana in the skies, but her mother forbids her. … Continue reading →

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Carrying the Fire

Posted on July 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Yet a higher call was calling, and we vowed we’d reach it soonSo we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the moonAnd Apollo told the world, we can  do it if we try —There was One Small Step, … Continue reading →

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Breaking the Chains of Gravity

Posted on July 18, 2023 by smellincoffee

Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA© 2016 Amy Shira Teitel304 pages You know the story. The scene: 1950s America. Everyone is drinking on the back patio in suburbia, dressed in cardigans or pearls and pastel … Continue reading →

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Hitler’s Armada

Posted on April 2, 2023 by smellincoffee

Hitler’s Armada: The Royal Navy & the Defence of Great Britain© Geoff Hewitt246 pages Summer 1940. Britain stands alone, its ally France having lain down her sword and surrendered to the German blitzkrieg, which has already consumed Norway, the Low … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments