Recommended Books

Galloping Ghosts of the Brazilian Coast
Alan Carey
iUniverse
ISBN 0-595-66329-x

An obligatory book for knowing everything about US Navy Air Operations in the South Atlantic in WW2
Based on official sources and personal recolections it provides in-depth coverage of the South Atlantic conflict
All the squadrons, all the U-boots, all the American casualties, US aircraft and Axis submarines specifications.

Trampolim para a Vitória / Trampoline to Victory
Clyde Smith Jr
Author's Edition
Natal 2007

Clyde Smith, Jr in his second Trampolim bring us wonderful testimonies from several U.S. Army servicemen stationed in Natal in WW2 with several original photos taken by them, that were kept in their personal files and are now published by the first time ever. You can feel how it was to be living in Natal during that period and what to see in its streets. Priceless. Bilingual, English and Portuguese

L'ALA DI GABBIANO CON LA FINEZZA DI UNO STRADIVARIO
Paolo Miana
avioebooks.com

With a very rich text in italian, Paolo Miana describes the elegant and record breaker Savoia Marchetti S-64.
For those who wants to know more about the machine and its features. Technical data. Amazing original pictures In this machine Arturo Ferrarin and Carlo Del Prete broke several records in 1928, state-of- the- art tecnology for that period

Carlo del Prete e Gli Aviatori Lucchesi
Giorgio Giorgi
Associazione Arma Aeronautica & Comune di Lucca
Itália 2000

Giorgio Giorgi makes us know that besides Del Prete, the mostly known pilot from Lucca, there were several other Luccan pilots that had an important carrier in Aviation, military or civilian, that elevated the name of their homeland as an important aeronautical center in Italy. Amazingly researched, the book contains a lot of pictures and is presented in a luxury edition, large format. Only in Italian.

Dornier Wal "a Light coming over the Sea"
M. Michiel van der Mey
LoGisma

If you want to know anything and everything about the Dornier Wal, simply the best plane of the pioneering days, this master piece by Michiel van der Mey will fulfill your expectations. This plane started Commercial Aviation in Brazil in 1927. Technical data, all the planes manufactured in all countries, superb pictures, the first users and their stories, the pioneers. Amazing stories you never heard before. The first true "globalized" plane. Text in english. Click here to know more

Natal, USA
Lenine Pinto
Edição do autor
Natal 2005

Lenine rewrote his previous book and added a lot of historical data, making this book a very complete one about WW2 in Natal, with a lot of commentaries on the daily life by first hand testimonies.

Os Americanos em Natal
Lenine Pinto
Sebo Vermelho

This chronic book on Natal during the war years is very rich in details he witnessed as a teenager in 1943-5. You can transport yourself to those days and try to imagine those characters and their life under the eminence of an Axis invasion or during the black-outs, sharing the city with the Americans. This book led to his "Natal, USA".

Trampolim para a Vitória
Clyde Smith Junior
Editora da UFRN 1993
ISBN 7273-001-x

Professor Clyde Smith, Jr translated to portuguese his doctorate thesis and added many pictures and maps. His main goal was to show the importance of Natal during WW2, a fertile field once no book pictured Natal or Brazil especificaly during the war. Richly illustrated.

Contribuição Norte-Americana à Vida Natalense
Protásio Pinheiro de Melo
Brasília 1993

Professor Protasio describes the war years and the influence in changing old costumes by the Americans, now living in Natal as part of the city. The day-by-day, the interaction and the progress we inherited from them. As a portuguese teacher for the Americans inside Parnamirin Field, he lived closely to the Americans and as a Brazilian he could intermediate many situations understanding both sides.

História da Aviação no Rio Grande do Norte
Paulo Viveiros
EDUFRN- Editora da UFRN

No one can say a word about aviation in the State of Rio Grande do Norte without reading this reference book by Professor Paulo Viveiros. His pioneering work led to other authors about aviation in this State. His book is the center piece of any collection about aviation history in this State. First edition in 1974, new edition 2008.

Augusto Severo: Um pioneiro na conquista do espaço
Fernando Hippólyto da Costa
Sebo Vermelho - Instituto Pró-Memória de Macaiba 2004

The renowned author Fernado Hippolyto da Costa tells the story of a Science Martyr from Brazil, Augusto Severo, that like Santos-Dumont went to France, then Aviation Capital of the world to make his dreams come true. His studies influenced so notably the Zeppelin designs that many times the Zeppelin crews flying over Natal payed homage to him, throwing lighted wreaths over his statue on a public square in Natal. He could have accomplished a lot if not being killed with his French mechanic aboard his "PAX" airship over Paris in 1902.

Comandante Severiano Lins Pioneiro da Aviação
Fernando Chaves Lins
Edição do autor
Olinda 2002

It's a wonderful trip to the era of the pionners of Aviation, portraing the first Brazilian pilot to fly with Syndicato Condor, a German owned airline from Brazil that existed from 1927 to 1941 when it was nationalized and renamed Serviços Aéreos Condor.
He went to Germany in 1937 abord a Zeppelin to learn how to fly by instruments. After working alongside with his German co-workers for a period he came back to Brazil and flew for more two years when he got killed in an air accident, in which he was considered not guilty, due to inaccurate Brazilian charts that made him crash against a hill in instrument flight inside a cloud.

Os franceses no Rio Grande do Norte
Bernard Alléguède
Roberto da Silva - seleção, organização e Introdução
Sebo Vermelho

Very intersting book on the french influence on the Rio Grande do Norte State. More interesting, the French wings and its influence in our History. Mermoz, Saint Exuperi, Marise Bastié, Latecoere, Aeropostale, Air France. The first landing on today's Aeroporto Internacional Augusto Severo, then Campo dos Franceses, in 1927 in a direct flight from Africa. The first commercial airmail direct flight also from Africa by Mermoz in 1930, over the Atlantic.

No Caminho do Avião
Luís da Câmara Cascudo www.cascudo.org.br
Editora da UFRN

Brazilian renowned scholar, Master Cascudo, was a reporter before he was internationaly known as a Folklorist. This book published after he passed away shows notes from his reports for the local newspaper from 1922 to 1933 on the flights that passed by Natal. Very interesting and enlighting. A must have. The originals were kept by Rocco Rosso, his friend and brought to light after the author passed away. Notes by Hippolyto da Costa and Pery Lamartine

Guerreiros Potiguares
Cleantho Homem de Siqueira
Editora da UFRN

Cleantho was a Sargeant in the Brazilian Expedicionary Force (FEB) in WW2 and fought within the U.S. 5th Army in Italy. After his return he began collecting data about Natal and Brazil before the war and about the warriors from the State of Rio Grande do Norte, like him. This book is a first hand account very important to understand those days in Brazil and about the war operations in Europe.