In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft [Hardcover]

Dana Bell (Author), Eric F. Long (Photographer), Mark A. Avino (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum holds the country's premier collection of historic aircrafts, but visitors must view these impressive structures at a distance.

IN THE COCKPIT captures the feeling of helming these historic craft with big, gorgeous four–color photographs that will give flight enthusiasts a true pilot's eye view of many of history's most important domestic and military airplanes, jets, and helicopters. Each entry includes archival images of the craft and authoritative text that places each one in the context of the development of aviation technology and world history

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Now retired after thirty years with the US Air Force Still Photo Depository and the National Air and Space Museum Archives, Dana Bell is a full-time aviation historian and author. He has written more than twenty books on aviation subjects. Eric F. Long is a senior photographer for the National Air and Space Museum. Mark A. Avino is the chief photographer for the museum.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Harper Design; 1st edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061143812
• ISBN-13: 978-0061143816
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Transportation
  • #48 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Aeronautics & Astronautics
  • #85 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Aviation

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars can you imagine yourself flying a plane?, March 5, 2009

By 

David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft (Hardcover)

There are some wonderful flight sims out there. You can sit at your PC and fly all sorts of aircraft. Not too bad, huh? With most of these sims you can see the controls. Sometimes the controls are rendered quite faithfully, at other times you get a generic rendition. In this book, however, you'll find that other than for WW I craft, interiors get very complex indeed.

50 aircraft interiors are covered here--lots of well-done full-color photographs. With the Halberstadt CL IV in 1917 you get a spartan cockpit--about a half-dozen gauges and a handful of switches and levers. It shouldn't be too hard remembering which is which. Taking off, flying, and landing, well, that's different. The 1937 Piper Cub--still quite simple. The 1927 Lockheed Vega--maybe 15 gauges, and 20 levers. The Hurricane of WW II begins to look quite a bit more intimidating: the Corsair takes another jump in complexity. The MIG-15 begins to look despairingly difficult (yet pilots regularly flew it). The Concorde looks as if it might require its own 250-page section in a flight sim manual. Leave the actual flying to others--while you browse this delightful book!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work!, May 2, 2007

By 

David Palermo - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft (Hardcover)

This book is beautiful! I saw it at Borders today. Even if you are not interested in cockpits you should pick up this book. Cockpits are interesting and these are some of the most famous aircraft of all time.

BEAUTIFUL photography. In addition to the photos I really enjoyed the nostalgic look and feel to the book. A very cool book indeed by two of the world's best aircraft photographers. No wonder they work at the Smithsonian...

David Palermo

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, Informative Book, January 21, 2010

By 

Venice Bound "Loves to read" (AR, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft (Hardcover)

I purchased this book for my husband for Christmas and he has thoroughly enjoyed the book. He is a former pilot (retired) so he had a "built-in" interest. There were so many cockpits he had not seen and he enjoyed seeing and reading about each. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a pilot in their family.