Piston-Powered Propliners 1958-2000 [Paperback]

Martin W. Bowman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2000

In the years immediately following World War II, the tremendous wartime advances that had taken aviation technology to its zenith were utilized in several superb commercial airliners. This book captures many of the beautiful aircraft that graced the worlds airline routes between 1946 and the mid-1950s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks International (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760310122
• ISBN-13: 978-0760310120
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,961,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Colorful Tribute to Propliners of Yesterday and Today, June 27, 2009

By 

Daniel L. Berek (Flanders, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piston-Powered Propliners 1958-2000 (Paperback)

Many titles on propliners have been published; however, I admit I can never get enough of these picture books. This particular volume has pluses and minuses.

"Piston-Powered Propliners" is a pictorial history, told in pictures of actual piston-engined airliners taken between 1954 and 2000. That's nearly half a century worth of eye candy; however, as anyone knows multiengined airliners had been plying the skies long before then. Therefore, if you are looking for a complete history of piston-engined airliners, you will have to look elsewhere. The inclusion of photographs taken over such a broad period of time also seems to detract from having a common theme, such as "DC-3 survivors" or "great airliners of the 1950s." To confuse matters, the photos are not in strict chronological order.

What this book does offer is a well-rounded sampling of US, British, and Canadian aircraft, from the Airspeed Ambassador to the Vickers Viking. French and Soviet airliners are notably absent. The pictures, both old and new, are all of very good quality - kudos to the publisher for keeping all photos on single pages, thereby avoiding those dreaded gatefolds that mar pictures of so many other books of this type. The author also deserves high praise for his interesting and very informative captions that accompany each picture, describing the history and the future of the aircraft illustrated. All pictures are of aircraft in service or recently retired - for better or worse, no museum pieces are included, even flying restorations such as the DDA Dakota and Save A Connie L-1049.

In short, despite its shortcomings, this quality book is a treat to aviation junkies such as myself, especially those of us who love old airplanes with big, round engines.