Snakes in the Cockpit: Images of Military Aviation Disasters [Paperback]

Douglas Keeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 2002

Formerly classified, restricted, and never-before published photographs combine to deliver this exciting assortment of incredible military flight mishaps. You've seen his extraordinary photos before in his best-selling book No Easy Days. Now, after five years of intensive research, L. Douglas Keeney releases his latest treasury of photographs that serve as a window into the unfortunate circumstances military pilots occasionally encounter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press (December 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760312508
• ISBN-13: 978-0760312506
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,177,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Snakes in the Cockpit, February 1, 2003

By 

Dennis J. Tyra (Lynn Haven, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snakes in the Cockpit: Images of Military Aviation Disasters (Paperback)

I was somewhat disappointed by the book. Having been around airplanes a good part of my life, I've seen countless photos of crashes and mishaps. Many of the photographs selected were rather mundane and some of the captions questionable. As an example, a B-52 sequence is described as being the aftermath of a "crash." A close look at the photo shows ground equipment still hooked up to the "Buff" and it parked next to a hanger. Obviously this was some sort of a ground/maintenance mishap. Another shot shows an F4F Wildcat-not F6F Hellcat--against a carrier's island. I can never understand why books are published with detracting errors like this in them.

I would have liked more descriptive text attached to the photos. What happened to the crew? What were the circumstances of the crash/mishap? Was the accident due to mechanical failure or human error?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but buy used., May 14, 2006

By 

S. C. SCHUYLER (Hershey PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Snakes in the Cockpit: Images of Military Aviation Disasters (Paperback)

I need to state up front that I'm an airplane fanatic. If they put a picture of an airplane on rat poison I'd buy it. Ok, so I've thought about buying this book for a while, and have. Here's what I think: the book is solid, good, and well printed. The content, though, is a little "fluffy." What the author has done is blown up old grainy pictures, and included brief descriptions of what he supposes happened (which as other reviewers have mentioned is sometimes just DEAD WRONG!). IMHO, Googling airplane military crash would get you about the same results. I'm a little disappointed with the deliberate sepia toning that's been done here too.

On the plus side, the book is well bound, printing is crisp (despite lousy image quality in some cases) & the sheer variety of subject matter is mildly impressive.

Summing up, this is an odd book, worth a quick look at the library, but not essential to the military aviation buff.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Agonizing Photos, January 4, 2006

By 

Michael Makar (Bradenton, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snakes in the Cockpit: Images of Military Aviation Disasters (Paperback)

I bought this book at the Warner Robins Air Museum in Georgia. What grabbed me is the agonizing photo of a Loring AFB Maine B-52 burning. Having been stationed there and very fond of the B-52 it was like looking at a old friend pass away. Lots of good photos and I agree with the reviewer about the lack of text. Should have had more information on the incidents. Overall I would buy this book again just for the pictures.