Review of First Flight: The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Airplane (Hardcover)

By Bill Marsano. The centennial of flight has given us a spate of Wrighteous books this year, but few can match this one for expert knowledge and for pleasurable reading. Heppenheimer is an aviation expert and writer who has covered the ground exceedingly well. Most important, he avoids the folkloric view of the Wrights as a couple of plucky, red-cheeked mechanics who somehow kicked an airplane into being for a lark. They were, in fact, a pair of solid and serious young Midwestern businessmen who looked the part: Even in the workshop they customarily wore jacket and tie. They flew with their hats on. Generally they resembled a couple of bankers who are about to turn down a loan application. Beyond that, they were not merely mechanics but natural-born engineers and self-taught scientists who observed, studied, tested--and learned from their mistakes as well as their successes. Most of us have heard the 'story' of the Wright Brothers--this book helps us comprehend the astonishing magnitude of their achievement, which took them less than five years, working part-time and paying their own way.

Heppenheimer brings a lot of color into his story--the Wrights and others are revealed to us as human beings rather than icons--and he goes far afield, too, bringing us the stories of those others who preceded and competed with the Wrights. The result is a nicely rounded saga of man's long struggle to progress from wishes to wings. He also answers a question people often forget to ask: The Wrights produced the first man-carrying powered airplane in 1903; they set the world on its heels when, in 1908, they went to France for their first large-scale public demonstrations (before an extremely skeptical audience)--so how was it that they faded so quickly from the scene? I won't reveal the answer here (though I will suggest that the facts seem to pre-figure the later struggle between the Apple and the PC). And I will strongly urge you to read this book.



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Review of Jetliner Cabins (Paperback)

There are surprisingly few large scale, codified books on interior design for the aviation industry.Every once in a while a book tries to bridge the gap between a coffee table, photographic essay of airplane interiors and a true guide for aviation interior design.Going even further than the previous edition in the number ofchapters and photographs, Jetliner Cabins is the most up-to-date book currently available.

This updated edition contains a thorough explanation of cabin interiors, from discussions on the history of aviation and passenger experience, defining brands, new trends in design, cabin maintenance and marketing.Of special note is a subchapter on the future of commercial airliners and airplane design, including wonderful pictures of the energy efficient and sleek Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the cavernous Airbus A380-800, the multifunctional Bombardier CSeries and the scalable Embraer Jets.These planes may compete against each other on very different merits, but they thrust aviation into the next phase of flight history.It is wonderful to read and see so much about these planes.

Through well-written analysis, comparisons, diagrams, photographs, and indexes, Jetliner Cabins will delight both industrial designer and amateur enthusiast.

Product Description
An essential source of practical information for architects who need to create brilliance and flair within an incredibly disciplined design scenario

This is a visual and fascinatingbook thatfocuses on the interior designs of aircraft cabins and how the many challenges faced in the layout of such a tight space can be met with flair and brilliance. It is a design context in whichthe tiniest detail can change a myriad of aspects.

Interior designers continuously express their creative skills through such designs and many of the techniques that are used in building interiors are repeated in aircraft cabins, and vice versa.

Jetliner Cabins is introduced by an overview of recentcabin design history and the book goes on to show, in a wealth of colour and black and white photographs, interiors from airlines around the world; great and small, historically significant and modern, lavish and minimal.It alsoprovides examples past and present,of airline branding, from colours and identity, to theultimate airline dining experience.

This isabook to be enjoyed by interior designers, architects and the general flying public who are interested in jetliners.

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