Transportation Books

this is a great book for both learning some car facts and to just sit down and have some entertainmen

This book is funny. If you have seen the show Top Gear before, you would already know how funny these Top Gear host are. The book is very colourfull which seems to target little children with colourfull pictures/drawings. This book seems to be written for the British public, a.k.a people who is able to watch Top Gear. If you have never heard of Top Gear or a bloke named Richard Hammond before. Then there is no point buying this book. This book is not that very informative and you might say it is a waste of money.

Richard Hammond, aka "The Hamster" brings his own special brand of silly to this overview of automobile excess. Complete with photos and cartoon drawings, he reviews his favorites, disses his least liked, and shows us what he has found to be the most interesting things in the auto world. This is a book that deserves a place in any book collection. (Personally, The Hamster and the whole "Top Gear" crew have an entire shelf of their own in my library!)

Great book that's hard to put down. It is too technical at times but still enjoyable to read and there are so many interesting facts to learn about.

As a pilot who has studied major air crash investigations over the years, this was a great read, with detailed information around the physics of aircraft accidents, backed by interesting statistics around various aspects of air safety today. However one aspect of the book that troubled me is Georges comments around TWA-800, specifically how he states that after the nose of the aircraft was blown off after the initial Centre Wing Tank (CWT) explosion, that the aircraft managed to fly on for a further 40 seconds before stalling. I am astounded that someone with so much aeronautical experience could make such a ridiculous statement, considering the physics involved. With the nose blown off, the CoG (Centre of Gravity) would have immediately shifted aft causing the aircraft to violently pitch up and stall within seconds. To say the aircraft merely flew on straight & level, or even climbed as per the preposterous video released (and subsequently withdrawn) by the CIA, is in my opinion disappointing considering Professor Bibel's extensive experience in this area.

With the exception of this particular comment, I found the book to be a very interesting read, with several case studies followed up with good diagrams, graphs and other illustrations complementing the text. It's a book that I highly recommend to anyone interested in understanding aircraft crashes in further detail to what's currently shown on recent TV documentaries of the same subject.

In correspondence with Mr. Bibel, we both agreed that one of the most startling conclusions: in many airliner crashes, at least some people get out safely and survive. Get Out Quick!

***

George Bibel has written a fascinating book about what happens in the crashes of commercial airliners. He presents several case studies of airplane accidents, investigations and lessons learned. The book contains many drawings, graphs, and equations that illustrate his points.

These investigations have led to many improvements in airliner design. For example, passengers are often disturbed when they see the wings flapping in turbulence. That's intentional. The wings of a 777, for example, must bend upward 24 feet so it can pull out of an emergency dive before it can be certified to fly.

Planes can survive major blast damage. In 1986, a TWA jet withstood the explosion of a bomb. Four passengers were killed, but the plane landed safely, and 117 people survived. Other survivable occurrences include violent engine shuddering, sputtering flames and engine shutdown.

Some of the statistics surprised me. Of the 446 DC-10s ever delivered, 27 were involved in crashes that led to "total hull loss." Most of the deaths occurred in four of the crashes. Overall, 69% survived, and in 23 of the crashes, over 90% survived. Bottom line: you are five times more likely to be in a crash that is survivable than in a crash that isn't.

Getting out quickly is critical. In a 1989 crash the plane broke into multiple sections and a fireball erupted, but 185 of 296 people survived, including a baby placed on the floor as instructed by the flight crew.

Important lessons for passengers:

First, listen carefully to the on board announcements. Many are delivered quickly over sometimes faulty sound systems. Surveys show that over half of the passengers don't pay any attention to the safety announcements.

Second, keep your seat belt fastened throughout the flight.

Third, in case of an emergency landing or crash, follow instructions carefully and get out of the plane quickly.

I found this a clearly written, very useful review of current airline safety. George Bibel also maintains an excellent website to update the information in his book.

Robert C. Ross 2008

As an airline pilot and safety researcher, I ordered "Beyond the Black Box" as soon as it became available. This book is different from most books about aircraft accidents in that it focuses on the actual dynamics and mechanical processes of aircraft accidents rather than Human Factors: I found Dr. Bibel's book to be illuminating from a physical sciences viewpoint. The book uses very basic science and math principles (as well as simple experiments suitable for home or classroom use) to explain important points about these accidents.

Some of these accidents are quite well known, even outside of the industry (United 232), while most have been forgotten by everyone other than those directly involved in aviation safety and engineering (the Comet decompression accidents, the British Midland 737 accident at Kegworth, England, etc.), but all are excellent examples of different accident modes. I have studied numerous accidents over the years, and have taught several aviation safety courses, and I think this book is the best introduction to the physical sciences and engineering involved in aviation accidents available to the public. It is written with both expert professional and interested observer in mind, and is easily comprehended; all math and science concepts are thoroughly explained, as are higher order concepts like metal fatigue and fracture analysis.

I recently had the privilege of meeting Dr. Bibel and hearing him speak on aircraft accidents. He was very gracious and approachable, and I enjoyed both his presentation and his book greatly. This book is not written from a pilot's perspective, and as such contains some generalizations about flying procedures and techniques, but as an accessible scientific introduction to the science and dynamics of airplane accidents, this is an enjoyable and engaging book, and I recommend it without reservation.

I heartily recommend this book. Bibel gives lots of stories of airline crashes and diasters-a surprising number with reasonably happy endings. The stories themselves are fascinating and should be required reading for all pilots and flight attendants. But everyone should appreciate the stories and the care that the entire air industry puts into air safety-and much of the physics and engineering behind it. Very enjoyable read.

Good for who want to rebuild a stock engine. To get a litle perfomance tuneup you have to find it into another book.

It did not have enough information on setting timing. Also did not have enough information on engine identification.

This book is an excellent guide to rebuilding small-block ford engines (sbf). Written by experts with years, this book is written specifically about rebuilding the sbf. Anyone who is rebuilding an engine would find this book useful because of the large amount of general wisdom about rebuilding.

Starting with how to assess whether the rebuild is needed, and a discussion of the tools and skills required, the book can help keep you from getting into a project that is beyond one's abilities or desire to complete. There is also a thoughtful section on hopping up engines, since the time to do it is during a rebuild.

Various options for levels of quality of parts to use as well as the decisions around how much machineshop time to use are discussed. Finally well ilustrated and very detailed step-by-step instructions take you through the full rebuild from tear-down to build-up and through reinstallation in the vehicle.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is contemplating rebuilding an sbf. The combination of detailed instructions with thought-provoking advice will go a long way in helping to create a successful rebuild.

This book has been around a lot longer than most books.It does offer a lot.A good guide from inspection of your engine to assembly,installation and tune up.Tom Monroe writes in an easy to understand way.His books are helpful so you wont be wasting your money.Plenty of information throughout make this a reasonable book despite its age.The 351C isnt included in this book.

Its a good book and is worth adding to your collection.Good value.Its 3.5 stars as there are newer books out there that offer more.

I'm the author of this book, so I watch the reviews, albeit a little late on this one. I've been busy authoring a book on how to build Windsor racing engines.

None the less, Shane Edwards said in his review, "Following the instructions contained in this book will ensure the speedy failure of your valvetrain." From this statement, either Mr. Edwards was reading the wrong book (giving him the benefit of the doubt) or he doesn't know the proper way to do valve jobs or set up valvetrains. I gave several methods of reconditioning heads and valves, including how to check springs and setting up the valvetrain. I warned against quick-fix methods, but opted instead for methods to give better than original life.

A telling statement Mr. Edwards made was, " He should try to write one book that tells you how to do the job correctly and find an editor who can eliminate the plethera of spelling and grammatical errors that rittle his work." I can assure you, all methods are discussed and shown being done correctly. From a review made in Road & Track Magazine, the reviewer said, "If you can't rebuild your small-block Ford using this book you're using it as a coffee-cup coaster." As for editing, Bill Fisher aka California Bill, the Publisher and editor of HPBooks at the time had a reputation for being the toughtest editor on the planet . . . literally. So nothing got past him or the experts who read the book. That's not to say an error or two got into print, but they've been corrected a long time ago.

For really hardcore racing information on engine building, which includes valvetrain setup and all other aspects of the process, my book "The Racing Engine Builder's Handbook" is now available. The Windsor Ford Race engine book is in process.

Mr. Edwards is right about one thing. This is not an FE engine. That's the big block. Steve Christ wrote that one. Clevelands and M-series engines are part of the 335-series of Ford engines and the 385 series makes up the 429 and 460 Ford engines. These are covered in the Ford V-8 book, all of which are available from Amazon.

Judge for yourself.

Our Grandson loves "Cars"....the other books purchased were great, this one with the stickers fell apart quickly. Stickers did not "restick" were not "reusable" for more than once....and were difficult to get off to begin with. I would not recommend this product.

The quality of the book itself is great - sturdy, thick, laminated pages with high quality graphics and color. The stickers are reusable. However, while they are thicker than just a regular sticker, they are made of paper and still tear if pulled off at the wrong angle.

My 3.5 year old son loves looking through the book and matching up the stickers with the various shapes on the pages, but I either have to peel off the sticker myself and hand it to him, or make sure he is pulling it off at the correct angle so it doesn't rip. We've already torn two in half and I had to fix them with scotch tape.

It's too bad the stickers aren't made of 'colorform' type of vinyl that wouldn't be as fragile as paper ones.

But this one was fairly well done. Nice amount of stickers, many pages to use them creatively to tell stories.

This is a great book, the stickers ARE reusable, the book is sturdy, high quality. The book has great scenes for stickers to be applied, blank pages with suggestions on different ways to play, and pages for matching (ie: wheels to cars) included. My 2 1/2 year old grandson spends an hour with it, and the price is right!

My 2 year old LOVED this book the first time I read it to her, and it became the one she would pick for bedtime every night. Since it's a little longer than a typical bedtime story, and not exactly soothing for sleep, I brought it downstairs for daytime story times!! The sound words are great and the rhythm and repetition is perfect for toddlers. I highly recommend this book!

My daughter and I have read this book for years and we just love it. I started reading it to her when she was 2, she is now 5 and it is still a favorite. I highly recommend this book as a gift for any occasion, it is great to receive a book that you would normally not see displayed at the local B&N.

There are some books that we save to read before bedtime, special, sleepy books. This is not one of those. Its just too much fun! We save it to read in the morning, especially on those mornings when we have to get the boys up a little earlier than usual. Sitting between their beds and reading this book is a pretty fun way to wake them up. As soon as they are awake enough to hear it they pop over to see. Its a much better experience than the usual lamentation.

Now if we can only find someplace that will sell us a "Three speed, wind up, paddle-wheel boat" we'll be set!

The sing-song words are the best when read aloud. My 1st and 2nd grader love this book just as much as my preschooler does. Very fun!

My two-year-old and I first fell in love with this book at our local library. We decided we just had to have one of our own. We love, love, love this book. It is so much fun to read over and over again. I now buy it for all of my Mom friends as a fun but off the beaten path gift.

Yes quite an interesting book......sadly its not quite as easy as the book says, but interesting non the less.

If you want to realy know how to design cars,go to the Royal College of Art...or Coventry Poly.

How To Design Cars Like a Pro it's a Great Book ! Excelent for Design Students and enthusist of drawing , ideal book to keep practicing and know very good drawing techniques.

I recomend it widely !

best regards

paul

Before I bought this book I thought it would be full of tutorials, and I was wrong. actually you can get those tutorials on the web. But what suprised me was all of the great interviews with the big guys of this industry. This book really lets you know what are you going towards to, and really helps you illustrate the design process of a car, with maybe you involved, in your mind. After each reading session I felt like I have to go draw some cars, it was very inspiring.
If you're looking for a car design career, then this book will help you imagine yourself inside, besides inspiring you to start this journey.

Enjoy

If you are looking for a book about car drawing, skip this one. As the name says, its about design. There are many insights on what designers search when sketching a car, but very few tips on how to actually draw it by yourself (as it was already commented, you can find the tutorials in the internet - for free). That said, this is a very good book. It depicts the creative process behind the design, it teaches you how to see a car, and shows how some of the greatests (read Patrick Le Quement) do it themselves. It is nicely organized, with enough pictures so you won't need your imagination to understand what they are talking about. Not perfect, but surely very good. Strongly recommended.
If you want to get the whole pack, design+drawing, I recommend buying this book together with "How to draw cars like a pro", like I did. Ýou won't regret doing so.

I bought this book, and I find it that this book is not meant for beginner artist wishing to pursue proper car drawing insights. There's only a few pages explain about the basic infos on car drawings, but the rests of those pages are mostly about car designer's tastes of car drawings. If you're an intermediate artist, feel free to get this book. There ...

Our 3 y.o. daughter is obsessed with the movie 'Cars'. One night on a shopping trip I brought this book home on a whim. Not a single bedtime has gone by since without reading this book. She loves it so much that she wants desperately to learn to read it for herself. She even recognized the word 'McQueen' repeated throughout the book and reads that word on her own now. The book is already well loved and dog eared but standing up to it all.

The pictures in the book are hand-drawn and give a high-level overview of the story. It skips many of the details in the movie but my daughter doesn't seem to care very much about accuracy, detail or that it looks different than what's in the movie.

We've read hundred of books to her but none have sparked her interest quite like this. I don't know if it's timing because she's getting older or the tie-in with the movie. I don't care even if it seems over-commercialized. Whatever keeps her interested in reading is what counts. I'll surely be buying more books in the series.

Arrived ahead of time for Christmas. Purchased as a Christmas present for my grandson. He carried this book around all night. He loved it. thank you Amazon.

the step into reading books are excellent for young ones....the cars book is cute..good for new readers!!

both my children and found this book to be a delight and very
fun to read. also the pictures were very colorful.
thanks,

debbie pollitt

My four year old really enjoys this book. I wouldn't recommend it older kids though.

if looks could kill you'd be dead after looking at this book. the photo's are superior to most. I 'm tired of the same old shots of bikes. Worse there is NOTHING worse then a bike with a woman in a bikini on it. Don't get me wrong I love women but the harley davidson can sell itself without the porn. this book doesn't offer a lot of new theories but it's still rather interesting. I think that after you read this book it would make a fine collection to your coffee table.

Although this book has many elements, its core is the Harley-Davidson as a design. The photographs are mostly of 50 different models, focused on the motorcycle alone, done with remarkable lighting to create exquisite detail and color. You will feel like you are visiting a museum of mint Harleys as you "stroll" from page to page while sitting comfortably in your favorite chair. The book is strengthened by some classic Harley photos that you have seen before, such as from Easy Rider. There is also a good overview of the development of the company, key technologies, and a timeline of when different bikes were introduced. For those who don't know about Harleys, you also have a glossary to help you interpret, and a list of contacts to help you get even more information.

"People remember their first Harley-Davidson." As Hugo Wilson points out, that's because "Harleys look different, sound different and certainly ride different to other motorcycles." One of the strengths of the book is that it provides many helpful details about the bases of those differences. I could literally "hear" a Harley every time I looked at one of the images. And now I know why they sound that way. You will, too, when you read this exciting book.

"Their extraordinary appeal makes small boys dream and grown men save." Harley-Davidsons clearly draw on our sense of adventure, our desire for freedom, and our need to be different. Mothers, if you don't want your children to grow up to be bikers, keep this book and all Harleys away! The lure of the open road will be irresistible after enjoying this volume.

I am not an expert on motorcycles but have spent many happy hours on them. I could feel the thundering power in my legs as I looked at the Harley in Terminator II, the 74FLHB Electra Glide in blue from 1965, the FLHS Electra Glide from 1988, the FLSTF Fat Boy from 1999, and especially the Buell X1 Lightning from 1999.

To me the best page was 184 where there is a cutaway of the famous V-twin engine, along with a good description of each element. This is the heart of what makes a Harley a Harley, and I was glad to learn more about this wonderful design.

After you have finished enjoying this book and taken a ride on your Harley to celebrate (don't have one yet? . . . well, start dreaming and saving . . .), I suggest that you think about other ways you can enjoy your spirit of adventure and desire for the open road. Riding a Harley doesn't get you all the exercise you could use. Are there any hiking trails that you could ride your Harley to? In that way, you could have a double adventure. Plus, you can have even more enjoyment with your family and friends while you hike. If you haven't hiked the Grand Canyon yet down to the Colorado River, that would make a great ride/hike combination. Just do it! -- (but do plan ahead, you'll enjoy it more if you do).

Be different and better!

Great read, inspiring inside and out. If you read for pleasure you will also enjoy a Harley novel "The Second Coming Of Age" by: Curtiss de Vedrine

This really is a beautiful book. Lots of great pictures and the explanations to back them up. If you want a good introduction to learning the world of Harley, this is a great place to start.

Wonderful pictures and great engine exploration photos. Well done!

This is a great book if you are building a muscle car. It's less useful if you have a 5.4L, 3-valve truck engine and are looking for tips in that context. If you are shopping for modular Ford engine books, you may have read my review on Richard Holdener's "Building 4.5/5.4.L Ford Horsepower on the Dyno," book. My lament with this book is the same; a dearth of specifics on the 3-V 5.4L truck powerplant. This book, however, does have a modecum of specific info on the 5.4L 3-V and lots more practical nuts-n-bolts info. Because of the general architectural similarities between all the modular engines, the nuts-n-bolts approach covers a lot of ground generally. Of the two books, this one provides a more "hearty fare" that could be useful to a truck owner... if he understand the difference in context between the basic needs of a torquey truck engine vs a high-revving sporty engine. This book is geared towards the power side of the equation and that's exactly what the author intended. No foul! I came away a lot more knowledgeable regarding the Ford Modular engines. A few specifics on building a 5.4L torquer would have earned this book a rarely-given-by-me five stars. I like the layout and composition. It's only lack is a comprehensive index... something sadly lacking in many books these days.

So far, the product is well worth the money. Only complaint I have is that it was shipped from Amazon to the post office in a damaged box, causing the corner of the book to be creased. Not the fault of the product...

Author really knows his stuff now run out and buy his stuff in other words mostly a self promotion

Obviously, Sean Hyland has done a bunch of mod motors and R&D over the years. The review of different heads and intakes is nice, and seems spot on. How to modify intakes seemed a little vauge, but not bad. There's a few combos in the back of the book that probably would help some guys get an idea of what to build. There's a good source of info about superchargers!

There's some engine build-up stuff in there, and lots of pictures, but I thought he could have been a bit more specific about actually building the engine step by step. I liked the parts where he told about past failures, and what he learned from them. I also liked his description and instructions for head porting. He doesn't explain how to do it as much as he does what to do. With a little existing knowledge about porting, you'll be able to gain from this.

Overall, I thought the book was really decent and worth buying.

This book provides a wealth of information, including specific manufacturers and applicable technical data, which is otherwise somewhat difficult to locate, partiularly in one book. the information is very current and applies to a wide range of vehicle applications for this particular engine. Overall, an extremely valuable resource