Transportation Books

I picked up this book thinking that it would be a price guide. It isn't. To be sure, it has a small section giving a range of prices for various aircraft.

The main part of the book is a guide to the purchase of used airplanes. It's oriented to the smaller types that the individual owner would be likely to find interesting and available.

About a third of the book is on general subjects like do you really want to buy, deciding on the type of airplane, searching for the right plane, inspecting it -- all the things you want to consider regardless of the type of plane that you want. Then there's another large section that covers the various aircraft you're likely to find available and interesting. This is broken down by type. Two passenger, four place, and some interesting categories he calls Complex Airplanes, Heavy Haulers, and Affordable Twins. Within the category he lists the planes by manufacturer and gives some description of the various models and versions produced. I had to read the closing section here on War Birds. He basically said that I can't afford one. He's right. A P-47 uses a gallon of 100 Octane (at about $5 a gallon) every thirty seconds. Finally there is an extensive set of appendicies that cover everything from accidents to the pricing section mentioned earlier.

This is a general guide to buying an airplane which covers a lot of the basics. It'll give you the background information you need to even think about buying.

If you are in the market for a used airplane, this is the place to start. It covers all aspect of buying a used airplane and has summaries of plane types on the market. A great read.

A must for fans of Peter Egan.
I always read his column first when I get my Cycle World. If you love motorcycles, give this book a read.

I already own a copy of this book, as well as it's companion. I think so highly of them that I have ordered this copy to be used as a gift/prize at an upcoming motorcycle club gathering. Every motorcyclist should read and study this book. I try to re-read it a couple times a year. I'm still learning things from it, and being reminded again of others, all of which are very important and valuable information to me. I've been riding for about 40 years, and this is the most useful and worthwhile motorcycle book I own!

I can't tell you how happy I am with this purchase, previously I had a copy of Leanings and I enjoyed that one tremendously. I had doubts that Leanings2 was going to top that one , but I was wrong - I would say that this one is better! I love that author's snese of humor and his in depth knowledge of bikes and skills at storytelling - I would recommend this for any biker or someone who needs a pick me up.

Being a sports car enthusiast, I have read and loved all of Peter Egan's automotive writings. Wanting more I read both Leanings books. The same excellent writing, just about bikes!

I love Peter Egan's writing in Cycle World. This was a chance to review past work and some writing which I had missed. He has a style that connects to the average rider and sometimes see things in a new light.

A pesar de no conocer gran cantidad de libros acerca de la mítica máquina italiana, esta obra entrega gran parte de la información que todo verdadero entusiasta de la Vespa desea obtener: Historia completa (desde los orígenes de Piaggio en el siglo XIX hasta los movimientos recientes de la empresa), desarrollo tecnológico, presencia mundial, "cultura Vespa", modelos producidos año tras año (aunque al parecer refiere únicamente los comercializados en Italia y Europa), muy buena cantidad de material gráfico y fichas técnicas no muy profundas pero con información suficiente para el aficionado promedio.
El libro de Sarti, adicionalmente, se edita en un año importante para la historia de la Vespa (además de cumplirse seis décadas de su desarrollo): aquel en donde la posibilidad de que se suprima la producción del modelo PX con motorización dos tiempos genera un crucial punto de quiebre para los amantes de los clásicos.
Muy buen formato, excelente impresión. Algunos errores de continuidad.

This is really a fun book. Its got pretty pictures, its got info, and it has a description of pretty much every Vespa ever made. I didn't say all Vespas, but pretty much all as collectors we have drooled over. The book describes the legacy of Vespa all the way up to the GT60. Everything from airplanes, to Apé, to outboard motors as well. It even has advertising throughout the ages, which should give a chuckle or two.

Mastering the Sky tells the exciting story of aviation in historical perspective. The author is a former Air Force pilot who became a published historian. It begins with the take-off of a Boeing 747, asking how one can lift over 400 tons higher than Mt. Everest in a matter of minutes. It gives answers to such questions, as it flashes back to the mythology of flight and comes forward to the 20th century, including space flight. It is current through 2000, three years before the centenary of the Wright Brothers first flights.

It is current through 2000.

The author has slightly expanded and updated through 1999 this book for publication in the spring of 2000.

Oh, wow! This book is fantastic! Mort Mason's personality is hilarious, and he does an amazing job making life as an Alaska bush pilot come to life. He imbues the book with humor and warmth, isn't afraid to make fun of himself, and he leaves the reader with a true understanding of how Alaska and bush flying can become a part of your soul and your identity. He's an amazing writer, a gifted story teller and, apparently, a hell of a pilot as well. His book makes me want to sit down on a wooden swing on the back deck of an Alaska cabin and listen to him tell stories all night long. He gives you good technical info on flying, but it's not dry and it's easy to understand, even for the non-flier (like me). An awesome read!

I enjoyed the book. I'm a flight simulator fan. The book is interesting and only a bit technical. Well written.

This book is a great read. I really enjoyed the way the author decribed the various (and precarious) places he found himself in. The stories were very entertaining to the point of: I can't put down this book right now... read faster... what's going to happen... is he going to make it?!!

I found the book quite edge of the seat at times, hoping he would make it. At other times, I found myself feeling like I was right in the co-pilot's seat seeing the world as he saw it. Trying to fly from here to there in Alaska makes for quite an adventure, sign me up!

Again, GREAT book. Definitely a keeper.

MJ

i'm only into the 3rd chapter of this book but i have really enjoyed the read thus far. i'm not a pilot but i do alot of flying in flight sims so i have at least 1/2 a clue as to what he's talking about! its well written, easy to understand, descriptive but not to a point where u get lost in the details. its easy on my imagination if that makes any sense. will certainly enjoy reading the rest! if u like the book, his email address is in the back! just makes it that much more personal.

gave as gift -- very well received

This is a very typical Haynes manual. Great detail about simple things you could figure out on your own, and then it glosses over complex things that leave you clueless and lost.

That said, I used this manual to work on my Legacy wagon for years before I sold it. I gave the manual to the guy who bought the car from me. It is good for describing things that are unique to Subarus and to the Legacy in particular. It is a great time-saver when you haven't done something before on that type of car. But if you are going to be doing serious repairs on the car, get the manufacturer's service manual instead and save yourself some time and frustration.

I have not done as much work as I might have liked, so I have opened the book relatively little. In what little I have used it, it has been more reassuring than helpful--for instance, the book confirmed that the rear hatch lifter supports come without the entire ball-joint assembly, and that there is little one can do about this. Not really helpful, but reassuring for someone who wonders what is going on.

I consider the book satisfactory for its purposes, and I am glad I own it.

This manual was needed urgently for guidance on performing a front and rear brake pad replacement. The task was made easier by referring to the series of photos showing the steps in removal and replacement of the disc pads. This book will be useful in the future as more systems wear on my 2002 Outback.

I have owned 3 Subaru Outbacks, 1996, 1998, and 2004, and I have found this manual to be useful with all of them. I am only doing the home mechanic types of repairs, so for things like changing and bleeding brakes, spark plugs, fuel filters, thermostats, it has saved me a lot of guess work. Not sure I would want it if I had to do a timing belt or head gaskets, or any other sort of major engine tear down. Great manual for GENERAL MAINTENANCE.

In my opinion, short of an actual manufacturer's shop manual, you can't beat a Haynes book for completeness. And, given that they are written for the non-professional, in some ways they are far superior. Based on complete engine tear-down and rebuild, and covering standard repairs and maintainence, I never buy anything else.
If you are even reasonably handy, like to save money on basic (or even complex) repairs, this is the book for you.

I started this book with a mild understanding of car stereo's and installation and by the time I was done I was customizing my own stereo with ease. Highly recommended for anyone with a desire for good sound in there vehicle a lot of easy tricks that make a whole lot of difference

This book provides excellent background info, good design criteria, and photos illustrating similar installations to those discussed in the different sections. I found the book quite helpful.

I ordered this book from one of the Amazon partners and received the 1998 edition of the book.

Let me just say that A LOT has happened on the car audio scene since 1998, like: Video, multi-channel audio, navigation systems, rear-view cameras, DVD Video, iPod, MP3, Dolby Digital 5.1, DVD-Audio, etc.

In other words, the 1998 edition is not even a good doorstop at this point.

Sure, the basics of pulling cables, using the correct connectors and speaker installation is still useable, but to read about the wonderful opportunity of adding a CD changer or replacing a factory tape deck with a CD head unit is a bit out of date.

I've started a car audio retail business with my brother. He's the technical guy, and I'm the business guy (working on my MBA now). I thought that learning a lot more about the technical aspect of the business could be nothing but good for me, so I picked up this book (the only book on car audio that Border's carried). The book is organized like this:

1) Here's an audio problem
2) Here's a single componant from a single manufacturer that will address the problem.

Instead of telling *you* how to fix or avoid the problem, you get to read whatever the top technology was 4 years ago to address it. As a previous review pointed out, Crutchfield is also a big theme in the book (don't know what speakers fit your car? Go to Crutchfield.com and they'll tell you! God forbid you measure the opening.).

The best advise I got from this book was to hire a guy to create a PHP search database on my company's website to mirror what Crutchfield does, so my customers, too, can search for what specific componants fit their cars. I guess that was helpful.

I took a pretty optimistic approach when reading this book, waiting for the meaty stuff to begin...i was still waiting when i got to the index!

It's a pretty good book if you've got a basic understanding of how to wire the stereo components, and what you want to achieve by modifying your stock car audio system. But if you're looking for specific information of how best to use T/S parameters for desigining the optimum enclosure for your new sub - or choosing one that best meets your desired application, then I dont think i'd worry too much about this book. There's some graphs and tables in there that will point you in the right direction in terms of enclosure design/size/style but dont expect much more than that.

In summary, if your the sort of person happy to accept what you're told with out additional inquiry then this book will suffice. Otherwise, you'll need something more basic to provide more definitions, and then once you've got the hang of that, you'll be needing something much more complex to test your new skills. Overall an ok read, but this book will never make it to 'workshop reference' status.

I think the author really is a good writer and researcher, and enjoy the book where it is telling the story which is promises to tell. The book shows evidence that Tougias didn't want to take the time to rewrite the plot progression as he discovered critical new details after the book was half written. Also, there are not enough "interesting" details of the story to fill a book which can be sold for a standard book price, so the author and editors saw fit to fill it up with digressions, side stories, and over-the-top speculation.

Side stories: No problem with a side story or two with a close association to the primary story, but many of the stories have no relation to the Can Do at all. These stories are interesting in themselves and I'd like to read them in an anthology of nautical disasters. But when story-after-story like this are inserted between chapters of a chronological story, it massacres the suspense and the flow. For those side stories which are justified, instead of setting them up chronologically so you learn to love the characters, they are thrown in where the author happened to be at when writing the book (author says that he had already written the first two chapters when he found out about... )

Digressions: Lessons about nautical history, emergency survival, survival psychology, and any many other topics would be fine if they were short enough to not stop the flow--- but they are very distracting here because they are very long and very frequent. If I want to learn all about emergency survival for mountain climbing, I would much rather find an "expert" on that topic on the web or in a dedicated book than reading the haphazard and distracting summaries here.

Speculations: A little speculation may be necessary when covering an event with no surviving witnesses, but some of the late chapters are 95% fanciful speculation about what each crew member may have been thinking, and even how they looked at each other. One egregious speculation which totally conflicts with the other speculations, which praise the determination and pertinacity of the principals, is that they may have discussed the cowardly option of killing themselves with Frank's hand gun.

Subjectivity: It's apparent to anybody who reads this book that the author lost all objectivity by the time he wrote the later chapters, probably from the close and emotional relationships he had formed with surviving family members by then. Every single incident discussed attributes the most noble sentiments and impulses to the primary characters, and to the author's friends. It's funny that at the time of the accident, each character with a family had a perfect family life. Frank was the perfect family man, though he slept on his boat instead of at home most of the time. A suicide occurs late in the book, but it somehow happened in spite of the perfect family environment, with no influence of drugs, loneliness, or romances... of course it was the inevitable outcome of a death in the Can Do 4 years earlier.

Childish mysticism: I put this last, because most people in the US do prefer to pretend that guardian angles protect people, that dead people visit and help survivors, that the dead float around in heaven chit-chatting with people who died years earlier, and that ghosts serve as muses for writers. However, it annoys educated people when adult writers start with the assumption that these fictions are true, and apply no skepticism when, for example, an alcoholic reports waking up in the middle of the night to a visitation, then goes back to sleep. A responsible adult must at least consider the possibility that in the middle of the night people may dream about what they wish for. Suggestion for Tougias: Grow up.

This is a compelling story about real people doing what most wouldn't think of doing. It's infuriating that the captain of the freighter was so thoughtless. If he had been anything but a complete waste of time, Can Do would still be here. Read this book carefully and learn what is happening out there. The media ignores fishing and the ocean unless something bad happens. Your life is affected by the ocean and you should know how.

A very well researched and documented story. As a member of the USCG and having been stationed at Gloucester Station and having been born and brought up in the area of the story I found the book extremely interesting. Highly recommend this book to any persons interested in the true story of the men and women of the Coast Guard.

As a former active Coast Guard sailor (Korean War) I found this book reading at it's best. Tells the life Coast Guard people, along with the harbor pilots, fishermen and others that "Go Down To The Sea in Ships" can encounter.

Michael J. Tougias, Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do (St. Martin's, 2005) ***

After the runaway success of The Perfect Storm and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, I rather expected there to be a flood, pardon the pun, of nonfictional tales of derring-do on the high seas. It never happened; Sebastian Junger turned his attention landward, Nathaniel Philbrick has only released a single book since, and the rest of the literary world seems to have met this possible developing trend with a thundering silence. Until, that is, Mike Tougias released Ten Hours Until Dawn, set in the same basic space of The Perfect Storm, but a number of years in the past, during the Blizzard of 1978, a storm that will long be remembered by anyone who happened to be living in the northeast at the time.

Ten Hours Until Dawn was written by a journalist, which is not normally a bad thing. The downside to it is that journalism makes for great half-pagers, but across two hundred-odd pages, it can get a little dry. Tougias has a very worthwhile story here, and tells it competently; however, it could have been told a bit better.

It's the story of Frank Quirk and his pilot boat Can Do, based out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. When the Global Hope, an oil taker, runs aground a few miles south of Gloucester, the harbor patrol sends a couple of boats out after it, and those two boats get caught in the Blizzard of '78, which roars out of nowhere. One gets lost, and the Can Do goes out after it. Eight hours later, the Can Do, also lost, makes its final radio transmission. From the radio transcripts and the aftermath of the storm, Tougias weaves the tale of what may have happened aboard the Can Do that night, as well as the tales of what happened to those two Coast Guard ships (both of which made it back to port) and the Global Hope. There are a number of times during this narrative where Tougias' journalist style serves it well; the simple just-the-facts-ma'am delivery adds a depth to the action. It stumbles, however, when the subject is the humans themselves; even when Tougias is relating the worlds of the survivors, the prose seems oddly wooden in spots, as if the goal is to check in, get a quote, and get back to the action.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, and an incident that certainly deserved to be enshrined in the national consciousness. Pick it up, give it a go. ***

This is a book of black-and-white photos of nose art on vintage aircraft, mostly bombers, and mostly from WWII. The cover and about 10 pages are in color. Some of the planes have a bit of historical info, as well.

The nose art ranges from tame to more risque, some of the latter ultimately got censored by the military. Lots of women wearing little or nothing forms the majority of the artwork, and the aircraft names range from bland, such as "Enola Gay" to double-entendres, such as "Sack Time".

It's a pretty interesting collection.

This book gave great photos of airplane pin-up girls, would recommend for any historic airplane buff.

Great buy...this is the only book I have found that includes Ice Cold Katy in it....very hard nose art to find...buy it, you will love it.

Great pictures here, a pitty that the most of them are in B/W but in general they're great.
This book is very similar to "Aircraft Nose Art: From World War I to Today (Motorbooks Classics) by Jeffrey Ethell" that in fact is better, but the couple would be the perfect buying!
:D

Excelent monarge of vintage photos of aircraft & crews with jackets displaying art of the times. Full color photos.

I have read Building 4.6/5.4L Ford Horsepower several times, have purchased the PI heads, Ford intake manifold and related equipment based on the confirmation and dyno tests this authority cites. HIGHLY recommend the book to Ford builders. DEK

If you want to know what parts work or don't work for your modular Ford, this book is a must read. Richard Holdener is a very detailed and thorough individual who tells you like it is. Every product test is completely described as to all the components used on the test motor and the procedures followed. His comments are excellent and informative and he provides complete dyno charts for each test, not just peak values. To see how the motors respond throughout the rev range is invaluable. Reading this book has already saved me hundreds of dollars that I would have spent on parts that would not have met my expectations. If you are going to modify your modular Ford, you need this book.

this product is perfect for anyone with an unlimited budget who want to know what what combination of superchargers; turbochargers; headers; intake; nitrous; cams; aftermarket heads and stroker kits make most horsepower on a vastly modified engine with aftermarket everything. very good for anyone with about $10,000 to sink into their engine. i found it as useful tool to tell me all about what parts will help a 4v cobra run low 9s in the quarter. not so good for anyone that wants to know what few parts to put in thier daily driven mustang/thunderbird with the most bang for the buck.

Very good book!!! This book will save you thousands of dollars in purchases that didn't need to be made because their HP contributions were inconsequential.

The author gives laboratory quality before and after dyno tests of virtually everything the magazines encourage you to buy because it provides "X Horsepower increase over ____". The difference is the dyno doesn't have any marketing hype attached to the numbers and when you see the numbers there is a great many supposedly "must have" products that in the end are really don't waste your money products.

Can't say enough good things about this one. For less than $20 you will save probably thousands of dollars and make hundreds of additional horsepower. This one is a must have!

This was a great book in so many ways, the caveat being it's geared towards muscle cars and not trucks. The 3-V 5.4L engines used in trucks are are barely mentioned and there isn't a single test of them in the book. Unfortunately, that was my focus of research. I learned a great deal about the Ford modular engines in general and even stuff that would apply to the 5.4L truck engine... but, overall, I found the book more of a "dessert" than a "main course." Had I been a car guy, the reverse would have been true. Viewed in context, there is a great deal of worthwhile information in Holdener's book... especially if you need information on the various supercharger and turbocharger kits out there. The book is laid out well and the material is presented in an easy-to-digest format.