In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft

My father was absolutely delighted with this book! He's a Navy veteran and worked at airports for many years. He loves it.Update to previous review: I bought this for my dad 9 months ago and just got notified today that someone said this review helped them, which was remarkably timely. I'm adding this update to my previous post to say that, only a few days ago, he told me he came across an old film from the 40s on Turner Classic Movies that featured an account of the real inaugural flight of one of the planes in this book. He was so excited and overwhelmed with emotion by the film (he's 82 and getting very sentimental about those early years in his life; he watches TV all day but never talks about being so moved by anything). Then, he told me he went looking in this book for that plane and found it. He got tearful and emotional just telling me about how much joy and pleasure he got from that. My dad has anything he wants, so it's hard to find things that are meaningful to him. Finding this book to give him has been a wonderful experience for both of us. It's such a beautiful and informative book. If you or whom you're buying it for care about this topic, I can't recommend it more highly.

I bought this book as a gift for my grandfather who was a flight instructor durning WWII and has a love for aircraft history. He really loved it and said the cockpit photos made it distinct from other books he has seen. He found both the photographs and the text very interesting.My husband, who also has a love of flying said he wished I had gotten one for him too. I guess perhaps I should buy another!

My son loved it! He flies a small plane and loved the history and all the photos of the insides of the planes!

Was hoping for more military type aircraft but thought this was a good start. Delivery was very good.

This volume covers 50 "history making aircraft". There is no doubt the aircraft depicted are historic, but I'm not sure all of them made history (what did the Ecker flying boat contribute, for example) but they are certainly interesting.The book does cover a good range of interesting subjects. Unlike the second volume, (In the Cockpit 2: Inside History-Making Aircraft of World War II) which covers WWII aircraft only, this volume covers aircraft from the beginning of aviation to the present day and both military and civil types. Although there is limited text, the cockpit detail in the photos provides excellent reference material for scale modellers seeking information on the "office" details of popular aircraft. Both this volume and its companion volume represent very good value for money.

Nice book, well done.

I ordered this right before the Prime Shipping holiday cut off time on 12/21 for guaranteed Christmas delivery. It arrived mid-day on 12/23.I bought this for my step-dad for Christmas. When he opened it he immediately took off the protective shrink wrap and wouldn't put it down. We were not done opening presents yet and family members were trying to hand him other presents to open but he was so into this book that he just set the presents aside for awhile. lol Then later while we were eating he brought his book to the table and was showing us pictures from it.Needless to say my step-dad LOVED his present!

This book is unique in that it covers just about the history of cockpit design and function. The amazing part is that for any one born in 1903 with a life expectancy of 75 years or so he or she was a witness to the marvelous achievement as to aviation and space travels. In 66 years we went from the fragile machine of the Wright brothers to men on the moon with almost routine space flights.

Bought this for an airline pilot. He was delighted with it. It’s produced by the Smithsonian museum. Having been there as an avid airplane fan it bought back many great memories. The pictures are crystal clear and show a great deal of detail.

This book (and its companion volumes - two of them) are indispensable references for building cockpits in model aircraft.Not only are the photographs of the first order, but they are all accompanied by detailed texts. A MUST HAVE!

Un libro molto interessante per l'appassionato di aviazione, perché è uno dei pochi ad illustrare l'evoluzione del mezzo aereo dal punto di vista di dove si siede il pilota... e le sorprese non mancano. Forse l'unico appunto è che sarebbe stato ancora più interessante in un formato maggiore.

Bought as a gift - thanks profusely.

Great read and photos..