How Airliners Fly
If you are one of the millions of passengers who take to the
air every day and who have no idea how an airliner flies or how it is
flown - but would like to find out - then this book is for you. It is
written by a retired airline captain who knows from experience the
questions that are asked most frequently. He knows that for many people
it is an interest born of curiosity, and in some cases, caused by fear.
In this book he explains in plain language the airframe and engines,
the flight deck and controls, how the aircraft is flown and the
routines followed. A more detailed video preview can be seen here. Czech version available here. Julien Evans flew Boeing 737s, 757s and 767s during a 36-year career. He was also an instructor and examiner on these types. |
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Handling Light Aircraft
This book is an updated partial rewrite of the book 'The
Pilot's Manual', which dealt with all aspects of light aircraft
operation, including the ground subjects forming the syllabus for the
UK Private Pilot's Licence. In the intervening years there have been
little or no changes in some aspects (handling these aircraft), more
significant changes in others (aircraft construction materials and
processes) and revolutionary changes in yet more (flight
instrumentation, airspace complexity and regulation and navigational
equipment and procedures). This book restricts itself to the technical
description of conventional all-metal light aircraft, the theory of
flight and aircraft handling in daylight visual weather conditions. |
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Bomber Command In 1941 the British Air Ministry published 'Bomber Command', a book intended to describe to the public the bomber offensive of the Royal Air Force against targets in Germany and the Occupied Territories. As would be expected, it overstates the effectiveness of the campaign and understates the deficiencies in the organisation and execution of bombing missions. But less expectedly, it does not shy away from recording failures and losses of aircraft and crews. What is noticeable is the contrast between the generally rudimentary nature of the bomber offensive during the first two years of the Second World War and the devastating city-obliterating raids launched by the Allied air forces later in the conflict. | |
Airway to the Isles After
leaving the Royal Air Force it took a while for Squadron
Leader Philip Cleife to settle into civilian life in southwest England.
After a break he resolved to return to flying, initially as an
instructor and charter pilot. Then he decided to start his own airline,
using a De Havilland Dragon Rapide to offer flights from Plymouth to St
Mary's in the Scilly Isles. This book describes the practical and
administrative obstacles he had to overcome to establish Mayflower Air
Services. His enterprise and hard work paid off and after a while S/L
Cleife decided his successful airline and route structure should
expand.
But fate intervened to disrupt those plans and S/L
Cleife describes how he then had to overcome a serious upset in his
life.
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British Test Pilots
This book was published in 1950, less than a half century
after the Wright brothers' first powered flight. Between those dates
the pace of aircraft development was astonishingly rapid, partly
accelerated by the military demands of two world wars, the latest jet
aircraft a sharp contrast in design and performance to the flimsy
Wright Flyer of 1903. Indeed, some experimental aircraft had already
broken the sound barrier.
Included in this illustrious group of men (no women in those days devoid of gender equality!) is John Moore-Brabazon, the achiever, in 1909, of the first authenticated powered flight in England by a British subject. |
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The Railways of England Published in 1890, this book is a fascinating account of railway operation in late Victorian times. Its author, economist William Acworth, begins by comparing the latest developments in the industry with the early years. We learn of the new technology and procedures that will enhance efficiency and safety on the railways. While doing so we pick up a flavour of life in general for the various classes of citizens. Mr Acworth also looks at railway practice in other European countries and in the United States and deduces that by and large the foreign operators fall short of standards in England and therefore English trains are 'the best in the world'. | |
Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies At the start of the nineteenth century a new era began in musical composition. The 'classical' period, culminating in the elegant sophisticated works of luminaries such as Haydn and Mozart gradually gave way to the 'romantic' period, one of whose harbingers was Ludwig van Beethoven (who had been a pupil of Haydn). The innovative and powerful new style often strayed beyond the conventional rules of composition, which impudence some commentators celebrated while others deplored. Among Beethoven's admirers was Sir George Grove, a qualified civil engineer also renowned for his musical expertise who wrote this book to explain the structure and styling of the composer's work in layman's terms. Volume 1 of this book describes the first five symphonies. | |
Beethoven and his Nine Symphonies Volume 2 of this book describes the last four of Beethoven's symphonies. | |
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Documentary and other features |