Piston-Powered Propliners 1958-2000

"Piston-Powered Propliners" is a pictorial history, told in pictures of actual piston-engined airliners taken between 1954 and 2000. That's nearly half a century worth of eye candy; however, as anyone knows multiengined airliners had been plying the skies long before then. Therefore, if you are looking for a complete history of piston-engined airliners, you will have to look elsewhere. The inclusion of photographs taken over such a broad period of time also seems to detract from having a common theme, such as "DC-3 survivors" or "great airliners of the 1950s." To confuse matters, the photos are not in strict chronological order.

What this book does offer is a well-rounded sampling of US, British, and Canadian aircraft, from the Airspeed Ambassador to the Vickers Viking. French and Soviet airliners are notably absent. The pictures, both old and new, are all of very good quality - kudos to the publisher for keeping all photos on single pages, thereby avoiding those dreaded gatefolds that mar pictures of so many other books of this type. The author also deserves high praise for his interesting and very informative captions that accompany each picture, describing the history and the future of the aircraft illustrated. All pictures are of aircraft in service or recently retired - for better or worse, no museum pieces are included, even flying restorations such as the DDA Dakota and Save A Connie L-1049.

In short, despite its shortcomings, this quality book is a treat to aviation junkies, especially those of us who love old airplanes with big, round engines.