Airbus A320 (Airliner Color History) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Now that you know how I feel about the airplane, let me tell how I feel about the book: it is a great introduction to the Airbus A-320 series. It has scads of beautifully shot color photos, useful production and operator lists, and an excellent general history of Airbus and the A-320 family specifically. There is a nice section on technical specifications for the series, and although it doesn't get into pilot level systems descriptions, what the book does say is pretty much on the money, and easy to understand. They even have a nice diagram of PFD/ND/ECAM data and symbology found on the six CRTs. There is a very general discussion on the benefits of Fly-By-Wire (FBW), but I suspect most readers would have liked a bit more on this remarkable technology. (Yes, I prefer the side stick to the yoke...)

This book is great for pilots, enthusiasts, or for that matter, aerospace historians. My only (tiny) nitpicks were a couple of explanations that are less than completely correct in the accident section, particularly in the Lufthansa Warsaw accident. The errors mostly concern omitting a few crucial details, and unless you are an A-320 pilot or an accident investigator you won't really care anyway. I realize that being concise is something the editors require, but sometimes another line or two can really clarify matters.

All told this is another in the excellent "Airliner Color History" series, which are generally great. For someone who wants an introduction to the greatest airliner family in the world (and here I include all the FBW Airbus family members from the A-318 to the A-380) with lots of outstanding photographs and excellent background text, this book can't be beat.

Each volume of this British series covers a unique commercial aircraft type from its design, production, entry into service, its usage by airlines, and in some cases eventual demise.

Each volume features plenty of color and black and white photographs of the subject aircraft along with a complete construction list (accurate to date of publication for aircraft types still being built).

This volume discusses the design and development of the Airbus A320 series of airliners ... from their advanced design to their almost futuristic flight-control systems ... as well as the ususal around-the-world look at the aircraft type's operators.

Tim Lamming and Robert Hewson's book contains a wealth of detail about the development of the A320, touching on its stablemates, the A319, A321, and A318. Technical specifications also abound. Photo captions are detailed and informative. My only complaint with this book, and others in Airlife Airliners series, is the lack of interior photographs: two flight deck pictures, economy class cabin view, and picture of the rear galley. I really would have likes some views taken from inside the aircraft, especially of the wing flaps upon landing.

Between the time the book was published and the writing of this review, a great deal has happened, and even more airlines have purchased or leased this increasingly popular aircraft, most notably jetBlue. Nevertheless, the book is up to date and thorough, offering the aviation enthusiast a good look at the overlooked classic that put Airbus on the map.