Review: Boeing 737

On By coilerxiiIn ReviewLeave a comment

Boeing 737: The World’s Most Controversial Commercial Jetliner

Graham Simons brings his aviation writing talents to work on the archetypical airliner, the 737. His book is fittingly named Boeing 737. In it, he tells the full long story of a plane that was at first believed to be an ugly duckling nobody wanted, that ironically survived in its early period due to a government contract, became the world-beating airliner extraordinaire, and got pushed forward past its diminishing returns in the present.

The early 737 survived on exports as union requirements for three crew despite the aircraft being designed only for two from the start, with United the only major American operator. Despite this slow start, it became the centerpiece of a company.

I would say that this book is excellent but has the problem of being broader than it is deep. For instance, we get long writeups of individual operators complete with huge photos and detailed descriptions of individual accidents like the Aloha Airlines loss of the roof. Yet, the word “deregulation” (the Airline Deregulation Act and its equivalents internationally) only appears once. As this was what propelled the 737 to its heights, such a context would be much appreciated. But as a coffee table book this is wonderful.

Review: The Quiet War

On By coilerxiiIn ReviewLeave a comment

The Quiet War

I must confess by this point I read The Quiet War just because I wanted to see just how far down Mark Hewitt’s Duncan Hunter series could go. Two chapters in, I was not disappointed. We get a padded flashback chapter where every single technical name is spelled out in full like it was a late Gold Eagle book, and then an example of the gargantuan homophobia the series became infamous for. And another. And another. The “flashback” chapters reach double digits, treating us to such horrors from the main character’s perspective as The Beatles.

This is not a book about a super-plane, even though there’s a chapter where it effortlessly crushes its opposition (like it has always done in the series). This is a book about gay communists. This sounds like some online insult, but it’s actually the factual book subject matter (besides said squash and a past article about the main character finding a treasure chest.) Tirades about how a cabal of gay communists were steered by the USSR into sabotaging America make up most of this. And the previous book. And…

So this isn’t even amusingly bad. It’s just on repeat.

The Dumbest Air Disaster

On By coilerxiiIn EssayLeave a comment

In 2024, Air Serbia Flight 324 (barely) made it off the ground and sailed into history as quite possibly the dumbest pilot error air disaster of all time.

The crash thankfully didn’t result in loss of life, although it could very well have been catastrophic.

At first glance, this was like Comair 5191 or Singapore Airlines 006 where a plane moved to a wrong, too-short runway and tried to take off from it. Except here the ATC caught them having moved to the middle of the runway instead of the end and warned them. They acknowledged-and then decided to try and take off from the half-runway anyway.

At least PIA 8303 was already in the air and trying to land. This was safe on the ground when the crew decided to do something as risky as it was dumb. Fortunately, the only casualties were the hull of the plane and the lessor airline’s contract with Air Serbia.

A Thousand Words: The Punisher 1989

On By coilerxiiIn A Thousand Words, ReviewLeave a comment

The Punisher (1989)

Marvel in the 1980s did not have the resources DC had when it came to movie adaptations. So while Superman and Batman got massive, well produced, praised movies with all star casts, Marvel got stuff like… the 1989 Punisher. Where the biggest star was Dolph Lundgren, and getting Louis Gossett as another character probably took up most of the rest of the budget.

Thing is, this isn’t really that bad. Not because of the actual movie itself, which is a sleazy low budget action thriller. But rather because the Punisher is uniquely suited to sleazy low budget action thrillers in ways most other superheroes aren’t. So unlike say, the awful 1990 Captain America, this at least has a reach that doesn’t exceed its grasp. And there are worse things than sleazy low budget action thrillers.

Review: The View From Sunset Boulevard

On By coilerxiiIn ReviewLeave a comment

The View From Sunset Boulevard

Although published in 1979 and focusing on the year 1977, very little has changed about the subject matter of Ben Stein’s The View From Sunset Boulevard. Stein, though an infamous conservative, makes it clear he is not trying to grind an axe but rather sincerely identify how the Hollywood Blob (my words, not his) achieves its thought. One statement sets the tone.

“All of them, even the ones with millions of dollars, believed themselves to be part of a working class distinctly at odds with the exploiting classes – who, if the subject came up, were identified as the Rockefellers and multinational corporations. For an obscure reason, the name of Nixon was also thrown in frequently.”

The book has one terrible weakness: It identifies the breaks from reality that television (especially then) suffered, but doesn’t try to counterbalance by seeing how much of it was just done for the sake of dramatic effect (like having to wrap everything up in one episode as the most obvious). Yes, Stein makes it clear that much of what the TV writers choose to show (and most importantly, do not show/display), is what they believe. But he doesn’t quite go ‘how much isn’t. ‘

That said, it has better strengths. Stein makes some points even I didn’t think of before: Like how since the world of television writing is surprisingly lean without much direct experience with large bureaucracies, writers get frustrated with how problems can’t be instantly solved in real life. And many I have, like how the enemies are always businessmen. (This reached new depths in the 70s with the made for TV Captain America movies: Despite having the politically safest enemy ever in The Red Skull, Captain America’s opponent was…. an OC oil tycoon named Lou Brackett who wanted to detonate a neutron bomb for… reasons.)

The most interesting is how prone to from a distance ridiculous conspiracies so many TV screenwriters were. My favorite part was Stein describing how, since he worked for Nixon, people seriously asked him about inside info he must have had on the League Of Evil clearly ruling the world.

The bias of television writing is obvious. But this explains the similarity and banality, which in a different manifestation still exists now and then some.

Review: History, Force Structure, And Tactics of the Russian Airborne Troops

On By coilerxiiIn ReviewLeave a comment

The Russian Way of War: History, Force Structure, and Tactics of the Russian Airborne Troops.

Legendary Kremlinologists Lester Grau and Charles Bartles have a new free gargantuan book out on the Russian VDV. It’s hosted/sponsored by the Polish General Tadeusz Kościuszko Military University of Land Forces for pretty obvious reasons. While an excellent book, there’s a part I found extra amusing.

See, the OPFOR used to be as Soviet/Russian as possible. In the 21st Century, it slowly drifted away (even as high-intensity war took re-precedence post Iraq) from its roots understandably. Now Grau and Bartles are criticizing it (at least in terms of fidelity to Russian doctrine) for not being bearish enough. It’s just an amusing footnote.

The Charles Curtis Effect

On By coilerxiiIn EssayLeave a comment

The Charles Curtis effect is when a book, especially a children’s book on certain historical groups neglects to show one of the most prominent. Named after Herbert Hoover’s vice president, to this day the Native American who has ascended the highest, he was not in a children’s book I saw on prominent Native Americans but Jim Thorpe was. This is like including Bo Jackson but not Barack Obama in a book on prominent African-Americans.

One of the most recent Curtis Effects I saw was also one of the most baffling. It was a children’s book on the New York Giants that had reference to pre-Super Bowl era players, mentioned Phil Simms and Ottis Anderson as stars in the 80s…. but did not mention Lawrence Taylor once.

It’d be like a book on the New England Patriots saying “And here are two of the greatest Patriots ever: John Hannah and Richard Seymour!”