I find it difficult to make my mind up about this book. It covers a subject that is worthy of attention; it is profusely illustrated with many splendid photographs (lots from Philip Jarrett’s collection), although some are not identified; it has a comprehensive Index, and is written by an expert who has spent his working life in aviation studying and applying ergonomics of cockpit design, and yet I feel somewhat disappointed. The story up to 1919, a period of almost universal open cockpits, partly persevered with, according to this book, because of an inability to communicate plane to plane without hand signals (known as ‘zogging’), at a time when all reconnaissance aircraft had to be closely escorted by three scouts, includes clothing, but not in any great detail. I also had to resort to a dictionary, but now know what ‘collimated’, and ‘aperiodic’ mean. I suppose I would have liked more about this period, which was seminal in deciding what instruments should be and where they should be situated in the cockpit, but to say so reveals my lack of technical knowledge.