Crackup!

New York: Arco Publishing Company, Inc, 1969. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Very good. The format is 8.5 finches by 11 inches. 60, [4] pages plus covers. Illustrated cover. Illustrations. Cover has minor wear and soiling and some spine sunning. This is an impressive assemblage of non-fatal aircraft crash photographs. The contents cover The Price of Progress, In the Early Days, World War I, Between the Wars, World War II, Escape Into Switzerland, and Since World War II. Albert George Leonard ("Len") Morgan (March 23, 1922 - March 11, 2005) was an American aviator, writer, publisher, entrepreneur, photogrammetrist, and investor. Len Morgan was born in West Terre Haute, Indiana. He graduated from high school in Louisville, Kentucky in Spring, 1941. Len Morgan left for Canada to volunteer for the Royal Canadian Air Force in his late teens. He, along with eleven others from the United States, earned his RCAF Wings on November 21, 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S.' entry into World War II, he transferred to the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt and flew in Africa and the Middle East. He attended college at the University of Louisville, on the G.I. Bill, during the 1947 and 1948 school years, following the war. He continued flying for the Kentucky Air National Guard until 1949. From 1946 through 1949, while serving in the Kentucky Air National Guard, Morgan worked for Park Aerial Services, Inc., of Louisville, Kentucky. His position with the firm was photogrammetrist. He used photogrammetry to make maps from aerial images. Morgan flew for Braniff for over 33 years, from 1949 until shortly before the airline's 1982 cessation of operations. During and after his airline career, Morgan wrote over thirty books and hundreds of magazine articles on a wide variety of aviation subjects. In 1955, he founded Morgan Aviation Books that specialized in the publication of aviation and airline related subjects. Morgan operated his publication firm until 1975. During this time and until his retirement in 1999, he continuously authored various books and articles. Morgan's best selling book that he personally authored was titled The P-51 Mustang from the Famous Aircraft Series of books. His monthly column, "Vectors", was a prominent feature of Flying magazine for over twenty years. An accomplished storyteller, he wrote not only of airplanes but also shared gentle wisdom about the people and experiences he encountered over his flying career. It is a common misconception that an aircraft is either in one glittering piece or else an unrecognizable scattering of pieces in a cornfield. It is entirely possible to roll a $100,000 plane into a $25 ball of scrap without mussing your tie, as this book proves. I have personally known pilots who flew into hillsides, landed in the sea, collide with other planes or had their aircraft explode in flight; all survived, most to fly again. Others perished in similar circumstances. None of the crackups shown here was fatal. So this compilation should be informative as well as entertaining. And for those who fly it can be instructive. Every pilot looking through these pages can find an accident he almost had himself. Here then are some of the things aircraft have done to pilots. And vice versa.