Aircraft Recognition Manual Department of the Army FM 30-30, Department of the Navy NavWeps 00-80T-75, Department of the Air Force AFM 50-40, Marine Corps NavMC 2522)
Washington DC: Chief of Bureau of Naval Weapons (Issued by), 1962. Presumed First printing of this issuance. Stiff wraps. Notation on front cover. This manual supersedes and replaces FM 30-30/NAVAER 00-80T-75/AFM 50-40 NAVMAC 2522 of June 1959. Variable pagination. Illustrations (a few in color). Glossary. Portion cut out at last page of Other United Kingdom Aircraft. Portions cut out of Sweden section. The item is largely complete, but has--as noted--a few items cut out and not present. This provides a nearly comprehensive (nearly due to several 'lost' images) baseline of the principal aircraft of the major nations during a significant period of the Cold War. Aircraft recognition is a visual skill taught to military personnel and civilian auxiliaries since the introduction of military aircraft in World War I. It is important for air defense and military intelligence gathering. Aircraft recognition generally depends on learning the external appearance of the aircraft, both friendly and hostile, most likely to be encountered. Techniques used to teach this information have included scale models, printed silhouette charts, slide projectors, computer aided instruction and even specially-printed playing cards. In the United Kingdom, The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was formed as a defence warning organisation with civilians trained in aircraft recognition and operated primarily as such between 1925 and 1957. Aircraft recognition was first developed between the First and Second World wars when aerial warfare was first recognised as a future threat, after 208 Zeppelin and 435 aircraft raids over London during the First World War. In 1917 Germany had started using fixed-wing bombers, and the number of airship raids diminished rapidly. To answer this new threat, Major General Edward Bailey Ashmore, a First World War pilot who had later been in command of an artillery division in Belgium, was appointed to devise improved systems of detection, communication and control. The Metropolitan Observation Service was created, covering the London area, known as the London Air Defence Area, and was soon extended to the coasts of Kent and Essex. This led to the establishment of the Observer Corps in 1925. Recognition competitions were organised locally, regionally and nationally and by the start of World War II the Corps had trained nearly 30,000 volunteers to accurately recognise all types of current aircraft. The unofficial Aeroplane Spotter magazine was later renamed as The Journal of the Royal Observer Corps Club before being adopted as an official publication and renamed as The Royal Observer Corps Journal published by HMSO and distributed to every observer at a price of one shilling. The US military continues to use "WEFT" as a mnemonic for the major features of an aircraft: Wings or rotors to provide lift, Engines to provide power, a Fuselage to carry the payload and pilot, and a Tail assembly which controls the direction of flight. These elements differ in shape, size, number, and position. The differences distinguish one aircraft type from another. The individual components can be taught as separate recognition and identification features, but it is the composite of these features that must be learned to recognize and identify an aircraft. Condition: Fair, As is.
Keywords: Military Manuals, Guides, Reference Works, Aircraft Recognition, Fighters, Bombers, Aircraft Markings, Naval Aircraft, Interceptor, All-Weather, Reconnaissance, Air Support, Transport, Trainer, Target, Fixed-Wing, Helicopter, Propeller, Turbojet, Roc
[Book #89074]
Price: $40.00