Major Aircraft Recognition Guide (USSR); DIA Manual, DIAM 57-25-110 15 May 1979

xiii,[1], 138 pages. Illustrated with drawings and photographs. Nomenclature. Size Comparisons. Technical specifications. Ink notation on front cover. No rear cover present. This was prepared by the 480th Reconnaissance Technical Group (TAC), Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. This supersedes AFR 200.11, 1 March 1976. The purpose of this guide is to provide aircrews and other Air Force personnel with a readily available pictorial guide to Soviet aircraft. Although designed solely as a recognition guide, additional information is provided in the interest of improving the recognition value of the material. Included in this manual is the best photography available at the time of publication; this material will be supplemented periodically as photography becomes available. This contains information on Bombers, Transports, Fighters, and Miscellaneous Aircraft. This is a major military intelligence reference work during a peak 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. It was the creed of the British War Department and the Air Ministry, at the start of the war, that accurate recognition of high-flying and fast-moving aircraft was not possible. The spare-time volunteers of the Observer Corps disagreed and between 1938 and 1939 they started developing the skills and training materials to achieve it, on an unofficial basis. Local units began to band together and form spotting clubs caller Hearker clubs that eventually combined in April 1941 as The Royal Observer Corps Club and prepared early aircraft type silhouette cards for both allied and German types, mostly made by tracing photographs from The Aeroplane magazine, with some made by enlarging silhouettes from commercially produced 1930s cigarette card sets. Technical editor of The Aeroplane, Peter Masefield, who was also a member of the Corps, traveled the length of Britain giving lectures and training sessions. The club also produced a fortnightly magazine, The Aeroplane Spotter, with the help of The Aeroplane's printers, that was eventually distributed to every unit in the Corps. Large wall posters were produced that showed every known type of aircraft. The WEFT (Wingshape, Engine configuration, Fuselage shape and Tail type) system of recognition was first developed by Chief Observer C.H. Gibbs-Smith of Watford Group's Delta 3 post and a member of Hearker Club No. 3. Recognition competitions were organized locally, regionally and nationally and by the start of World War II the Corps had trained nearly 30,000 volunteers to accurately recognize 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. In April 1942 the club initiated recognition proficiency tests, later adopted officially by the ROC, with three levels: 3rd Class level (later renamed Basic level) 50% correct; 2nd Class level (later renamed Intermediate level) 70% correct; 1st Class level (later renamed Master level) 90% or more correct. In September 1942 the government recognized the usefulness and effectiveness of the systems developed by the spare-time observers and first published Aircraft Recognition: The Inter-services Recognition Journal with early content copied from previous editions of Aeroplane Spotter and The Royal Observe.…