Army Air Forces Intelligence School (1 results)

Condition: Very good. Quarto, unpaginated (about 100pp.), illustrated with 83 original tipped-in photographs, and an envelope containing 13 more loose and unidentified images laid-in. Housed in the original cardstock clasped folder. Many of the pages have a bottom fold, which does not fully open without the potential to tear, though all of the contents can be read with some effort. Some pages a touch foxed, and a few prints are loosened from their pages and laid-in in the right place. Overall in very good condition. A well-organized and illustrated military textbook for a wartime class on aircraft identification, which was probably taught in many places, but organized at the US Army Air Force base in Harrisburg. An introductory sheet (in perfect bureaucratic fashion, placed near the end of this textbook) states: "The course in Aircraft Identification consists of ten hours spaced over a period of six weeks." It goes on to list a series of 42 aircraft--American, German, Italian, French, and Japanese--which will be easily identified by all successful students by the end of the course. The first few dozen pages consist of detailed folding charts, with data on dimensions, payloads, etc. Another section of about 12pp. gives a background on various best practices when trying to identify aircraft, as well as some of the principles behind the course. The course utilized the "WEFT" system (wings, engine, fuselage, tail) to help individuals (soldiers, intelligence agents, etc.) identify planes in the field from various angles, at different heights, and in certain contexts. Most of the pages dedicated to individual planes contain two photographs, from different angles and with different shading, trying to mimic real battlefield conditions under which someone might try to identify an aircraft. An unusually engaging wartime military textbook, appealing to photography, aviation, and military collectors alike. Not located in OCLC, thus notably absent in the holdings of the Army War College Library, which retains most technical manuals and course books.