U.S. NAVY PRIMARY FLIGHT TRAINING MANUAL by [World War II]: [Aviation] - 1945

Glenview, IL: Naval Air Training Command, 1945. First Edition. Wraps. Good +. 4to. Illustrated wraps. Contemporary post binding added at left margin. Most paper lost from spine. Wrapper edges worn, chipped. Internally clean, sound.

An original illustrated manual issued to WWII Naval flight cadets training at NAS Glenview, dated July 1 1945 to the title page. Generously illustrated throughout with dozens of original drawings (likely the work of a single, unnamed illustrator) and photograph reproductions, executed and lettered in a decidedly Seuss-ian style heavily influenced by modern cartooning, lending a simplistic treatment to gravely serious and technical material. A portion of the "Safety" chapter on p. 29 with the exaggerated likeness of a pilot resting upon a cloud, holding a harp, wearing angel wings and captioned: "Don't try to be the 'hottest' pilot, but try to be the 'oldest.'" and "There are bold pilots, and there are old piltos, 'But!' - there are no old, bold pilots." Six chapters are broken into dozens of sections with titles like: Your Parachute, Safety, Inherent Stability, Turns, Normal Spins, Landings, Steep Turns, Precision, Immelmans, Progressive Spins, etc. The impact of the allied air campaign and skill of American pilots during World War II is seldom mentioned in modesty. This is a rare flight training publication and exceptional example of illustrative instruction. OCLC notes only 2 institutional holdings, one at The Smithsonian, the other in the aviation archives at Wright State in Dayton, OH. None in commerce (June 2015). 243pp.