Airplane Stuff: Pilots Manuals, Reports, Surveys and Books

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Airplane Stuff: Someday We May See a P-38 and Corsair Page around here…

Airplane Gallery I: Mixed High Resolution Photos of WWII Airplanes  

B-25 Pilot Training Manual For The Mitchell Bomber : This is the manual you would want if you needed to fly a stock WWII B-25 around. It may not be as useful for one of the more modern restored birds. This is a great scan and comes in at 171 pages.

A-26 Invader Pilot Training Manual: This is the training manual for the Douglas A-26 invader from 1945. A fantastic scan, and 137 pages.

P-38H-L Pilot Training Manual:  This is the PTM for the P-38, all late models. Really interesting read on this complicated but powerful fighter. Very good scan, 102 pages.

P-40 Pilot Training Manual: This is the PTM for the P-40, a very good scan, and 92 pages

P-47N Pilot Training Manual: This is the PTM for the late war long range escort version of the P-47, it had 2800 HP and a 1000 mile combat radius. This is a very nice scan and 111 pages.

P-51 Pilot Training Manual: This PTM is is on the P-51D and was published in 1945. It’s a very nice scan and comes in at 106 pages.

P-47B-G TO-01-65BC-1 Pilots flight Operating Instruction, this is more just the basics of how the planes systems work for a more experienced pilot.A very nice scan coming in at 54 pages.

Pilots Flight Operating Instruction for Army Models P-38H, J, L-1, L-5 and F-5b: This PFO for the H and J models, is a good scan and 63 pages.

Grumman F6F Pilot Manual: This is a PFO for the Hellcat series all models of the -3 and -5.  A good quality scan and 57 pages.

FM2 Pilots Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions (F4F Wildcat): This is the PFO on the FM-2, the hot rod version of the Wildcat made by GM.  The Scan is good and it comes in at 75 pages.

Typhoon 1A&B Pilot Notes: This is the British version of the PFO, and an ok scan and 20 pages long.

Tempest V Pilot Notes: The PFO for the Tempest V, a very fast late war British fighter. The Scan is ok, and its 35 pages long.

Pilot Notes Spitfire IX, XI & XVI:  PFO for the the Mks 9, 11, and 16 of the Spitfire. Just on OK scan 26 pages.

Tactics and Techniques of  Air-fighting 42: This is just what it sounds like, and not very good overall, one for 45 would be much more interesting.  80 pages, poor quality.

US Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS): All You Ever Wanted To Know About The Stuff We Bombed in WWII

US Strategic Bombing Survey: This is just the index, and its 324 pages long, I’m looking for the rest, if you have any ideas where to find it, drop me a note.  The quality on this one is good.

USSBS Air Campaigns of the Pacific War: This is an overview of the air campaigns against the Japanese. This one is a good scan and comes in at 100 pages. 

USSBS The Campaigns of the Pacific War:  This is not an overview,  and has a ton of detail.  This decent scan comes in at 438 pages.

USSBS kawasaki Aircraft Industries Company, Corp Report No. IV: Another report on a Japanese Aircraft Factory,  and how well we did blowing it up.  This scan is ok, it the source material that was in bad shape, and its 104 pages.

 USSBS Hitachi Aircraft Company Report No. VII: This is the report on Hitachi Aircraft, what they made, where they made it, and how bombing effected the output. This one is a good scan and 94 pages.

USSBS Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company Corp Report No. IX: Sounds like an odd place to bomb right? Well they were making propellers.  Good scan, 50 pages.

Air Force Technical Manuals, Field Manuals, Reports, and odds and ends.

ENG-47-1673-A 1943 captured Zero report: Five poor quality pages on a zero captured in 1943.

FM1-30 AFFM Air Navigation: 47 Math filled pages on how to navigate by air. This is from 1940 so the only Navaids were RDFs, the compass and sextants 47 pages ok scan.

FM1-26 Army Air Forces Field Manual, Defense Of Airdromes 1944: This one is how to set up the defense on your airfield. This one is 95 pages and ok quality.

TM1-205 Air Navigation: This is another 1940 manual on Air navigation, this one a very nice scan and 322 pages.

TM1-230 Weather for Pilots: This is a huge PDF and a very nice scan, and the content though dated is very interesting. It’s 310 pages and all very dry…

TM1-406 Aircraft Electrical Systems: This is a 150 page general manual on Aircraft electrical systems. Ok scan.

General Kenney Reports, a Personal History of the Pacific War By George C Kenney: This Book is a really great read. I found it a few years ago and found it to be a fascinating book. General Kenney was in command of the 5th Airforce, and he answered only to Douglas MacArthur.  This is almost a day to day account, and you will get an intimate view of what like for an Officer under the famous General Command. MacArthur seems to have left Kenney to his own devices since he was a very successful and innovative officer.  He came with things like cutting trucks in half, so they would fit in a cargo plane, and then putting them back together at remote fields where they wouldn’t normally be able to go. He had special teams to load and unload cargo planes at a very high rate to maximize sorties. When he needed fighters with longer legs, he had local companies make drop tanks. When he was saddled with medium bombers that couldn’t hit ships from altitude, he came up with skip bombing and turning bombers into low alt straffers.

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Naval Aviation Cadets take instruction before a flight at NATC Corpus Cristie
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An A-36 Apache being worked on.
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Colonel Charles Mcdonald, Commander of the 475 fighter group standing with his P-38 J or L named Putt Putt Maru
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Early F4U-1 Corsairs on the Vought production line 1942.
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PBY Catalina
Orlando, Fla. - Barely visible beneath the wings of a Lockhead P-38 Lighting are the deadly bombs with which this multi-purpose plane can blast enemy troops, ships and gun emplacements. As shown in recent demonstartions at the AAF Tactical Center, Orlando, Fla., the Lockhead P-38, now being used as a fighter-bomber, is capable of carrying bomb pay loads up to 2,000 pounds, thus affording the Allies another potent weapon for use against Germany and Japan in coming offensive.
A P-38H demonstrating how it could easily haul 2000 pounds in bombs, in a demonstration flight. This was the last version of the P-38 to have the troublesome leading edge intercoolers, and streamlined cowlings.
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P-38F and Spitfire MKV side by side.
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Another early A-36
CV-36 F4U-4 Launch Korea 1952 Rocker Collection
F4U-4 Corsairs prepare to launch off CV-36 The Antietam, for strikes in Korea 1952
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A very early production F4U-1 Corsair. Note the cowl flaps that have not been pinned at the top, glass cutouts behind the main canopy, and the short hard tail wheel. This Corsair would have been a handful to land on land, let alone a carrier.
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A restored F4U-1D flying alongside a B-25 about to pass over the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Three factory fresh F4U-1A Corsairs.

 

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A pair of beat up F4U-1A Corsairs probably in the Solomons
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P-38 Sunset
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P-38E
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Yippee the 5,000 P-38 made

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