To all young Americans in whose hands will soon rest the responsibility for the preservation of the security of our country and whose job it will be to perpetuate those principles and ideals which have produced a system of government and a way of life that has made America the greatest nation in the World.

Forward

We would like to point out, first of all, that while this booklet was designed and written to appeal to young people, we feel that adults too will find many interesting bits of information among its pages.

Fifty-three years ago the John J. Nissen Baking Company started to bake and sell bakery products to the people of this area. The beginning was small and humble; but because America was and is a great land of opportunity this little bakery with one horse and wagon to deliver its bread was able to grow and prosper.

America and the American way of life has been good to us over the years since our humble beginning. It is only natural that we would want to do our part in keeping it a land of opportunity. Today, America needs us, and we must give her our best because there are strong forces at work that would destroy our happiness and prosperity and take away our opportunities.

We feel that the attention of all Americans, young and old alike, should be drawn to the need for adequate military preparedness and civilian defense effort. We hope that this booklet will, in a small way, help to accomplish this aim.

It has been said that this is the "Air Age," and that maintaining our nation's air strength and progress in the field of aviation is vital to our protection and to the peace of the world. This booklet attempts to create interest in our Air Force and to acquaint you with the thrilling and challenging opportunities that await young people in the field of aviation.  John J. Nissen Baking Company, 1952

History of American Aviation 1907-1951 in Brief

• A cold wind whipped across the buff, sandy stretches at Kitty Hawk on the North Carolina coast. It was December 14, 1903. A coin was tossed into the air between Orville and Wilbur Wright. Wilbur won the toss, climbed up and stretched prone on the wings of the flying machine. He clutched the controls.
• There were no cheering crowds; a mere handful of people were there. At a signal from Orville, who was running alongside the launching track, the 750 pounds of plane, engine, and passenger shot into the air so fast that Orville, at the wing tip, could not keep up. For three and one-half seconds the plane was in the air. It came to rest 105 feet from the take off. Powered flight was born! Three days later, on December 17, Orville Wright made a sustained flight of 12 seconds, which is the one officially recorded for history.
• In 1909, three Army officers were taught to fly by Wilbur Wright. However, the Army's first military training program was not established until 1911. One of the first young fliers was Lieutenant Henry H. Arnold, who, some 30 years later, was destined to command the world's greatest air force and to be loved and respected as General "Hop" Arnold, Commanding General, U. S. Army Air Forces, during World War II.
• When World War I started, new interest centered on aviation and the Army entered into an extensive experimental air program. Pioneer aircraft manufacturers and Army aviation experts began to plan new airplanes, and new flying and maintenance methods. Everywhere in America young men began to think of careers in aviation, but aviation development required time, and when the United States went into World War 1 on April 6, 1917, Army aviation consisted of only 131 officers (of which only 78 were aviators), 1087 enlisted men, and 55 airplanes. All of the airplanes were obsolete and none carried machine guns.
• Although a little late, Army aviation went to work. Having no good combat designs of our own, our fliers fought in British and French airplanes. We did, however, develop the best training plane in the world, the Curtiss "Jenny," and trained 17,540 Flying Cadets.
• Although Army aviation entered the war at a late date, its aviators made up for the delay by intensive action until the end of the war. New "aces" began to appear almost daily and the veteran German airmen soon found that they had met their match in the young aviators just off the football fields and baseball diamonds of America. We produced 69 "aces" each of whom had destroyed five or more enemy aircraft. Captain "Eddie" Rickenbocker was our leading ace, credited with 25 aerial victories.
• The end of World War I found us with a fine group of airmen; a knowledge of the construction of aircraft. But peace-loving America, certain that there would never be another war, did not listen. Our Air Service was cut to a mere handful of aircraft and airmen.
• In spite of the peaceful calm, General "Billy" Mitchell and his little group of airmen fought courageously to keep our Air Service alive. Army aviators flew the first air mail and aerial forest patrols, and pioneered the first lighted airway beacons. They made new records for speed, distance and altitude. New aircraft and engines were planned and bombers grew larger. General Mitchell proved his theory of strategic air power and precision bombing by sinking a battleship-the captured German ship Ostfriesland-with 2,000-pound bombs dropped from big twin-engined Martin BM-1 bombers, on July 21, 1921.
• When World War II broke out in Europe in September 1939, it found us with only a handful of combat planes. The Nazi Luftwaffe was composed of a million men and 15,000 warplanes. Our Air Corps had less than a thousand first line airplanes of all types including just 13 Flying Fortresses.
• However when the Japanesse launched their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor we really began to fight and the result was the greatest industrial expansion the world had ever seen. In the war against Germany alone, the Army Air Forces reached a peak of more than 13,000 combat planes, operated by a force of 619,000 men assigned to combat commands. More than 750,000 bomber sorties and almost 1,000,000 fighter sorties were flown by the Army Air Forces. The Air Forces dropped nearly 1,500,000 tons of bombs and destroyed over 35,000 enemy aircraft while losing 18,000.
• In the war against Japan, the Army Air Forces, spearheading its attack with the famous B-29, flew over 669,000 sorties. Five hundred thousand tons of bombs were dropped on Japan and its islands. More than 10,000 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, while Army Air Forces losses amounted to 4,500 planes. (Note: The famous Martin B-26 didn't do so bad either.)
• The heroic airmen who dealt these telling blows for our country are your fathers, older brothers, or your neighbors' boys who in 1941 were college students, clerks, salesmen, or mechanics in the garage around the corner. We are rightfully proud of them all.
• With the end of World War II, emphasis turned to new aeronautical research. The jet engine became foremost in planning new military aircraft. The jet powered Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star made its first test flights in 1945. In January 1946, an F-80 spanned the continent in 4 hours and 13 minutes.
• On August 1, 1947, the Army Air Forces celebrated its fortieth anniversary. Six weeks later, on September 18, 1947, the Army Air Forces became the autonomous United States Air Force, and, as laid down in the National Security Act of 1947, became a full partner in the newly created National Military Establishment. Thus the new Air Force was born.
• On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles E. Yeager flew the Bell X-11, the Air Force's first rocket propelled airplane, faster than the speed of sound.
• On March 2, 1949, an Air Force B-50, the "Lucky Lady II," completed the first nonstop circumnavigation of the world. The Lucky Lady II took off from Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth, Texas, at 11:21 P. M. on February 26, 1949. Ninety-four hours and one minute later it returned to its home base after having flown a total distance of 23,452 miles at an average speed of 249 miles per hour.

How to Identify Aircraft

Importance

The necessity of making decisions in a split second is always present for those members of our Air Force who pilot the planes or man the guns. The same is true for those members of our civilian defense who serve as aircraft spotters.

If you were a pilot or a gunner on one of our planes and another airplane come rushing you at 7 or 8 miles per minute, you would have no time to figure out whether it was a friend or an enemy. You must be able to recognize it immediately and act accordingly. During World War II, many of our airmen were not properly trained to make these quick decisions and a number of casualties resulted.

We now realize that the only way to prevent these casualties, whether you are an airman or an aircraft spotter, is to demand the highest degree of skill in aircraft recognition. The brief instructions that follow and a thorough study of the airplane pictures that you will paste into this book will help you now to achieve that degree of skill. Then if you ever become a member of the Air Forces or even an aircraft spotter, there will never be a question of your recognizing a plane.

General Plan

At first thought it might seem that the identification of airplanes would be very technical and difficult. Actually it is very simple because the most important thing is to be completely familiar with it so for as its general appearance is concerned.

Almost any boy or girl can tell you in an instant whether an automobile that is racing down the highway at 60 miles per hour is a Cadillac, a Ford or a Chevrolet. Now, did they stop to examine every feature of the car, such as the fenders, the hood, windshield or rear bumper? Of course not. They see all kinds of cars a hundred or a thousand times a day; they are so completely familiar with the general appearance of all cars that their recognition is instinctive.

The some is true regarding airplanes except for two main differences. (1) Your recognition of airplanes must be much more rapid because of the speeds attained by airplanes. Thus a greater degree of familiarity with the plane is necessary. (2) The opportunity of becoming familiar with airplanes is not as plentiful as in the case of automobiles Therefore every time an airplane flies through the sky or one flashes across the screen in the movies or a picture of one appears in the paper or in a magazine, you should test your skill at identifying it.

Weft System

There are a few general characteristics in recognition of airplanes that are helpful. (1) Determine if the plane is a land or sea model. The land plane has wheels which are retracted in flight while the sea plane has pontoons or a large hull bottomed fuselage. (2) Take note of the number of engines on the plane. Single engine planes are usually fighters or dive bombers. Twin engine planes are usually medium bombers or small transports. Four engine planes are heavy bombers or huge transport or cargo planes. (3) Study the type of wing or wings on the plane. There are various types such as the parasol wing, high wing, middle wing, low wing, gull wing, inverted gull wing and the dihedral wing. "WEFT" is a coined word and stands for wings, engine, fuselage and tail. By studying and being able to recognize quickly these particular features of the airplane you are assisted in your efforts to recognize one plane from another. We have already referred to a few points to keep in mind regarding the engine or engines as well as the wing or wings.

The fuselage or the body of the plane may look like anything from a cigar to a barrel. Fighter airplanes usually have a slim, short fuselage in contrast to the massive, bulky fuselage of the bombers or cargo airplanes. Some planes have a twin fuselage (usually called twin booms) and are joined by a common horizontal stabilizer or tail.

The tail assembly of a plane is so important in identifying it that often times it provides the chief clue. The shape of the tail will vary just the same as the shape of the wing will vary. Therefore it is important to give close attention to the tail characteristics.

Use of Silhouettes

A valuable assistance in identification of airplanes is the use of silhouettes of the plane. These silhouettes show a picture of the plane in outline form only with the body of the plane filled in solid or with shadows. Usually three silhouettes of each plane are used to study its features. One silhouette shows the plane as it would look flying directly towards you, another as the plane would look if it were flying directly over your head and the third the way it would look from the side. These three views of the plane in silhouette will show every important feature of the plane.

Take advantage of every opportunity to secure and collect silhouettes of airplanes. Study them carefully and you will quickly discover how easy it is to tell the difference between airplanes.

Flash Cards

Flash cards can be extremely helpful in your studies of identification of airplanes. It is also possible to get a great deal of fun and enjoyment out of the use of them. One suggestion for preparing a set of flash cards would be to secure an additional set of the airplane pictures that you will paste in this handbook. Clip the name of the plane off of the bottom of the picture and then paste the picture on a small card about the size of a playing card. Next paste the clipped off name on the other side of the card for refreshing your memory until you have completely mastered the job of identifying the plane as you "flash" it very rapidly past your eyes. Make a game out of it, challenge your friends, see how many you can identify in competition with them. You will find this enjoyable and interesting pastime real assistance in your efforts to be an expert at identifying airplanes.

Note: The above information is from a John J. Nissen Baking Company promotion called "Handbook for Junior Aircraft Spotters" © 1952 Wilson R. Caskey