I’m a sucker for teach-yourself manuals.

Now, in 1938, a British gentleman by the name of Nigel Tangye published with Hodder & Stoughton a small handbook called Teach Yourself to Fly.
The volume was reissued in 1941, as a quick-and-dirty crash course for RAF newbies.

Now, c’mon, this is the 21st century – we are leery, and pretty skeptical, of one-package crash courses and Idiot’s/Dummies books about using Twitter or Mexican cooking.
And here’s a 75-years-old, 170-pages booklet, claiming to be the one-stop beginner’s course for fighter pilots?
In war situations?
One has to scratch one’s head, and wonder how gullible were they back in those days. Continue reading →