Now I know the best angle from which to attack the Japanese Type 96 and 96 fighters -- either from the front quarter or the rear quarter. Try to remember that, will you? You can never tell.
I sometimes enjoy these old technical training films. It's like flipping through a 1943 issue of a magazine, looking at the ads for Mum deodorant and Ipana toothpaste. Both items, by the way, were manufactured in my home town in New Jersey.
During the war, I was a child but was always fascinated by the airplanes of the period. This is a bit off topic, I know, but indulge me, please. One issue of Popular Mechanics told civilians which way to run in case a bomb was falling towards them. Here's how you do it. You look up at the bomb plummeting in your direction first. Then you hold up your thumb, steady, and block out the falling bomb. If the bomb appears from behind your (steady) thumb and drifts upward or sideways, you run in the opposite direction. If the falling bomb remains blocked by your thumb, you twist your thumb sideways to see if the bomb is dropping lower or staying the same. If it's dropping lower, you turn around and run away. If the image of the bomb is steady, it's wise to take shelter because the missile is going to fall right on top of you. Simple, no?
Actually, this film, consisting mostly of drawings of the "mongrel" "Jap" planes, which are "inferior to our own" and merely "imitations", is like a peek into the past -- a certain view of the past, to be sure. No mention of the Japanese Zero Sen. It reflects a very real, if limited, contemporary Weltanschauung. If you enjoy poring through unexplored attics or the dusty shelves of old library books, you should find this at least a curious item. But, be warned, it doesn't stand up to repeated viewing.
I sometimes enjoy these old technical training films. It's like flipping through a 1943 issue of a magazine, looking at the ads for Mum deodorant and Ipana toothpaste. Both items, by the way, were manufactured in my home town in New Jersey.
During the war, I was a child but was always fascinated by the airplanes of the period. This is a bit off topic, I know, but indulge me, please. One issue of Popular Mechanics told civilians which way to run in case a bomb was falling towards them. Here's how you do it. You look up at the bomb plummeting in your direction first. Then you hold up your thumb, steady, and block out the falling bomb. If the bomb appears from behind your (steady) thumb and drifts upward or sideways, you run in the opposite direction. If the falling bomb remains blocked by your thumb, you twist your thumb sideways to see if the bomb is dropping lower or staying the same. If it's dropping lower, you turn around and run away. If the image of the bomb is steady, it's wise to take shelter because the missile is going to fall right on top of you. Simple, no?
Actually, this film, consisting mostly of drawings of the "mongrel" "Jap" planes, which are "inferior to our own" and merely "imitations", is like a peek into the past -- a certain view of the past, to be sure. No mention of the Japanese Zero Sen. It reflects a very real, if limited, contemporary Weltanschauung. If you enjoy poring through unexplored attics or the dusty shelves of old library books, you should find this at least a curious item. But, be warned, it doesn't stand up to repeated viewing.
