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GENERAL UNLOADING PHASE - 14243_264
IDENTIFICATION AIDS - 14243_266

Signalman 1 & C - Aviation theories and other practices
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CHAPTER 13 AIRCRAFT AND SHIP IDENTIFICATION As you learned in previous chapters, lookout duties are some of your most important duties. As a part of your lookout duties you must be able to identify aircraft, ships and, on occasion, submarines. This chapter covers the basics in identification procedures. AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain the procedures for the identification of aircraft, including aircraft type, aircraft measurement, and other identification aids. Aircraft identification is a very important asset to the Signalman on watch, so you must learn as much as you can to assist in the identification of aircraft. Although this chapter will familiarize you with the most frequently used aircraft, you should guard against making positive identification hastily. The identity of every aircraft must be checked by even the most knowledgeable interpreter. You should study unidentified aircraft carefully, using all available references on recognition and identification. The dimensions and characteristics of all known aircraft are available from many sources, including Aircraft of the World, Aircraft Armament Handbook (Characteristics and Performance) Eurasian Communist Countries, and probably the most popular, Jane's All the World's Aircraft, just to name a few. AIRCRAFT TYPES When the scale or quality of imagery makes it difficult to identify the type of aircraft (jet or prop), you must rely on distinguishing characteristics to aid in identification. A single-engine jet, as opposed to a single-engine propeller-driven aircraft (fig. 13-1), has one or more of the following recognition characteristics: The wings are farther back from the nose. The widest part of the fuselage is near the center. The wings are usually angled back, inboard to outboard. Figure 13-1.—Single-engine aircraft recognition characteristics. The wings usually have less surface area. The distance from the wings to the horizontal stabilizer is less than that from the wings to the nose. There are fewer visible differences between multiengine jet aircraft and multiengine propeller aircraft than between the single-engine types. However, the twin and multiengine jets (fig. 13-2) usually have one or more of the following characteristics. The wings are usually angled back, inboard to outboard. The engines are usually suspended from the wings. The wings have less surface area. AIRCRAFT MEASUREMENTS The two major characteristics in aircraft interpretation are the size of the image and the shape of various components. Accurate measurements are vital because the general appearance of certain aircraft often may be so similar that only the difference in Figure 13-2.—Twin and multiengine aircraft recognition characteristics. 13-1







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