Revista do Ar - O mecanico pre-aeronautico (1944) (original printed edition)

By 1944, the war had considerably reduced aviation activity in neutral Portugal. The younger generation needed to be prepared for the post-war boom in air traffic. The editors of the country's only aviation magazine, Revista do Ar, acquired the rights to eight technical pre-military training manuals from the Italian Ministry of Aeronautics, and entrusted their translation to a talented editor, Armando Correia Mera.

Each of the eight manuals was published ten months apart, and dealt successively with :

•         pre-aeronautical photographer
•         pre-aeronautical armourer
•         pre-aeronautical nurse
•         pre-aeronautical radiotelegrapher
•         pre-aeronautical pilot
•         pre-aeronautical mechanic
•         pre-aeronautical fitter
•         pre-aeronautical electrician

In each case, the manual begins with basic notions of physics, aerodynamics, chemistry, electricity, etc. and ends with a truly exhaustive treatment of the subject.

In this case, it deals with general mechanics, heat, combustion and carbuyants, electrical energy, the main components of aviation engines, carburation, lubrication, electrical generation, assembly, disassembly and adjustment, breakdowns, propellers and the different types of aviation engines in existence, and the materials used in 1944.

An interesting cross-section of a scientific discipline which, at the same time, a few thousand kilometres away, was being applied in the harshest and most testing conditions.

161 pages - black and white - age-toned