ksb86 Posted January 10, 2022 Share #1 Posted January 10, 2022 I picked these up at a local estate sale and wanted to see the experts thoughts on them. I was pretty excited as they seem to be a pretty detailed manuals for some pretty iconic aircraft. A quick internet search showed some digital copies but not originals. I have an F-4D Maintenance and Service Manual, an F-4E Maintenance and Service Manual and a F-4E Flight Manual. I also bought a Flight Manual for the F-16 A/B. This one is a little more unique as it has a sticker on the front stating it is from the USAF Thunderbirds and is for “Training Use Only”. The sticker also mentions it is for the Number 3 Aircraft. I attached a few pictures to show what they look like. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 10, 2022 Share #2 Posted January 10, 2022 I think you did great! the "training use only" means the TO is not part of the official TO library and will not get updated...it could be updated but not required to be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksb86 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Share #3 Posted January 10, 2022 9 hours ago, phantomfixer said: I think you did great! the "training use only" means the TO is not part of the official TO library and will not get updated...it could be updated but not required to be... I think so too. Thanks for the info. Do you think the previous owner of these manuals was a mechanic working on both aircraft? If so would he have been able to just take these home? If it was a training only manual what was it’s used. Since it wasn’t updated was it just a reference guide to previous information? Thanks for the knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 11, 2022 Share #4 Posted January 11, 2022 First off anything from the Tbirds is wicked cool generally these aren’t just handed out to keep.. squadron use or reference.. classroom use etc.. mechanics were given handbooks as a general guide for training and reference, but relied on a complete maintenance library to perform Mx on a jet.. the 2-2 is the basic TO used for the basic ground handling.. so kinda cool from a crew chief point of view… mechanics wouldn’t need the -1s unless a plane nut and had a chance to grab one..just sayin😃 hard to say who the PO was.. If I had to guess … the Tbird -1 came from the ops office for quick reference the F4 binders look unofficial.. maybe a museum or collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluehawk Posted January 11, 2022 Share #5 Posted January 11, 2022 Extremely very nice and excellent ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksb86 Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share #6 Posted January 14, 2022 On 1/10/2022 at 5:19 PM, phantomfixer said: First off anything from the Tbirds is wicked cool generally these aren’t just handed out to keep.. squadron use or reference.. classroom use etc.. mechanics were given handbooks as a general guide for training and reference, but relied on a complete maintenance library to perform Mx on a jet.. the 2-2 is the basic TO used for the basic ground handling.. so kinda cool from a crew chief point of view… mechanics wouldn’t need the -1s unless a plane nut and had a chance to grab one..just sayin😃 hard to say who the PO was.. If I had to guess … the Tbird -1 came from the ops office for quick reference the F4 binders look unofficial.. maybe a museum or collector Awesome thanks for the info. I knew they were unique when I found them sitting in the basement with a good collection of aviation books. I wasn't exactly sure what I had stumbled upon though. I'm pretty sure the PO worked for Lockheed at some point, maybe he got from someone there. There were a couple others for different aircraft that I wish I would have bought too. I'm glad I added them to my collection. When you say museum do you mean they would have been copies made for display in a museum? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted January 14, 2022 Share #7 Posted January 14, 2022 7 minutes ago, ksb86 said: Awesome thanks for the info. I knew they were unique when I found them sitting in the basement with a good collection of aviation books. I wasn't exactly sure what I had stumbled upon though. I'm pretty sure the PO worked for Lockheed at some point, maybe he got from someone there. There were a couple others for different aircraft that I wish I would have bought too. I'm glad I added them to my collection. When you say museum do you mean they would have been copies made for display in a museum? Thanks not so much the TO itself but the binder, look at your Thunderbird binder label, it has the TO number etc, the others just have a sharpie and sticky with basic descriptive info...not definitive but just a hunch those came from a personal collection... the thunderbird TO appears to have been taken straight from an Ops office or similar setting... not knocking them at all, as they are all official USAF publications... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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