Dilbert said:
I already purchased numerous flight manuals from eflightmanuals.
This is because (a) the manuals are "Dash-1", that contain no avionics or weapons information - only how to fly the plane, as if it were a commuter aircraft, and emergency procedures for the pilot. The good stuff is all in Dash-34 manuals that are often not secret, but "official use only" - i.e. even in the rare case you can find someone to sell you a copy, they'll want to see proof you are an American citizen.
and (b) because the manuals they have for sale, at least for modern aircraft, all seem to be quite old and outdated.
My 2c...
An interesting point of view. As one who spent more than twelve years in seven different USAF aircraft, I submit that the Dash One is a terribly (word chosen deliberately) important document. It is not simply a how-to for a commuter airplane, but a distillation of manufacturer information leavened with many years of operational experience in the type. As one who crewed in transport and bomber aircraft, the Dash One provides critical information on not just "how to fly the airplane" but how to inspect it, operate it and the systems of the aircraft. The major difference between aircraft with only one or two crewmembers and those with larger crews is that the larger aircraft have more people to deal with operation, including emergencies. In the fast-movers, the pilot and maybe one other have to keep it largely in their heads to deal with everything. The Dash One is updated by a variety of inputs, both from the top down and from suggestions and experiences of the crew members.
As one example, a C-133 crew departed Chateauroux AB, France one dark and rainy night in about 1962. Climbing out in DS weather, on instruments, the airplane went into a departure stall, with the right roll increasing rapidly. According to the copilot, who was a flight examiner administering an aircraft commander upgrade check for the pilot in the left seat, he was "doing everything right," but the stall was progressing fast. Finally, the FE dropped full flaps, something not covered in the Dash One but which seemed the right thing to do. That stopped the process, the wings began to come level from a rol that had passed 92 degrees and they were able to land at Chateauroux. That incident was soon reflected in a new addition to the emergency procedures of the C-133 Dash One.
Dash Ones are constantly being updated, so there are always old ones being turned in or discarded. Nowadays, I'm told that a lot of the Dash One is now available on line in the airplane, at least in such planes as the C-17. Certainly, there are still paper copies out there. When the resellers get ahold of a copy, it is most likely going to be one that is outdated to some degree.
No, it is not a commuter plane driver's manual!
