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As a teenager in the late fifties, I cam across a book that inspired me to investigate a career in aviation: Song of the Sky, by Guy Murchie. Published at a time when aviation was experiencing explosive growth, this volume was unusual in that it was not written from the perspective of a pilot, but the air navigator. This had natural appeal for me. A portion of the first chapter is shown below.
Nav station depicted in the "Song of the Sky," nominally in a C-54 aircraft. Not too much changed in the P2 and P3 aircraft nav stations, except that in a patrol aircraft there would be a dead reackoning tracker for tactical navigation underneath. Navigation instruments visible appear unchanged.
C-54 Skymaster (derived from the Douglas Aircraft DC-4 commercial airliner.
I often checked this book out from the library to refresh my recollections. I believe the book was relatively rare in the 60's, certainly beyond my budget. I found that the library of the US Naval School, Pre-Flight had a copy as well, which I put to good use during my training in Pensacola. I eventually purchased my own copy (which I still have) at at a used book sale at Johns Hopkins.
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