Research Guides: EA401F Performance of Fixed-Wing Aircraft: Warbirds Project: Search Tips for Specific Aircraft

Searching Tips for Specific Aircraft

Ask yourself the following questions about your aircraft to gather keywords for your searches:

Who manufactured it?
Who flew it?
What type of aircraft is it?

Try the following keyword combinations when searching in the Library Catalogue:

The name of your aircraft; eg. F6F Hellcat
Manufacturer AND the word aircraft; eg. Curtiss AND aircraft
Who flew it AND the word aircraft; eg. Royal Air Force AND aircraft
Type of aircraft AND manufacturer; eg. bomber AND Boeing

If you don't find a book focused on your specific aircraft, don't fret. You'll likely find an entry for your aircraft in a book about the manufacturer, the military force, or the type of aircraft.

If you have trouble finding information on your aircraft, get in touch with the Engineering Librarian at durkinru@usna.edu.

Where to Find Books in Nimitz Library

The library's collections are organized by subject. You'll find relevant books for your project in the following call number ranges:

TL 685.3 - TL 686 - aeronautics and aeronautical engineering
UG 1240 - UG 1242 - air forces - air warfare - equipment and supplies

Both of these ranges are located on the third floor of Nimitz Library.

Finding Journal Articles

You may find that researchers have written historical and technical articles about your assigned aircraft in journals. Nimitz Search is a great place to start finding articles about your topic. Here are a few specific relevant journals and databases you may want to use.

AIAA Aerospace Research Central This link opens in a new window
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the leading research body for aeronautics in the United States. We have full-text online access to most of the past few years of research journals through Aerospace Research Central. You can also use the platform's search function to find conference papers that we may have in print at Nimitz Library.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the leading research body for aeronautics. We have full-text online access to most of its research journals. Additionally, we have access to AIAA meeting papers from 1963-2023..

AAHS Journal
AAHS Journal is the flagship publication of the American Aviation Historical Society. We have print copies of this journal in Nimitz Library. This publication is not indexed nor searchable online. Contact the Engineering Librarian for help with this resource.

Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
This database contains content from sources like Air Classics, Aviation History, Air Power History and other aerospace publications.
The collection contains advanced technology related full-text articles, granular access to millions of figures and tables within articles, and the entire range of bibliographic records from the Advanced Technologies Database with Aerospace (ATDWA). ATDWA brings together the most comprehensive bibliographic coverage of research, emerging technologies, applications and companies in the areas of aeronautics, astronautics, computer & information technology, electronics, communications, solid state devices and space sciences.

Help, I can't access this article!

Try these steps if you find an article or book and can't read it.

Submit an interlibrary loan (ILL) request. Find the interlibrary loan icon in the center of our homepage. ILL is a service through which Nimitz Library obtains articles not in our collection from other libraries for your use. You must be on the yard or connected via VPN/VDI to submit a request.
Email the Engineering Librarian at durkinru@usna.edu for help in finding the full text of an article or book.

Finding Operating Manuals and Handbooks

Nimitz Library has some operating manuals for vintage aircraft. To find them, search the Library Catalogue for the name of your aircraft and the word manual or handbook. For example, F4U Corsair AND manual.

Try searching other online resources like Naval History and Heritage Command, the Internet Archive and HathiTrust for operating manuals and technical information.

Hawker Hurricane

"Hawker Hurricane" by Corey Ruth licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

EA401F Performance of Fixed-Wing Aircraft: Warbirds Project