Check equipment before take-off!
Comic scene of airman Gooney flung from a bent palm tree toward the sea while his crew, stranded on a tiny island, point up at him angrily. A verse says he forgot his E-6B (a flight computer) and the crew spent days on a lonely isle. The technique is a fear-appeal played as humor: the cost of one forgotten item is shown as being stranded.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Army Air Forces (artist: Lantz)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Army Air Forces. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1391B (NAID 515051).
Text on the object
GOONEY HIS E-6B DID FORGET IN FACT HE HASN’T FOUND IT YET THE REST OF THE CREW FIND IT HARD TO SMILE AFTER SEVERAL DAYS ON A LONELY ISLE. CHECK EQUIPMENT BEFORE TAKE-OFF! [signature:] LANTZ [imprint:] ☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O—500830
