Hydraulics - Safety First (Air Diagram 1298)

Two panels of captioned drawings show a bomber whose crew test the flaps at a safe height and land, against a careless pilot who lowers them untested, loses control and crashes. The fear-appeal tell is the crash drawn as the consequence of skipping the check; the text itself is plain technical instruction.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date

1940

Period

Second World War

Made by

Air Ministry (Air Diagram 1298), printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd; artist Leslie Carr

Region

Western and Central Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Chamberlain Government

Leader

Neville Chamberlain

Audience

Own forces

Purpose

Warn or inform

Themes

War and the military, Science and technology

Event

World War II

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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026

Rights

Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
Air Ministry (Air Diagram 1298), printed for HMSO by Lowe & Brydone; artist Leslie Carr, 1940. National Archives (NARA), WWII Foreign Posters, 44-PF-65f.

HYDRAULICS - SAFETY FIRST

Whenever you have been in contact with the enemy, damage may have been caused to your aircraft, even though you may not know it. If your hydraulics have been damaged one flap only may come down causing you to lose control. Test this out at a safe height before you approach to land.

1. PILOT RETURNING FROM MISSION TESTS HYDRAULICS AT A SAFE HEIGHT.
2. ONLY PORT FLAP COMES DOWN. AIRCRAFT BEGINS TO YAW VIOLENTLY.
3. PILOT RAISES FLAP AGAIN AND PROCEEDS TO LAND WITHOUT THEM.

1. CAREFUL PILOT LOWERS FLAPS WITHOUT TESTING THEM PREVIOUSLY.
2. PORT SIDE FLAP ONLY COMES DOWN. PILOT HAS NO TIME TO RAISE IT AND AIRCRAFT CRASHES.

AIR DIAGRAM 1298 3/40
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY LOWE & BRYDONE PRINTERS LTD., LONDON, N.W.10 51-6266
[signature:] LESLIE CARR