Portrait of the Enemy

This is an article critique – first of two – written for my Aviation Legislation class. It is a one-page review of an Air and Space Magazine's article. I hope you enjoy
-Joel

Name: Joel Grosjean

Portrait of the Enemy
Air & Space Magazine

www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/Portrait_of_the_Enemy.html

Critique:

Robin White, the author of Portrait of the Enemy, discusses the birth and the importance of reconnaissance flights during World War I. This is paralleled with the flights taken today in Iraq: “I’ve seen stills taken from the Predator, a General Atomics unmanned aerial vehicle that flies reconnaissance missions over Iraq; the old plates in Captain Burger’s book [from WWI] were far sharper” (p. 65). In this article, White also recognizes the work of the analysts: “Still, it was one thing to take a good aerial photograph and survive to bring it home, and quite another to train someone who had never seen the world from the air to make sense of it” (p. 68).

With the knowledge I have, I would agree that his general position is accurate; I think that life, flying, and specifically reconnaissance missions were simpler during World War I than they are today, although these missions were not without risks, and these pilots deserve a place in history. I have not seen photos taken by today’s aircraft, but even during Vietnam, the quality was less clear by the 1960’s. Furthermore, I think his laud for the analysts is creditable.

Unfortunately, there are assumptions taken in White’s article. Most notably, his information is bases on one predominate book: “Notes on the Interpretation of Aeroplane Photographs”. This can lead to skewed interpretations. Furthermore, the photos used in the book (Notes on the Interpretation of Aeroplane Photographs) may not fully represent what the analysts worked with routinely; these photos were potentially the better photos taken at that time and did not represent the blurred or grainy stills taken with inferior equipment or photographers. Secondly, his parallel to Iraq is hard to substantiate. Data analysis techniques have inherently changed over the decades potentially allowing poorer quality photographs to be analyzed with equal or greater accuracy than during the early 1900’s. Also, much of those photographs from Iraq are still classified.

In conclusion, I think that Robin White’s article about reconnaissance flights during World War I is well presented given the data available. His parallel to Iraq, however, may not be well substantiated and poses potential comparison inequalities. I think that his inclusion of technical data substantiates the fact that those pilots and analysis deserve respect and should be lauded for their achievements and dedication.