A photographic portrait of Eric Sloane, probably taken c. 1940, when the author/artist was 35 years old. During the Second World War, Eric created “thought pictures” for the U.S. Army Air Corps to help train pilots. The brass at the U.S. Army Air Corps had taken notice Eric’s first book, “Clouds, Air and Wind” (1941), and knew he was the choice to illustrate flying manuals. The June 1946 issue of Air Trails explained that “…Clouds, Air, and Wind took shape…This primer of weather has helped the Army and Navy flyers by means of his word pictures, not only to learn weather but to remember it. Its success gave Sloane the job of doing flight manuals at Wright Field. These were to explain the effects of flying upon the human body. He went through all the effects of high altitude, G-force, etc. and came out with a book of drawings called “Your Body in Flight”. German medical officers mentioned this book as being a gem of clarity and importance—something far beyond what the Luftwaffe had. There is no telling how many lives this manual saved by making our boys remember their flight physiology at altitudes where the mind is dulled by anoxia and extreme cold.”