Escape and evasion map printed on playing cards distributed to Prisoners of War which could be soaked and pealed apart revealing the escape map. Many of the maps of the Pacific region were printed by the US Army Map Service, while the UK was responsible for many of the European Theatre maps. Many of the US Navy charts were folded in envelopes and distributed to the air crews before a mission, and to be turned in when the mission was successfully completed. They were called "drift charts" by the Navy, "...since their prime purpose was to indicate to aircrews survivors in their life rafts
Pilot certification in the United States private pilot with both glider and airplane ratings could earn a commercial license for gliders. The new license would then list the airplane ratings as having only "private privileges." As of the end of 2017, in the US, there were an estimated 609,306 active certificated pilots. This number has been declining gradually over the past several decades, down from a high of over 827,000 pilots in 1980. There were 702,659 in 1990 and 625,581 in 2000. The numbers include: These numbers are based on the highest certifications held by individual pilots. The numbers also include: An active pilot is defined