Air Force News ~ Jan-Jun 1932

8/3/2019 Air Force News ~ Jan-Jun 1932

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R e su m e o f M a t e ri e l D i vi s io n E n Gi n ee r in g A c ti v it i es f o r 1 9 3 ], .G en er al F ou lo is , t ak es O at h o f O ff ic e a s A ir C or ps C hi ef T he 19 31 C he ne y Aw ar d . .. . ; . . . .. . . .

N ew F og L an di nG S ys te m I ns ta ll ed a t 1 ~t er ie l D iv is io nD a y t o n t o W a s h i n g t o n i n 8 6 M i n u t e s . C o lo ne l Ar n ol d A s~ ~e s C om ma nd o f l ~ Ch F ie l d R el ea si ng D ev ic e f or G ia nt ' Ch ut e.T wo O ff i c er s D ie i n C ra sh o f B om be r A L i tt l e IID o p e I I on W a r T i m e F l y e r s 1 l 3t h O b se r va t io n S q ua d ro n , I n di a na N a ti o na l G u ar dL a n g le y J j " ' ti e l dP l a n e s f u r n . . . . . .O r ig i na l I I Ji g gs " p r op o se d f o r 1 1 th S q ua d ro n .. .E xp er ts - Al l o f T h em t . .. . .. .. .. .O r ga . nb a ti o n o f . E l ig h t ItE, II 1 6 th O b se r va t io n S c .t U ad r on

E X c i t e m e n t f o r A t t a C k G r o u p P e r s o n n e l . . . . .P ur su it er s T es t S o ni c A lt im et er N o P e ac e f or M r . H u r l e y . . .T h e v e ry . L at e st i n Craah Snc(;;~.'1 H ow L on g c a n a ~ rs ui t P la ne F lo at ?R et ra ct ab le L an di ng G ea rs . .H a za r do u s F e at b y N o nc o mm i ss i on e d O f fi c erD o O l d Bombs E x l" ) lo d e?. . . .A ~ le . o f H i gh . Ad ve nt ur eD i sa p ~e a rs A f te r ~ r om o ti o nL o s t a n d F o t m d . . . S e lf r id g e F i el d H a rd H i t b y A c ci d en t s.

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J a n u a r Y 25, 1932.

. A I R COR F S NEW S NO.1,

l~nitions ]UildingWashincton, D.O.

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The chiefpurposeo'f this lJUblication is to distribute informa:tion on aero-nautics to the. flyinGpe:rsQnnel in.the Regular A:J :my, Reserve Corps" National

Guard, and others connected. with aviation.Publishers are authorized to revrint material appearing in this lJUblication.

---000--. . . . / . . .RESUMEOF MATERIELDIVISION ENGINEERINGACTIVITIES FOR 1931

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1930 - .1.6% 1931' - ' ' '4 %Itwill thus be seen that under the' direct supervision ('If the Chief of Divi-

sion, the Ohief En{;ineer is ch9.rgeQ:witnall' projects involving technical controland administration. IJhh .inv~lves th e i?reparation and execution ofeX"')erimentaland service testprogr~s;. pre~Jaration of engineering data of various categoriesfor cit':culat:i.on to 'ma;nufacture;'s and Service activities,. inclUding specificationsfor air-planes:,eng:l:ne9" and theiraC6essories, as well as lighting equipment forairdroIJ'leE!,motor' vehicle t.ranspor-tat ron peculiar to the needs of the Air oorJ?s,and numerous minor pr6jectsnotassociating directly with the building of planes

. . .Theex'perimental articles obtained from the inSJ,ustry include primarily air-planes andengines,but there are certain accessories that the 'Division can drawui~n the"manufacturers for, such as ~ropellers, navigation instruments, engineinstruments, and various ite1!16.that have a commercial as'well'as a,military appli-

cation. The work of the Engineering Section on these items include. planning, en-gineering supervision and administration, the preparation'of specifications andrequirements, the :testing, and in many cases the redesign of the completedarticle. I n the. case of the experimental airplane, the general specification mustfirst be approved. Thh is a document that tr.u~1smitsto the manufacturer any en-gineering detail, and the requirements of the Service as covered by the Directiveinitiated in the, Office of the Chief of the .Air' Oorps. The stress analysis has tocheck, and individual drawings must be approved before the a.irplane ,is submittedfor test.. Upon receipt-.oli the airplane at the Division it undergoes what mightbe termed an X-ray analysis by a score of specialists. This is followed by theactual performance testing of the airplane. The sarneprocedure applies to

engines, propellers ,and accessories.There are numerous Experimental and Service Test airplanes on cur books.These are in var'Lcus stages of development and test. A few of them, such as cer-tain Po.rsuit and Primary .Training types, will di.e in the embryo stage. In some

-1... ~ l "1. , ~ V-6227, .A.C.

B y' Majer C.W. Howard, Air corps,. I II.. . Chief Engineer, Materiel Division.

~URING 1931, the Materiel Division has seen a slight curtailment of its(JI' original r'eseaz-ch program, since a larger portion of i tseffort has been

expended on experimental projects coming frori1the aircraft manufa.Jturers.

This ise~q)lained by the ado:?tion of a newpolic7 in connection with experiment-al airplanes and engines. The industry is furnishing without immediate cost tothe Governmentboth complete airplanes and engines. The Division acts in an ad-visory capacity up until the time the airplane or engine is deliverede:f.or test.This system has the advantage over the old l)olicy of contracting directly foran experimental airplane or engine in that it allows the projects to start atleast one year earlier. It also has the advantage in utilizing and dir~cting alarge nnmbe r of trained engineers throughout the aeronautipal industr;y:;.'ti.omili-tarydevelol1l11ents. An analysis ('If the expenditure of labor chargefo~_p:lrsonnelallotted to the Engineering Section shows the following: I "

. Workin connection vlith experimental c:.rticles from the aeronautica,lindustry: -' 1930 - 26~ 1931 - 38%

Research, experimental and development projects carried on at Wri"ghtField:

1930 - 40% 1931 - 27%Engineering iIi. connection with service testprQjects:

1930 - 6.25% 1931 ~ 6%. . "' ...... _!ilgineering in connection with standardequ1pnent~ whichinclu~~s~.airplanes,

:engines ,and their accessories, administered by ProeUrein~htSection 9 i. this Divisio111930 - 26% . 1931 - 25~.,'.' . . ... .;

Engineering on unsatisfactory performance :::'i?l)o:rfs.$u'br~itted 'through Field:Service. Section:'


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A se r v i c e t e s t a n t i t o f t he y 0- 31 t s D o u l a s w i l l b e r e a d Y e~yth:it3c om mg Yf ?a r. L ik e t he y 0- 35 ( Do ug la s , th ey w il l h av e t he s m oo th s ki n fu se la gec o ve ri n g w hi c h, w it h o t he r m i no r c ha n ge s o v er t he a ir pl a ne n ow a t t he D i v is i on ,s ho ul d i nc re as e p e r fo rm an ce , O n t he ot he r h an d, t he ~ ( D ou gl as ) w a s la iddown a r ou nd a 6 00 -h . ;; >.e ng i ne , a nd w i th t h e t ho ug h t o f a n e n gi n e d e ve l op in g 7 00h .p . , s o t h at i t c an b e e xp e ct ed t o o b t ai n t h e s am e i nc r ea se i n p e rf o rm an c ew it h t hi s s er ie s a s w e h av e w it h t he 0 -1 s er ie s t hr ou gh m in or r ef in em en ts a ndi n c r e a s e i n p o w e r . / "

T h e o u t s t a nd i n g d e v e l o p me n t f o r m i l i t a r ~ r c i r l " l l an e si s t h e k2. ( : B o e i n g ) . T w oo f t he s e a i rp la ne s a r e n ow o n t h e f l yi n g l i ne u n d er g oi ng ~ e rf o rm an c e t es t s w it ha v ie w t o o b ta in in g d at a u po n w hi ch t he f i na l d ec is io n f or t he p ow er p la nt c anb e ma de . T hi s i s a c as e wh e~ ~ t he g e ar ed , P re st on e- co ol ed V e ng in e" is p it te da ga in st a w or th y o pp on en t. T he Pr at t & W h i t n oy " Ho r ne t" i n o ne o f t h es e a i rl : >l an e si s g e ar ed a nd s u pe r chargad , a n d t h e p r e l i mi n a ry h i g h s p ee d r u n. , g av e a s to u n di n gr es u lt s w he n c o mp ar e d w it h t h e p er f or ma n ce o f t he f o ll ow i ng f or e ig n p la n es ,w h os es p ee d s a r e q uo t ed f or y ou r i n fo rm a ti on . The I ta li a ns h av e a h ea v y . Bo mb e r w ~t h ah ig h s p ee d o f a p p ro x il n at el y 1 40 m .p . h. , w h il e t he B r it is h a n d F re n ch s ta n da rdB o mb e r s w i th s i I ll i l arb o m b l o a d s a r e i n t h e 1 1 0 m . ; ; >. h ,r a ng e . T h e Vi c ke r s C O l 1l l ? fU l Y

i n E n g la nd h a s a B om b er w it h f ul ly s up e rc h ar ge d R o ll s- R oy ce K es tr e ls , w h ic h i s i nt he e xp er im en ta l s ta ge , w hi ch h as a h ig h s pe ed o f 1 37 m . p. h. a t 1 0, 00 0 f ee t, a nd: B o u l t o n &F a ul ts l at e st m od e l o f t h e S i de s tr an d , w i th f ul l y s u pe r ch ar g ed B r is to la ir -c oo le d e ng in es , h as a hi gh s pe ed o f 16 7 m .p .h . a t 1 1 ,0 00 f ee t. T he :& o9 i sm an u fa ct u re d b y t he B o ei ng O o mp an y ; i s al l m e ta l , h a s a r et r ac t ab le l an di n g g ea ra nd m a ny n ov e l f ea tu r es .

T h e s er vi c e t es t T r ai ni n ~ a ir p la ne s h a ve a ll p r ov e n t o b e a g r ea t i mp r ov em e nto ve r t h e P T- 1 , t w o n e w t yp e s b ei ng e s pe ci a ll y s at is f ac t or y - t he Y F' Il - 11( Co n so li -d at ed ) a nd t he Y l' T -1 0 ( Ve rV il l e) . T h e ma t te r o f a s u .i ta b le p ow e r p la nt , h ow ev e r,h as c on ~l ic at ed th is d ev el op me nt . T he o r ig in al i de a w as t o u se a ' lo w p ow er edc h ea p e n g in e . . Al l a v ai la b le e n gi ne s o f t h e 1 5 0- h or se p ow er c l as s w e re t es t ed , b u tn on e h av e p ro ve d s at is fa ct or y t o t h e T ra $n in g C en te r. T hi s wa s p a rt ly d ue t o i n-

' h er en t c h ar ac t er i st ic s o f t h e e ng in e s a nd l : >a rt l yd u e t o t h e f ac t t h at l ig h t c om -m er c ia l t ra in e rs w hi c h w ou l d g iv e t he d e si r ed r at e o f c l im b w it ~ a 1 5 0- h .p . e ng i new er e u ns ui ta bl e f or u se a s m il it ar y t ra in er s. E ng in es o f 2 0 0 h. p. ( Ki nn er s a ndL yc a mi ng s ) w e re r ec e nt ly i ns t al le d i n t h es e a ir p la ne s t a nd t he f in al s el ec ti on o fa n e ng in e w il l b e m ad e a t a n e ar ly d at e.

I t i s t h e p o li c y t o d e pe nd u p on c o mm e rc ia l t y pe s f or T r an s po rt p ur p os es , a n dt he re a re a n um be r o f t he se a ir pl an es o n s e r vi co t es t. T he mo st p ro mi si ng o ft he s e i s t h e F a ir c hi ld 1 00 j r e wo r k ed f o r t h e . A i r C o r ps b y t h e . A m e r i ca n A i r pl a n ea nd E n gi ne O or p or a ti on . T he F . or d h a s a l so b ee n a c c ep t ed b y t he S e rv ic e a s m ee t in gr eq u ir em e nt s, . E xp e ri en c e w i th T ra i ni ng a n d T ra ns p or t a i rp la n es i n di ca t e t h at t h ea pp l ic a ti on o f c om m er ci a l t y pe s f o r m il i ta ry p u. r po s es i s e x tr e me ly l im i te d, n o r i s

i t l ik el ~ t ha t t he se w o u ld b e s uc ce s sf u ll y c o nv e rt ed i n e m er ge n cy t o c o mb at t yp e s.F or A t ta c k t he .D i vi si o n h as a s e rv ic e t e st o r de r o f a n X A . -8 ( Ou rt is s ). T h is

a i rp la n e h a s m et t he r eq u ir em e nt s o f t h e S p ec if i ca t io n i n pr a ct ic a ll y e v er y" r e-s pe c t , F r om a " t ec h ni c al s t an dp o in t i t i s d if fi c ul t t o d r aw d ef i ni te c on c lu s io nsa s t o t he m er it s o f s lo ts a nd f la ps . T he X A - 9 ( t oc l d1 e e d) , a s i s te r s h i p t o t h eY P -2 4 , w i l l n o t h a v e t h em , s o t h a t t h er e w i ll b e a n O p l )( ) rt u n it yf o r c o m pa r i so n s .T h e XA-9 i s c om in g o ut d ir ec t a s a s er vi ce t es t a r ti cl e O Wi ng t o i ts s im il ar it y t ot he Y l' -2 4. T h is d e ve lo p me nt r ep r es en t s a r e c or d i n t h e t i m e r e q ui re d f or t he c o n-c ep t io n a n d d es i@ l o f a n e x p er i me nt a l a n d s er vi c e t es t a r t ic le .

E xp e ri me n ta l w or k o n po we r p l an t s o t he r t ha n t ha t c o nn ec t ed w it h a g ro u p o fe n gi ne s p r oc ur e d f o r s er v ic e t es t h a s b e en l ar g el y l im i te d t o d e vi ce s a nd a c ce ss o -

r ie s. D ev el op me nt o f a 1, 00 0- h. p. e ng in e, h o we ve r, h as b ee n p r os ec ut ed . M an y o ft he s er vi ce t es t e ng in es a re d es ig ne d f or t he u !e r f Fr es tc ne f or c oo li ng , a ndi n c or p o ra t e c e nt r i fu g a l s u p er c h ar g e rs .

T he f u el i n, i ec ti o n s y st em . a m ea n s o f i nc r ea si n g b ot h t he p ow e r a nd e f fi ci e nc yo f c on ve nt io na l e ng in es , m ak e i t po ss ib le t o d o a \~ y w it h t he c ar ~r et or e nt ir el y.T hi s p ro j ec t h a s p ro gr e ss e d v er y s a ti s fa ct o ri ly f ro m a t ec hn i ca l ~ ta n dp oi n t a nd i ss ti l l un de r t es t o n b ot h a ir - co ol e d a n d l iq ui d -c o ol ed e n gi n es ,0 - ': .

T he d e v el o Pn en t o f s p ec ia l f ue l i s be in g c o nt in u ed , w i th t he o b je ct o f d e ve l -o pi ng s ub st it ut es f or t et ra -e th yl l ea d. I t i s g r at if yi ng t o be a bl e t o an no un ce vt h at o ur e x pe c ta ti o ns i n c o nn ec t io n w i th " th e a c ce p ta nc e o f s p ec ia l f ue l b y t h ec om m er c ia l i nd u st ry i s f ar m or e t ha n w e ha d a n ti c ip at e d. C e rt ai n o f t h e a ir cr a ftc O t ' p o r at i o n s e n g a g i ng i n t r a n l : ly o r ts e r v i c e h a v e i n s t a l le d " k n o c l o -teat I n g" e q ui p -

m e nt a nd a re s pe c if yi n g f ue l o f m uc h h ig he r r : lt 5. n {> ;t h an a y e a r ~ o. T h e r ef i n e rs,are,. o n " t . }; l e iro wn ' in it i at iv e , s pe ci f yi ng a m i ni m um l i mi t o f k n oc k r a ti ng w hi ch

c or +e sp on ds t o t h e b es t f ue l o bt ai na bl e t wo y ea rs a ~o , I f yo u w il l n ot ic e, f 11 1-

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,ing stations aci.vert:i,se72 octane fuel for: ~utomob~:L'E:}s.',Wehave not', tested these

'pr()ducts~ ,but, at least it is ,'ve,ryenccml~a,ingfoI' the Divis1011'to see its workin this connectdon reflected in the automobile industry 'as we'll as. the aircraftindustry, for in a time of emergency it wilt be a tremendous kdVa.:rita.ge.!n thisconnection, it is to be noted that leading;' 611, 'i,:,.J ni::lu!'a:~i~::..trersin G rea - t :Britainand France have gone'6n I'ecord stat lng they':cann'ot poss1blycompete with the en-

gine develOTlluentin .Ar.1ericaunless they go. to ethyl fuel. , . .Oonad der-ab'l,eattention is being directed to the possibility of substituting

batteI' i@ition forina,gnetoigni tion iRS an analysis of unsatisfactory perform-, ancere;?orts and exper.Ienae with eyuil,)inentd:u,ring'the amiual maneuvers }?oint to

the magneto as cal1sillg more trouble than any 'o ther' single item of 'eqL1.ipment.Moreover, the use of radio on practically all types ('f airplanes and the more ex-

, tensive use of supercharge'd engines, the'reqrr.irement for night flyinG equipment,and electric starters; all require a ;sourceoIdirect current.';, . .A new type of fuel J?wn:ehasbeen developed 'and tested and is being sj?ecifiedfor air'planes nowbeing 'built o n eu.rrent contracts.' This pump (Romec) is adaptedto remote drive, thereby maldng possible an installationtr.at will insurebTavity

feed to the inlet -Ln m an y airplanes and a miniIIfU.Ui'lift111a11' cases.tt is' 'desired to redUce the size 'of Prestone radiators. 'For years it has, been the :?ractice to use a coredelJth not exceeding nine inches. With hi&her

speeds and greater temperature differences it a-ppears feasible to . reduce the'crosi! section area by 'increasing the de-;jthof 'the core'bu.t first, it is necessary

to obtain tubeso'! :greater leI'igths. as thisprodu,ct has long baanrnanufactur'edbest to meet the requirements of the automo..d,le. Durin[t the l)8.stfew months theentire indUs,tryhas been circularized ,with the re,su1t that the desired productwill soon be forthcoming. '

Eva~l)Orative'cooling; for water-cooled engines has becomeanactuali ty inEngland which has' rest.1ted iIi a saving in weight and flat plate area in .bhe orderof 20 percent. This is be;ing g.iven serious consideration in the Division.

Ramrnin(;;manifolds, which make possible the transformation of velocity topressure on high speed'air-planes. are being designed for many of the experimentaland service test airplal1els 'This affects the carburetor settings , however~sothat a new settin5 has to be worked out for e~:::l :L1st[1119.c::.on.

The effect of oil viscosity on piston sticking and oil cooling ,is beingstudied in view of usinG oils of lower viscosity than are nowused. There aremanY'mihorinvesti/bations which include fuel lines, engine controls ,arid variousaccessories in addition to the calibration and testing of engines. The refriger-ationinstallatiJn in the Power Plant which is nearing comj?letionwill' 'ma,ke pos-sible the testing cf super-charged e;:lg1no'6under tbe same condition of tempera-ture and pressure as encountered at higl~al ti tudes.' "

Under materials and processes the Division haS a new carburetoralloz thatis practically immunefrom the white powdery deposits that have caused s o . m u c htrouble in carburetor screens in the Past. Investigations of the fatiGueresistance of propeller 'alloys at both.nomal and'sub-:z:ero temperatures have re-sUlted indirectly in improving the quality of our propellers. ~

The funds allocated to the deve'l.opmentof equipment and ai:rcraft. accessoriesare being devoted mostly to the problem ,of navigation equipment. .'Blind,flyinginstruments and equipment for fog landingconsti tute the most important 'projectsof the Equipment Branch. There is, of courae , the cont drruat Lon of night j:)hoto-graphy proj ects, projects in connection with the refinement and improvement.ofthe present seat-type parachute and flying ~~~p~in~.

, The Sperry artificial horizon and the g~':rQ;comPass wore Lnher tted from theGuggenheimresearches. These instruments have, been under test for over a year andare nowbeing r el.eaaed as stano.ard.This equipment bas riot reached the stage ofperfection desired, 'but it is felt that more rapid progress can be madetovrard theelimination of faults by giVing it to the Service atthi,s time. ,.'

For fog landing thoro ~re the sonic altimeter and the sensitive altimeter,the latter a development of the conventional type altimeter which rraybe usefulfor landingthroUh fog on an airport when the ground barometer reading is trans-mitted to the airplane by radio. This inst:rtl,l11enta,:j.somaybe uaef'ul, for precisionbombing and photography. For airdromeinstal1


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p ow er s u: U gl y. ' rh eW e st er n E le ct ri c a nd t he R. F. L. c a n be us ed f o r p i, *i ng u pw ea th er r e po rt s b y t he i n s er ti on o f a s p e ci al c oi l. T he S O R- 16 7 h a s S Uf fi ci e ntr a ng e o f k i l o cy ~ le s .to p e rm i t l J iC : .: i n gu p c om me rc ia l s ta ti on s. T he r an ge i nm i le s w i th , t h e ' c o mm a n d s e t i s i n t h e o r de r ( " \~ '50 m i l e s l . l u J .e rf a v or a bl e c o nd i -t i o n s . The r e q ui r em e nt i s 15 m i l e s .

The n e w B-10 t w o- p i ec e f l yi n g s u it - i s a d i st i nc t a d va n ce o v er a n yt h i ng w ehave h a d i n t h e p a s t

O on tr ol la bl e p it ch P r p~ ll er s a re un d er s er vi ce t es t a n d r e su lt s a re p ro -m is in G. T he re a re i n add.i. tLon t he A ut om a ti c p ro pe ll er s i n w h ic h t he p it ch a ng lei s a ut om at ic al l y s et . T he a d va n ta ge s o f t he r e d uc ti on p ro pe ll er g ea r o n ai r-c r~ t p er fo rm an ce h as b ee n s ho wn t o be i n t he r a ng e o f 8 a n d 10 m i le s p er h ou rf or c er ta in t yp es o f ai rp la ne . O Wi ng t o t he r e du ct io n o f pr op el le r s pe ed s, ho w-e ve r, t he p r op el le r d i am et er o r t he n um be r o f 0~:'dcs f ro m t wo t o t h re e m us t b ei nc re as ed . T hi s i nt r of ra ce s t he p r o bl e m o f i n c re as e i n we ig ht , t o m ee t W hi chm ag n es iu m a ll oy a ll d h ol lo w s te el b la de s h av e b ee n u nd er d e ve lo pm en t. T he ma gn e-s iu m al lo ys m o st s uu ta bl e f or t hi s ~ os e h av e b e en f ou nd i n Ge rm an y, b u t. it i se x pe c t ed t h at o u r d o m e st i c manufacturer-s w il l m e et t h e q ua li t y o f t h e G er ma np ro ~ uc t w it hi n t he y ea r.

I n e. d di t io n t o bhe w o r k o n p r op e l le r s, t h e Ai r cr a ft Branch i s c a rr yi ng o nt he s tr es se d- sk in a ll -m et al w in g d ev el op me n t w hi ch w il l f or m t he b a si s o f w in gd es ig n o n t wo o f t h e n ew e xp e ri me nt al a ir pl an e s.

S t ai n le s s s t e el s t ru . c tu r es a r e b e in g i n ve s ti g at e d i n v i e w o f a d a p ti n g t h es po t w e ld in g p ro ce ss t o t he f a br i ca ti on o f t h e se s tr u ct ur es . T he re a r e d ev el op -m en ts o n s ki s, w he el s, a nd t ir es . T he s tr ea ml in e t ir e ha s b ee n s ho wn t o ha vec o n s i d e r a b ' l e m e r i t . 'O n t h e 0-31, t es ts i nd ic at e t ha t w it h t hi s t yp e o f t i re a ndw h ee l t he p an ts w it h w hi ch t hi s a iI "' ; >l an ei s e q u d . p p ed c a n b e r e m o v e d w i t h o ut ana pp re ci ab le l os s i n s p ee d. T he g ai n i n sp ee d, by t he w ay , d ue t o p an ts o rs tr ea ml in e e n w he el s i s i n t he o rd er o f 3 t o 6 m il es p er h ou r f or a ir pl an e s w it ha hi gh s pe ed i n e~ ce ss o f 150 m i le s p er h ou r.

A ll w or k p er ta in in g t o un sa ti sf ac to ry p er fo rm an c e r e po rt s h as b ee n p la ce d

o n f i rs t p ri or it y d ur in g t h is l as t y ea r, a nd i t i s b e li ev ed t oo t t hi s p o li cy "t o ge t h er w i th t h e d i li g en t e f f or t t o wa r d t h .. : ;i : . 1 i : . r o v e m e n to f a i r pl a ne s , p o we rp l a nt s a n a. a . cc e ss o r ie s , m u st l e a d t o n o t i ce a b ly i m pr o ve d e q u .i p me n t t h ro u gh o u t t h eA ir O or ps i n t he y ea r t o c o me .

- - - 6 0 0 - - -

G h "'N E R A .L F O U LO r S T A K E S O A T H O F O FF IC E A S A IR O OR P S C HI EF

T h e p i o n e e r A r m y a vi at or w h o, o ve r t we nt y y ea rs a go , w he n' a L ie u te na nt i nt h e S i g na l O or ps , p ra ct ic al l y l ea r ne d t he a r t o f f ly in g b y h i ms el f, i s n ow C hi efo f t h e Ar m y l i r O O rl ) s, - M a jo r G e ne r a l B e nj a m~ L : c . : . F ou lo is . T he pr es s o f t ne

c o un tr y, t ou ch i ng o n G e n er al F ou lo is 'r ec en t a pp oi n tm en t t o s u cc e ed G en er alF ec he t, w e re u n a ni mo us i n t he t ho ug h t t h a t i t wa s p ar ti cm la r ly f i tt in g t ha t t hi sv et er an f l ye r" w ho g re w u p w it h .Army a v ia ti on , s ho ul d b e t he l ea de r o f t he Ai rC o r p s

.G e ne r a l F o u l o is , w h os e m i li t ar y h i st o ry i s w e l l l < n o w n t o A rm y p er so nn el a sw el l a s t o t h os e i nt er es te d i n av ia ti on . t oo k h is o at h o f o ff ic e a s C hi ef o f t heA ir O o rp s o n D e c em b er 2 2, , l9 31 . I n e xt en di ng t o G en er al F ou lo is h is b es t w is h esf or a s uc ce ss fu l t ou r o f d ut y, as c hi ef o f t h e f in es t c or ps i n t he w or ld , t heH on . F . T r uc ee D aV is o n, A ss is t an t S e cr et ar y o f W ar f or A er on au ti cs , r e ma rk ed t ha th e f el t p er fe ct ly c on fi de nt t ha t un de r t h e G e n er a lI s i ns pi ri ng l ea de rs hi p t heA ir O or ps w o u ld b e o ne o f t he l e Ad in g f ac to rs i n t h e c ou nt ry ls n at io na l d ef e ns e.

G e n er a l F o u lo i s, e x pr e ss i ng h i s a i JP r ec i at i on t o M r . D av is on f or h is g oo d

w is he s, s ta te d: I IIw is h t o ass ur e y o u t ha t Is ha ll e nd ea v or i n t h e n e xt f ou ry ea rs t o l ~ ve u p t o t he r e p ut at i on t ha t h a s b ee n e st ab l is he d b y m y p re de ce ss ora nd g iv e t o y ou a n d t he A rm y l oy al a nd e ff ic ie nt s er vi ce . I ~s ll al l b e my e n d e a v o ra t a ll t im es t o w o rk t o b ui ld u p t he A i r C or 11 s i n t he i nt er es t ~! of t he n at io na ld ef en se a nd m ak e i t a c re di t t o ' th e Ju:rn:y a nd w or th y o f t h e h i gh i de al s w h i ch h av ei n sp i re d o u r A rm y p i lo t s. 1I

I t g oe s w rt ho ut s ay in g t ha t t he e nt ir e ~ i ~ O or ns f eo ls t ha t t he G en er al w il ldo h i s u tm o st t o l i v e u p t o h is " Il la tf or m " a nd t ha t- th ey e x te nd t o h im t he ir b es tw i s he s f o r a s uc ce ss fu l t ou r o f d ut y a s t he ir O hi ef .

--000---T he 91 st S qu ad ro n, O r 1s sy F i e ld ,O al if ., i s now e n ti r el y e q ui p p ed w i t h, ' '

0-250' s, t he l as t o ne s h a Yi nG j u st r ec en t ly b ee n r ec ei ve d f ro m t ne D ou . tl as P la nt

a t S an ta M on ic a, O al if . J ?r ac t; i. ca ll ya ll d ef ec ts p re se nt i n t he 0 -2 OO 's w er e r e-m e d i e d . . 'int he n ew ' s hi ps , a nd a ll p i lo ts i u t J: J. eS qu ad ro n s we ar b y t ,h e 1 1 0 1 s ;"

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Twooutstanding a:ct~of vaior performedby.A.rmyAir Oorps personnel during 1931

were of such a high order and equallymeritorious that the Board of Air

Corps vfficers, convened to make re-commendationsas to the dis~ositionof the CheneyAwardfor that, year,reached the ,decision that it begiven to two heroes of military,.J.viation activities - to tl~e-hi'teLieut. Robert D. Moor (posthumously)and to Private JohnB. Smith.;,

The conduct of Lieut. Moorwasthat of "noblesse "blige" of an offi-

cer pilot toward an enliste~ passengerdependent upon him for security. furing

a'flight, whenhis ~lane became disabled,Lieut. Moor, disregarding his own safety,

managed to keep it under control long enoughfor his :J


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, : " .. .' :'~..

i' >,

clotheswE!.re al;ready .abla'Ze. Smi:tl(and one' t'f hiseonr,pBniolls' thEln lifted the'. I;lt~.ll@dQnsci_ou~;pi.lot from the \vreokag$ . For-this act he wa;sawa.rded thet.to save his companion, Lieut .Paul,.,~~t .....In. 1929, Li8Ut~. Wn~ . -. Hathen;,(recel d the. a~r.d for rescuing a. com-. pa,n1on, Lieut. Dwight Canf'J.eld, :;from,;he bli:u."ni,wrecka.geo,~ their bombing plane

.which had cl:ashed in the lTicaragWmjUngles :whi .eriroute .to Panama-. . ,I.-~o .O o ..;.~

'. . V.' C O :[, O N E L WESTOVEB,'1tE;OEIVES.? R O M O T lI O N ':' .. ".

Lieut.-Colonel' oScar Westover ,Air;Corps,: was :ajTI>o.1ntedAssistant Chief of 1the .A.:i;.rCorps,with.thera.z}kof Briga


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, "

Il \E\V FOG-LANDINGSYSTEMIN S T A T rI :H ro ').. T M A . T E R IE L DIVISION.

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Tw o yea~s'ago,Lieut. J~esH .DooliHl:~\ U.S .A :rm y .:A-irOorps, workiIlg ,with thS Gu,.ggeIiheimFund forbne rromotion,q1 Aeronautics, demonstrated the 'pos-sibility of bringing an airplane safely doy~on a. landing field in dense fog.The coc.k,pit of his plane was.hcoded, hiss,01e dependence being placed upon hisinstruments. He was "Land.ing blind. fl COIJc~udinghis repor t upon his feat at

the time,Lieut. Doolittle said: flAlthoug!i/the results of these tests showedconclusively that it is possible to land by instrument alone, the procedure isstill in a highly experimental state'and it now remains for some interested .agency tQ contdrme the tcstlll a..d develop this or some improved process to apoint where it is cornmercially applicable. It

Since the World War, the 1~teriel Division of the Army Air Corps, which co-operated with Lieut. Doolittle in. these tests, h8.d been an interested agency inthe develOl:mtentof instruments and equipment to make avigation practicable ,infog and bad weather. ,The radio beacon is an example of one of its commerciallyapplicable projects. In the past few years it has placed special stress on byfar the most difficult phase of the problem-blind landing. It is quite natural,

therefore ,tha,t the Materiel Division should be the seat of the first experImen-tation in thi"s country ~7ith a, nc.," system for the solvine of blind landing prob-lems which holds more than the usual amount of interest and promise.

Conceived originally by Societe Industriel1e des Procedes Loth of Francean4 :jal.ownas a system of energized cables for landing ,aircraft in fog, two in-stal1ations were made by the Air Corps, with the American Lo~h Corporation co-operating, at Patterson Field, Dayton" Ohio, in May, 1931. Flight tests by .AirCorps pilots carried out over these cables were the first ever made in anycountry for any installation of this kind.

The installations consist ofa series of cables laid in concentric circlesbeneath the surface of the airdrome and energized by low frequency currents.Through the electric currents a magnetic field is established within a definiteradius .of the airdrome, extending .five miles from the center. The pilot upon

,entering this rpagneti~field with gr ound, horizon, and sky shut off ~fromview,JJlaYbe informed by a combination of distinctive audible and visual sigria1s,first,whe.nhe is .in the vicinity of the airdrome and the direction to its center;second, when he has crossed the boundary of the landin;~ field; third, when hehas come above the landing area; and fourth, whenhe has descended sufficientlylow over that area to .level off and land. That is, as far as five miles from .the center of the airdrome he will pick up in his earphones a distinctive dash-dot-dot signal (Morse lette~ r ) . ~lis will inform him that he is within thevicinity of the airdrome but outside the limits of its boundary lines. At thesame time, should he be headed toward the center of the airdrome, an indicatorneedle placed on an inst~ent board dial will point to zero, whil~ should he beheaded to the le.ft or right of it, the needle will f1wlngto an "L" or "R". read-ing. Keeping the needle on the zero reading will bring him toward the center oft h e airdrome from any direction of a~proach. Shortly he crosses the boundaryline. The signal in the ear.phone changes. to an uninterrupted dash sound quitedifferent from the one he has previousl;{ heard. A dot-dot-dash signal (Morse tr)

.indicates that he has crossed. t :1C field boundary and is within the field, a~~pr9aching the landing zonee Crossing the boundary of the field he has nosed' dowc;raduallY. As he comes within the area in whi'ch he should level off for landing,'!ihesig:.1BJ,again changes, featuring a sharp "dot-dotll (Morse I) which becomess~rPer as he nears the ground. Hearing this he knows it :j.s time to pq.l1 slowly

. back on the stick for contact with tlle ground. These indications are clear, dis-tinctive and unmistakable as :?icked up in the ear-phones and may be, heard to aheight of 3,000 feet. .

Of the two installations in operation at Patterson Field, one is a workingminiature of the com;?lete system, 1/50 of the full size. It hasprovedmost use-ful for demonstration and experimental pnrposes. JUst as in wind tunnel practice,great amounts of moneyhave been saved by performing experiments, on small-si'zed

."models,' so this ,miniature will permit of the study of Inodifications and exper-i.-mental changes at small cost. A small ear or airplane equipped for the receptiono~ signals is moved around one inst~llation for eXFloringthe eloctrical patterni n space., The full-size installation is at present but partially complete. It

consists of the two outside cables enclosing an area 3,000 feet in diameter. Thedistanc.e between the two cable'S is 150 feet. !Lbecables, necessary to energizethe leveling, and l~nd~g s:u.rface oftJ;:lefield,a:reexpect~d,to,be laid, later From indications' obtainable ' , " '1 t::the oiit.s,ide cables; t~.pi1Qt'isiIif()riae.d qf his

...8- V-6227, A. O.


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approach to thefi~lct" 'o_~i~iAi~.ctiori:\~o7"';b~oenteri. ena;:i'b)1ecro8sing of theboundary line into the field. Manysuccessful tests have been flom with thiae qni:pment ~ and Materi:$l'l;l"rl ~!;~,(Ptpil(;Y,ii13'''bav-e.eVinced'great.1nterestini t.

A 1 thOugh andi ble:;~igruusin aircraft usually aresuggesti veof radio, thesystem under' discussion is purelyelectro--ma.gnetib in nature, la.clting the needof the de'iicate'adjustments necessary' for radio and possessing a.ll.the advan-tagesbf' the ruggedness 'of construCtionpossibl~with }welyclectrieal install~.tioi!s';,. The cables are energized by means of an: alternating current a.tan a.udio

.. freguencybetween 50b and 3000 cycles per se cond, The current generated'''pa;sses.. thro1ii;h"balancing units and' keying devices ,then is fed through the cables. the

varia:Hons of current and keying giving the changes in signal described . Recap-.tionin the air1)lane is obbe.Lnc d -..y means of two loops mounted on the' a1rcrtU't

tbi-oUgrlwhich current from the magnetic fi6::'!J'oonbeoamellIafnth8.tthe~.'tlttist . e w:aP'P~ in manl tnt .ssee of heavy paper andbur1a.p. ..' /)

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COLONELAIm~.A.SSuUDCOMMAND OF MARCHt!XW

"With the arrival of Lieut.-Colonel Henry It .A.rnoldand family at MarchField,Riverside, Calif., we find the CommandingOfficer's quarters once roo~eoCCllpied and the driver's seat in Headquarters'wellfilled," says the NewsLetter Corres)ondent. liThe \7011 knownArnoldsniile has beamed downupon 'manyold acquaintances, as well as a large numbe r of new ones. 'A rece;:>tion, dinner,

and dance held in the Officers' Club ill honor ,of Colonel and Mrs. Arnold sue...eassfully opened up the winter season of local entertainment."

,Major Carl Spatz, who was succeeded by Colonel Arnold as Post Comma,nder,has act! vely taken over commandof the Firs t :BombardmentWing and is weldinginto shape the neWly organized 7th BombardmentGroup and 17th Purs-Llit Grou'P." Both, Groupe are steadily increasing their quota of airplanes and equip-mentby ferryinG; the 7th BombardmentGroup,commanded by Major Joseph T.McNarney, drawing its l::tla..'1eGf ...on Langley Field, Va., and thel7th PursuitGroup, commandedby Captain F. O'D. Hunter, from the Boeing Aircraft CompanyinSeattle~ Washington.

The training of these Groups has been somewhat hampered by lack of equi);l-

ment, but very satisfactory results are being obtained with the airplanes onhand. No loss of flying days has been caused by weather conditions, althoughplenty of cold weather was eX'Perienced, including light snow - which, ofcourse, is very unusual for March Field and Southern California.

---000--

RELEA.SINGDEVIC ' ] ; FOR GIANT1 CHUTEI

jT W O . OFFICERSDIE IN CRASHOF B O M B E R

, Major E. L.Hoffman; in charge of the Parachute Branch, Materiel Division,,Wright Field, reports the development of a qu.ickreleasing device by which,when he is running drop tests on the aO-foot triangular parachute with weight,

the weight upon striking the ground automatically releases' the parachute whichcollapses immediately without dragging. Since the fabric of the SO-foot 'chu.teis 'liable to injury in 'being dragged, and sin'ce any mere manor group of menWhotried t o stop it by eat ching at 'the shroud lines were liable to injuryalso, some such'devicewas cc~oidered highly necessary.

The device is a simple pole arrangement which extends through the bottomof the weight, end upon striking the ground is 1'Ilshed up through the weight,releasing a pin which holds the parachute. In a former test, MAjor Hoffmanand his automobile had to be untangled from the s~rc~d lines of the giant 'chuteas from a web.

I n : the last test, the parachute; greatly strengthened'in design, withstooda drop with a l400-poundweight susl~nded, fo~ the first time without theslightest eVJidence of failure. Further tests are planned in \7h10ha delayed.opening with the 14C'0-l'ound i7ei:~ht will be made. This will produce the greatestsho.ck ever attempted on any parachute known.

,:,"--000..,.--

There have been some fatal aiI'"'plane accidents in the Philippines sinceAir Corps units have been stationed in these Islands,but. it is gratifying tonote, they have been few and. .far apart .. January 14th, however, was one ofthose Unlucky days,and the crash of an Army Bomber proved fatal to 1st Lieut .RaymondZettel and 2nd Lieut. Elmer t.. Mega.ire.

At 5:30 in the morning, Lieut. Zettel was piloting a B-3A Bomber duringthe course -of the Philippine Department maneuvers, with Lieut. Meguire andthree enliSted men as passengers. Whenabout three mUes north of Malabon,Riza.l, P.I., the right motor ceased functioning and the heavy: Bomber landed inamu.d b a n k . Fate was kind, we .are glad to say, to the three 'enlisted'men-Staff Sgt. Albert' Norich, COI'"'poralsWilliam B. Plockrnan and James G. Lambert.who were'sliGhtlyinjured. The fact .that the two o'fficers lo~t their livesthrough. drowning leadf;'! to the belief that it was jt:.st one of those strokes ofmlsfortunethat the mali"-mctic::ingof one of the motors occurred at a time'whenthe Plane was flying over a loca.lit.y d.evoid ofasafe landing spot

. .:', Lieut. Zettel was bO.rn at, West. Branch~ Mich. , March6.;is94. .A.fte,r gradu-ating from~.?ionCollegeand attending't,heUni ver&it1 of Detro! t for ,:twoy&a.rs, heenli!Jted as e.nying cade.t .( il"iV&t'e I lstClass, Aviation SecjtioI1t

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V-6227, A. C.

Signal Enlisted Reserve Oorps) on November15,1917, and was called tOf!.ctiveduty on December29th of that year, being sent to the ground school at theSchool of Military Aeronautics, Austin, Te~s. Uponthe completion of hisground training at Austin, he learned to fly at Call Field, Wichita, Texas.and Wilbur Wright Field, DaJ'CCll, Ohio. He was then ordered to duty overseasand received advanced Pursuit training at the Training Cent8t at Issoudun,France. La~er he served with the An1Wof Occupation in G e r m a n y from Januaryto July, 1919.

Following his return to the United States, Lie'~t. Zettel saw duty on theMexican :Border with the famed Border Fatrol, and later served a year in theInfantry. He subsequently transferred back to' the Air Corps, taking a refresh-er course in flying in 1922. After service with the 3rd AttaCk Group, when itwas at Kelly Field, Texas, he served four years as Chief of the A~llent Branch,Engineering E:cj?erimen".:alSacticn c. t McCookField and at Wright Field, Dayton,Ohio, baing transferred to duty in the Philj:);?~.nes in June. 1930.

Lieut. Zettel had about 2500 hours in the air and held the ratings of:Pilot and Observer. His home townwas given as West :Branch, Mich. He is sur-vived by his wife and two children, a boy qf eleven and a girl of four years

of ,age.'The Air Corps was not afforded much of an nl);)Ortunity to becme acquainted

with Lieut. Maguire, since he was only a bona fide memberof this branch ofthe service since December22, 1931. The deceased young officer was born inOhio, June 4, 1905. He graduated from Portal, N.D., High School in 1922.He enlisted in'the.'.A.rmy Jao."lUary25, 1926~ @ld served as a member('If the'SignalCorps Detacbment','until June, 30th of that 'year, whenhe was appc Lnt ed a cadet,'at the United states Military Academy. After his graduation, four years later,he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Signal Corps~ He was detailed to 'the Air' Cor~s for flying training, and gradUated from the Advanced FlyingSchool, Kelly 'Field, Te:xas,,October 10,1931. Immediately thereafter he w a s

assigned to duty in the P~lippines ':'--000---

Serving with the AirCor)sat the present time are eight officers who, byvirtue of having achieved five ormo~e victories in aerial combat duringth~World War, carry the unofficial, designation of "Ace. II The"leading lI.A.cell': r t o win active service is Lieut. John S. Griffith, a memberof the First PursuitGroup at SQlfridge Field, Mt. Clemens, lfich., who is credited with ninevictories.. Due to the fact that Lieut. Griffith's service during the war waswith the British Royal Air Force, he was not listed among the American "Aces."

Captain Frank O'~. 3unter is~redited with eight victories; Captain ArthurE. Easterbrook and 1st Lieut. 1~rtinus S~ent0th with six eaCh; Captains ClaytonL. Bissell, Harold H. George, 'James .A . Healy and Victor H. strahm with five each,

Officers still in the ~ervice wlioare credited with four victories areCaptain Russell L. Maughanand 1st Lieut. Leo H. Dawson. The unfortunate deathin an airplane crash on July 15, 1930, of Ca']tain Frank B. Tyndall, removed himfrom this little group.;,

.I'Jajor Oar'I, Spatz, Captains Christopher W; Ford and ThomasM. Jervey arecredited with three vi ct ci-Le s ea cn, The last named officer is a menber of theOrdnance Department ,b\lt is on duty with the Air- Corps as Ordnance Officer atKelly Field, Texas. .. ,

Officers credited with two victories each are Majors John F. Curry, JohnN. Reynolds, Captains Benjamin F. Giles, George C. Kenney, EdwardM. Morris,Victor Parks, Jr., and 1st ~i81lt~ ReUben,,D. Biggs. Ca11tainParks holds a com-mission in the Chemical W a r f a r e Service.

Only four- officers now~erving with the Air Corps are credited with onevictory each, viz: MajOtSlJaxwell Kirby, Asa N. Duncan, Captains Edward C.Blackand George L. Usher. . ,'. . , . ' . '

St~d.oned at Randolph Fi~idtTeXas , are' Cap~ains 'Ford, Gi'les, HealY andLieut~ Biggs; at March Fi..::C:, C:11if., Major SlJatz; Capt. Hunter and Lieut.'~wson; in the :Philipp~nes,. Captains Eal;lterbrook, Bl.ack. and ,Maughan; in. Panama.Captai:nGeorge;inHawaii, Major Kirby; at Langley Field, Va., Captains Kenney

and Usher,~at Maxwell Field, ".A+a., Major Ctu'ry and Capt. Strahm; at Fort Sill,Okla., aJor ReYnolds;' at]'qr~CTockett,' Te:xas,C(l-pL)iorris; at Selfridge Field,Li~t. q.riffi th;a.t ll't Leavenworth, Kiimsas, capt'.' Biseell; on staff duty inWa;shing'ton-,D.O., M aJor l ) ,m can and Lieu.t. Stenseth.

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I I A P P Y

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L A N D I N ~ S

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13)Z,.

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'ilie 113th Observation Squad~onhasjust completed a very sucqe~.sful y~arin flying. 'The total hours for ,the squadron is abou~ 5,000 for the year~ LtdH.H.Ma.xwell,pho,tobTa'l")hicoffice~, was high nJal1,with365 hours; Lt,. Matt,q~"

',Carpenter', C'-perationsoff.icer,TJalS -second with 335 hou.rs .,Maj(jr" ;a.,.F.'"l'~~oi\conunanding officer, and Lt.,l~.E; :BrOWll ran a close race forth1rq"place',Vr.ith:'215 and ,220 hours,:.respectivelY. , ',', ' " " ,':, ' " ."

ihe'Squadron is becoming very.fpnd ~f. our new Instructpr,:Cai:)'ta.tn 'G\1~'d~,ra,

recently of Panama. Lt. Sidney stout fromthfl ,R~s~rve.,S.qo.adronat Schoen,': 'Field, has been commissioned in the Guard. " '" " ..','

Major TaYlor is becoming ~1 expert at interior decorations, for he haspersonally superv4.sed"the re de'corat ine; ,of the': administJ;'ative offices and clubrooms, and the results s?eak for themselves of his ability to make the greatest

, improvements' with the least cost " " " , 'Keei?in mind tha,tll1di811:a.oblis 1athe ere aeroada of' America and make Stout

Field one of ;your stops "7hen"o;i a cross-country\l.;' ' , ' ", , ( " ," : . ; ,~

,,'. :'~ '"\-~ " . , /" ~.--> --:-".~

' 1 0 ' 1 _ " ' ) } _ _ ' ) \" . , _ _ I ') ~ 1 = 1 . . ' " \- - - ~~ \o ...-. ::::~ ~~ , , .

~ / i W \ ~ ~ R J ~ ~ l I I I " I I~ im- I l ~ T h J , , ~ , ~

Recently, at about one orclock iilthe rnorning, a Bombing?lane belon~ing to

the 49th Squadron, was discovered afire. The :i?lane with two' others was ,:parkedfor the 11ic;ht between two hangars .. 'Before'the' fire atarm could be responded toor any emergency measures token, 'the')iane h~dset:i.ts two companfons ablaze andin the hir;J.1wind nothing could be .done to savetliem.The Fire De-partment,how-ever, managed topreveI).t ~heflames from s~~eading to the nearby hangal"s~:'Nocause for the fire could be found. The 'r~dio' installat:tdnwas checked 'back endgiven&. "clear bill, II' so that any other probable causes had to be classed astheory. A gl'eatmanycivilian workmen have peen enrgloyed on constructi:onworkat Langley field, and, the possibilitye'xiet$ that one iof them may have secreted;;himself within the big, fuselage 'to sieep' fu1.d,hern8.;>rhavelit 8. cigarette. and setthe plane on fire., Another tbeo.rYtgas tta.' ,passing 'motorist r n a :: ! have thr~wn a

cigarette butt out a n d : the wind ca1,"ried ,it to ,the ?lane. The cause of the 'firewill probably remain' a mystE;iry. " ,,. ~e 49th has ~d ba,dlllC:: from fires Q..u.ring'th~past'yea.r. Some of thisSquadront s planes caught fire in ',a.hallga.~' severaf 'mQnthsago. " '.', ::~

;..12-' > .' .; V~6227",. A .0.;


15/292

O ItC G I 1 U .L "JtGGsI~J?ROJ?OSED'FORiittc'$~tt! ..~,.",." . " " .'. .. "', .!.,',;.; ..:.:':- .

'i ' " lVrr; .Jiggs, " wl~ofor f~rteen.yeiir~:l1aB'fa1thfully.'Ii\ __" identified the 11tl'l :B om b ard m en t sq1iad.rori.':byhis persis-

~ ~l.:, .: ," t~nt;'presen~e on. it~. ahips, rece1v~'~ ri'ew'lease. on.~ r i . . . . . < : > . , l~fe,when hJ.s orJ.ginator, GeorgeMcMaiJ.'ll~'~~fcom:1.Ci'

t', 'fltf . : i f : : ; , . . . . strip f~e~ a:e\'l ~. or1g~naJ,-.'for)h~'Squad:t~n.'; I , ID ; le{ ~;~~ '" paJ.ntJ.ng wa~'\Ulve}l.ed at'i,'a :p~ty at. the ~fkl+~


16/292

It

35 Ifand ferrying of a1r-

fOr the Fieid .Artillery School in the firs.t montbdLX1d~:'balf of itsDemonst1'8:~ionA;:rt111e:ryMj'qstments io' ~.. 35 min

. A.rt~J;lery Ad.jt1.stmsJ:!.ts~., ~O II 30~,"...Cooperation in .Field Exercises ............. 15 If 30"

Or1entation ofStud.ents, F.A.s................ 11 1 1 1 1 'A:lita,ck.,temons;trations..... " ................. 2 " 55 "?b.Qtogr~phic Work.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 2" 15"

, T o w 1 n ~ sleeves. for. In~antry A A fire, (Service: f)'~$tof :Boyc:.-Grecn.t.:.. ;':-c:line G u n Sight) ... ll II

' : : . . . "Ni.gh . .Flying ... "...... ~. . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . 2 If, ',!Ih:Ls:,wQrk.is inaddi tion to the routi~'le test flights

craft and' per'sonnel.

eXistence:

".' :.

EXCI~~iT F O R ATTACKG R O U P PERSONlm

The.riorther which 6W~'!Jt downupon Ge.lveston Island on SUnday, December 13,~rnis~dthree membe~sof~the 6~th Service Squadron, 3rd AttaCk Group, with a

harrowing experience when tIle halyards on their szrall sailing boat broke withthe force of the wind while they were fishing off the north jetties.The crew of the disabled craft consisted of Pvts. Spud MU~phy,Harold Guedel,

and Leo Taylor. In a short time they were well out in 'the Gulf with the winda.stern pu.shinf,;them along at a fast clip. Although somewhat expe rfenced with themaneuvers of an A-3B, the trio were no match for the angry seas which had thepoor soldiers in a bad w a y . Seems as if it was a case where nature couldn't beMp;ied, and the crew became disabled . .' Just as they were prel::lS:ringto sing nEeyond the Elue ~orizon,1f a pilot boatcruising just in sight of. land carne to the rescue and obliginglY returned thevictims to te:rra cotta, or\ sUln',,)in'.

~1ree times last year ,ilots of the Third AttaCk Group answered calls forassistance in finding lost hunters in' the vicinity of Galveston Bay. The latestcall for help was made Tuesday,Decemberi'5th, and concerns a party of' sportsmenwho went duelc hunting on December lOth and have been missing since that time.

Lieuts. Walter L. Wheeler and Eric G. Danielson took off on Tuesday after-,",,_,~~n to search for some trace of the men. Ther returned with word of havil1g

t ,',,:,'~~'ghted a boat ans\7orin:; the description of .the one used by the. missing meA.. Nol ,_ -tr$c.e, however. was founo, of the hunters. Subsequent investi~ti()n revealed that

the boat dghted on Tuesday as belonging to another' -party of "Pttnters.At the time the above was written! the NewsLette'r Corl'~$:')ondent stated that

the search for the missing men is continuing des:?ite threa~~ping weather.

""".,-000 .........

PURSUITERS 1'EST SONIC A1TI'ME.~Ed.\J

The 17th Pursuit Group, stationed at Ma,J;"chField. River.side, Calif., recent-,ly conducted service tests on the ]rowning ~~chine G u n . Calibre. 30, M-2, andthe Sonic Altimeter, Type G-l. Th~ :BrowningMachine Gun. M-2, is lighter andsmaller than previous- models, and tests to date indicate that part failures arepractically eliminated.

The Sonic Altimeter is desi,;ned, to measure the distance between the airplane-in which the instrument is installed and the ground. As the air)lane flies along,

a whistle is blown at intervals by this instrument. The l)11ot hears the whistleas it is transmitted and then its echo as 'it is received. Sound travelsa."bout_1,100 feet per second. A two-second interval between whistle and echo: indicates(on a dial) that the airl:llane is 1100 feet above the ground, the s,ound of thewhistle reaching theg;-oundin one second and echoin,gback in another second.l3elow50 feet, the pilot J;"elies on his oral senses to "feel" the .nearnes s "Of ' theground.by the closeness of the. whistle and its echo.

The servi~e tast is to determine the. reiative. accuracy of the Sonic Methodover the :Barometric Me;thodin obta.ining the exa.9t (tal)eline) distance b~tweenthe airplane and the ground, and ~rticularly .ove~hilly terrain.

. . -----oOo--!"" ... '".Forty boys trom the, Autolhotive Trade 'SChool of Cincinnati vis-ited. the

ateriel Division, "Wr~ght!j,eld, ;recent.:l.y,an.d' evinced greatintere~t1n t~.~. aetivit~es ,fe~tur~~tbe ~. s :bi. exper1menttY.aero~v.t1C$le~er~gplan.t

. -14- 1-6227, .1.0.


17/292

N O P E A .C E F O R M B .. BURLEY:B y t h e N e w s L e tt e r C o rr e r. p on d en t

W he n. as b us y a m an a s t he S ec re ta ry o f Wa rg oe s a fi el d t he se d ay s, i t 1 s i mp or ta nt t ha te ve ry f ac il it y b e p r ov id ed f or k ee pi ng h im i n

t o u' C h w i th o f fi c 1a l Wa s hi n ct o n, H o we v er , w h ena l mo s t o n e h un d re d p e rc e nt o f hi , j o ur n ey i ngi s b y a i r, a nd w he n, a s i s o ft en t he c as e i n

i Mr. H ur le y' s e xt en si ve t ra ve ls b y p l an e, h isd es ir e t o g e t t o a d es ti na ti on i n t h e s ho rt -e s t p o s, s ib l e s p ac e o f t i me i n vo k es ma.Iiy 1 , 0 0 0 -m il e h o? ~n on -s to ~, s pe ci al p ro bl em s i n co ~m u n i c a t ' i o n a r e e n c o u n t e r e d .

F or t he g re at er l )a rt o f a y ea r n ow , t heh i gh s p ee d F o r d ~ r an s po r t a t B o l l in g F i el d ,w h ic hh as b ee n d es ig na te d t he S ec re ta ry 's p er so na l s hi p,

e n a bl i n g t w o .; " w ayc o m m un i c at i o n b e t we e n h i s p l a n e a n dh a s c a rr i ed r a di o e q ui p me n tg r o un d s t a t io n s .

R eg ul er ly a t l 5- mi nu te i nt er va ls d ur in g a ny f li ch t o n w h ic h t he S e cr et ar yh a s b e en c a rr i ed , c O ln m un i ca t io n w a s e s ta Q Li s he d b y r a di o w i th t h e n e ar e st A r m y o rD ep ar tm en t o f C on un er ce r ad io s ta ti on . ~ hu .s , a ny m es sa ge s f or Mr. H u rl e y r a di o -e d f r om W A R, t h e W ar D e l~ r tm e nt r a di o c o mm u ni c at i on c e nt e r i n W a sh i ng t on , ha do nl y a l 5 -m in ut e w ai t, t he re fo re , u nt il t he y w e re r el ay ed t o t he S ec re ta ry tsp la ne i n f li gh t. N ot s at is fi ed w it h t hi s n e a r p er fe ct s er vi ce , h ow ev er ,: So ll in gh a s s e nt t h e S e cr e ,' v .: l ry 'r. :~Ol'J Jv , 1W r ig h t F ie l d w h er e a s p ec i al W e st i ng h ou s e r a di o -p ho ne t ra ns mi tt in g a nd r ec ei vi ng u ni t o f u nu su al p ow er a nd r an ge i s be in g i n~s ta ll ed . T hi s n ew i ns ta ll at io n w il l e na bl e t he pl an e t o ma in ta in d ir ec t r ad io

c om mu ni ca ti on w it h W A R f ro m a ny p ar t o f t h e U n it ed s ta te s e it he r w hi le i n f l ig hto r w h en


18/292

Contrary to popular belief, a ?~rsuit pl~ne landinG on the water doe~ notsink at once. To determine how long such a plane may bc expected to float'after~ forced landing at sea, a demonstration, under thesu?ervision of the Oommand-

. ing Officer of the 18th Composite'Wing, was recently conducted in the Ha'waiian

Depar~D1ent,d")lI'inc;the course of. which a p...l2:Bwas dropped into Fearl Harbor.It floated in the water twenty minutes while Lieut.. George F. Tour,tellot, onduty at Wheeler Field, performed experiments with 'rubber life rafts. . ..,.

Lieut. Tourtcl1ot deE1011EltI'~tcdthat life rafts maybe launched quicklyeither from the life raftcaI'.rier he has .invented for Pu.rsuit planes, or from acarrier l')laced inside the fuselage. Theexl/orimcnts indicated that the raft maybe launched more quickly ~rom the carrier nhich1s attached to the upper wing,but that either method is feasible. .

While per scnnol, looked on, Lieut . Tourtellot ck~nonstrated how to launch the.raft , and then rowed one-ashore. Tho plano showed no signs of sinking after 20minutes in the water. It was suspended by a boomover the water and thrown into

the water from a heiGht of several feet. The plane was dne for major overhaul'and, aside from damagedwings which had alread.y been condemned, the plane' :was'.not injurec. by its pl:mG(;'-

Su.pplementingthe above data, which was aubmttbed by the Corres;?ondent ofthe 18th Composite Wing, Fort Shafter, T.R., the following was submitted by theNewsLetter Cor.res:)ondent~rom vVright Field, Dayton, Ohio:

.; "1iord has recently been rElyeived at the Materiel Division .of an interesting. testHin' connection with: Service testing of li:fe rafts on F-12 airl)lanes conducb-

ed by. the 18th Composite WinGstationed at :B"ortShafter, ~;H. This ::ring hade . 'been;informod thattheyuQuld besup:,?lied with life rafts in sufficient numberfor t~e equil1ment of each ~irVlaneintheir possession. No queation arose as tothe adaptability of this cqaii.Jmentto the Observation, Attack, 'and :Bombardment.type~( 'but illformatio~had been receiyed from Selfridge F~cld that the P~12 types

"on landing in. the; water 1mmediateiy tuI'nedovel" on their backs and remafnod in:thatpo$ition,-whichresulted.in c()nsiderable discus$ionas to the best locationJor:carrying the .life raft -.on, such an airlJla.ne.. It, was finally decf.ded to testa 'J;l-12 ~irplane in a normal water landilJ,g and 1earn ..: 1 . : 1 ; 8 floating characteristics.

. .!!he followiJ;l,g,is quQted from the d,escription of tho .test: 'Theairplanc'seleetodforthis c1.Emionstrat:tonwas one 'sehedu-led for overha"lll at the Hawa~ianAir. Depot. All instruments and other accessories weroremove4, condemned:.wingsand a condemnedencine i:p3b'l1cd, the tank half-filled with gasoline and all joints, .etc .; flushed with l:..~avyoil. The air}?lane was then slung from. a. derri-ckat topnost sl'eed~;...and catalJUltedinto tho "I-vater.'

With the F-12 construction in mind, the Materie,l Divisio~1 at the request. ofth~,18th Wing, suggested-a design for a life raft container .for this.airplane inwhich the turtle-back would be cut, the container ooingplaced underneath.

In the testtheF-12 dove nose on into the water, remaining in t h a t }?ositionfor about five minutes. Af~er being in the water about ten minutes, as the lowerwfng filled, the plane gTadually assumed a horizontal position. After abouttwenty minutes, the plane ceased to sink, probably due to the wings and b1;toyancyof the gasoline tank I'lhic.1 '


19/292

, ' ' V:.,HAZARD OUS FE4 'r , BY NONCOM M ISS I01 !ED ' (} J tr i'ICER '. '. - ., " . . "".'. .,'

The hi sto ry of the .Air CO,r:ps,'botl1 in: ,V la r '~ ~ during 'Peace' time, is re-pluewith incidelits who,.', 0:fi,i,'.r.,'1,',.c.id,men',"at great risk of life, performed hero~,Qacts above and beyond the call of duty. T h e conduct of Sergeant Frank D. :r:!e!f'f,2ndB9J.loon Company,.Fort Bragg, ~J.C.'. in making h~s. way on the outribGer' Qf an

airship during a violent storm i~'orderto start a refractory engine, is a n out-standing example of courage and devotion' t'o duty,' ",The Airship TC71, stationed at 'Langley Fieici, V a .., had been flown. to Pope

Field, Fort Bragg, U;C., and was secured to the moqring mast at that post.Whenan airsl;.tj?!'s secured to a moo:r;'ing"mast,,"it is the practice, of course , tohave a crew aboard, and midnight' December,3rd, ,...4th;1\a:ppened to be the turn ofLieut, John G. Salsman to t[l,ke cr '''and of the ship.

"There was a rat:1er hetJ,vyrai,n at that time,'t,Lieut. Salsman stated in hisreport of the Lnci.dent llAboard' as crew were myself, Technical Sergeant Merian,Sergeant Richardson, f,ergeant lJeff and Private Henson. At about 1:00 a.m., thewind started to freshen from the east"with no decrease in rain. At about 1:40a.m., the wind'having further increased i~ velocity: and becoming g,us~y, !de-cided it would be better to fly out the storm., Accordingly, Private Henson was

,dispatchedtotele:;,ilione the o~ganization, and Technical Sergeant Merian leftthe car to check on the i:noor:rig. . " '. ,

!lIt was bu.t ,a sho'rt t1l1e later that he called out that the ship had brokenits moorings. With only thr.ee men aboard, the ship was barely able to rise due:to being heavy by the ''Coilstan:t rain. Sergeant Neff had the right motor goinga.lmost constcmtly, '.Afte'r Sergeant, Richardson and myself had taken our places onaltitud(3 and direction cont~61~ .re~1?ectivcly, I1OOA:ed'back and could not seeSergeant Ueff.. ShortlY aft~t:w,ar(i, , X saw a light out' on t:he left outri~ger andaasumed that., he :was out there ~,Aimost ten minute's after :the breakaway, he camein a:p.dreported that he had ;hadtrouble in startingt'he', left motor and had to

hand cral1kit'....' " .. . ."Hehad todo'the'w'ork on"the'::\lnprote~ted .outr'igger with no 1?arachut~, it

being d.ifficu.lt to t,et cn~l~: c,:,tr1gger with a paracmrte attached, and the yvear-ing of same would havehanrpered,him in his movements. '(Wit1:lone motor only,. the.ship. ;wasbeing carried"'ba:~k\vardand not under full' control). Sergeant iref! ,wit'h "no orders.fromme;' grasped' th~seriousness of the situ:ation a.nd understood that. :the starting of the left 'mot'o~was neceaeary-t o s....v a the ship;' He thereforewen~ out in the rain"an'd wind'in a most precar toue position and worked undermost adverse condition's' whe~1a.sli1) would have been most disastrous.

"It is my'01111116nthat ,had Sergeant Neff not assumed the risk that he did,the airship mostullQ.oubtedly would have continued to be driven, back over the,

reservation: and-woufd then :.)Csz~";,,~:r have been wrecked, with' injur,iesto thecrew,and loss of government vro~erty. . 'liThe actions ofSer~ant Ifeff show a very hiGh standard of training and a

very ,high sense ofini tiative and duty. His actions at that time we~e'reSl)Oneibleundoubtedly for the protection, if not the saving of governmentpro]?ertyandlivesofthe'crew-. n' .


20/292

.A . &E OFHIGH~. . '

T.hefollowing letter was received by the C o mm en d i n g O f f i c er ,Headquarters SqUadron,'R8ndolph Field, Texas. ABa matter '

. 'of propriety tbename and signature is omitted. ~s letteris believed to be self-explanatory:

" M . S . City of Sen Franc"sco

December 7, 1931.To: 'Captain Farl Tonkin, Head.quar1JersSquadron,

. Randolph Field, Texas.

sabject:Return to Military ~thorities.

From: A.W.O.L.from S q . Sqd.r.Aboard M. S. City of San Francisco off Coast of Mexiconear port of Manzanilla.

On or: about Se,ptember 16th while on pass Iu.na.voidably absented 'm;rSelf'by:beingoa;~ght out in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston in a rOWboat. A 'rwn-rq,nner' .r,escuedme from 'being drowned. A Coast Guard boat !/lve chase and the

'r:um-runnert ran to sea as means of escape. Engine trouble developed and afterse~raldaysof drifting a Swedish copra 'tramp' bound for a Central .Americanport, offered me aid to a lJOrt where a . north bound ship could be boarded. Afterfive days, aboard this Swedish,'tramp' I was p u . t " ashore at a sinal1port inHon~ras that ~s,not a pprt anything other save a few coast wise boats. ,

~eto various diseases native.to the iand. it was impossible to stay alongthe coast where it mi~t have been possible to board a ship bound for the States.I,headed. for the highlands but due to a revolution (these are quite re,U1ar) Ilaad, to, make a quick IIla.J,"ch for GU.atamala, the closest l:le.acef'ul country. Ie enteredGuatamalaafter mu,ch difficulty but due. 1 io the, fact that Ihad' no letters or

,papers of identification, let alone a"pas~port',' Iwas. deported without a chance

to talk with the council. The Immigratio~ AUthorities thought I~e infrom E1'Salvador and there I wasreturneei.. In El 'Salvador I asked the council (.AmericanOouncil) for aid and was refused eve~ reCfUe,~t,even that of statlona.-ry on whichto write to MilitarY.luJ.thorities in the States. . " . '"

I boa.rc1edth,e Ci'\iy of San Francisco at La Union. I ant bound for SanF:qm.oisco. The, Me,.sterof this ship bas sent two radiograms to the Commanding~~r for verification that Iwasa soldier a~ that station~ at present theatt1iJwerto the first radiogram was'that the' simplecode'words COUld;not be de-coded.. .A n enswerto tho seoond radiogram bas not been received. '. If the answer

.to'the second radiogram io not received before this ship reachest;he Port ofManzanilla Iwill be transferred to the Santa Catalina (same Company)and re-

~ed to El Salvador. From La Union E1 Salvador the only aid that I can pos-sibly hope to obtain is from the Marine COmrnB.nderlocated in Managua ,Uicarague,some 23 days by foot from L a . Union. If I am returned to. El Sa;Lvador, which willnecessitate L 1 Y crossing the hostile line of S~dino and brother outlaws (the life~f an .American is worthless on sight) I have one chance in a hundred of reachingthe Marine Commanderin Managua. .

Please radio the Santa Cata.lina if the second telegram Clf December 5th isnot answered by 8:00 A . M . PST, to ver7fY identit,Y.

, . . ,(Signed) II.' '. ------

-..... 0----

. . ", . .

DISAl'PEARSAFTml'FROMOTION

, The,20th :Pom'baro,mentSquadron, Langley Field, Va.., announced the st~ dis-appe,arance ,recentlr'of a soldier, Privat~ George Hallis, who dropped from sighta: few hou);!sa.t:te~ his promotion, to Acting Mess SerGeant. The service 'record oft~is enlisted man showed.,14 years. service, with "Ex:cellent" 'discharges, and noreason could be' discQve~d for his :leaving. . . ' , , '.

.Army officers areaccustpmed to seeing soldiers desert' ergo abs~nt follOWing-,a reduction .Ln grade, but' for a soldier to leave u p o n 'promotio~ is something new.

. ---000--- ;~'::.... '."

" : ,Flight tests of three bomb ,s,igJits' sent tko 2nd' :Bo~bardment'Group, LangleyField, Va., from the Materiel Division, WriGht 'Field;. about three months ago, were '

reoently completed. ~e sights were installed in planes and bombs"dropped, from~ario'\lS altitudes to test the accu.racyand ease of operation of the differe-nt-sights. Written reports on the work were compiled and forwarded to .bhe Mat~riel.Division.. - .' . . . . .. ..', . , ' .

..18-' . V-622?, A. C


21/292

-; ,L O S T .A N D FO U 1 ilD. :aYthe Langley Field Corres:JOndent

Gliding downfrom the midnight sky into .the li~ts' of his hOmea~d:~.after havinG been checked off as "loet,ll 2nd Lie'at. Wycli;f:feE.Steele, )l6iih:BombardmentSqiJ.adron, La.nleyField, caused exclamations of surprise joy

one night recently. Steele had been lost on a niGht flight. for four ours whenhe made his dramatic return. . ..As part of the BombarmnenttraininG,night flirnts were being condUcted at

ten-mi~u.te tal~e-off intervals betweeu Langley Field, J~~estovm, SUrrey, Suffolk,Newport Newsand back to Langley, e. fliGht taking ap~)roximately 50 minutes. O nthis night flight, Liuut. S~e8:e, 'nth Lieut. H.G. Montgomery. Jr and two en-listed men, took off at 6;50, and nothing was heard of him until five hourslater. ~1hel1the plane did not return after an hour had elapsed, questions beganto arise as to what had become of it. .A.:fteranother hour. officials of the air-drome were plainly worried.

The possibility that the ])ilot had wandered off the course coeur red tonearly everJone. because ex?erienced flyers knowhow easy it is to get lost atnight. As time passed and the plane did not return, it was feared a landinghad been made in a river or forest. Conditions were not particularly "uad forni6ht flyinG. There.was rain uD the Jrones River below Richmond. and fOG wasscattered around in patches, ~at the larcer stars still blillked overhead. andthe bI'OUlldvisi bili ty was only slightly 'below average. At about eleven 0t clock.it. was fiC,ured, that the gas supply of the 'Plane was ")ractically exhausted. ifthe pilot was still flying. and prel~rations were made to close the baJl&ar.Lieut. G.C. Jamison had sane over the cour-se with another Bomberand droppednumerous flares over isolated areas in the hope of seeine Steele's plane if ithappened to be down. Bain, however, drove Jami~on back; after about 45 minutes,and the search was abandoned for the night

.Blt as the ha.'1fJir doors were being, closed and most of the watchers;h.ad gomto their quarters, the lost l):1.anereturned. and the pilot reported that he hadbeen actually lost - and how! . Lieut. Steele said that 'while in the vicinity ofSuffolk (the Dismal Swamparea), he saw he was a .fewminutes ahead of hisschedule and decided to fly around a :'.1ttle while before heading back to Lal1g1eyField. He felt he knew the count ry and the courne Jowell that he couldn't getlost. After mal::inca few circles he saw what he' took to be .the flash of LangleyField's beacon low on the horizon. '

Heading forthis.beacon, he ~iscovered to his surprise that the li&~tsofsuch 10cali ties as :Torfolk, Portsmouth New'~)ortl-rewsand Hamptonhad disaIJpeared.This experience. howcve r , \"0.0 not unheard of durihg these days and night a of

treacherous fogs, but the situation was most nncomf'or-tabke , WhenLieut. Steelearrived at the beacon. however, he found it to be just a flashing light and .thelocality anything else but LaJ.1CleyField. .Aheadon the horizon flashed anothe.rbeacon and. thinkinG tl1at this O n e m~st be the Langley beacon, he headed for i~.The same experience, however, arraited him there, and another beacon was comingup on the horizon.

He now realized he was off the course and calculated he had gone too farnorthwest. Setting a compass cou;rseback t"ward the southeast, he came upon abody of water and folloTIed it for about two hours wit110ut seeing a sign of e.landmark. Decidin:: to turn northward again, he picked up the beacon liGltsand,recognizing them as night airways beacons, he started following them, keoping Onthis course '~ltil he arrived at an emergency airways field south of the ?otomac

River at the town of HayneSVille, near Warsaw, 11.. He landed here, ascertainedhis location, lJUmpedextra gas in the upper tanks of the plane and headed backto Langley Field.

Here Steele adnd ts pulling a "bone r" for not tele1?honing to tangle;}' Field ..He said he did not realize just howlong it would take him to return to Langleyand thought he could return before a telePhone callcotil,d be put through thecountry towns,at that late !~O',1r. ..

Aside from the error of not telephoning, m a n y con1mentswere made by old ex--perienced l)ilots over the Good jud@uent and level headeclness shown by this youngpilot in the emergency. GettinG completely lost a.t night. following airways andland:inc;inastrange field by flare, taldng off aGain and returning to the~10me

airdrome 'W~thout slightest injur'tJ to plane or personnel. is evidence of skill pro-bablymu.ch' above averaee. Iooidentally there is a.pi1ot whQwill. be ~. to-19- V-6227 f A. C.


22/292

./S E L F ~ I D G E ~ I 1 L D H A RD H I T B Y ACCIDDNTS

Jthe Ne,s Letter Corres~ondellt

lose - ne~t time.- The enlisted'passengers, Technical Sergeant Alfred :Bernier and ~:tivate H.L.West, did not k n o W ' what the fliGht was all about until the landing m s m ade tofind location. They' thought they had happened to get in' a plane which was makinga whale of a long 11isht flight. ,

,Lieut. H.G. Montf1'Omery,Jr. ,co--pilot, said that this was his first night

flight around Langley Field and he was not '\'rorried the least bit, because hewas "lost" the first few minutes after tSki41G;off.---000---

, " " /'.llbertson, 2nd Lieuts. Thayer S . Olds, Bryant L .13oatne:;.~anclCarl R. Feld.mnn. '

Manyfalsere})ortsreceived, from various .sources were checked and run downbyautomobile when mId weather, fog and snowmade fl;;~inGconditions impossible.Airplanes from Bolling Field assisted in the search, but to date the plane or thepilot has not been found.

E d . Note: Wedgedin the cockpit of his wrecl~edplane, L~eut. E.H. Bobbittwas fOllnd dead on one of the hic;hest ';?eaks of the Cheat Moul1tains, near Elldns,West Va., on January 6th. M.S. Simmons, a farmer, and Carl Reefer, a trapper,c a m e upon the wreckage While traml)ing throuGh the hills in search of the missingaviator, who disappeared on Christmas daY. The airplane apparently struck a treeon :tools Knoband crashed, bottom down, in the bushes. The peak there risesalmost 4,000 feet. Three miles south Lieut. Bobbitt would have found a clearingon which he could have landed - the only one in that l)B.rt of: the mounbadns ,

Funeral services for the departed Air Corps officer were held on Saturday,Jexruary 9th, at .Arlington National Cemetery, Va, The pallbearers, all of themon duty in the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps, Washington, were CaptainsH. M. Elmendorf,Edward E. Hildreth, L1euts. Evers Abbey, Wil,liam M. Lanagan,Charles W. Sullivan and Elvin F. Maughan.

- - - 0 0 0 - - -

'nle 75th Se"ice Squadron, Wheeler Field, T.H., recently completed a .22ea.liol'e pistol shootinG ga1lary -M.d, by the f .' ,T :Ou.nt Of , buS,iness done ; it W oul. dBeemthat the gallery 1s Very pOplllar with the men of the 18th. Pursui t Group.Somevery Goodscores have been made', such as laying 10 shotfil in a one-inch 'bu.ll a-eye at 15 yards. ' .

-2Q... 1-6227, A.C.


23/292

"

. ',~ ,

. .

Just a few inteJ:est1ng~1gh~s on the recent~vers,wbe".e~:rithe 18thPu.rimit Group-,Whee.le:pFie'ld,T~B patt:1.cipe,ted,'may give onesqsneldea w hpreparati()n'1sparar.naunt p:fior to all major ,engagements.. . ..:. . '.,

, The ent ir.e Gr9Ufp'went. on t~ea1ert at 6': 00 :p.m.on Wednesdal a n . ' ~ma1nedas. such U1l:tif.6 :OOa.m.,ou' F1'tda.y. lhring the entire 36 hQJP's. ~l.ld:epe.rtment.

on' the fieldf~,ctioned in a : very efficient manner. All ~:rficer and"enlistedpersonnel.re1;llainedon the field thr~out the alert period, with the exceptionof oneofficElir who was on temporary duty 'at JWingHeadquarte~s at Fort S~fter.Pilots bunked in the hangars near their airplanes.

At. 2:04 a.m. ~ Thursday, a ca.ll-to-e.rms was sounded. and at 2:14 a.m., allpi,lot.s were ~n. their ships with motors wann.d up and in position to take of,f,. At2:13' .a.m. the same day, a :P-12Bairplane from the l~th Pur sui t S~on. was de-

. livered to the 75th Service Squadron for mo~or..change.. The change, inclu~grunning time on the ground, w a s completed at"4:.45 a.m.. R~quest was nil3.de' fQl' th efield to be lighted and the ai~lane w a s flight-tested tor 15 minntes. ~.planewas turned back; to the, 19th SquAdron, r e a d y 'for flight, ,.~ter an':~la~sed:time of2 hours and 52 minutes. The 75th believes this to be a l."ecord f4)rmotor' ehB.ngeand. test, particularly in view 'of the fact that it 'was;;8complis~ciat n~~t.

A crash was simulated on the field during the ni~t. '.The crash".cI'e~:wasnotified, and the "crashed" airplane was removed from ~he flying field, in fourminutes. At 3:00~.m., a n open parachute was received by the 'Parachute. De-part-mente Itwa~ 'repacked and returned to the organization to which it belonged in15 'miIIu.tes. " , . .

Four missions" two of them a:t night, were perf9rmed by the Group dUringt h e period . In 'every case the ships ,were all in t'Ae air within eleven minu.~esafter orders were received to .take off ~ Eleven minutes from slumberlan4 'to the .-upper air. re:qu.i'red some fast, moving by both l)ilot~ and mechanics. . .' . .

, ~legraphic and. telephonic, communication was maintained with 18th ,CompositeWing ~a.dquar~er.s e .t Fort Shatter .du.l:ing this alert period. ... The l?8rs.onriel.of the U}th :Pu.I'suit GrO\1preceived valuabJle training d.ul:'ing

this maneuver whfch will beofHna.terlal benefit during the coming Army-Navymaneuvets in Hawaiian waters in February, 1932.

. , " ---;"'000--'

G E N E R A L M A L O N E INSPECTSLANGLEY'F IE L D. '.' . . . '

Major-General :Paul B. Mai6ne, CQImI.1aI1d:tngthe Third'Corps Area, inspectedLangley Field on December 10th.,'. While at the Fi~ld" tlieGeneral, who was ac-

companied by Lieut.-Col. Ned J3.:'l1ehkO'pf,Gehere.fS~aff, was the guest ofLieut.-Col. Roy C. Kirtland. Lieut.' ~rion L . Elliott was the General's aidedu.ring the time the latter was a t Langley .. '

Promptly at nine o'clock, General Malone began his 'inspection with theSecond BombardmentGroup. Following, the' Group inspection, the General, gave theGroup Command.er,Maj or H.A.. J)lrgu,e, a tact i cal pro.plem-wherein it was as sumedthat a hostile force was crossing the James River Bridge The mission of theGrou.pwas to ;,;epel this force.' !L'heGroupgot ,unde.r way's. short time followingthe 'ann~ent O f the problem, and in about 45mlnutes the mission ~completed. . . . ' .. ' , , .

In the afternoon of December 10tll, General M alo n e . directed;hls inspectionto the rest of Langley Field, part'iClllarly the new 1:uiidings under construction.

r , ..... -- 000-:-


24/292

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WARD J l ! E ' ARTMEN'.CO R l) E R S AFFEOTINGAIl.tCQBPSOFFICEllS.. . ' .

. .' C RA .l~G E S OF STATION:To:Eolling Field, -D.0'.: 1st Lt. Francis. : S . Valentinefronl Phili:)1?iri~s"" '. . .... ..' .

To C~nute .liald, Rantoul,ll.: 2nd Lts~ 'A.J. KeI1'1in Malone from Philip-pines, on . Towner.. rom :n a :m a , ' F. Edgal' O~at1e from Hawaii.

. To Crissl Fiel~, Calif.: 1st Lt. Busbrod Hoppin from Philippines.

ToJ3arksdale FieJ.d . Shreveport ;I,a.: Capt. John P. Temple, from Scott Field.!lP:SrooksField, Texas: 2nd. Lt.. Edward. A., Dodson from Hawaiian Dept.

. . . To Lan(;;ie~ Field, Va . . : 1st Lt. l~rk R.woo.dward from Aberdeen ProvingGround, M d. i ' . nd Lt . Willard R. Wolfinbarger from Philippines.

. To Kelly Field1ra?e~s-:. 2nd Lt.' Fred S. Stocks fr.om Hawaiian Department; 1st'Lieuts. Wilfred .R.ray andWa,lter C. White from Philippines. '

To Haw~iia.n DeJ;la.rtment: 2nd Lt ... Ban10n H. Van ,A .uk im from Selfridge Field;aridLt.:aobert B, Davenport from Mather Fiel\, Calif,,; 2nd Lt. Joseph W. J3aylorfrom Mitchel Field, N.1.; 2nd Lt. LeRoy Huds')ll"'frQm Brooks Field ,Texas; 2nd Lt.Oharles D. ;fatorfromMarch Field, calif.; ::..:-.:.1~. Oas"per,P. West, Chanute Field.

To Pa .nama Canal Dept.: 2nd tt . Herman F. Woolard fro'm Sccit~F~eld, Ill.To Phili'P')ines: Capt. JohnG'.part';yma.d.ethe visit an cccasion for ase;rieso .r - conSUlt.~t 1 . . ' ons regard.:tng.'eng!I).e.e. r.i..n g . ' . ' an 0. s.U.. p..Ply matters an.d.. of V..isi. U..ng ~.a.:l'f>oking, over the new .:cons1iru:ction ~t:..tM ;fiEJId. The];la.rtymade the t~ip 1n:.a.()..4A, (Ford tr1-mot


25/292

l 'i OT ESm OM A IR C OR PS F IE LD S- - - o o O o o ! " ' ". . .~

A i r C o r ps T a ct i c al S c ho o l , M a x we l l F i e ld , M on t g om e ry , A la . , Ja n . l, l 9 32 :

T he T ac ti ca l S ch oo l w as r ec en tl y h on or ed b y a v is it o f A ss is ta nt S ec re ta ry

o f W ar .,f Qr A v ia ti on , F . Tr ub ee D av is on , a nd G en er al F ec he t, C hi ef o f t h e A irC or ps e n r ou te t o N ew O rl ea ns , w he re M r . D av is on w as s ch ed ul ed t o m ak e a na d d r e s s .

~ he o ut br ea k o f p ro mo ti on s c on ti nu es , w it h L ie ut s. H ar ol d G eo rg e a nd E m il

C . K ei l, r ec ei vi ng t he c ov et ed h on or w it h t he us ua l a pp ro pr ia te c er em on ie sr en de re d m or e a mu si ng b y t h e u nw on te d b as hf ul ne ss o f t he r ec ip ie nt s. O ff ic er sw ho h av e n ev er s ee n a p ro mo ti on l is t a re n ow i nq ui ri ng a s t o w he re s uc h a t hi ngm a y b e f o u nd ,

M a j . GeE. L ov el l, J r no ti fi ed o f h is a wa rd o f t he d ec or at io n a s a n. " O ff ic er o f t he O rd er o f s t M au ri ce a nd L az ar us " b y t he I ta li an G ov er nm en t i n

r ec og ni ti on o f s e rv ic es r en de re d b y h im w hi le A ss is ta nt M il it ar y A tt ac he f or

A ir t o I ta ly . d ur i ng t he p er i od , 1 ~2 7- 19 3 1.T h e c o n s . tr u c t i.on o f p er m an en t b u il di !1 E~ c o nt t n u oe c I es pi t e a f ew u nb e li ev -e rs , t he n ew P o s t E xc ha ng e b ui ld in g b ei ng t he l a te st a cc ep te d. I t h as n otb e en o c c up f . ed iyet, s o n o o n e k n o ws w h at i s w ro n g w it h i t.

T he c on st ru ct io n o f a n ew w at er t ow er o f 3 00 ,O OO -g al lo n c ap ac it y i ;l su re s

b ig ,s er a nd b et te r b at hs f or M ax we ll F ie ld , b ut t hr ow s t he o ld 5 0, OO O- ga ll on

o ne o n t h e m a r k et . S o m e on n b i d $ 5 . 00 f o r i t f o r a b ir d b at h , p r o v i de d t h eG ov er nm en t w ou ld t ak e it d ow n. . T he o ff er w as r ef er re d t o t he h i gh er a ut ho r-

i t ie s f o r i ns tr u ct io n s.

H un ti n g p ro s pe ct s . i n t hi g 'v ic i :t li t y a r e r a pi dl y b e in g c l as si f ie d a s t he

w el l- kn ow n s o- an d- so r um or s, a nd w o ul d- be N im ro ds a re l os in g e nt hu si as m. T hel at es t u ns uc ce ss fu l' O ne w as a 'd ay br ea k s qu ir re l h un t s ta ge d b y t hr ee o ff ic er s

a nd a s er ge an t. T he ir f ir st m is ta ke w as h un ti ng i n th e wo od s Lnst e ad o f t h es c h o o l . .Buf b e t ha tv as i t ma y, o ne c ap ta in , w ho i s t ur ni ng g ra y, f ai le d. .t o

s ha v e a n d . a s a r e s u lt w a s we a r i n~ a n ai r e d al e f r in g e o f s of t g r a y . O n en t e r in g

t he w oo ds , h e w as s ta rt le d t o h av e a v e ry y ou ng g ra y s qu ir re l r us h f or wa rd i n

w e lc o m e, s q ue a k in g " ma m a H H e wa s s o s t ar tl ed t ha t h is gun w e n t of f a n d .k il le d t he .y ou ng o ff sp ri ng . T hi s o ff ic er h as n ow l od ge d t he -g ra ve a cc us at io n

t .h 8. tt he s er ge an t l ur ed h im o n th ee ip ed it io n f or u se a s l i ve b ai t... R ot .t en f l yi h g w ea t he r handf c ap pe d f ly in g a ct tv i t' ie s o f t h e s c ho o l b ut

. . r es ul "G ed i n a n um be r o f we lc om e' vi si to rs b ei ng r ai ne d i n, a mo ng w ho m w as C ap t.

H .W .F li ck in ge r, w ho c am e d O w n t o fe rr y a P" :' 12 -Cb ac k t o D ay to n. T he n L i e ut s.H al ve rs on , A rn ol d, V an de nb ur g, N OW la nd , W er tz sm it h a nd M o we r, f er ry in g t ra in in g

p la ne s t o; R an do lp h F ie ld , w er e d el ay ed t wo d ay s. Maj. C . F. : Be va n s, M . C. a ndC ap t. M yr on W oo d, e n r c ut e r t - o : B o ll f n g, w er e a l s o .d e l ay e d .

O ne o f t he i nt er es t i ng a nn ua l e ve nt s o f t h e A X m ~ l w as c om pl et ed w it h t hec on cl us io n. o f t h e i ns pe ct io n o f Ma xw el l F ie ld b y C ol . C .A . : Ba ch , I .G .D ., I n-

s pe ct or G en er al o f th e F ou rt h C or ps A r ea . T he a f te rm at h o f th is i ns pe ct io nw il l p ro ba bl y b e s ti ll m or e i nt er es ti ng f or t he i .n di vi du al s c on ce rn ed .

O f~ er s a ss ig ni ng 1 st L ie ut . K . C. M cG ~e ~c r t o M ax we ll F ie id w er e g re et edw it h d el ig ht , f or t he s ho rt ag e o f o ff ic er s f or s ta ff a nd p os t d ut ie s i ns ur es

e ve ry o ff ic er 's h av in g e no ug h t o d o t o ke ep h im f rO m g ro wl in g a bo ut t he w ea th er .

E ve ry c ha nc e t o s l ~ e t he se d ut ie s w it h a ny on e e ls e i s a s ou rc e o f pl ea su re ;g e n e r o s i t y i s p e r s o n i f i e d h e r e . .

T he a rr iv al o f t hr oe : B- 6 a ir pl an es g iv es t he s t: U: de ri .t sm or e t hi ng s t o f lyw i t h n o p l a c e t o g o. T h e se a r r iv a l s m o re t h an c o n te r b a. l a n ce t he l o s s o f an

0 -: 25 t ha tf lo l? pe d L ie ut . J .w . P er so ns i n a m u d d y corn f ie ld , . O ur r ec or d O f, su cc es s w it hO ~2 5l s a ve ra ge s e xa ct ly f if ty p er c en t c as ua lt ie s o n c ro ss -c ou n! "' "t r y m i s s i o n s . . ,

M aj o r C ur r y, A " C. , C om m an da n t, a n d M a j . du me P ea bo d y, A . C ., A ss i st an tC om m an da n t, f er r ie d t wo : B T- -2 :B 1s f r o m : B o l l i n g , . . ,

S oc ia l a qt iv it ie s o f t he S ch oo l c on ti nu e" in f ul l s wi ng a nd i nc lu de m an y

f un ~t io ns g iv en b y t h e r es id en ts o f M on tg om er y. T he p r es en t p op ul ar it y o ft he A ir C or ps p ro mi se s t o be i nc re as ed b y t he p u bl ic at io n o f th e J un io r L ea gu ee di t io n o f th e M o nt go m er y I IA c tv e rt ic e r 1 f' of th e i mp re ss io ns o f t h6 J c it y b y o ff i-

c er s , of th e s ch oo t , O ap t .D on W ii eo n c on tr ib ut ed : " Mo nt go me ry , a g en ia lv il -l a gs t h at h a s n o t . .o u t gr o Wn ! i ts c o b b l es t o ne s ' n , W h il e M a jo r : B ur w e ll c o nt r i bu t e s:

II S ep t em be r M or n !! ! I I U s e Y01U' o w n j ' 1 ,l d g Il i e n~o n t he l as t.

- 2 3 - V - 6 2 2 7 , A . C .


26/292

R a n do l ph F i e ld , T e xa s , : : D ep e mb e r 1 8 t h:

S ec on d L ie ut . J oh n E . Ba rr , s tu de nt o ff ic er a t R a nd ol ph F ie ld , w as c ri t-i c a ll y w o u nd e d . a a - .t he r es ul t o f a g u n b a t tl e w hi ch t er mi na te d w it h t he d ea th o f

T ho ~a s : Be mn s, 1 8, >S an An to ni o H ig h S c h oo l s tu de nt , w ho w it h t wo m as ke d c om pa n . ..

i O: 1 S h el d. u p. L ie ut . B ar r a nd h is c om pa n f o n , Mi ss J an e C o he e, a s t he y w e re r e-

t ur n~ ng e ar ly . S un ~y m or ni ng , D ec em be r 1 3t h, f ro m a d an ce a t t he S ad dl e C lu b.W hi le o ne y o u th r em ai ne d a t t he w he el o f a n a u to mo bi le , 1 1i s t wo m as ke d

c om p an t c n s w a lk ed u pi t o L i eu t. B ar r Is c a r . W i t h t h r ea t s o f a b e at i n g t o b e

a dm in is te re d, B er ms o r. de re d L ie ut . B ar r t o g et o ut o f t h e c ar . A s h e s te pp edf ro m t he c ar , B ar r r em ov ed a p is to l f ro m t he d oo r p oc ke t, a nd o ne o f t he m a sk ed

b oy s f ir ed a t t h e o ff ic er , s tr ik in g h im i n t h e c h es t. L ie ut . B ar r r et ur ne d

t he f ir e, a nd h i s a ss ai la nt f el l. S ev er al o th er s ho ts w en t w il d.

T he o th er y ou th t he n f le d t o th e c ar a nd t he a u to mo bi le r oa re d a wa y. W it h

M is s C oh ee , L i eu t. B ar r d ro ve t o t he Ol m. os D ru g S to re . T he re , i t w as f ou ndt ha t t he b u ll et h ad p en et ra te d h is c he st j 'I .1 ,s t' un de r t he 'r lg ht l un g. H e wa s

t re at ed b y a p h ys ic ia n a nd s en t t o t h e s t a t io n h os pi ta l a t F t. Sa m H ou st on .

W il li am D uk e, 1 9, h ot el D eL :. oo Y, an d M i lt on E ll is , a no th er H ig h S ch oo l

s t ud en t , w e re a pp re h en de d w h en t he y a rr i v" ,d . at tf...e Robdrt :B. G r ee n M e m or i a lH os pi ta l, w it h t he h Od yo f B em us . H ot h . " 1l ow in gt ha t t h

Air Force News ~ Jan-Jun 1932

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