page_title: United States Army Air Service
section_title: Advances in aviation
hierarchical_section_title: United States Army Air Service / Advances in aviation
context_page_description: The United States Army Air Service was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1918 and 1926 and a forerunner of the United States Air Force. It was established as an independent but temporary branch of the U.S. War Department during World War I by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation Section, Signal Corps as the nation's air force; and March 19, 1919, establishing a military Director of Air Service to control all aviation activities. Its life was extended for another year in July 1919, during which time Congress passed the legislation necessary to make it a permanent establishment. The National Defense Act of 1920 assigned the Air Service the status of "combatant arm of the line" of the United States Army with a major general in command.
  In France, the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force, a separate entity under commanding General John J. Pershing that conducted the combat operations of U.S. military aviation, began field service in the spring of 1918.
context_section_description: To positively influence U.S. public opinion and thereby enlist political support in Congress in his crusade for an independent air force, General Mitchell conducted a publicity campaign on behalf of airpower. On August 14, 1919, the All American Pathfinders, a provisional squadron, began a cross-country educational tour that supported the "1919 Air Service Transcontinental Recruiting Convoy" from Hazelhurst Field to California.  While using public pronouncements for propaganda purposes, Mitchell also fostered within the Air Service advances in aeronautical science that would not only increase its effectiveness as a military service, but would also generate public support.
  To further promote the air service, and to recruit pilots, in 1919 General Mitchell ordered a mission to fly around the border of the continental United States. Commanded by Col. Rutherford Hartz, and piloted by Lt. Ernest Emery Harmon, "The Around The Rim Flight" took off from Bolling Field in Washington, DC on July 24, 1919. The crew of five also included Lotha Smith, Jack Harding, and Gerosala Dobias. The first circumnavigation of the country by air was successfully completed with the landing of their Martin MB1 back at Bolling Field on Nov 9, 1919. 
  Mitchell's first project, undertaken at McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio, was for the creation of a heavily armored attack plane for supporting ground forces. Although the designs that resulted were not practical and did not meet Mitchell's specifications for aircraft that could land troops behind enemy lines, the project led Mitchell to closely supervise aircraft development, not only at McCook but in Europe as well. On October 30, 1919, the McCook Field engineers tested the first reversible-pitch propeller.
  This effort resulted in the development of a monoplane with retractable landing gear, a metal propeller, and a streamlined engine design, the Verville R-3 Racer. Economy measures by the Air Service prevented the project from being fully completed, but contributed to a growing determination within the Air Service to set new aviation records for speed, altitude, distance, and endurance, which in turn contributed not only to technical improvements (and favorable publicity) but also advancements in aviation medicine.
  Air Service pilots established world records in altitude, distance, and speed. Speed in particular attracted public attention and, although a number of speed records were set in cross-country flying, records were also set on measured courses. Mitchell himself set a world speed record of 222.97 mph (358.84 km/h) over a closed course in a Curtiss R-6 racer on October 18, 1922, at the Pulitzer Trophy competition of the 1922 National Air Races. A later world speed record of 232 mph (373 km/h) was made by 1st Lt. James H. Doolittle in winning the Schneider Trophy race at the 1925 Races.
  The practical and military applications of speed were not ignored, however. On February 24, 1921, 1st Lt. William D. Coney of the 91st Aero Squadron completed a transcontinental flight of 22.5 hours flying time from Rockwell Field, California, to Pablo Beach, Florida, in a DeHavilland DH-4, which carried enough fuel for 14 hours of flight.  However he had left Rockwell on February 21 intending to complete the flight within 24 hours, making just one stop in Dallas, Texas, but was thwarted by bad weather and engine problems.  One month later, taking off at 1:00 a.m. of March 25, he repeated the attempt going in the opposite direction, but developed engine problems while flying low in a fog near Crowville, Louisiana, southeast of Monroe.  He crashed into a tree trying to land and was severely injured, dying five days later in a Natchez, Mississippi hospital.
  On September 4, 1922, Doolittle completed the first transcontinental crossing in a single day, from Pablo Beach to Rockwell Field, in 21 hours, 20 minutes, a distance of 2,163 mi (3,481 km) flying a DH-4 of the 90th Squadron. Mitchell concluded that accomplishing the same feat by "daylight only", making only a single stop at Kelly Field, had tremendous value, and s
caption: Douglas World Cruiser Chicago
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