Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-07
QUALIFY AS PILOTS
Two Army Officers Win liz
Censes at College Park.
WORLDS RECORD BROKEN
Lieut.. Milling Excels in Landing
Within Given SPECIALIZATION
Of Expert Work.
WORLDS RECORD BROKEN

Two pilots licenses were acquired and
worlds record was broken by the
army officers flying the government BIZ
plane at College Park yesterday. The
| worlds record fell to Lieut.. Thomas de
Witte Milling and is considered quite an
achievement.
The landing feat of Lieut.. Milling was
in the course of qualifying for a pilots
license One CT the tests for the license
is that the motor must be stopped while
the machine is in the air and a landing
made within a given distance of desig-
mated spot There has been good deal
of uncertainty as to just how this dis
lance should be measured and In the
early days. when pilots were less ex-
pert than they are now, there usually
was a twenty-foot rectangle marked off
on the ground and the machine was land
ed as near as might be in this square.
Exhibit of Expert Work.
The landing mark yesterday was a
sheet of canvas about five feet square
Lieut.. Milling cut off the motor about
ten feet in the air and put the machine
almost squarely on top of the canvas
Measurements showed that the center OF
the canvas was just five feet from the
center Of the operators seat on the ma
chine. This was a worlds record. The
next best landing-six feet-standS to the
credit of Walter Brookins. That record
has also been held at different times by
Charles F. Willard and Phil Parmelee.
The qualification for the pilots license
was a mere Formally The license does
not mean anything and does not Indicate
that the aviator can do anything ne
could not do before. Still. it is the mark
at. orria he a.
ment of the Aero Club Of America. For
lack Of any better authority, aviation
being still a new art. flying men have
accepted the wise of the Aero Club as
the correct thing.
In Good Company.
An aeroplane pilot is in quite respecta-
BILE aviation company after he holds
license, Glenn Curtiss, the Wrights. Lieut..
Frank Lahm and others having qualified
for these licenses. But there are other
aviators, like Harry Atwood. who hold
worlds records and have never quail
fed for the license.
The trials had to be witnessed by an
accredited representative OF the Aero
Club. and DR.. J. w. Bovee of this city
was the observer. Capt. Charles de For
est Chandler was also an observer. The
test consists in putting two markers. flags
or pylons 500 meters apart and having the
aviator make two flights on which he
turns the figure eight five times during each
flight around the marks. He aScends 165
feet on the fight. and on coming TO the
ground has to cut of the motor while the
machine is still in the air. and land with
in 1876 feet Of q given point.
Each Carries a Passenger.
Both Lieut. Arnold and Lieut. Milling
qualified easily. 1t was on his first flight
that Lieut.. Milling broke the landing
record. On the last two flights each of
| the officers carried one Of the official OBJ
| servers with them. This Is not required
by the rules Of the Aero Club. but really
| makes the test good deal more difficult.
The way 1t happened was that the after
noon was hot and Capt. Chandler COM
| planned that he did not want to hike
| half a mile through the sun to the far py-
Ion where he had been observing. Lieut..
| Milling thereupon invited him to jump
| into the machine. saying he would take
| he flew around the course with his OBJ
| server, so Capt. Chandler could watch the
| turns at each end of the course and DR..
Bovee could sit In the shade and fan him.
| self.
This proved to be such an admirable
arrangement that Lieut.. Arnold also car
ried Capt. Chandler on his final qualify
| ing flight and both aviators had the dis
tinction of making their qualifying flights
passenger carrying flights also.
Breaks Altitude Record.
There was but one flight made in the
| forenoon at the park. Lieut.. Arnold went
up to a height OF 1900 feet thus break
ing the altitude record for Washington.
| The aeroplane has proved faster ma
chine than was expected and possibly will
| be able to establish some speed records
| when arrangements are perfected for
| accurately timing the flights.
| Two Curtiss machines have been
| ordered for the government work at
| the park. though 1t will be some days
| before they arrive. When the Burgess
Wright machine that has been ordered
4 is assembled there will be four govern
ment machines at the park. This proba-
bly, will complete the War Department
i equipment for the present.
| At q meeting Of the executive board
Of the Baptist Orphanage of Virginia at