Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-01-01
NO Filler HURT;
NOT PLANE LOST
At NAVY SCHOOL
Students and AviatorS Flew
100000 Miles at San.
Diego and No Accident of
Consequence Resulted,

MORNING JouRSAL s"EcthI -EbsEn WRIT
San Diego. Calf. Dec. 31.-A total
d stance of 1850 900 miles flown, not
a single aviator injured or no seaplane
totally wrecked, is the record of the
naval air station at North Island. This
record represents 80. geo flying hours. (,
There are two flying stations on North
Island, the other being part of the
army department The efficiency of
the san Diego naval air school has
won the commentator of the secre
tary of the navy. Lieut.. Com, Earl w,
Spencer is commander and Lieut..
Frank Simpson chief Of. the flight
school
Every branch of aviation is taught
at this school and mos, eXacting care
is devoted to the mechanical end. !
There is q complete course in naviga-
ton.
At the outbreak of the war the ma
val flying corps had fewer than TWEEN
~ qualified seaplanes and flying
boats pilots On its roster. Skilled me-
chanics capable of handling the me-
chanical part of the big air and wa
ter craft were scarce. Yet so rapid
was the development of naval aero
nautics that when the armistice was
signed the navy aircraft schools were
turning out flight officers and highly
trained mechanicians at the rate of
nearly 1000 minute. The San Diego !
school has graduated about seventy
five officers a month. During the !
months this country was in the war
the work was carried on at high pres
sure and even late in December the !
activity was maintained.
Aside from meteorological cOndi- |
TONS the location of the school has
been an important factor in its sue
cess. From the mainland across toll
the end of Point Iona, which is a
narrow arm of land reaching in the
sea, is distance of five miles Point
Iona from the north side and protect
ing arm of San Diego bay, and in the
middle of the bay is North Island. low
and flat and covering several hum
dred acres. Inside the island the
quietness of the water is only affected
by the fluctuations of the tide, a con
diton ideal for seaplane operations.
For distance Of fifteen miles the bay
has a similar protection, which offers
excellent flying from ground and the
best of landing conditions
Three Distinct schools
There are three distinct schools at
this naval air academy. TWO are for
the instruction of enlisted men. the
aviation quaTtermaSter school and the
aviation machinist mate school The
third is the fight school and devoted
solely to the training of student Off
GERS. The work in the flight school is
divided into four groups There is the
officer in charge of an administrative
staff, then the ground school and two
squadrons of training seaplane and
the student flight Officers battalion.
The flight school covers a period
of eight weeks. In the ground school
the student takes up aviation, seaman
ship. bombing, aerial gunnery. radio
telegraphy, semaphore and blinker
signals, naval indostrination, theo
retical and practical work on internal
combustion engines aSsemblage and
maintenance of seaplanes and general
instructions for seaplane pilots.
From the ground school the stu |
dent is transferred to the actual flight
department and here he is taught to
pilot tractor seaplanes, first going
aloft with an instructor in machine
equipped with dual controls. He laterl
takes up solo and stunt flying and
special formation and altitude work. |
After he is able to stand the tractor
VII It's Ddth anu Stt tiN osiiOlS WIN
the tail and wing tips, the student is !
sent to the flying boats flying dual q
short period, In solo work he now
takes up navigating by compass and
flying in cross winds. When he has
safely accomplished this he is trans
ferred to the command" of a flying /
boat equipped with horsepower, |
12-engine Liberty motor. This is the
dreadnaught of the air. In this he
assimilates naval patrol problems, and /
then is assigned to reconnaissance |
flight of three hours. covering a dis
lance of $50 miles along the coast. !
This successfully done, his education
may be considered as completed.
The Types Of Planes.
Three types of aircraft are used in |
the school These include the No sea-
plane tractor with 0-horsepowerl
Curtiss motor: the F-type flying boat
with 110-horsepower motor and the
HSl-2I type seaplane. with the 400 /
horsepower Liberty motor. This later
for practical purposes carries pilot, !
assistant pilot and navigator. 1t has
speed of one hundred miles an hour, |
IT is equipped with navigation instru-
ments, a wireless set/a battery of ma
chine guns and bombing devices
Upon completing the flying course
at San Diego the flight officers are
sent to the naval air station at Pensa-
cola for further training in gunnery,
bombing and navigation
From dawn until dusk there is a
constant drone above the bay The
usual course is from the island north
to Point Iona, and then circling to
the southwark and passing over the
city's water front. There is hardly a
moment of the entire day that sea-
plane cannot be seen along some part
of this course and more often are in
sight. Aside from this, there is also
to be seen the army planes, operating
from the same island. but this school
has separate base. The recent aerial
peace parade, in which 212 machines
took part, were all from the army
school This flight called for flying
far inland and the seaplanes do not
venture awav from the coast. being
equipped only for landing on the wa
ter.