Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-08-23
GIANT j. S. PLANE
PERFECT IN TESTS
Barring Bomber, Worlds
Largest Aircraft, Exceeds
Dreams of Army Experts.

BY the Associated Press.
DAYTON, Ohio, August 23.-Proved
success, the Darling bomber. largest
airp!ane in the world. today was
ready to be placed among the lighting
machines of the United States Army
air service. following the premier
flight of the giant ship at Wilbur
Wright Field, near here. last eve
ming.
Performance OF the craft during the
test flight was beyond the fondest
expectations OF Walter II. Barring. the
designer. an EIglishman. who hopes
soon to become an American citizen
and government air service official.
Except for a degree of excessive vi
bration in a part of the tail. every
unit of the plane functioned perfectly,
according to members of the crew.
Piloted by Lieut.. Harold Harris. ac-
cording to data compiled by Mr.. Bar
ling, who with Lieut.. Muir Fairchild,
| ami Assistant Pilot and Engineer
Douglas Culver composed the crew,
the ship left the ground within thir-
teen seconds after Lieut. Harris gave
her the gun" and after a l20-yard
run on the ground.
ATKINS S5-Mne speed.
laundering, the plane soon gained
attitude and during the flight attain
cd $500 feet on straight-away flying
the best speed attained WAS eighty
FIVE miles an hour. After twenty
eight minutes in the air Lieut.. Harris
throttled the motors and gllded down
to earth for perfect landing. Upon
climbing from his seat in the nose OF
the fusclage he declared that the
ship, the NBL-l. its official name nam
died perfectly.
Similar in many instances to the
historic flight OF the Wrights almost
twenty years ago, the giant craft APP
peared strangely similar TO the nrst
Wright ship when 1t was viewed from
the rear in the air.
The tail of the Barring has wing
spread greater than that of the
DH-4. standard training ship oil me
Army air service, and this large tan.
especially when the ship was Iar
away appeared quite similar TO the
box kite tail of the first Wright snip.
The propellers on the engines In the
wings also recalled that the Two pro-
Iellers on the first successtul heaNleI
;han-air machine were located III the
wing.
Crowd Awe-stricken.
As the Barring bomber circled inc
field EXPRESSIONS r OF a HreaSn eu Of
the air travelled about twenty-five
| miles in it's short flight.
The highest altitude gained was
$500 feet, although pilots expresses
the belief that much Rrealsr az ~
tude could have been obtained II de-
| sired And then came the time LOT
| the landing, which most engineers
believed would be the cr!tical ''iie
, for the giant craft
With the sunset as bacKgrou!iu
! this greatest of all airplancs ma1esti-
/ Hnd IN h
from the course set. It's landlns :
speed was about sixty miles an hour
Landing Perfect.
The landing was perfect. The ship
J seemed TO be suspended on some
! giant cable and gently lowered 10 tne
! earth. AS the crowd swarmeo 10 tne
! field they were driven back by SOL
diers, and under its own power me
| huge craft Unanswered up the nelo
! until IL was ready to be moored In
exactly the same place where II mas
| rested for many weeks whlle una
adjustments were made preparatory
! to this flight.
| he kept back, and it surged forward
! to the plane Harris was the first to
| come out. Then Fairchild, followed
| by Barring and Culver. All wore
| broad smiles. but Barring WAS ike
! small boy in his delight at his great
accomplishment.
The first question on everybody
| lips was How did she go?
Anticipating this question. Harris
! said: II never handled a big shin
| that answered more readily to the
! controls than the Darling. 1t was
! simply fine in every detail but one
/ That one was the connecting rod be-
| tween the upper and lower elevator
| planes. There seemed to be lot OF
I vibration there"