Evening star., 1924-10-19
BOILING FIELD SPECTATORS
SEE BIGGEST ID. C.. AIR SHOW
Fast Fighting Planes in a Formation Flight Destruc-
ton of Sausage Balloon and Parachute Jump
Striking Features.

loops by Lieut.. Batten left an i'm
preston by several huge hoops, or
circles.
Then five De Havilands from the goth
Squadron, commanded by Capt. Rey-
nolds and flown by Lieuts. Burgess.
Heyl. McReynolds and White, took
off in ''V" shape formation and flew
about the field for several minutes.
changing into column, then into line,
then eschelon and back to the origi-
nal "V." The formations were per-
feet and beautiful in every respect
and required extreme caution on the
part of each pilot to avoid collisions
in midair. from which few pilots
have survived.
Piloted by Lieut. Howard X. Ramey
Sergt, George Matos, regarded as
about the best enlisted aerial pho-
tographer in the Army Air Service
snapped the crowds on the field, and
within As minutes after the pictures
had been shot" prints were sold to
the spectators at 25 cents a copy. The
proceeds from this sale also went to
the relief fund.
An exhibition. by the Sperry Mes
senger, the Air Services smallest
commissioned and active plane, then
was given by Capt. Robert Oldys and
Capt. Wooten. both of the office of
chief of Air Service here. which was
followed by balloon "sniping" by
Maj. Richards and Capt. Snow in two
SE-5 pursuit planes. These little
ships chased small meteorological
balloons through the air and in most
cases burst them with their propellers.
This feature, although not brand
to Washington audiences. proved one
of the most exci ing events on the
program.
Just after the sausage" balloon
had been fired, three Martin bombers
from Langley few over a miniature
village at the south end of the field
and dropped two aerial bombs, scor-
ing a 100 per cent hit. After the
smoke cleared away there wasn't
anything left standing.
Hardly had the smoke drifted away
than Lieut.. Schilt, L. S. Marine Corps
of Quantico, Va. showed off a Marine
Corps Martin bomber and laid q
amoke curtain down the field. This
.urtain, familiar to airplane enthu-
siasts, was formed, after a thick
stream of smoke had been sent out
from the tail of the bomber. 1t ap-
peared almost transparent. yet it was
able to shut off the suns rays from
the field and completely obscure the
Martin, which was flown with much
skill through the curtain time and
again.
The exhibition was concluded by an
aerial parade of the ships participat-
ing in the entertainment, augmented
by nine Martin bombers. They were
flown by the following pilots from
Langley Fields: Capt. Willis Hale
Capt Black, Lieuts. Grisham, Cole
Davies, Haywood, Wilson, Kaufman
and Brady.
Just as the sun disappeared for
the day, Capts. Oldys and Wooten
who had tagged along behind the
big Martins in their tiny Messengers
and had remained aloft until the las,
ship was down. side-slipped and
wobbled down to the field, closing
the enjoyable aviation spectacle.
The crowd was informed of the
events from time to time through
amplifiera strung along the field
Capt. Louis G. Meister of McCook
Field, Dayton, Ohio, was the an
nouncer. Louis is tho man who
while flying q De Haviland from
Boston to Washington, as escort to
the world flyers. turned his ship
over to Lieut.. Eric Nelson at Hale
thorpe, Md, after the latter had had
a forced landing, enabling the globe
circler to land at Boiling Field with
his colleagues. He has been official
announcer for the last two annual
international air meets at st. Louis
and Fairfield, Ohio, and was brought
to Warrington especially for the
occasion. He is the airways' officer
at McCook Field and holds several
weight-carying and duration records
made in a Martin bamher