The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-07-15


Company OF Detroit.
BY the parachute branch Of the
engineering division Of the Army
Air Service at McCook Field. The
device is a metal container divided
into two compartments. The lower
compartment contains supplies,
while the upper contains folder
parachute, measuring IS feet in di-
ameter. When the container is
dropped from the bomb release. a
cord is automatically pulled which
opens the parachute, and the parcel
descends at sixteen feet a second.
Water, gasoline and solids can be
packed. The weight which can be
dropped is more than $50 pounds.
Colonel Dwight Davis, the acting
Secretary Of War. having approved
Army, 1t will now be the subject
There are many details to be con-,
sidered in connection with this inn
portant change in the policy of
the War Department.
4 ne COuTSG OE TRAINING HI AVA
ton at the Military Academy, West
Point, is to be extended and all of.
ficers who are graduated from
there will be given about about ten
hours flight training. Some Of.
ficers of each branch of the service
are to be sent to advanced air serv-
ice tactical schools so that they
can learn something about the prob
Nnald 90 -. L.
Army.
Officers of the army air service
are to be sent to the special branch
schools of the other services and
Iiaison and corporation between all
groups in the army is to be en-
phasized in the future.
The board of officers will prepare
the course of instruction to be fol-
lowed at the various schools and
flying fields. The chief OF the army
air service has made Recommended.
tons for studies of this kind, which
will doubtless be used as a basis
for the courses.
The battle efficiency pennant in
the battleship class, for the COM
petitive year ending June 80, 1925,
has been awarded to the u. S. S.
West Virginia, which was under the
command of Captain Thomas j.
Sem. This pennant is awarded an
nualiy to the battleship having the
highest average in both gunnery
and engineering.
The West Virginia already has
been awarded the gunnery trophy
for the year.
The engineering trophy for the
battfeship class has been awarded to
the u. S. S. Oklahoma, commanded
by Captain William P. Scott, USN,
and payment of prize money to her
engineer force has been author
lied by the Navy Department.
The u. S. S. New Mexico stood
second and the Mississippi third in
the engineering competition, and
the oklahoma stood second in the
battle efficiency competition. These
awards were made on the basis OF
cable advices from the fleet.
The relative standing Of other yes.
sells in the engineering and battle
efficiency competitions cannot be
determined until after the complete
records for the last month of the
competitive year are received by the
Of fleet training in the
Navy Department.
Major General Charles NICK.
Saltzman, the chief signal officer
of the army, spoke before the grad.
uation class of the Army Meteor
illogical School at Camp Vail last
week. This was the first gradual.
ing class from 1.-The school. The
graduates Of the school are to be
placed on duty along the anyways
of the army air service, where
weather forecasts must be supplied
the ,aviators before starting on
flights.
Accurate. weather estimates are
very important In many ways. The
ability to observe, compute, trans
NIT forecasts, plot currents and
prepare charts Is useful to the
War Department and is taught
the weather prophets of the army
at the new meteorological school.
1t is pointed out that during a
war, weather observation is useful
in gas attacks, where wind cur.
rents are important; in artillery
firing: in anti-aircraft gunnery,
where wind direction tables are
complicated, but absolutely neces-
sary.
The technically intricate instru-
ments for recording pressure, tenn
perature, humidity, wind direction,
velocity are used by the graduates
of the school.