Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-28
NAVY PUTS PLANES
TO SEVERE TESTS
Five Flyers Determine Fit
ness of Ships Offered for
Service Use.
BY FREDERICK X. NELLY.

By FREDERICK X. NELLY.
To most people. an airplane is an
sirplane and then they begin to talk
about the characteristics of auto
mobiles
To the FIVE officers in the flight test
section of the Naval Air Station at
Anacostia. however, an airplane IS a
lunch Of junk unless it can pass the
rigid service tests for Navy use TO
which these airmen submit all new
aircraft.
In short. an airplane that can
run the gauntlet of these five skilled
and experienced airmen will be able
to take its place with the 'eyes OF
the fleet" and render the service that
il will be called upon to give.
If the Navy bought every plane
submitted to It on the performance
recommendation as made by its manu-
facturer. there would not he that
standardized. efficient feet of air
craft that flies the skies today. Not
that the salesman misrepresents his
product-he's just not quite in the
position to know to the minute what
the Nays needs are.
Tests Prove Worth.
He may build his plane according
to plans and specifications submitted
to him and 1t is quite possible now
to estimate from the drawings, just
what the performance will be. But
he hasn't the facilities for putting
that performance to the acid test, and
therefore he must wait until the
flight test section gets through with
the child of his brain before he can
know whether or not it is an airplane
ANY and all types of aTplanes. sea
planes and amphibians that the Navy
desires to acquire or the manufactures
desires to sell. must first come to
Washington and speak their little
pieces. If they graduate, in most all
cases they are bought up in large
numbers. if a need for them is present.
IL they fail to make the required
grade, they are about worthless. since
all emphasis in the design and con
struction was laid on use for the
Navy.
Lieut.. George R. Henderson, who
came to the station about three years
ago, is chief of the fight test section
and the other members are Lieut..
Comdr. Arthur C. Miles Construction
Corps, technical adviser; Lieut.. S. w.
Galloway, Lieut.. F. r. Buse and
Lieut.. Edward r. Rounds Each one
is a test pilot and each has an equal
voice in the matter of preparing re-
ports on the suitability of an airplane
for Navy service.
When a new plane arrives at the
station the first duty is to place it
to determine its weight, both empty
and fully loaded. and also to find its
center Of gravity. These results are
checked against the manufacturers
blue prints. and as the planes nearly
always conform. the next duty is
fight trials.
Each Member Tries Ship.
Each member of the test board
makes a sort of preliminary expert
mental hop according to Lieut.. Hen
derson. He feels the airplane out
gradually. lands and takes off few
times. locates the various instruments
and in general acquaints himself with
the whole lash-up.
This finished. we are ready to
make one hour full-power run. The
object of this run is to bring out any
difficulties in the power plant before
actual performance trials are begun.
The run is made at an indicated alti-
tai1ie OF 1900 feet and under full load
conditions"
The next step is to calibrate the
aif3peed meter. which plays very
important part in the other tests. and
il is imperative that its error be
known. The balibration is made
by a series Of runs over measured
course on the Potomac and Anacostia
rivers In each direction. This course,
according to Lieut.. Henderson. lis
considered one of the finest and most
L., no Tfc h
measures 14.137 feet.
With the airspeed meter calibrated,
the pilots determine the high and low
speeds. Each of the five mentioned
airmen has fling at every test and
as a new one takes the stick he is in
ignorance as to the results obtained
by his predecessor, and upon COM
pletion of the trials the notes are COM
pared.
The high and low speeds, Lieut.
Henderson says, are extremely i'm
portant to any ship" Four complete
runs at wide-open throttle are made
I'D and down the measured course
while the pilot flies the ship and
checks his time with a stop-watch.
Low speed il obtained by flying the
plane across the field or water almost
in the stalling position.
Climbing speed Fixed.
With both the high and low speeds
II is now possible to make a fair es-
innate Of the best climbing attitude
for altitude work. The usual ''ruIe-of-
thumb method" is to subtract low
speed from high. divide by three and
add the low speed to the result. The
answer should be approximately the
best speed to start the climb with.
~ cI.i &c, Lnx 20 int "a aiV
and a number of preliminary saw
tooth climbs are made to check the
estimate. Finally. with the best re-
suits obtainable, the pilot sets forth
on his service ceiling test.
Dressed in heavy clothing-Sheep.
skin-lined moccasins. helmet. goggles,
chamois face mask and heavy gloves
the pilot circles the field few times
to make sure that everything is func-
tioning properly
when all adjustments are made, -
Lieut.. Henderson explains, 1.-The pilot
approaches the ground at about the
initial climbing speed. He starts the
automatic Paragraph going. clicks his
stop-watch and hauls the nose up. ap.
plying full power.
"Straightaway. with the nose point
Ell toward heaven and the airspeed
meter registering the proper climb
he continues up and up. His eyes
dart from one instrument to another
for every minute the airspeed meter
altimeter. air temperature. thermom
eter and revolutions-per-minu indi
Gator must be read and recorded on a
pad which he carries strapped to his
knee.
IF the engine is one of the newer
super-charged jobs. carburetor mani
fold pressures must continually be
adjusted TO sea level conditions. AT
about 1900 feet the oxygen valve is
open and the pilot places the tube IN
his mouth Always reading. always
recording. he continues on until the
plane reaches an altitude where il
climbs about 100 feet a minute. This