Evening star., 1927-10-25
FLYING WITH CEN.PATRECK
BY MAJ. GEN. NJ. NJ. PATRICK.
Chief of the Army Air Corps.
The First Army Airplane.

The airplane being an American in
vention, it was logical that the United
States should be the first nation to
apply it to military use! This fore
runner of military aviation in this
country was the Wright biplane, de-
livered in August, 1908, and finally
accepted by the Army in July, 1909.
Although far from the achievements
attained in the last 20 years in air.
plane construction. this first Army
plane represented a remarkable i'm.
provement over anything that had
been developed prior to that time. 1t
weighed about 500 pounds and had a
wing spread Of about 40 feet. 1t was
powered with a four-cylinder, water.
cooled internal combustion engine and
developed about 25 horsepower at
400 revolutions per minute. The
engine was installed at the center Of
the lower wing and drove two wooden
propellers, eight and one-half feet in
length, to which it was connected by
chains. Material control was obtained
by warping the wings. The control
surfaces and auxiliary surfaces were
manipulated by three levers.
Immediately after the delivery of
this plane tests were made and one
of the initial attempts resulted in
death to Lieut.. Selfridge and injury
to Orvilie Wright. Later on a sue
cessful flight was accomplished with
Orville Wright as pilot and an Army
lieutenant as passenger, the plane at
tanning a speed of 40 miles per hour.
,s.; N,,r IN
of So, 900 for the increase in speed over
that required by the specifications.
Slow In Seeing Possibilities.
The Government was slow in seeing
the possibilities in aviation and left
much of the early effort in airplane
design and construction to civilian en-
deavor. In 1910 our air service con-
sisted of one officer, nine enlisted men,
the one Wright airplane, one airship
and three balloons.
While this country was tagging in
aerOnautical development, European
countries were making considerable
strides in building up their air forces
and Congress was prevailed upon, in
1911, to vote $125, 900 for aeronautics.
This was the first money appropri.
ated by Congress specifically for the
purchase Of aircraft. AS result of
this appropriation the first military
aviation school in America was estab-
lished and the Signal Corps was en-
abled TO purchase a few airplanes
Civilian schools already had been es-
tablished by the Wright brothers and
the Curtiss Co., to which officers Of
the Army were sent for training.
The Army established an airdrome
at College Park, Nd. where various
experiments were conducted which
proved the value of aircraft for mill
tary purposes. Aerial photogra ply
and radio from aircraft were attempt.
ed. Various signaling devices were
tried out, Lewis machine gun was
fired from the air at a ground target
and bombs were dropped from an air.
plane. The first successful night flight
was made at College Park in October,
1911.
Rapid Strides Made.
Rapid strides were made in 1911
and that year marked a memorable
advance in the development of avia-
tion in this country. The following
year the War Department established
the rating of military aviator and is.
sued gold medal to those who quail.
ned for the rating. The first airway
was established in that year by the
Iconstruction of an auxiliary landing
field at Washington Barracks, District
of Columbia
In July, 1914, Congress passed a law
| crea ting the aviation section of the
Signal Corps specifically charged with
the operation or supervision of oper.
alton of all military aircraft, all per-
tinent appliances, signaling apparatus
when installed on aircraft and train.
ing in aeronautics" An appropria-
| hon Of 100000, the largest sum ap-
propriated for aviation up to this
time, was made available for the pur.
poses Of the act.
The following year continued diffi.
culties with Mexico caused the War
Department to order one airplane Sec
ton to Brownsville. Tex. The plane
carried out valuable reconnaissance
work across the river and while fly.
Tag over Matamoras was subject to
fire. both from rifles and machine
guns. This is the first instance on
record Of an American airplane being
under fire. It returned to San Diego.
| however, undamaged.
fCopyright. 1927