Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-24
D. c. AIR LEGION
TO BEGIN FLYING
Training Plane Purchased by
$50 Students Is Delivered
Here.

After many weeks of grinding away
In the classroom on the fundamentals
) of aviation, $50 student pilots. who
have banded together as the D. c. Air
Legion. are about to enjoy the thrills
of actual flying in training plane
delivered here which they will purchase
this week. For many of them 1t VIII
be the first actual air experience. They
intend to keep at it until they are able
to obtain pilots licenses from the De-
partment of Commerce and branch out
as independent flyers.
The students have leased the Wind
ham estate, near Four Corners, Md.
as a landing field and will go there in
a body to build a hangar and prepare
the field for flying. probably before
the end of the week.
The plane, a Lincoln-Page LP-3, has
been flown here from the factory of
the Lincoln Aircraft Co. in Lincoln,
Nebr., by Lieut.. Walter A. Brooke,
Legion instructor and Naval Reserve
instructor at the Anacostia Naval Air
Station. The ship is being housed at
the naval air station until flying opera
10 DAYS, The LP-3 has a 100-horse-
power OXX-6 motor and top speed
of los miles an hour. 1t. has dual con-
troll for training purposes and viii carry
q pilot and two passengers.
Dimensions of Craft.
It has a wing span of nearly % feet
and a length of nearly "a feet; weighs
1874 pounds empty and will carry
load of 826 pounds. The fuel tanks
have a capacity of AZ gallons, which
give flying range of 500 miles. The
machine is said to be unusually well
adapted to training purposes, having
landing speed of only IS miles per hour.
Lieut.. Brooke said today that he will
start the members of the legion off OIL
their air careers with hops" of about
10 minutes each.
"It will be a novel experience for
many of Them" he explained, land I
do not believe they will be able to do
more than stare around. I certainly
don't expect them on this first hop to
learn anything much about plotting
a plane. On the second flight, how
ever, the novelty will have worn off
somewhat and they will be able to
pay a little more attention to the
handling of the ship"
The Student-members of the legion
then will be taken on Commute flights
with Lieut.. Brooke until they master
the rudiments of flying and are ready
1UE Tic SOlU StdSS
Composed Only of Students.
The District Of Columbia Air Legion
is said to be the only organization of its
kind in this part of the country. 1t is
composed entirely of students and has
no paid officers except secretary, Ed
ward l.. Brimley. who is in charge of the
classroom and headquarters, room I'll,
International Building, 1919 F street,
and its instructor, Lieut.. Brooke. Other
officers of the legion, themselves stu
dents, are c. D. Suppes. president; G.
A. Gilman, vice president, and NJ G.
Dooley. treasurer. The legion is rec
ognized by the Bureau of AeronauttcS
Of the Department of Commerce and
numbers 10 employees of the Depart
Ment of Commerce among its members.
Membership in the legion is open to
any person who wishes to become
pilot and who can pass the necessary
physical examination required by the
Department of Commerce. Each of the
students will have an interest in the
training plane and in the flying field.
Lieut.. Brooke, who has been retained
by the students as their instructor, has
been flying for IL years. He enlisted
in the Navy in 1917, and. after taking
a ground course at the Massachusetts,
Institute of Technology, went to naval