Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-15
Continued from First Page.

10000 feet" said Lieut.. Comdr Chapine men,
toned in the formation incident already de-
scribed, who is an expert in regard to air tao
tics. ITO keep control Of the air, the success
full force must go higher and higher The
duels of the next war will be fought at bitterly
cold attitudes, with oxygen masks and special
equipment to give the pilots more comfort so
that they can give all their attention to the
fight They will contact. with various layers
of planes below, which will relay necessary in
formation. Or they can receive orders and
information directly by radio. 1t will be an
extremely scientific situation, with some far
from simple maneuVers"
THE training of the Navy pilots was never
exactly simple matter. Taking off from
ships at sea and landing again on the deck Of
a comparatively small vessel present difficulties
not met by other flyers. And before the Nays
airmen become adept at these tactics there are
frequent incidents of an amusing and some
times an exciting nature. Lieut. Comdr Chap
line relates few of these.
THE most common freak stunt used to be
in catapulting," he said "Catapults are nee
esSary on Dattleships, as there isn't enough
space for landing and taking-off deck. So
the plane is secured to the catapult car which
runs on track so feet long. The pilot warns
up the engine and signals that he is ready.
The catapult man then operates the COM
pressed air device or fires gunpowder charge.
The car moves very swiftly-getting up speed
of So miles an hour by the time it has come to
the end of the 5O-foot track. 1t does this in
! 2-5 seconds. Then the car stops suddenly,
and the plane is released 1t shoots Off into
the air at flying speed with its engine wide
open.
That sounds rather simple, and it is after
you have done it a few times. At first it seems
very fast but you get used to it. Sometimes
there is trouble, though. One day when the
weather was rough Lieut.. Steve Haddon was
being fired off the port SIDE They were sup
posed to compensate for the roll of the ship
by sending him off when the port side rolled
up, but the catapult tender fired him ON a down
roll instead, and shot him head first into a
1O-foot wave alongside. That was a short hop
Then there was Lieut.. Barner, who was
experimenting with one of the earlier catapults
The releasing gear failed to work and he took
the whole catapult car right along with him
when the plane came TO the end of the track.
But that was too much of load and the whole
outfit fell into the ocean. He was not hurt
II had similar experience one day. A pilot
who had had experience in catapultS, but had
been on other duty for a while, asked me to
ride with him on his first hop when he re-
ported back. I did, though it wasn't much of
ride. He forgot to fasten his belt and when the
plane lurched little as it left the car 1t threw
him forward. That made him push the stick
forward and-splash!- there we were in the
water. Now, however, catapulting is simple,
everyday matter and there are few accidents
even IN hundreds of such flights"
FLYING from battleships is only very small
part of feet aircraft naneuvers. The air
craft carriers Saratoga, Lexington and Langley
are the center of all feet air operations The
Saratoga and the Lexington are the largest,
fastest and most powerful carriers ever built.
Their speed is 335 knots. All of the turrets,
the navigating bridge and the masts are placed