Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-04
AVIATION
at 7 ASH is so strong in the
- Spring time,
When garlic grows rank
= in the yard!"
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

<IT 7 ASH is so strong in tn,
Spring time,
When garlic grows ranl
In the yard!"
From the Boarding House Ballades
Here is a little Spring-tim;
aeronautical hash, strength no
guaranteed-
Speaking of Spring time anc
its reputed effect on the human
species, have you heard about
the Nays Hot Papas"? That
may sound like the most arrant
joshing, but it's not, really. Each
Of the Nays aircraft carriers
has on duty on the flight deck
while flying Is in progress a man
who is known to his companions
as 1.-The Hot Papa" The title is
based on fact-on the most un-
comfortable truth. The man really
is a very warm individual. He is
warm of necessity. Moreover,
duty may call him into the hot
test places imaginable. He is in
veriest truth a Hot Papa.
The Hot Papa is dressed in an
asbestos suit, resembling, some
what, a deep sea divers outfit. He
is protected at every point from
the heat-external heat, that is.
The heat which the gentleman
may generate by internal COM
bustion, and which remains con-
fined within the asbestos suit,
which naturally forms just as
good insulation from one side as
from the other, is what earns
him his euphonious title. Once in
the asbestos suit, the luckleSs can
didate becomes a most Super
heated Padra within a few min
utes, able only to perspire most
profusely, keep on the alert in
case duty calls, and pray urgently
for relief.
Pilots Are Infiammable.
Flying airplanes off a carrier
deck and landing them thereon
present problems to the pilot. Not
all landings are the graceful af-
fairs the same pilot may make
habitually on shore. There are
heavings of the carrier deck to
contend with. There are compli-
cations due to the arreSting gear.
There may be up or down cur
rents over the edge of the flight
deck. Crashes are not at all i'm
probable, and crashes often result
in fires. Fires are not good for
aviatorS who may be strapped
into their cockpits. Aviators in
burning planes with gasoline
tanks which may burst and burn
are combustible, If overlong ex-
posed, it has been found.
Here is the big opportunity for
the Hot Papa. He Is cast for the
role of the hardy, f1ame-defying
rescuer. His the duty Of hiking
with what elan he may muster to
the assistance of the aviator who
may be SO unfortunate as to find
himself, to his great embarraSS-
ment, sitting in the middle of a
bonfire. EncaSed in his asbestos
rig, the Hot Papa is supposed to
dash into the flames with more or
less impunity and drag therefrom
the less suitably clad comrade-in-
arms.
All this, while not officially an
nuunced by the Navy, is based on
what is considered to be unim-
peachable authority. The Navy
has gone into the Hot Papa busi-
ness in a big way. Those of you
who may in the past have looked
to Hollywood in the Spring time
for bigger and more glowing Hot
Papas now may turn with the
utmost confidence to Uncle Sam.
WHILE on the subject of fires,
~ consider the Bureau of
Standards. For the past two
weeks arson has been the word Of
the day. Incendiarism has run
rife. The Federal fire-bug has
done his stuff with blow torch,
match and gasoline soaked waste.
But it was all in the name Of
science.
For weeks and weeks the ma
tional committee on wood utiliza-
ton, manufacturers of automatic
ERE control apparatus and other
interested organizations were at
work in the bureau grounds erect
ing a modern airplane hangar. 1t
was a better hangar than you
will find on many and many an
airport, with a concrete floor, ap-
proved clearance below the roof
trusses and ample room for half
dozen or more average airplaneS.
The hangar was built only to
be burned. 1t was intended to be
and was the scene of fire after
Are. Approximately 20 dilapi-
dated and WORKOUT Army and
Navy aircraft were assembled
from hither and yon to be burned
on the altar Of science.
Make Nero Look Sick.
The fires, nearly a score of
them, were run of with precision
and a scientific nicely which
would have made Nero green
with jealousy. Everywhere you
might look were scientists, hangar
builders, airport operators, air.
craft users, fire insurance men,
reporters, photographers, under
writers, sprinkler manufacturers
and firemen, busy with eyes, pen
ellis, notebooks, tape measures
thermocouples and other para
phernalia. Few fires in history
have been so expertly watched
appraised and indexed.
The tests, financed entirely by
private capital, but staged under
the impartial and rigid guidance
of Uncle Sam, are expected to be
the determining factor in the fix
ing of premium rates for fire in
surance coverage for airport
structures. They are expected to
give invaluable data in the in