Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09
~ RLOR touches and toy air.
- planes may not appear to
have much IN do with com .

into existence a type of military
acrobaticS which may completely
change the future principles OF
dog fighting" between pursuit
planes.
The particular parlor couch was
in the home of Lieut.. Afford J
Williams, jr., famous Navy aero
batic and racing pilot, and the
airplane model is one which he
has worn shiny with his hands
maneuvering it around above his
head while reclining on the
couch. With this model he
worked out the details of inverted
flight which he has been perfect
ing for years and which he dem
onstrated with striking effect dur
ing the past year.
The parlor couch model plane
combination for working out
fight maneuverS was explained
by Lieut.. Williams in talk made
a few days ago before members
of the District of Columbia Air
Legion, local flying club. In this
talk the noted Navy star discussed
the principles which have won for
him one of the highest inches
in the American aeronautical hall
of fame.
AS this is written Lieut.. Will
liamS' future in the Navy is cloud
ed by uncertainty. The Navy De-
partment a few days ago ordered
him to sea duty for three years.
He countered by rendering his
resignation, to continue racing
plane development as a private
citizen. The Navy then Withdrew
the orders sending him to sea
duty pending action on the reSig-
nation, which has been placed in
the hands of Admiral Richard
Leigh, acting chief of operations.
Lieut.. Williams Uses Model.
Through the use of the model
every phase of upSide-down flight
was worked out by Lieut.. Williams
before he tried it in the air.
Every move of the controls was
planned in advance; the effect of
every maneuver plotted with the
model. But why the couch, you
ask? Just try maneuvering a
model plane in your hands in the
inverted position and try mental
ly to place yourself in the cockpit
You will find inevitably that the
model is raised high above your
head and your neck is craning as
far back as nature and your col
lar-band will permit. Keep that
up for a few minutes and If you
don't find the reason for a couch
being an indispensable accessory
to this type of fight, no amount
of explanation will do any good
This working out of flight prob
lens on the ground is character
istic of Williams. Nothing is left
to chance. Every move is the re-
suit of deliberate planning. He
never goes into any maneuver
without having figured out before
hand just what he is going to do
and how he is going to get the
plane back at any time into nor
NAL flight.
Attributes Success to Study of
Problem.
To this studious working out of
his flight problems Lieut.. Williams |
attributes much of his success.
Though by most of the thousands |
who have witnessed his amazing
acrobatic flying he is considered
to be one of the most reckleSSly
daring pilots in aviation, he never
has knowingly gone into any ma
neuver in the air without previ-
ouSly having figured his way out.
In this respect he is one of the
most conservative and cautious
flyers in the military services.
The result of his deliberations
are most readily apparent in his
nylng. There is a grace and ease
about the most involved of his
acrobatic maneuverS which makes
the maneuverS of the ordinary
pilot seem crude. Moreover, in
Is years of flying Lieut.. Williams
never has broken so much as a
stick Of wood on any airplane he
has flown; record for which
there is no known parallel.
Works on Remaining Maneuver.
Flying Navy fighter with mo-
tor equipped with carburetion and
oiling systems which work equal
ly well in ordinary or inverted
flight, Lieut.. Williams has been
able to duplicate in the upside
down position almost every flight |
maneuver possible in ordinary
flight.
There remains but one ma
newer which now appears to be |
possible in inverted flight and |
which no one ever has performed,
Lieut.. Williams says. The nature
of this maneuver he will not dis
cuSs until he has worked it out |
with his model and then found |
whether it is possible to execute |
1t in actual flight.
OF course, it is possible to work |
out maneuVerS without the use of |
model, Lieut.. Williams said, but |
the problem is very much simpler
II the model is used. Details |
which may not occur to the mind |
of the pilot who merely thinks
out his maneuverS may be brought |
out by the maneuvering Of the
model.
mo man ever was killed flying |
a model" Lieut.. Williams told
members of the Legion. THE man
who constantly has a picture in |
his mind of what is happening to |
the controls of his airplane and |
to the plane itself while in flight !
will advance so rapidly as to sur
prise himself. There is no quicker |
way to acquire this picture than |
to use model, to bend the con- |
trolls of the model to proper po-
Sition and to figure the position |
of the control stick and rudder |
bar at every instant Of the ma