Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07
DESCRIBES FLIGHT
WITH GEN. FOULO|S
Sergt. Hartman Recalls Hop
With Assistant Air Chief in
Army's First Plane.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

NEW YORK, June (N.AN.A.).-
Mitchell Field was strangely silent The
planes OF the great Army air show had
gone some days before.
Sergt. James r. Hartman, with
hash" stripes running half the length
of his sleeve, each stripe for five years
service in the United States Army. and
campaign ribbons to match, sat down
on the bunk in his quarters. and took
of his cap. He was a bit lonesome, In
a military way, and his upright pos
ture Of a moment ago had relaxed. One
realized that % years OF active service
had brought gray hairs previously
unnoticed,
He pointed to a picture on the wall.
Some men were standing before an
antique plane.
THAT was the first ship the Army
had" Hartman said, and I was the
first passenger. My pilot was Gen.
Foulois, second from the right, q sec
ond lieutenant then, and as smart a
enc as I ever saw. I'm the third from
the left, If that interests you"
Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois is now as
sistant chief Of the Army Air Force.
Ship Didn't Last Year.
1.-THE old ship didn't last more than
a year. but let me tell you how the
Army Corps started, and how it got to
be what it is today" And Hartman
eaSed into his story.
IT went into the artillery in 1902"
he said, land after something more
than three years switched to the Sig
nal Corps. Those days no one thought
much of flying, although balloons and
small dirigibles were being tried out.
Around 1908 we heard that our pres
ent chief, Foulois, had gone up with the
first dirigible Washington bought. OF
course I didn't know the general then,
but we all had our eyes on him. He
had been q "non-com" in the Spanish
American War and transferred to the
regulars for the Philippine affair. dur
ing which he was commissioned in the
infantry.
He had been handed over to the Sig
nal Corps, too and we figured that II
this mans Army was going to ny we
would be in 1t before long. Who knew
whether We would all be going around
fighting wars from balloons?"
Sergt. Hartman laughed at the
thought.
FouIois Flew With Wrights.
"It wasn't long" he went on, before
the general mean the Lieutenant
was flying in land planes with the
Wright brothers, getting himself set
for things that were going to happen.
I'm 1909 we were down at Fort Sam
Houston in San Antoine Tex, when
the excitement came. The Wright peo-
pie sent plane No Its in the Smith
sonian Institution now, and helped
dismantle it and put 1t together again
and the fun began. There were two
wooden hangers, close together. In one
was a gyroscope the Army had been
playing with. It wouldn't fly. 1t never
got off the ground.
ITO my mind there wasn't much
doubt about the new ship. They never
would have sent 1t to Texas unless 1t
was pretty certain to fly. Well, Lieut..
Foulois looked it over. 1t was made of
wood, held together with piano wire,
and it had turn buckles. The idea was
about the same as today. except that
this piano wire operated the controls.
Lieut.. Foulois took off his coat and
started tinkering with the engine. Then
he went under the plane to see what
was going on there. Next came orders
to take her out of the hangar with its
dirt floor, and start her up. We did,
and before long Lieut.. Foulois was
shooting around the field in something
that looked like bicycle, so far as the
seating arrangement was concerned. and
making 40 miles an hour in the air. It
had only a 40-horsepower motor, so you
couldn't expect much, In comparison
with the stunts of the last few weeks.
II don't think the general will mind
II say that the plane jumped around,
and down on the ground we were Won
dering whether we should tackle 1t our
selves or not. We knew the chief would
be all right, but there was a pretty
good chance of a passenger falling out,
unless he was tied in with navy rope.
Landed Smooth as Slipper"
Lieut.. Foulois made a perfect land
ing. for those days. There may have
been some jouncing up above. but he
hit the field as smooth as a slipper. He
hadn't been anywhere, because there
was no place to go. He had circled
around and around for quite time
perhaps half hour.
THE next afternoon, with the
weather perfect, he decided to do 1t
again. went up to him. having done
some Of the busting, although he had
done most of it himself, and saluted.
Sir remarked, will the lieutenant
take me up in the plane?'
Sure he said.
And We went up and I got hne
spanking, but the lieutenant knew how
to handle the old boat. We landed
perfectly, and when Foulois asked me
how liked it said fine, although II
took me a few days to decide whether
I ought not go back to the artillery"
Army Plane No. l was In operation
less than year, then 1t was replaced
Foulois was the natural authority on
the trend toward the air in war. OF
the group pictured before the first Army
plane, Sergt. Vernon Burge, Pvt. Ernest
Clarke and Sergt. Stephen j. IdZarek
are now captains in the Air Force, and
the shavetail Foulois is brigadier
general.
During the recent maneuvers, Sergt
Hartman had charge of all telephone
connections between the flying fields
of Long Island, from which the
aviators took off. He goes up himself
every other week.
Hartman had been told that he had
permission to speak frankly for pub.
LEGATION.
1.-THE general" he related, "hasn't
changed bit. He knew me right away
and spoke about the old days. He's
that kind. If he thought ship was
wrong today, he'd peel of his jacket
and start working on It,"
Copyright, 1881. by North American News
paper Alliance, Inc.)
r W '06 AVN ri ACc