Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-08

MefnOTlal Gay, nearly 1UU
Air Corps and National Guard combat
and auxiliary planes will descend upon
the city as the climax Of nearly month
Of training and battle maneuvers.
The planes composing this great all
force, gathered like locuSts upon the
Districts airports, are to spend three
nights and two days here, according to
the War Department schedule, demon
strating the most modern types OF aerial
equipment and the latest advances in
the science Of aerial warfare.
Not only will the concentration and
Rnaneuvers, which will continue through
most of the month of May. be the
largest ever held in this country, but
they also will be of unusual Importance
In view Of the recent agreement De-
tween the War and Navy Departments,
after many long months Of negotiation,
that the Army Air Corps Is to be
charged with the aerial defense Of the
coasts Of the United States and its
possessions. leaving naval aviation to
function with and Is . part OF the
Aeet.
In point Of the number Of planes and
personnel engaged and the area Of
country to be covered, the maneuvers
will outrank by far anything ever held
IA this country. The squadrons are to
be concentrated at Dayton. Ohio, end
there organized as the list Air Division,
about May is. The area to be covered
during the battle maneuvers and demon
STATIONS includes the seacoast from
Norfolk, Va, to Bangor, Me-, and the
Atlantic seaboard extending inland as
far as Buffalo, N. Y, and Pittsburgh.
Will Tax Always.
20 large will be the aerial forces en-
aared that the facilities OF even the
treat transcontinental Always cannot
handle them and when the advance
from Dayton to New York Is under
taken on May Il, the division Will have
to be broken into units for the cross
country flight over routes ranging from
the National Capital to upstate New
York.
The maneuvers will be a severe test
Of personnel and equipment. They will
involve the moving OF an entire air
army, staff, mechanics, spare parts, per-
sonal luggage and equipment, over battle
sectors hundreds of miles apart, under
pressure Of time and in the face OF UNI
predictable weather conditions. Such
movement, 1t was pointed out by F. Tru-
bee Dawson, Assistant Secretary OF War
for Aeronautics. demands perfect or
ganization. Perfection OF organization
To meet such demands can be built up
only through experience. The necessary
experience can be obtained only under
actual field conditions. The maneuvers
Of next May are intended to create such
conditions.
The First Air Division, according to
the preliminary War Department plans
Of organization, will be composed Of EOS
pursuit, 335 observation, 81 attack, SO
bombardment and As transport planes
q total of 672 planes of all types. To
ID fOrNa tl4APA Nrill hA 7A0
oficers and 631 enlisted men. virtually
al Of the officers being airplane pilots.
To Reveal Progress.
All types Of planes on service In the
aquadrons will be engaged, revealing
transitions which have taken place ia
service equipment in the Air Corps dur
ing the past few years and forecasting
Developments soon to come.
Two years ago. according to an illus
tration cited by Mr. Dawson, pursuit
planes had high speeds OF 165 miles per
hour, cruising speeds Of 135 miles and
combat ceiling, or maximum altitude, Of
$1,000 feet. The latest type pursuit
plane In service in the squadrons has a
top speed Of 1872 miles per hour and
cruising speed Of two and a half miles
per minute. 1t can operate at attitudes
around $4,000 feet, nearly six miles
above the earth.
The pursuit plane Of 1929 carried two
50-caliber machine guns. each with a
range OF $500 yards Today's pursuter
carries one 80 and one so caliber gun,
the latter with range Of nearly 5000
yards, each bullet striking with the
force of q weight of more than five
tons. The modern pursuit plane carries
small bombs with super-sensitive fuses
set to explode on contact with surface
faHak l-k g ID
wing, which may be used against bonn
bardment planes, observation balloons
and dirigibles.
There will be seen the bonbardment
plane Of two years ago. carrying crew
OF five, flying at a top speed of some
thing like los miles per hour and ca
pable Of carrying bomb loads OF 1000
pounds to less than three miles above sea
level. There will be seen also the new
bomber, carrying a crew Of six and q
bomb load Of 1000 pounds at speed
OF 100 miles per hour and capable Of
climbing with full load to $500 feet.
Two years ago the bomber with its
2000-pound load required an hour to
climb to $4,000 feet. Today's bomber,
with 1000 pounds Of bombs, can climb
% that height in 33l2 minutes.
Speed Of the observation types has
been stepped up in two years from l40
to $50 miles an hour and their equip
ment has been greatly improved.
Revolutionary Planes Due.
The attack planes will be of the
standard AS type, the only one now
In use. This year, however, Is TO see
revolutionary changes in attack aVi-
alton. New attack planes are in proc
ess which will have very high speed
and terrific fire power. One squadron
of these planes will fire 400 rounds
OF ammunition q minute and at the
same time drop two and one-half tons
Of bombs. The new type will be the
result Of prolonged experiments at the
Air Corps Materiel Division base,
Wright Field, during which studies
have been made Of the high-speed, low
wing type monoplaneS which have car
ried Capt. Frank M. Hawks and Col
Charles A. Lindbergh to new speed
records during the past year.
This year also is expected to witness
the adoption by the Army Of the two
scatter pursuit plane, startling inno-
walton for the Air Corps. which has
stuck to the single-seater since the
beginning Of pursuit aviation. The
two-seater will carry Q gunner, who
viii sit with his back to the pilot, man
ming a machine gun mounted to cover
the rear-the most vulnerable point Of
the single-seater.
Observation squadrons may be given
new blood during the year in the form
of new type Of three-place long-range
reconnaissance plane, equipped with
two 600-horsepower engines and re-
tractable landing gear. Observation
planes in service are universally Of the
two-place single-motored type.
uo...u~~-. nafv vvinfar
Winter has not had the anticipated
bad effect on airplane passenger oper-
atoms out Of the National Capital, and