Evening star., 1932-01-26
ARMY D|SCL OSES
ADVANCE IN PLANES
Fastest TWo-Seater in World
Developed in Wright
Field Tests.

The military secrecy which has con-
cealed the development Of some Of the
deadliest fighting planes the world
ever has seen is partially lifted in
report lust made public by the Army
Air Corps on the development OF 1881
at the experimental base at Wright
Field, Dayton, Ohio.
Behind this shroud Of secrecy the
Air Corps has been at work to meet the
challenge Of European speed supremacy
in combat airplanes. Among the re-
suits of this work, it was revealed, have
been the development OF what is said
to be the fastest two-seater airplane
in the world: the final elimination OF
wood construction from military planes;
production of a pursuit plane which is
said to climb faster and fly more rapidly
than any single-seater, air-cooled pur-
suit plane in existence, and the de-
velopment Of new bombardment plane
which virtually is in the racing plane
class. being faster by nearly 40 miles
per hour than any foreign bomber.
The recent developments at Wright
Field include Mt only combat planes
which far outclass the fighting planes
but also vitality important Achievements
III A4Io4lJ AAAA1S VA o~AA"A
New Planes Amazing"
The experimental work covers gaso-
line engines which have no carburetors,
special engine fuels which develop
greater power than any yet known,
more efficient engine radiators. instru-
ments for blind flying and blind land
ings, automatic variable pitch propel-
lers and other research problems.
The new fighting planes are described
in the report as amazing In re-
sumo of the developments of 1881,
Mai. c. w. Howard, Army Air Corps.
chief engineer Of the Material Division
of the Air Corps at Wright Field, said;
at now can definitely state that we
are through the transition stage from
wood to metal. We now have an-metal
structures that are as far in advance
Of the Curtiss OIL and o. STANDARD
Army observation types) as those air
planes were in advance Of the DH-4
(the famous wartime De HaYiland) In
1925"
Among the new fighting planes which
have gone through the tests and which
are in process of actual service test in
the fighting squadrons. the report re-
vealed, are the following:
The YP-24 Leckheed allmetal low
wing pursuit monoplane. This plane
Is said to be the fastest two-seater air
plane in the world despite the fact
tests so far have been made with a
relatively inefficient engine. Still
greater speeds will be achieved with
this plane in the immediate future, the
report showed.
Fastest Single Scatter.
The YP-16 Berliner-Joyce two-seater,
pursuit biplane.
The P-i2E Boeing single-seater pur-
suit biplane, Of which Mai. HowRd
SAYS: Concerning this airplane we
can, without challenge, state that 1t
has the highest rate of climb and is
faster than any single-seater air
cooled pursuit type in the world"
The P-6E Curtiss single-seater pursuit
biplane, a still further improvement Of
the P-6D in which Capt. Reuben c.
Moffat a few days ago broke all speed
records between Dayton, Ohio, and
Washington, flying the distance in S6
minutes al an average speed OF 266
miles per hour
The YO-31 Douglass two-seater OBJ
servation biplane. This is an exceed
ingly fast observation plane with TOO
fuseIage. It's speed rating is said to
be nearly three times that Of the
World War planes Of this class.
The B-9 Boeing twin-motored, bonn
bardment monoplane, characterized by
Mai. Howard as "the outstanding de-
velopment for military airplanes" In
1881. Two of these planes now are on
the flying line undergoing tests which
will determine the power plant TO be
used. The results Of the tests, as COM
pared with those Of foreign bombers,
are regarded by Maj. Howard as
astounding" The B-9 is veritable
flying fortress, armed against attack
from every angle, as fast as many OF
the present day pursuit planes, twice
as fast as present bombardment planes
md of tremendous offensive power.
Experiments of the past year, Maj.
Howard reported, indicate that the
application of commercial types for
military purposes is extremely limited,
nor is it likely that these would be
successfully converted in emergency to
combat types"
New training and cargo planes Of ad-
vanced types also have been developed,
according to the report.
Development of decomposition
aviation engines has gone so far in the
United States, Maj. Howard said, that
leading engine manufacturers in Great
Britain and France have gone on record
stating they cannot possibly compete
with the engine development in Amer
lea unless they go to ethyl fuel"