Evening star., 1932-01-10

than one might imagine, the lives Of
the fighting pilots Of the Navy squad
rons.
The landings on carrier deck, espe-
cially at night, when the landing Off
Ger transmits his signals by means OF
two lighted wands, are among the most
spectacular of all aviation operations.
The entire attention of the pilots as
they come in to land is concentrated on
else at the crucial moment Of landing,
and to this extent the lighted batons
of the landing officer are beating out
the measures of symphony of life and
death.
1t Is only recently that the Navy has
undertaken night formation flying from
the carriers Today fighter and scout
ing squadrons are making night forna-
ton flights from the carriers and in
the coming weeks torpedo bombing
squadrons are to undertake similar
training.
Formation is made possible only
through the use OF vari-colored identifl
cation lights on the plane. Each section
leader carries on top Of the fuselage of
his plane light with colored globe
Red designates the leading section,
white the second, blue the third and so
on down the line. The wing planes
fall into proper position with refer
ence TO the light of their leader. Only
in this manner can fatal confusion be
avoided in forming and maintaining
formation.
Blinker Signals Used.
It is not possible for the squadron
leader to use arm or wing signals at
night for transmitting orders to his
section leaders, so he makes use OF a
light, blinking at the touch of but
ton, to send out his signals for changes
in formation.
When the pilots come back to the
carriers to make their landings they
can see nothing from the air except the
dim lights set into the carrier deck and
the two lighted wands in the hands of
the signal officer. 1t is an operation
requiring the incest judgment and skill
on the part of the landing signal oficer
and the individual pilots.
The pilot approaching the carrier
from astern for his landing sees at first
two rows of dim lights around the rim
of the landing area, with small clus-
ter of fainter lights on the landing
ramp sloping down over the stern. AS
he approaches, the deck lights disap-
pear, blotted out behind the planes en-
gine and lower wings. AS the approach
Is made the ramp lights also disappear.
Now the pilot sees nothing but the
lighted wands in the hand of the land
ing officer stationed alongside the
landing area in position where he is
visible to the pilot looking down between
the plane wings past the motor.
The movements of the wands advise
the pilot as to every action he must
take. The pilot sees the lighted wands
held horizontally and knows that he
Is approaching in the proper direction,
at the proper altitude and at the proper
speed. If his approach Is wrong, he Is
waved away in time to open up his
engines, clear the carrier and ~circle
around for another trial.
The Critical Moment.
II the approach Is proper, however,
the pilot will see one of the wands drop
downward at an angle and the other
swing from right to left. Instantly the
pilot cuts his gun. If he fails to throt-
tie down his motor instantly on signal
he may crash into the deck barrier or
into other planes ahead of him on the
deck.
Having cut the gun there Is nothing
more the pilot can do but await the