Evening star., 1932-05-22

HegenDerger USED TaQlO 10 gulQe HuH
into the field, to mark for him the
point at which to begin his glide and
to warn him when he neared the field
boundary. He employed Super-sensi-
tive altimeter to indicate his altitude
above the landing area. Other flight
instruments were normal, including
artificial horizon, gyro compass, radio
compass and standard fight instru-
ments. The flight was made at Day
ton, Ohio, home of the Air Corps Ma
teriel Division. where Capt. Hegen-
berger is stationed as navigation officer.
Modest to a fault, quiet and unas-
Suming, Capt Hegenberger is a brill
liant figure in aviation. though seldom
in the limelight He first came to
public fame when he flew from Cali
fornia to Hawaii with Lieut.. Lester
Maitland the first Pacific flight. He
Is regarded as one Of the worlds three
foremost aerial navigators.
So retiring is Hegenberger that the
world remained for many days in the
dark as to his achievement. Capt.
Hegenberger was on the high seas, en-
route to Rome to attend the first in
ternational meeting of ocean flyers, be-
ginning today, when the story of his
success was given to the world by F.
Trubee Dawson, Assistant Secretary
of War for Aeronautics, who learned
of the flight from Hegenberger's official
report.
Where Imagination Fails.
OF the crucial moment when Capt
Hegenberger, alone in his sWiftlymov
ing plane, felt his way toward the sur
face Of the earth which he could not
see. he has little to say in his report,
1t is difficult for the layman to put
himself in Hegenberger's position dur
ing that moment. To get something
of the idea, imagine yourself driving
an automobile. The windows are all
eurtained SO that you can get no
glimpse of anything outside the ear;
no ground, no sky, no road-nothing
but the blank curtains and the instru
ments. You have a radio direction
finder, with a little arrow showing
when you deviate to the right or left
of a given course, You are driving at
so miles an hour across an open field.
At the far side of the field is a grea1
yawning chasm of appropriate depth
say something like the Grand Canyon.
There is but one avenue of safety,
a very narrow bridge. If you miss the
bridge, curtains. A radio beacon is
guiding you to the bridge and your only
indication is the little pointer. You
may not slacken speed but you must
hit the bridge precisely,
Your problem, however. would be
much simpler than Hegenbergers
Gravity would hold you on the ground
and you wouldn't have to worry about
that You would have to Very only
about whether you were too far to left
or right Hegenberger had to worry,
not only about whether he was to
right or left of the runway. but also
whether he was too high or too low
and whether he was actually over the
landing field or over some other piece
Of terrain not at all suitable for the
landing Of airplanes
It must have been with a feeling OF
exquisite relief that he felt the wheels
touch the ground and the plane roll
to O stop safely. OF this feature of
the experiment. however, Capt. Hegen-
berger has only this to say:
THE radio transmitters mark the
field boundary and all you have to do
is just fly along the ground, take things
very gently and easily, and when you
feel 1t hit-well, just ease back on the
stick"
A magnificent flight, and one worthy
of large and imposing monument on
the green fields of aeronautical progress.
Pay Situation Is Bad.
The service flight pay situation con-
tinueS to be serious. Both Army and
Navy Air Services are in dire straits.
in the face of congressional action
on the appropriation bills. The crises
in the Navy pay situation is due to be
reached Immediately before the Senate
Appropriations Committee
Developments, in brief, have been as
follows: The House Appropriations
Committee voted to restrict flight pay
to maximum Of $l,100 a year, This
would have saved s271 800 during the
coming fiscal year but would. in the
opinion of Navy experts, have shat
tered the morale and efficiency of the
service. The restriction was removed
The committee, however. inserted a
provision establishing a separate item
Of $l,0l4,250 for flight pay; precisely
S27l ,a90 short of the amount required
or a reduction of 81 per cent Under
the law. the Navy is compelled to give
full fight pay; under the bill it has not
suficient funds with which to comply
with the law.
The enly alternatives are to dis