Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-07-23

Exposition at Chicago"
A year of preliminary work followed
and then the selection Of the personnel
Of the cruise began. This work was
done with q critical eye, and every Incl
dent of the past careers Of every man
was scanned with the utmost attention
before their appointments were con-
cruise took part in the previous fight
to Brazil, It being the sdesire of the
italian service to extend its ocean
flight training to the maximum possible
number Of officers and men.
The pilots now with Balbo are mostly
young men, seven Of whom had Just
graduated from the first courses Of the
Aeronautical School Of CaSerto. The
italian chiefs applied real intelligence
to the selection and training of the ON
GERS and men. Having named the
squadron and plane commanders, they
permitted each airplane commander to
choose his own second pilot and expert
enced assistants. The result was the
creation OF plane and squadron teams
which functioned with the utmost har-
mony and good will.
The crew Of each plane is composed
OF four perSons-a commander pilot, q
second pilot (all but one of whom Is q
SohAhAooAOACo OAAOC1Jp y WAC1C0o OPCA
ator, who Is q non-commissioned OH
Ger or licensed operator, and an engi-
neer, who is either commissioned
omcer or q corporal, under the italian
style Of ratings. In certain planes there
is fifth person with special duties.
Crews Named Year Ago.
The crews, selected Q year In advance,
have worked, lived and trained together
continuously as step toward maximum
ehciency, both individual and col
lective. They are an exceptionally
keen and alert lot Of young men, to
Judge from what has been seen Of them
during their brief visit to Washington.
Balbo's squadron is formed of eight
groups of three planes each, each group
commanded by the highest officer in
grade and the Oldest in point Of service
in the group. All orders to the groups
go through the flight commander.
In flight the units are formed in COL
umn, with each OF the flights in Q
tnree-piane V, making three files OF
eight planes each, each flight stepped
slightly above that ahead. The flights
are distinguished by colosed bands and
rudder markings, the leading unit,
headed by Balbo, being black and the
others In succession red, white and
green. The number and position of
each plane within its flight and SQUAD
ron Is indicated by stars or circles.
Each plane, in addition, bears under its
wing in large characters the first four
letters OF the name of its commander:
that is BALB for Balbo, PEI.L for Pei.
legrlni, MANN for Nannini, and so on,
The groups habitually take off by
tr1ads, led by the black. and fy in COL
umn, the gaps being determined by
weather conditions. The formations are
closed up when passing over prominent
cities or towns and when landing. At
each base the planes are moored at
buoys each Of which bears the colors
and marks distinguishing its plane.
After mooring the national colors are
hoisted on each plane.
Balbo Planes Described.
The airplanes which Balbo is using
are perhaps the most famous of all the
Italian aircraft. They are the SIS
Marchetti-designed ships of the Societa
Idrovolanti Alta Italia and are two-mo-
tored monoplanes having separated twin
hullS carrying the tail on outriggers.
The motors are mounted in tandem in
nacelle raised on struts above the
wing. Three bladed propellers are used
that forward being tractor, the rear a
pusher.
The instrument panels are complete
to the last detail, including two Ameri-
can blind fight" instruments, the
Sperry artificial horizon and the Sperry
direction indicator. Each hull contains
one 400-gallon tank. two 100-gallon
tanks and a 40-gallon tank. giving a
total gasoline capacity Of 1920 gallons
for each plane. Each pontoon or hull
also holds a water tank of 15-gallon
capacity and a tank of equal size fol-
oil. Catalytic heaters were provided for
warming water and oil in the engines
before starting them in the sub-polar
regions through which the flight passed
The SIS has wing span OF 70 feet
an overall length of So feet and q
height of 16 feet. The weight of the
airplane, empty, is 1850 pounds and
the useful load capacity is 1l,000
pounds, making total weight Of 23.650
pounds, or nearly IL tons per airplane.
The maximum speed Is rated at It's
miles per hour and the cruising speed
145 miles. Maximum cruising range Is
$500 miles and the ordinary cruising
range with crew and equipment carried
on this cruise, $3.50 miles.
Asso Engines Used.
The engines are the "Asso $50" type,
water cooled, with the Is cylinders ar
ranged in three rows at an angle Of 20
degrees apart. At normal speed the
engine delivers 300 horsepower, which
increases to $40 horsepower at the max
imum speed Of 1900 revolutions per
minute.
Each Of the bases along the Orbetello-
Chicago route is in charge Of an officer
of the Royal Air Force, with small
group Of specially trained men on duty.
The bases also serve as radio-meteoro-
logical stations. For the trip from Italy
to the United States bases were set up
at Amsterdam. Londonderry, Ireland;
Reykjavic, Iceland; Cartright, Labrador ;
Shediac, Newfoundland; Montreal, Can
ada, and Chicago. Bases for the re-
turn trip have been set up at New York,
Shoal Harbor, Newfoundland, and Va
lentia, Ireland. Stations also have been
prepared at the Azores Islands and Lis
bon, Portugal, in case it is decided TO
return by the Southern route.
In addition to the fixed bases, the
motor ship Alice, of the Royal Air
Force, serves as a floating base. and an
ocean patrol service is maintained by
the submarines Balilla and Millilire
and the patrol boats Giuseppe Biglieri
and Pellegrini Matteucci.
One striking feature regarding per-
sonnet, from the standpoint Of the
American Army Air Corps officer, Is the
high rank attained by the comparative
1y young men under Balbo,s command.