Evening star., 1935-09-19
BY DON BLOCH.

winging quietly down over the tree
tops at Anacostia last week. JOS
eph S. Martinek came to the ground
in a perfect three-point landing. He
TAXED expertly to the lineup and
cut of his motor. =
When he had removed his speaking
tube, pushed up his goggles and showed
back. his helmet, one huge grin was
visible.
Gee, it was SWELL" he said as he
signed his student jacket.
It was the end of Martinek's first
solo flight. 1t terminated his 80 days
in Naval Reserves elimination fight
training class No. 8. Now he Is ell
gible, along with five other men of his
class, for recommendation for appoint
ment as aviation cadet to be sent to
Pensacola, where the real tests begin
next Thursday.
"a washed Out"
About 40 men applied for member
ship to class No. 8. in which Martinek
came through. Thirty-four couldn't
make the grade-"washed out" for one
a control stick in their hands. Six
passed the strenuous selective tests.
Martinek was the last man of the
newest batch of candidates who have
qualified for further aviation training
at the big Florida flying base. Only
one man has failed in the three
classes.
Last June IA, after legislation had
been passed creating an aviation cadet
system to build up the flying strength
of the Navy, the Reserve department
at Anacostia began the training of its
first elimination" class. According to
an official bulletin, the principal
function of the elimination course is
to discover the students degree of ap-
titude as an aviator and as an officer,
with equal weight assigned to each"
There are 13 of these elimination
class groups now operating over the
Nation. A fourteenth has been au-
thorized for Kansas City, Mo. From
each of these several bases will be re-
cruited the 500 aviators which the
Naval Reserves expect to add to their
forces as a result of the congressional
appropriations. Each base will put
through seven classes of candidates
training them for a month, after
which qualified men will be sifted for
further flight instruction at Pensa-
cola.
Each Candidate Hand Picked.
AS testimonial to the thorough
going way in which these students are
put through their PAGES at Anacostia,
one has only to proceed from the
statement made by James NJ Vinson,
one of the six qualified men, when he
had come down after his first solo
flight.
When these guys get through with
you, you've got to fy!"
Each candidate is hand-picked by
Naval Reserve men from recent crops
of college graduates. An interview is
sought with those men who have spe-
cialized either in mathematics or en-
gineering. They are sounded out for
possibility as future air pilots. Likely
candidates are asked to apply to their
local elimination fight training bases.
Lieut.. M. B. johnson is in charge at
Anacostia, with Lieut.. T. K. Wagner
as his assistant.
- First they must be United States
citizens, between 1S and %, and must
be mentally, morally, physically and
psychologically qualified in accordance
with the standards prescribed by the
Navy Department. They must agree to
remain on active duty for four years,
including the period of training at
Pensacola, and must stay bachelors
for that time.
Must Know Mathematics.
Being just college graduates is not
sufficient. They must present a GER
tificate from the registrar of that
college showing they possess certain
s''minimum" mathematical education
which minimum includes arithmetic,
algebra, plane and solid geometry,
trigonometry and physics.
While on active duty as cadet the
finally fortunate candidate gets $75
STEAMSHIPS.
BERMUDA VIA FURNEss. $50 up. round
A.