Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-01-26

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test pilots. The Army drew
up performance specifications, ana
It was up to the Wright brothers to
prove that their plane would NIL the
bill.
Then the World War came along and
aviation became q business, where
engineers designed planes and test
pilots tried them out to see If they
could be flown safely. The Army
continued to draw up specifications
Of performance, but assigned its own
pilots to test the flying qualities Of
planes.
In August, 1926, Lieut.. Eugene
Barksdale purposely stalled q plane
with a bad spinning reputation, in
an effort to find out what the trouble
was. The plane continued to spin in
spite Of everything the skilled pilot
could do. Barksdale finally jumped
but could not clear the spinning air.
plane, and the brace wires Of the
wing sheared the cords Of his chute,
letting him fall free to the ground.
In January, 1888, Capt. Hunter
and Capt. Elmendorf were testing
q new high-speed plane. The ship,
the latest product Of one Of the lead
ing manufacturers, was a beautiful
job. It was faster than anything else
OF its type, and behaved splendidly in
normal flight. AS soon as q dive
was started. however. the wings turned
as in a smooth normal power spin.
from which the pilot could not recover.
Hunter jumped at about $50 feet,
when it Owed into the ground, remain
ing with the ship until almost too
late, puzzled by Elmendorf's failure
to leave the ship. Hunter received
several broken ribs and other internal
injuries. Elmendorf had probably
been affected by exhaust gases or lack
OF SUFFICIENT oxygen during acrobatics
performed at high altitude. At any
rate, his parachute rip cord had not
been pulled and the chute was intact.
Just a week later Lieut.. Woodring
took another of these ships up to learn
lust what the trouble was. He put the
plane into a dive, and on the pull out
the plane went to pieces, parts 1allng
over an area a mile long and q
quarter mile wide. Woodring had nc
time to Use his parachute.
WITH three of its best test pilots
Nv killed, the Army Air Corps went
back to first principles. The manufac'
turer is now required to demonstrate
with his own pilot, that the plane he
wishes to sell can be flown with rea'
sonable safety. Sometimes q pilot
from the test section at Wright Field
flies alongside the ship being demon
strated, while the civilian pilot puts
her through stalls and dives. Quick
pullouts from terminal velocity dives
are not required by the Army, as they
are by the Navy, for the Army uses
no dive bombers.
After the manufacturers demon
stration the new plane is turned over
to the Army Air Corps at Wright
Field, where it undergoes series OF
routine inspections and tests to de-
termine its suitability for military use.
First comes the 1889 Inspection y
which takes its name from the form
that is filled out as the ship is checked
over. This inspection Is made to de-
termine II there are any structural
defects, If the structure permits the
proper installation Of armament and
instruments, II the controls work prop
erly and are readily accessible. and
other points that can be determined
on the ground.
II no changes are required, the mil.