Evening star., 1938-01-23

towns, villages. ammunition
=. ~ dumps and armies that move
endlessly under the bombardier's feet
yet are never destroyed-these are the
latest methods employed by the United
States Army Air Corps to teach its
birdmen how to battle in the sky.
1t is midnight on March Field in
Southern California. Out of the dark
ness comes the deafening roar of a
mighty engine of war. The BIS,
Americas greatest fighting plane, is
taking off for night maneuvers.
Slowly the enormous steel bird lifts
into the inky blackness of night. lights
all aglow AS the 30 tons of quivering
metal circles to a bombing altitude
there is left behind on the f1ving field
an army radio truck and a boxlike
affair with round opening in the top
toward the sky. Between the field
and the lifting plane flies another
bomber.
At 5000 feet the pilot of the flying
fortress" levels of and its radio oper-
ator calls the intermediate plane
Ready" crackles the operator to
the lower plane. Ready" comes back
the cracking reply and there hurtles
from the plane blazing flare. AS the
burning firebrand drops earthward the
field beneath is lighted up as though
by the midday sun. Against this back
ground may be seen outlined the radio
truck and trailer box at the edge of
the flying field and silhouetted figures.
&WIFT action now follows. The high
altitude flyer sets his course to
bomb the truck and trailer. Speakin
through his ships interphone COM
munication system to his pilot, the
bomber shouts above the droning of
his motors:
STEADY on course turn right -.
steady . sSop -. turn left
right again :. stop" Now the cross
hairs of his bombing sight cover the
target beneath. showing it centered
and slightly ahead And in this mo-
ment, instanter, he presses a release
key and releases load of bombs. Only
1t happens that instead of iron shells.
loaded with INT enough to blow the
target and all its personnel to smith
Greens. the bomber releases a simple
little radio signal no bigger than the
squeak Of mouse.
Simple enough, you say. But how
does the bomber way up there In the
sky know whether he has hit his tar
get or not? 1t Is one thing to dump
a load Of bombs from q plane flying
ut 5000 feet and another thing to
make them hit target or even ap-
proximate one.
The Air Corps has a system for all
this. And here 1t is:
The radio truck and trailer box,
with an opening to the sky, play a
most important part in the hit and
miss plan of the bomber. Let us
walk over and take look at them
and watch those who man them.
THAT trailer box behind the radio
truck is in reality a camera-cam-
era obscura. it is called. The opening
in the top Of the box is the lens point
ting toward the sky. At the base of
this lense, on a table, is large square
OF paper or chart. At the door Of
the chartroom or box, no larger than
four feet square and light-proof,
stands q non-commissioned ofIicer.
Now, when = bombing operation
takes place this officer, called a scorer,
traces on the paper in the chartroom
the path Of the plane bombing and
records there the hits and misses Of
the bomber. Let us watch the radio
operator in the truck and the camera
operator do their stuff"
Stationed on the edge Of the field
the two await the signal of the bomber
in the sky that he has got his altitude
and Is coming in" to drop bomb
The radio operator is at his station
In the truck. his ears covered by his
receiver. his hand on the transmitter
diab. The scorer stands beside his
camera box, his ears likewise covered
by earphones.
REYoND the range Of our vision. but
with communication range Of the
operator in the truck and the scorer,
Is the huge bomber cruising around
until 1t has gained its altitude bomb
ing height. It seems to climb end
lessly while al wait until its running
lights ningle with the stars. Then
comes word from its radio operator
announcing the course Of the ship.
At the first signal the camera opera
tor swings into action. He pivots his
camera. set on an azimuth circle, until
the lens Is pointed towards the
racing-in bombing plane Head and
shoulders hidden by the black curtain
which has been rolled down to shut
out light from the interior, he faces
the drawing board with pencil poised,
waiting for the fire" signal.
Through his earphones the signal
comes from the bomber in the skies
By way Of the radio operator in the
truck. And at that instant he marks
on the paper the position of the
plane whose course he has been trac-
ing. The shadow Caught" he con-
tinues to chart the course of the plane,
marking at each seconds tick Of
nletronome its new position. Twenty.
three seconds after the fire signal has