Evening star., 1940-12-08
By NELSON NJ. SHEPARD.

|
Anti-aircraft units of the District
of Columbia National Guard may
come into first contact with the
mysterious robot planes now being
developed by the Army Air Corps,
when they go into training next
month at Fort Bliss, Tex, on the
Mexican border.
These pilotless planes, which ex-
| perts predict some day may revolu-
tionize aerial bombing of cities and
military objectives, are limited now
to service as moving targets for anti
aircraft batteries. AS more of them
are developed they will be used ex-
tensively on the Army's great firing
ranges as substitutes for the less sat-
isfactory sleeve" target toWed at
safe distances by a piloted plane.
| On a recent tour of the great Air
Corps bases in the San Antonio area,
newspapermen were shown a feet OF
the robot planes, but bad weather
which grounded all aviation for the
day prevented any actual demon
Stration of their mission. All the
Armys preliminary work and expert
mentation with these planes has
been done at Kelly Field and the
other air bases around San Antonio.
Craft Also in Panama and Hawii.
Officials said the pilotless planes
are being used in training at Fort
Bliss, one of the largest anti-aircraft
training bases in the United States,
and more extensively in Panama and
Hawaii, where more than half the
available planes have been sent.
The 26Oth Coast Artillery Regi-
ment of the 29th Division is expected
to be inducted into Federal service
between January 3 and January 10.
Commanded by Col. Walter w.
Burns, the Districts anti-aircraft
units, now comprising So officers and
| 1,187 enlisted men, will make the
2.200-mile overland march to Fort
Bliss in their own trucks. BY that
time it was expected the firing range
at the Texas base will be SO enlarged
that considerable use may eventually
be made of the robot planes in train
ing practice.
For experimental use in this new
type of aviation, the Air Corps has
taken a number of obsolete training
planes, worthless for salvage pur-
poses even, and painted them red.
For that reason they are known more
or less as the red fleet"
Experiment Still Is Young.
The experimentation with these
planes, directed in the air by remote
radio control, is still in its infancy. A
| great deal more development is
needed before anyone can predict
with assurance how successfully they
may be depended upon to fulfill an
attack mission. For training pur-
poses, however, their usefulness al
ready has proved valuable.
| In war missions, the object is to
load the robot plane with bombs
and set 1t of on a course directed
by a master pilot. Either single
plane or a small mass formation
could be used. Guided over the
objective, the planes would auto
matically release their bombs on the
target at the will of the master
pilot.
The pilot may either fly with the
fleet or direct it from a safe distance
Of several miles. If these maneu-
vers can be successfully developed
for actual wartime aerial bombing.
their usefulness is apparent. If
half a dozen of the planes are shot
down, the only loss is rather cheap
flying platform" and the remainder
OF the planes could still carry out
the mission. More important, there
would be no loss of pilots.
Master Pilot Vital, However.
On the other hand. however. the
key to the whole situation is held by
the master pilot. If he alone is
shot down and the other planes
remain untouched by gun-fre, the
entire mission is doomed to failure
and the whole squadron would be
helpless in the air.
At this stage of military training.
when new methods are being sought
and tried. the mission of the robot
plane in serving as moving target
for the anti-aircraft artillery is
highly regarded in the Army. Anti
aircraft batteries need constant
practice and the robot plane is
regarded by officials as a great ad-
vancement over the usual towed
target.
A demonstration with the COM
monty used sleeve target-a huge
streamer towed by an airplane
serves its purpose, but with un-
trained gun crews there is always
an element of danger to the pilot
of the plane. Nor is it as effective
as robot plane which can be
maneuvered at will, circling in and
out at night between the long
reaching beams of powerful search
lights penetrating to an altitude OF
7 miles.
100 Shots a Minute.
The sleeve target is slow and
difficult to handle, the great length
of the rope preventing quick re-
sponse to the movements of the
plane. The present standard weapon
of the anti-aircraft battery is the
3-inch gun. 1t is very effective
against planes up to miles altitude
The shells have time fuZes which
are set to burst in the air among the
enemy's planes. 1t is not neces-
sary to make direct hit on plane
to destroy it. In l minute battery
of four guns can fire 100 aimed
shots
Each anti-aircraft battery has a
director or mechanical brain" The
way they operate is uncanny. This
instrument is pointed continuously
at any air target and automatically
computes the right direction for
pointing the guns and transmits it
electrically to dials on each gun.
The gun crew simply read the dials
and turn other dials to point the gun
rapidly in the right direction.
Despite these mechanical calcula-
1 tiopc tho cuyift movement Of D1ane