Evening star., 1941-11-16
Cub Planes Will Have Major Defense Role
Bv Ben H. PearSe.

Between the Army's "GraSShopper
squadrons' and the plan OF the ONCE
of Civilian Defense soon to be announced
for tapping the Nations reservoir OF
private pilots, the light cub" type plane
appears destined for \ major role In
national defense.
Now that the 50O00-plane program
announced by President Roosevelt more
than a year ago is well under way,
immediate attention is likely to be given
the Putt Puts undignified designation
for the familiar two-place monoplanes
to be seen at airports throughout the
country until the surge OF activity by
the new Army and Navy squadrons drove
them away to smaller fields exclusively.
On these Putt Puts most of the
Nations 90 900 pilots with private licenses
learned to fly and an equal number.
It has been estimated, will qualify by
next spring.
The part these aerial flivvers are ex-
pected to play in the Army setup came
as a surprise development Of the Army
maneuvers this summer and fall, during
which they served as air taxis and
performed all sorts of messenger tasks
co-ordinating the movements of ground
troops at the various fronts" Before
the maneuvers in Louisiana were over
last month, they were practically lndis-
pensable An original order of IA of these
tiny craft, small and light enough to
be picked up by the tail and pushed
around by one able-bodied man, is slated
10 be increased several-fold in the near
future.
Although the Army already had de-
veloped a small plane. the O-49, espe-
eially for liaiSon work with ground troops,
the three leading manufacturers OF light
craft, the Aeronca Piper and Taylorcraft
companies, early last summer offered
dozen planes, with pilots to man them,
the small maintenance crews needed and
even gasoline on an experimental basis.
During the maneuvers in Tennessee little
attention was paid them, but when they
moved out to West Texas for the cavalry
maneuvers in July they were put to the
test.
Mai Gen. Innis P. Swift. commanding
general of the 1st Cavalry Division, is
credited with applying the nickname,
"Grasshopper,' to the small craft. Grass
Is not er-plentiful on the wide-open
spaces Of West Texas, but they did yeo-
man service hopping around from one
SPOT TO another with Army observers
carving messages and maps from one
headquarters to another, spotting for
artillery fire and keeping commanders in
touch with their units stretched out over
4 wide expanse of rough terrain.
Observers got 50 expert in pitching
the messages, tied in small bags with
yellow streamer attached. that they could
throw them from low-f1ying plane into
the rear seat of a command car. With
the motor throttled down, they were able
10 shout messages to ground troops along
4 road through a megaphone. If they
ran out Of gasoline, they landed IN the
road near a motorized unit and simply
borrowed enough to get to the next
filing station. In some sectors, where
regular automobile traffic was light due
to the maneuvers, filling stations sold
more gasoline to airplanes than to their
regular customers.
When it came time for the larger
scale maneuvers in Louisiana in Sep
tember, Army officials asked the three
companies to keep the planes in service
for another month on q rental basis
unt1 the contract for its first order Of