Evening star., 1941-06-05

Navy Bureau OF AeronautlcS eSLaD-
lished a glider training course al
the Pensacola Naval Air Station as 9
part Of its program at the "Nava
Academy of the Air" the experiment
was not successful or conclusive be-
cause the Navy lacked both compe-
tent instructors and suitable equip
ment, in the opinion Of such leaders
as Charles T. Malone, president OF
the American Glider Association.
The Civil Aeronautics Authority
attempted to establish glider train
ing course as part of its civil pilot
training program and had approx
imately 20 student pilots under in
struction In gliders during the sum-
mer of 1889. The program collapsed
for lack of instructors and certif1-
Gated gliders and sailplanes In SUI
{1cient numbers.
The Army Air Corps, as an or
eanization, has virtually ignored
gliding and soaring until just re-
Gently when, 1t is understood, nego-
tiations were undertaken for glider
training on relatively small scale
at Elmira, N. Y, for many years
headquarters of the Soaring Society
Of America and still the scene Of
the national soaring meet.
Pursued as Hobby.
Individual Army pilots have taken
up soaring on their own responsible
tty and one of them, 1t. william A.
Cooke, jr, Army Air Corps, in a
glider Of his own design, established
IN 1881 national endurance record
OF Il hours "a minutes near Hon.
olulu.
Naval personnel has been active In
gliding, the two outstanding ex-
amples being Comdr. Ralph S.
Barnaby, first American to win an
international soaring certificate, and
1t. Robert M. Stanley, who has
established number of brilliant
records, among them an unofncial
American distance record of ZIG
miles, from Elmira, N. Y, to Wash
tngton. He has designed and built
his own sailplanes. Comdr. Barnaby
was in charge of the Navy's glider
program at Pensacola, where 1t.
Stanley was stationed as an in
structor at the time of his outstand-
ing soaring flights.
Earl Southee, former general man
ager Of the Soaring Society of Amer
Tea, now is an official of the Civil
Aeronautics Authority. He is to be
honored for his outstanding con-
tributions to soaring development at
Elmifa on July during the annual
national soaring meet
Such outstanding American ex-
ponents Of soaring as Hawley Bowlus
and Levin 3. Barringer contend
that glider pilot training Is safer,
cheaper and quicker than elemen-
tary training on power airplanes and
that 1t instills confidence never ac-
quired In powered training planes.
Glider Plea Rejected.
Nearly seven years ago, Warren z.
Eaton, then president of the Soaring
Society of America, and Mr.. Southee
appeared before the Howell Com
mission, appointed by President
Roosevelt to study American avia-
ton problems. Although they
urgently advocated establishment by
the United States Government of a
national glider program to match
the foreign programs which then
were producing trained glider pilots
by the thousands, their pleas fell on
deaf ears.
No gliders were developed by the
Government and no pilots were
trained. The result Is that today,
when Germany has an estimated
250, 900 trained glider pilots and is
using gliders in great masses for,
invasion purposes, the United States
has not enough competent personnel
to instruct glider pilots on anything
but the most limited scale and has
only A certiicated gliders in the
country which could be used for
Government training. Even worse,
there are only two types of gliders in