Evening star., 1945-10-13
sPIedgeFunds|
For Research After
Viewing AAF Show
BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.
Star STAFF Correspondent,

WRIGHT FIELD, Dayton, Ohio.
Oct. 13.-Help toward obtaining ade-
quate research funds was pledged
by members of Congress today as
they viewed with amazed interest
the destruction which was in store
for the Axis had the war continued
another year.
Looking over the Army Air Force
exhibition of new weapons, Senator
OMahoney. Democrat, of Wyoming,
member of the Military Affairs and
Appropriations Committees, de-,
clared: ~;
The research carried on here at
Wright Field and in other labora-
tories must not be abandoned"
Gurney Halls Display.
Senator Gurney, Republican, of
South Dakota, joined Orville Wright,
father Of aviation, in terming the
exhibits "the greatest display of
technical research I have ever seen. a.
1T must be continued If Amer.
lea is to stay great" he said. ~
Outstanding among some of these
fantastic weapons that helped bring
the war to a speedier end were
bombs and airplanes controlled In
their death-dealing missions by both
radio and television.
Here at the opening of this amaz-
Ing air fair" there was brought
home to thousands of Middle West
visitors the recent grim warning of
Gen. George G. Marshall that in
this terrifying age of lightning at
TACK nation must prepare or
perish"
The sponsoring Air Technical
Service Command lifted the lid on
the whole field of electronic weap-
ons and devices at a special pre-
view of the S150,O00,000 exhibition
Yesterday for visiting officials, news
and radio reporters.
Some of the Secrets.
Here are some of the newly re-
Vealed secrets that interested us
the most:
The GBy4 radio-television-con-
trolled glider bomb, equipped with
a camera, which sends back to the
mother plane true picture of its
course. BY this means the bonn
bardler gan direct the 2,0o0-pound
demolition bomb to the target
through dense overcast, changing
its course at will.
One of the chief advantages of
this uncanny device is the fact that
the mother plane can release the
bomb at least 20 miles from a tar
get without danger to itself. The
nomb has a gliding speed of 300 |
miles per hour. 1t is especially good |
Tor use over heavily fortified areas
or a flercely burning oil refinery.
A 1,000-pound directed AEON |
VB-l bomb, painted in gay colors,
IS lar more dangerous than it looks. /
1t can be controlled from left to
right by radio impulses after it's
release. In Burma this bomb de-
Stroyed every bridge the Japanese
needed, officials said, and helped
block the Brenner Pass in Italy.
Guided by Flares.
The same principle of automatic
control could be applied to a larger
bomb. AS it descends the bomb
sends off flares which help the
bombardier guide its course. The
bomb is equipped with gyroscopic
mechanism which stabilizes the fall
although this specific feature is not
SO new. 1t can be brought on the
target from $500 feet. The bonn
bardier. by sending radio impulses,
can correct its course. -
A bomb called the Roc" con-
trolled from mother plane through
radio and television. was another
of the newly announced weapons.
The control device slows the missile
in its fall, thereby giving the bonn
bardier directing it greater degree
of accuracy. .,- e- ..
Another example of modern wiz
II