Evening star., 1946-08-01
AAF Anniversary

1t is doubtful that at any time in
thirty mine years of development the
Army Air Forces have celebrated q
birthday anniversary more potent
with possibilities for revolutionary
progress than today's observance.
Military aviation has made extraor-
binary strides since August /, 1907,
when the Army first accorded official
recognition to the airplane as a fu-
ture weapon of war by establishing
an aviation unit in the Signal Corps,
but the advances made in airplane
design and In air strategy and tao
tics were the result of gradual evo-
luton until World War II. Now the
AAF stands on the threshold of a
veritable new era of aviation prog
ress-an era of radical changes in
basic airplane design and use in an
age of jet propulsion, guided missiles
and atomic rockets.
The outlook is awe inspiring and
somewhat frightening, but scarcely
more so than must have been the
dreams of the handful of aviation
pioneers who succeeded in interest
ing the War Department in the pur-
chase of its first plane. The request
for bids in the fall of 1907 specified
"gasless flying machine"-gasless
in the sense of being heavier than
air-capable of carrying two men
weighing total of $50 pounds and
sufficient fuel to travel 125 miles.
OF twenty-five bidders, only the
Wright brothers succeeded in meet
ing the requirements. Their official
demonstrations over Fort Myer the
following year made aviation his
tory.
Yet, despite Americas auspicious
start in aviation engineering, we
permitted Europe to take the lead
away from us, so that when World
War l came we had nothing but
training planes ready. The British
and the French supplied our combat
planes until we could catch up and
the war ended before we could DEM
onstrate our air strength effectively.
Army aviation suffered after the
First World War from the made
quate funds and official slowress to
appreciate the Importance of air
power. but the persistent efforts of
such enthusiasts as General Mitchell
General Arnold and the other So
called "air-power boys" helped to
keep Army aviation moving forward
although never abreast of such an
alr-mlnded country as Hitler's Ger
many.
1t was World War II which at long
last saw air power come into its own,
both strategically and tactically.
Taklng its cue from the Luftwaffe.
Allied air power mushroomed until
German and japanese aviation was
far outclassed and Allied flyers ruled
the skies. And the war brought fam
tastic developments that were cli-
NAKED by such breath-taking inno-
Vatlons as electronically controlled
aircraft, jet fighters and finally the
atomic bomb with its even more fam
tastic potentialities in air wars OF
the future.
The Army Air Forces emerged
from its greatest test not only with
radically changing equipment but
with the prestige needed to realize
the separate air force dreams of
It's ardent supporters. Although
sought-for legislation still is lacking.
there is general agreement on the
overall plan for giving Army avia-
ton the statutory rank of an inde-
pendent branch of the war estab-
lshment. Having already attained
this status by administrative order.
the AAF is in position to look for
ward to new milestones of yastlv
greater progress, provided America
does not ignore the costly lessons of
apathy and inertia OF the past.
STRANGER Thon Fiction