Evening star., 1946-06-05
Newest Air Weapons
Forecast 1000 kpH
Speeds in Next War
By Thomos R. Henry
Stor StoH orrespondsrt


ssar stoff Correspondent
WRIGHT FIELD, DAYTON,
Ohio, June 5.-A curtain was
lifted here today and reporters
given a brief glimpse of the war
of tomorrow nightmare pic
ture of fiame-driven titans grap-
pling in the Substratosphere in
terrible silence and loneliness,
with striking distances of a quar-
ter of the circumference of the
globe.
The prototypes Of some of the
weapons for this struggle-silver
and beautiful in the soft June sun
shine-were lined up along a run
way. They were gigantic bombers.
vicious little fighters and cargo
planes which seemed capable of
carrying a battalion.
1000 Miles Per Hour.
I walked along this line with DIR.
Vannevar Bush. president OF the
Carnegie Institution of Washington,
under whose leadership as chief of
the Office of Scientific Research and
Development during the war, some
of these things were made possible.
We had just come from a inferno
like demonstration of a rocket motor
presumably capable of driving q
plane more than 1900 miles an hour
There is nothing more to be said, ~
said DR.. Bush. 1T simply can't be
allowed to happen"
But supposing 1t does happen
this Armageddon of the high heavens
fought by superman with super
Wagons, or perhaps between robots
with brains of black light and
craftsmanship beyond all human
comprehension.
Much of what was shown here
today still cannot be described be-
cause of security restrictions. But
the demonstration by the Army Air
Forces thoroughly convinced every
one that at no time in the war was
this country behind in its air war
developments and that If the strug-
gle had lasted little longer, mir
acles would have been displayed.
Only in the field of rocket projectiles
did this country let the Germans get
a clear jump. This was because the
rocket missile was not the answer
to any OF Americas specific prob
lens, while it was Hitler's last re-
naming hope.
Cannot Stop Now.
There can be little doubt, declared
Maj. Gen. Curtis Lemay, wartime
head of the goth Bomber Command
that potential enemies also have
made great progress and that there
can be no resting on laurels. Be-
cause OF this the air forces are
hoping for a five-year research and
development program to cost-in-
cluding the construction OF a great
new research center-spproximately
81 $50, 900 600.
Every new plane the United States
put in the skies during this war had
existed either as blueprint or in an
experimental stage before 1899, when
Hitler started to overrun Europe
but years are required to transform
blue pints into fighting ships.
Concerning most Of the craft on
which information was released,
there already has been considerable
publicity-the great B-36 bomber,
with its range of more than 5000
miles and pay load of more than
five tons; the Shooting Star Jet
driven fighter, which can cross this
continent in a little more than four
hours, and Flying Wing, with its in
comprehensive speed capacities.
Marvels in Prospect.
These happen to be in production.
They are hardly worth mentioning
compared to what Is in the future
already in the blue print stage.
There Is plane in prospect. for
example. which after attaining a
certain height actually will coast
upwards into the stratospher. There
will be planes for all purposes-some
for slow operations at low attitudes
still, preserving the old fashioned
propeller and reciprocating engine
others with combinations of these
and jet-propulsion of various sorts,
and others still somewhat visionary
for fighting at very great attitudes
perhaps even in interplanetary
space, where the only possibility is
the rocket motor.
There Is new parachute for
stratoSphere jumps. 1t is made of
wide ribbons-the only way to re-
duce the shock of opening to the
point where human being can en-
dure 1t. It Is set with an automatic
device so that it opens only when
1t reaches an altitude where there
Is enough oxygen to keep a man
alive.
Perhaps the ideal will be attained
where there will be no need for
men In this stratosphere war. They
demonstrated here today a radar
device which, without any manip-
ulation. locates q target and aims a
cannon or machine gun with deadly
accuracy. A plane equipped with
such robot could be controlled
from the ground. The push-button
war. seems just around the corner.
Il Ps 80