Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1950-05-16
80 Bios Ordered
Northwest TO Protect
Alaska and Hanford
By John A. Giles

AAiO 1AAA = OlNC O4oS4OoCO OOOdy
that it was moving a group of the
big B-36 intercontinental bombers
to the Pacific Notwithstanding
easy reach Of Alaskan bases.
At the same time, the depart.
ment moved for closer co-opeYa-
ton with the Army in training
exercises emphasizing close air
support Of ground troops.
A fourth group of B-36s-giving
the air arm 100 of the 10, 1000 mile
range heavyweights-will be sta
toned at Spokane. Wash. This
area now is equipped with B-29
Superfortresses.
Announcement of the move
ment pointed up the recent Air
Force decision to transfer fighter
intercepter wing headquarters and
two squadrons of F-86 jet fighters
from Albuquerque, N. Mex, to
Moses Lake, Wash. This would
place the jets in defense range
Of the atomic bomb installation
at Hanford, Wash. The move also
serves to quiet the fears of resi-
dents of the Pacific Northwest
area that military planners have
no defense plans for their area in
event Of an attack.
Permanent Tactical Unit Set Up.
The department order on tao
tical aviation makes permanent
a headquarters organization at
Pope Field, N. c., which was set
up by Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, COM
mander of the Tactical Air Com
mand, to work with Army officers
on support problems. 1t serves
to stop some Of the criticism of
the lack of tactical air support
by some Army officers.
The Pope Field outfit will be
assigned one heavy and two me-
dunn troop carrier groups and two
fighter groups on a full-time basis
and another fighter unit part time.
The Army will reschedule ma
neuvers it had planned with the
Air Force to eliminate the neces-
sity of moving these planes to
widely separated sections of the
country within short periods. A
survey has shown that these
planes assigned to tactical exer-
cises had spent one-sixth of their
time moving from maneuver area
to maneuver area. Now, the ex-
ercises will begin in one section
of the country and move gradually
elsewhere.
Training to Be Extended.
The training schedules of both
forces will be spread out over the
entire calendar year, rather than
concentrating them during the
summer months. The new plan
will make it possible to put on
vital small unit ground-air ma
neuvers, which has been lacking
in the past.
When the wing at Spokane is
equipped with B-36s the Air Force
will have attained the full B-36
organizational strength outlined
to Congress. Two other wings
have been designated previously
at Fort Worth, Tex. and a third
at Fairfeld-Suisun base in Cali
fornia.
In addition to four wings OF
80 B-36 bombers each. there also
will be additional B-36s in re-
serve. The program also calls
for two other wings equipped with
80 B-36 reconnaissance planes
each.
The second B-29 wing now at
Spokane will move within a few
months to Ramey base in Puerto
Rico. The base is the last per-
manent air installation built dur
ing the war and transfer of the
B-29 wing will allow the Air
Force to take advantage of hous-
ing facilities available there.
The Navy, meanwhile, an
nounced that it was testing large
ramJet engines to determine how
they would work at speeds around
5000 miles an hour 10 miles above
the earth. The tests are under
way in new test chamber of the
Ordnance Aero-Physics Laboratory
at Daingerfield, Tex.
The Flying Stovepipes" consist
essentially of an open pipe. Oxy.
gen is scooped into the front open.
ing from the air during flight ane
compressed by the speed of the
jet. Fuel is injected and burnee
and the exhaust streams out O,
the rear opening. They are con.
sidered suitable power plants fol
guided r1iSSi1eS