Evening star., 1953-07-27
D. D.C.Air Guard.
ShowsUpW
In Gunnery
Area Men Flying
In Muneuvers at
New Jersey Base
By Horry Lever
SfuE Staff corrasnondanf

in aerial gunnery was made here
yesterday by the District Air Ma
tional Guard and an Air Force
expert predicted rapidly increas-
ing proficiency for the marksmen
from the Washington area.
In their first gunnery mission
Of two weeks of maneuvers at
this air base, the pilots of the
121st White House" Fighter
Squadron scored 88 hits out of a
total of 726 rounds fired by the
.50-caliber machine guns of their
F-51 Mustangs.
1t. Col. Gilbert Gilliland Of
the Parkway Terrace apart
ments, Suitland. Md, senior in
structor assigned to the guards
men by the Air Force, said he
was favorably impressed by the
first results.
Must Get Feel Of Mustang.
Col. Gilliland explained that
one of the handicaps which
should he quickly overcome by
the pilots is adjustment to the
Mustang, a propeller = driven
fighter which has a speed OF
about $50 mile an hour, most
of the Air Guard pilots were
trained in 500-miles-an-hcur
jets and they now find it neces-
ssry to "get the feel" Of the
slower F-51 when shooting at a
towed target. The Air Force has
taken over the jets.
Top scorers in the first gun
merry mission were I'd 1t. War
rem Brown of 5415 Connecticut
avenue NV, in Washington and
Capt. Clifton EiSele, jr., of 7200
Forest road, Landover Hills, Md.
1t. Brown scored 26 hits out of
125 rounds fired for a 22 per
cent showing and Capt. Eisele
hit the target % times out of
108 rounds for a 20 per cent
result.
. Others who fired during the
first mission were Mai. Erwin A.
Young. ST., of Annandale, Va,
commander of the 121st; Col.
Willard w. Millikan of 3346
Martha Custis Drive, Alexandria,
Va, and 1st 1t. Henry Combs
of 1923 Southern avenue Sc, in
Washington.
Captl Harry Hippler also of
Ar1nandale did his practice firing
with a camera gun" which
registers hits on film, instead Of
with bullets. A veteran of 5000
flying hours he is a former pro-
feSsional football player with the
Richmond (Va.) Arrows, he has
seen action in Korea.
Held Over Ocean.
The gunnery practice which
will continue throughout the
two weeks of exercises is being
held over the Atlantic Ocean off
the Ocean City, N. j.. range.
Also participating are pilots of
the 104th Fighter Squadron of
Maryland and the 142nd Fighter
Squadron of Delaware. The
three groups with more than
1,100 men comprise the 18th
Fighter Bomber Wing, COM
manded by Col. Millikan.
It takes round the clock prep
aration by the District Guards
men to conduct the aerial gun
merry tests.
The target, rectangle of spe-
cial cloth 80 feet long and six
feet wide, is towed by another
Mustang at an average altitude
of 10000 feet. Eight practice
missions are required by the Dis
trict pilots before they try for
records. The target is towed at
a speed of about 180 miles an
hour because at higher speed it
takes a bad buffeting and may
rip apart.
Each pilot used a different
colored bullet. When a blue one
hits the target, for instance, the
hit is credited to the pilot who
had been assigned blue-t tipped
bullets. The paint leaves its
mark. FL
How Practice Is Set Up.
In trying for records the pilot
flies two missions at 10000 feet
and two more at 10000 feet. If
he fires half of his ammunition
and then there Is a malfunction
of the guns the mission is con-
sidered complete. But If less
than half the bullets are fired
the pilot gets another chance to
compete. A second chance also
is allowed if the target rips and
there is not at least 1876 square
feet of it left. It measures 100
square feet in all.
Every safety factor is taken by
the District area pilots. Planes
must have their radio equipment
in perfect order because OF the
element of danger in using live
ammunition. The planes have
to give their positions on the
range frequently to Air Force
controllers and no missions can
take place under 5000 feet and
there must be good visibility.
The men engaged in the prep
arations are all specialists. For
instance SISergt. Dick Baltrot-
sky. 81. of 1345 Downing street
NE, Washington, is operations
supervisor. He handles all ad-
miniStrative work on aerial
gunnery, keeps the scores, briefs
the pilots. checks their radio
equipment and makes up the
firing schedules. He has applied
for aviation cadet training under
the District Air Guard program.
Another who has an important
Job is T/Sergt. Henry Bielinski,
ir.. Is, of 5104 Columbia pike,
Arlington, Va, assistant arma-
ment chief. He removes the
tracer bullets from their belts,