Evening star., 1953-10-06
By W. H. Shippen

The first air mail stamps pic
tured a 1918 Jenny" leaving
Washington for Philadelphia up
side down, but this was an
error.
AS a matter of fact, the old
biplane, once they got the en-
gine started, headed out of town
flying straight and level.
Only the direction was wrong.
These and other trials of an
industry that launched many
"firsts" around Washington are
illustrated in an exhibit opened
here yesterday by the Civil
Aeronautics Administration.
The display in the lobby of
the Commerce Department build
ing, until October II, has some
thing to offer the timers,
who had front seat at numer-
Gus early trials. as well as
youngsters interested in jets,
dOdL O4
A new generation looking to-
ward supersonic speeds along
clearly defined turnpikes Of the
sky can learn something from
the errors, disasters and Sue
ceSses of the pioneers.
Guided by BOnfires.
The first night mail pilots, for
example. were guided by bon
fires, automobile headlights and
oil flares on courses now as
thickly travelled as transconti-
mental highways. The CAA, at
present. provides precise naviga-
tional aids along $4,000 miles of
Federal airways on this conti-
nent.
The exhibit, part of the
Golden Anniversary Celebration
of Powered Flight, includes
models of the new omni-direc-
tional ranges, instrument land
ing systems, distance measuring
equipment and radar scanners
for traffic control.
The comedy Of errors that be-
set the first air mail project here
gave little promise of the pres
ent system by which mail and
express cargoes are flown up to
$50 miles an hour on nonstop
jumps over continents and
oceans.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, then
Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
was present at the first air mail
takeoff, along with President
Wilson, during the wartime
spring of 1918. The first stamps
were printed with the Jenny in
verted. and the few that were
sold commanded fabulous prices
later.
Gasoline Low.
While the official party waited,
numerous attempts were made to
start the Jenny's engine. Even
tually, it was discovered the
gasoline tank was nearly empty.
They finally got the contrap-
ton started, but the pilot lost
his direction and few to Waldorf,
Md, instead of Philadelphia.
The mail was brought back here
and dispatched by train.
BY 1884, the CAA had estab-
lished enough navigational aids
to sponsor the first takeoff, fight
and landing during which the
pilot had to rely wholly on his
instruments.
The blind flight was made from
College Park, Md, to Newark,
N. j., airport under zero visibility
conditions. The pilot was James
L. Kinney Of Falls Church, Va,
q CAA official, and the late Harry
Diamond of the Bureau of Stand
ards.
Mr.. Diamond, with Mr.. Kin
ney'S aid, had developed an in
strument landing system, con-
sisting Of a glide path and To-
calizer beam projected from the
end Of the runway, and a marker |
beacon to give the distance from |
the runway.
The lis is still in widespread
use today. A means of locking |
the beams into automatic pilots |
in airplanes is coming into in
creasing use by the military and |
is being tested by commercial |
airlineS.
Automatic Landings.
CAA test planes and military |
have made tens of thou
sands of automatic landings, |
during which the pilots take over |