Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-08

Space Pilots Abilities Whitening
As Red Tape WithhoIds Planes

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I Continued From First Page
appears, is the question Of who
Will pay for the fuel the astro-
nauts will use while rolling up
their eight hours a month pro-
ficiency flying time tof which
Tour hours is credited for pay
purposes.
Jet Costs $S4 an Hour
According to Official Air
Force figures, fuel and oil for
the operation of an Fl02 jet
tighter is $84.81 per hour of
operation. Thus. to give each
OF the seven astronauts eight
hours proficiency time monthly
would cost $4,749.36.
To complicate matters, even
II the airplanes are fur
inished and the Air Force
and Navy agree on mainte-
nance and operations costs, the
tight schedule Of training i'm
posed by the space agency will
make it rough for the astro-
nauts to get their time in.
In general, a pilot is required
TO fly 100 hours a year to main
tain proficiency. theoretically,
he could accumulate this 100
hour bloc in one month. But
to qualify for his flying pay
$3.50 for an Air Force captain
or Navy lieutenant, higher for
some other grades he has to
put In four hours month.
Some of the aStronauts
simply have not, had time to
Jog four hours each month,
but UP to now have been saved
from loss Of flying pay by a
three month rule" This rule
provides that hours for pay
purposes may be accumulated
over a three-month period:
However, if a man fails to get
his time in during the May
June-July quarter, he will be
docked for May, regardless of
how much flying he does in
August.
Scr0unge for Planes
Even when there has been
time, the astronauts complain,
they have had to scrounge
around for planes. One officer
got special permission from his
service to qualify for flying
pay as passenger because
there was no plane available
for him to pilot. Most of the
others have had to settle for
the T-33 Jet trainer, a sluggish
performer by the astronauts'
standards.
In addition to a desire to
maintain proficiency and con-
tinue drawing extra duty pay.
the astronauts to a man are
interested in hot planes for a
professional reason. The F-102
or equivalent, they point out.
will enable them to fly pat
terms producing the sensation
of "weightlessness," a phe-
nomenon they will have to
learn to live with when they
go into orbit two or three years
hence.
An ironic twist is that an
F-102 squadron is based at
Langley. but its planes are not
available to the aStronautS. An
official explained that the
squadron has its own mission
to perform and its own budget
out of which maintenance and
fuel bills must be paid.
Military Prodded
Robert R. Gilruth, space task
group leader here for NASA,
and his No. 2 man, Mr., Donlan,
said they have been prodding
the military regularly to fur
nish the planes needed for
astronaut proficiency. They
indicated some delay had been
foreseen at the time the as
tronauts were chosen early in
April, but that a hiatus of
more than two months had not
been anticipated.
The pocketbook nerve of the
astronautS was pinched, too. by
the slowness with which per
diem allowances came through.
The rIow-corrected delay was
caused by the len's anomalous
position, partly in, partly out of
uniform.
AS travellers for the Govern
ment, the astronauts are en-
titled to the standard $12 a day
for subsistence and lodging
while on the road. Under the
old procedure which caused the
delay, their per diem vouchers
were handed in to NASA,
bucked by that agency to the
Air Force or Navy, and SUISSE
quently paid to the officer by
the appropriate military agency. .
The new procedure described by
Mr.. Bonney cuts out the mid
dleman and allows NASA to pay
the astronauts directly out Of
the civilian agency's own travel
funds.