JULY 1943

OFFICIAL SERVICE JOURNAL

Vol. 26

JULY 1943

No.7

July BriefRole of the Tactical Air force

ilf the North African Cam-paign 4

A Bomber Co-pilot's Story ofthe First Raid on Naples 1

The Globe-Circling CivilianPilots of the Air TransportCommand 9

Pioneering Our Air RouteAcross the South Pacific 10

Ingenuity Pays off for GroundCrews of a B-26 Group in~nWa D

Bomber Crew Members TellWhat to Expect in Raidsover Europe 14

A Picture Story of Life withthe AAF in North Africa 20

Don't Believe All of Those Hor-ror Stories of the Jungle 22

Pressure Points for StoppingHemorrhage Shown in Dia-grams 25

Briefing at Morrison Field forthe South Atlantic Run 28

Training at the Central In-structors' School at Ran-dolph Field 34

What's New in Synthetic Train-ing Devices and Film Strips 36

"Learn and Live," TrainingFilm on Pilot's Heaven 39

DEPARTMENTSCross Country 1 On the Line 26Air Force Quiz 8 Roll of Honor 30Technique 17 Training Aids 36

Snow, Sand and Sarongs 3

OffiCIAL SERVICE JOURNAL

As THIS ISSUE of AIR FORc!' goes to press. theBritish Air Min istrv .mnounccs formation of atactical air force for all home-based aircraft ofthe RAF. The new command, which has absorbedthe RAF Army Cooperation Command, is a directoutgrowth of the highly successful role played bythe Northwest African Tactical Air Force in driv-ing the Axis forc~s out of Africa. This role is de-scribed fully hy Brigadier General Laurence S.Kuter, who served as American Deputy Com-mander of the Northwest African Tactical AirForce, in the article, "Air-Ground Cooperation inJ'\nrth Africa," appearing on Page 4. Gcncr.rlKuter formerly was Deputy Chief of the AirStaff. He prepared this article while in Washing-ton on temporary duty following the surrender ofthe last remnants of the Axis forces in Tunisia.

THREE eTHER FEATURES in this issue of theservice journal reflect additional phases of AAFparticipation in the North African campaign. Theco-pilot of a heavy bomber describes his thoughtsand experiences during the first AAF raid onJ',;aples in an article on Page 7. The stury of howground crewmen of a 1:)-26 Group had to use everystunt in the book and then some to keep theirplanes in the air during the early days in Tunisiais t,)ld on Page 12 in an article by LieutenantGurdon H. Coc. This month's cover, showingmen at chow in Nnrth Africa, is augmented bytwo pages of pictures (19 and 20) depicting thelife of AAF pcrsonnel at our airdromes and hasesin th.ir theatre.

WHILE THE CLEAN-UP of the Axis forces inNorth Africa has permitted a decided incrca-«: inAllied air attacks on southern Europe, there hasbeen an even greater acceleration of Americanand British raids on the continent from bases inthe British Isles. Aircrew members who may bepicked for the assignment to Britain will be par-ticularly interested in "Have the Best Crew ofThem All," on Page 14. In this article live mem-bers of a 13-17 crew----pilot, navigator, bombardier,radio operator and top turret gunner discuss theirspecialties based on experience gained in bomhingraids over Europe. The co-authors, members ofthe first bomber crew returned as a unit from theEuropean theatre, wmpleted OT1; .rr \1(f,dla\X/alb, \X';\shingtofl, last <ununcr.

THE GLOBE-CIl'CLING civilian pilots of the AirTransport Couuu.md are described on Page 9 in

OF THE U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

an article by Colonc l Harold R. Harris, C'''l1-manding Officer of ATes Domestic Tr.msport.r-tion Divisiun. The author reports that the-ir uni-forms aren't well enough known by AAF per-sonnet and suggests that these c.ur icr conrr.« ..rairmen be recognized as veterans whu prob.ihl,bave "furgotten more about flying than yuullever know." Colonel Harris, a pilot oHicer in theJirst World War and forme-r test pilot, tc-ll-, ofs.unp!« experiences ATC pilut, have had in the'months they have been operating the round-the-worl.] service. \l(flwn Colonel Harris ,,"as re'l:allnlto active duty with the ATC he had heen .lSs"ci-atcd with l(-'mg:-rangc cornmcrci.r! air tr.in ....pnrtsince 192H. Several years earlier, he had hL'CIl

chief of the flight test secti,,,] "f the Air C'll'I')Experimental [,iele! at Day tun. Ohiu. In 1')2(, h,held thirtrcn world aircraft recllrll .... at unc- time.

BUT, {)f «()ursc, civil i.in ATe I'il(lt:-. .ircnt t i«only airmen flying the OCeans tlu-sc days. AAFofhccrs and 111<:11 arc ferrying plallt's daily to tlu.comhat theatres a ll over the worl.]. One of themust vital of these Icrrv routes is that across theSouth Atlantic, and one- of the most import.mtphases of the trip is the hriding piluts .ui.! the-ircrews get at Morrison Field, the "Grand Ccnt r.rlof this southern fun. A dcscriptitlIl of briefing .itMorrrson has been written for Am FO!(CE hI'Captain T. W. Finnie, Group S-2 utticer at th~field. His article appears on l'a,V;<:2S.

WILD AND WOOLLY tales "f terr"r in thejungle- with it:-. ferocious b','asts, dc ..h.lly ~11;lkL""" andman-eating plant life are conxidcr.rhlv lkhunke'e!by the Arctic, Dese-rt and Tropic lnforr-na,ion Cen-ter this month in the .urir!«, 'T"l'lodin!~ theJungle Myth," on Page- 22. The- ADTIC cxj xrt-,

advise men who are headed for the iunu!e counrrvto visit their IOClI LOO before departing and tak~a good look at what probably will he the onl,animals and other jungle- critters the) will secbefore they return horne.

FURTHER .standardization of the AAF thingtraining progran1 and gn ..' ..ttcr unifonnit\' in cad~tinstruction is anticipated in the cxt.rhlivluncnt ofthe Central Instructors' School at Ranclolph Field.The work of this new school is descrihe-d in thearticle, "Taking the Kinks Out of Training," .ip-puring on Page 54. The author is Colom l Edw.i«!H. Underhill, director of training at the school.

AIR FORCE is primarily a medium for the ex-change of ideas and information among ArmyAir Forces personnel. Opinions expressedby individual contributors do not neces-sarily express the official attitude of theArmy Air Forces or the War Department.

AIR FORCE (formerly the Air Forces News Letter) is printed monthly by authority of Army AirForces Regulation No. S-6, Sept, 6, 1942, and with ihc approval of the Bureau of the Budge£'Executive Office of the President. AIR Fouc.s is published by the U, S. Army Air Forces at theAII{ FonCE Editorial Office, 101 Park Ave., New York, 17, N. Y., U.S.A., for usc of personnel ofthe Army Air Forces and allied activities, and is not to be republished in whole or in parr.except by Army field publications, without express permission. Direct communication withthis otliee has been authorized on matters of editorial content, circulation and distribution.'r-r., MUrray Hill S-1951; Teletype No. NY 1-2S30; Director, Major James H. Sr raubel , A.C

Changes in the gunnery pro-gram, and other developmentsof the month within the Army

Air Forces.

A ERIAL gunnery occupies a top spot on then Air Forces "check list." Combat ex-perience has definitely linked shooting abil-ity to the success of missions, and has re-sulted in some significant changes III ourgunnery program.

One interesting change eliminates the"career gunner"-the man who knows onlygunnery and goes straight to combat with-out first acquiring a technical skill.

This doesn't affect the St,ltuS of the"career boys" who have already learned theirgunnery, many of whom arc now shootingit out with the enemy, but hereafter gunnerytraining will always follow technical train-ing. Until recently you could take gunnerytraining before or after the technical.

It has been found that a gunner, like aball player, must have continual practice tomaintain his shooting eye. This shift in thetraining schedule will enable trainees tostart gunnery after other training has beencompleted and then continue to practicethrough OTU and on into the combat area.

Back in December gunnery was mademandatory for radio-operator mechanics,elirplane mechanics and airplane armorers.Other changes now taking place are de-signed to increase the practicability of train-ing. Instead of the five or six weeks' course,for instance, a seven weeks' course is beinginstituted. It will include four solid weeksof firing from ground and air at all conceiv-able types of targets.

In addition, schools are practically aban-don ing written examinations in favor ofactual demonstrations of:ability, the reasonbeing that men with academic proficiencywere not always foundto.have an equivalentmanual dexterity. Increasingstress is beingplaced on manual ability, although thoroughknowledge of an academic type is still nec-essary. The manner in \y.hicb..You flip yourhands around is rather important when.AIR FORCE, jllly, 1943

you're being tested on your ability to correctmalfunctions at 25,000 feet with mittens on.

Here arc a few of the more importantaccomplishments demanded of students ofthe Flying Training Command's flexiblegunnery schools before graduation and as-signment to OTU and RTU:

Detail strip the gun, blindfolded, withoutspecial tools, and, after the instructor hasmixed up the parts, accomplish the follow-ing while reassembling the gun: pick out thepart, name it and describe what is brokenon two or three broken parts, intentionallyplaced with other parts by the instructor.

While blindfolded: enter and leave theturret correctly, quickly and with minimumphysical exertion; locate all switches, turnthem on in proper sequence and start theturret without delay.

Show ability to estimate range at 300,600 and 1,000 yards for all enemy aircrafttaught in Aircraft Recognition.

WASHOUT

One of our favoritelittle stories concernsa lieutenant in a heavybombardment group inNorth Africa who tooka truckload of enlistedmen into town for adip in the public bath.Being a bit vague aboutits location, the lieu-tenant stopped a nativeand asked for di rec-tions. But the French-man knew no Englishand theAmerican knewno French. So the lieu-tenant did a panto-mime, going throughall the motions of re-moving his clothes andtaking a bath. TheFrenchman watchedthe act closely, glancedat the eager faces ofthe men, then smiledbroadly in perfect un-derstanding. The ad-

dress he gave was ncar by. Upon arrival thelieutenant lined up his men outside, eachwith towel in hand, and went in to makethe necessary arrangements. It didn't takehim long to discover that the establishmentwas a II/eli.101l de joie. We understand anorderly retreat was accomplished, and theoriginal objective attained. (For this one weare indebted to Lieut. D. R. McGoldrick,APO 520, New York City)

THE ENEMY WILL REGRET

We have just received a report on StaffSergeant Shorty Gordon, hero of the article"Angels Don't Shoot Guns" in the Juneissue of AIR FC)J(cF. As you may remember,a postscript to that article stated that Shortywas missing from a raid on Germany <lndbelieved to have bailed out over enemyterritory.

It has now heen definitely estahlished thatShorty is a German prisoner of war.

Peashooter

1

r

Nose, engine cowling, fuselage and rudder of planes used by DomesticTransportation Division, ATC, now have identifying bands of yellow.

Matthews, Jr., of the 404th Base Head-quarters and Air Base Squadron, at Texas'Fort Worth Army Air Field.

The story begins with a jangling telc-phone in the office of Captain R. E. Dysart,former Fort Worth Chief of Police, nowCivilian Chairman of the Office of CivilianDefense in that city. The caller identifiedhimself as Sergeant Matthews, home on athree-day pass from Tarrant Field (at thattime the name of the Fort Worth Army AirField), and said he had spotted an ItalianSavoia-Marchetti HI bomber over the city atabout 1,000 feet.

Dysart then checked with the post intelli-gence officer at Tarrant Field and Matthewswas identified by that office from personnelrecords and reached by telephone at hishome. He substantiated the report to In-telligence that he had given to Civilian De-fense, describing precisely the recognitionfeatures of the plane- three engines, lowwing monoplane, tapered leading and trail-ing edges, rounded wing tips and peculiarbracing of the tail. Matthews said he hadworked in the aircraft recognition sectionof the ground school at the station and.despite the improbability involved, waspositive of his identification of the foreignaircraft. In fact, he became downright in-sistent.

Well, as you might have guessed by now,Matthews really knew his stuff. It wasdefinitely established, through higherCivilian Defense Control sources, that aSavoia-Marchetti HI had actually been overFort Worth. A checkup revealed that theship had taken off from Brownsville, Texas,for Meacham Field, Fort Worth, developedlanding wheel trouble and could not landat Fort Worth but later made a successfullanding at Dallas.

Just what mission the Italian was

"Now to think of something clever - like 'Sa";.wil'ti:.llk aame!' "l -~FRI"Z WILKINSON

THE EVES OF TEXAS

It requires no provocation at all for aTexan to leap to his feet, clear his throat,and burst forth into what he considers thenational anthem, "The Eyes of Texas AreU pan You." This is a little tale about twosuch eyes, and rather sharp eyes at that.Our hero is Staff Ser,~~eant Raymond C.

sidered the top authority on such matters,had made eleven previous awards but thiswas the first time a military organizationcopped the honors. All the others had goneto industrial firms.

The award is based on maximum produc-tion with minimum loss of manpower. Inthis case, it meant the maximum productionof pilots with the minimum loss of life. Theclincher was the fact that 95 percent ofArmy Air Forces trainees complete thetraining phase of the program without anin J my.

2

THE WINNAH

The somewhat popular opinion that war-time expansion of flying had led to a rela-tively large number of training accidentswithin the Army Air Forces got a solid kickin the teeth last month when the Air Forcesreceived the safety award of the NationalSafety Council.

The Safety Council, 32 years old and con-

NEW TRANSPORT COMMAND MARKINGS

Certain yellow plane markings have beenadopted by the Domestic TransportationDivision of the Air Transport Command tomake their planes engaged in training andcargo operations more easily recognizablefrom the air and ground. (See CIt! a!JolJe.)

All planes of the Command used intransition transport training, as well as thoseships in the United States and on domesticroutes from Brownsville to Panama engagedin cargo operations, will have their verticaltail rudder painted yellow with eighteen-inch-high black figures giving the shipnumber. Girdling the fuselage just behindthe cargo or loading door will be a 42-inchyellow band, with the circular insignia ofthe Air Transport Command painted in thecenter of the stripe on both sides of theplane. Between this yellow stripe and thetail assembly will be the white and bluecircular star insignia of the AAF.

The engine cowling on all ATC planesin this category will be painted yellow andeach ship will have a yellow diamond on thenose, approximately twenty by forty inchesin size with four-inch-high black figures. Inthe case of twin-tailed types both tail rud-ders will be painted yellow. For general in-formation, the various types of trainingplanes common to Air Transport Commandoperations are the C-53, C--19, C-iH, 13-25and AT-17.

These markings, the Air Transport Com-mand points out, are not to be confusedwith the yellow identification markers inuse by the Troop Carrier Command. Theoutstanding differences are that on TroopCarrier Command planes the stripe girdlingtheir planes is farther back on the fuselageand the wing tips are painted yellow.

The Arctic, Desert and Tropic Information Center welcomes contributionsfrom all Army personnel with knowledge of the non-temperate theatres of op-eration. Submit to: Arctic, Desert and Tropic Information Center, Eglin Field. Fla.

average ey~, it looks like a bright orang~ color.It shows up better on snow 'lOd green surfacesthan any other sh.r.l«. Signalling d~vic<..s,markers, ctc., used in Arctic regions shouldlx- "flame scarlet" in color. Bright orangecrepe paper, the kind you em get at any five-and-dime store, makes a g()od tcrn pornrv sig-nal when stretched out; it packs away tightly,is light and easy to tote along.

DRINKING HABIT. Coral absorbs water likea sponge. The deeper layers are saturated withsalt sea-water, but the upper surfaces are freshwith absorbed rainwater. Sip from the surface,say South Seas natives.

STAR GAZING. Here's the ABC of desertnavigation as practiced by the Arabs: Whentravelling at night, they tak~ their directioosfrom the pole star, selecting .mothcr star inthe direction in which rh.-v d~sire to travel.At intervals, they pick anotl;~r star in the samegeneral direction, since all stars move west-ward. Some-t imes a guid~ will doze whilewalking and follow one star too long. It's asure way of g(-tting lost.

GAS DOPE. In desert upcr at ion s, extremecare is take-n with high octane fuel at tcm-pcrat urcs of I I () degr~~s or more in the shade.To avoid sparks, gas drums often are openedwi til bronze or other non-sparking tools. Also.the plane is grounded, as are the refuelingfunnel and nozzle.

SKY MAPS. With experience, a pilot can tellfrom the color reflection on an overcast Arcticsky the general type of country lying ahead andbeneath him. Dark patches on the overcast in-dicate open water, bare or snow-free ground.Often, on ocean flights, islands will revealthemselves in reflections on the overcast.

SNAKE-LORE. The movements of "trained"cobras, supposedly in response to the strains ofseductive music, are not the result of the musicat 01/, but of the Li'l Egypt movements of thesnake-charmer. The cobra con't hear airbornesounds, hut it watches and moves with the mo ..tions of the charmer.

COLOR SCHEME. In many parts of the Arc-tic- --such as treeless regions, SC;l areas or inlandice- -distinctive landmark s are few. Man-madelandmarks are therefore often of special im-portance; one color in particular has been se-leered as the most effective for recognitionpurposes. It is called "Flame Scarlet" and itwas developed by the Bureau of Standards forthe first Byrd Antarctic expedition. To the

DEART NOTE. It happened on a sand-wasteof Cyrenaica. Under a rare, cloudy sky, aTommy struck up a conversation with an oldliedouin and his micldlc-aged son. .. Lookslike rain," he observed. The old mall smiledskeptically: "I think not, but I hope so, /01'III J .r01l'1 sal:e, I have seen it rain ... "

HOT STRATEGY. Americans stationed inIraq, the gr~'lt "l.md bridg~" betwee-n Europeand India, have discovered that strategy appliesto more than warfare in Moslem countries. Forexample, they've found out that when theyare offered a third cup of coffee by their host,it's not a gross display of wealth or shee-r dis-regard of the rationing system, but a politeMoslem way of pointing out that the visit hasdefinitely come to an end.

ARCTIC BOMBERS. In the summer, mos-quitoes are thicker above the Arctic circle thananywhere south of it, the tropics included-thicker and hungrier. Even in warm weatherfighting men have to dress completely for pro-tection against the assault of this impressiveand harrassing air force. Men go about com-pletely clothed, down to gloves and headnets,and that means sweating under the 24-hoursummer sun. But it's either sweat or be Jet!

JUNGLE JITTERS. Linding in jungle rivershas given many a pilot a pain in the neck.When looking from one bank of a river to theother, a mirror-imag~ of the foliage and skymay be so perfect that the waterline can't bediscovered. This phenomenon of dead calmis (011111100. It's tough to judge your altitudewhen Llllding; you don't know whether you'refifty feet or lifty inche» above the water sur-fac~. Ripples caused by houts br~ak th~ mir-ror-like image and may help the pilot gaugethe surface. Pilots can also buzz down andlet the prop-welsh create a ripple.

PACIFIC 'CHASER: Some of our fightingmen in New Guinea have discovered that acertain species of crab carries under his shell asmall pouch filled with pure, distilled water.The exact species of the crab isn't known to usat the present time, but an appropriate namemight be the "Oasis Crab."

TIPS FROM THE ARCTIC, DESERT AND TROPIC INFORMATION CENTERI

performing was not announced, but it's nosecret that captured enemy aircraft are be-ing brought in from the combat areas forpurposes of study.

Anyway, we have added Sergeant Mat-thews to our personal heroes file and hopethere are more like him.

SKIRTS

We're not so sure about this one, butanyway it's Technical Sergeant Joseph F.Marling's story, not ours. Hy way of intro-duction, he served as engineer on the B-17"Yankee Doodle" and has more than fiftycombat missions to his credit in the AsiaticTheatre. On a certain overwater mission, re-ports Sergeant Marling, they flew low overfriendly natives in canoes. The girls in thecanoes wore only grass ski rts, and there wassuch enthusiastic handwaving both from theair and water that a return run W,iS made.Enthusiasm mounted on all sides, but thegirls stole the show by removing their skirtsand waving them high in the air at the boys.How low can you fly a B-17, anyway?

"How OUR ARMY GREW WINGS"

Our Army grew its wings the hard way.A detailed account of the struggles, disap-pointments, tragedies and triumphs of thatsmall band of enthusiasts who were willingto risk their necks for the future of militaryair power is contained in a new book, "HowOur Army Grew Wings." The authors areCharles de Forest Chandler, late Colonel,U. S. A., and Frank Purdy Lahm, BrigadierGeneral, U. S. A., retired.

The authors are well qualified to writeof airmen and aircraft before 1914, whichis the period of military aviation coveredin the book. Colonel Chandler was the firstChief of the Aeronautics Division of theSignal Corps. General Lahm was the Army'sfirst airship pilot, and Major General incommand of the Gulf Coast Training Centerat the time of his retirement in 1941. Bothwere members of the board which testedand accepted the Army's first airplane.

The book ($"'.75) is published by theRonald Press Company, New York City.

FOR PILOTS OF WORLD WAR IWe've been asked to tell old-timers that

membership rolls are now open in the Orderof Daedalians, an organization composedexclusively of commissioned World War IArmy heavier-than-ai r pilots. Anyone whoheld the "R.M.A." or "J.M.A." rating withits silver wings prior to the armistice onNovember II, 1918, is eligible for member-ship. Pilots who remained on active dutypioneered the fraternity under the leader-ship of the late Hrigadier General HaroldL. George, who assembled the originalcharter members constituting Flight No. 1at Maxwell Field in March of 1934. How-ever, the movement is now open to all whohave the above qualifications. Anyone inter-ested can obtain additional informationby writing its Wing Headquarters, Room4C 870, Pentagon Building, Washington,D. c:. THE EDITOR.

AIR FORCE, flity, 1943 3

....I

AMERICAN DEPUTY COMMANDER, NORTHWEST AFRICAN TACTICAL AIR FORCE

NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN

WHEN the campaign in North Africacame to a close, with thousands of

Germans and Italians voluntarily streamingthrough the dust toward our prisoner cages,the Allies had won a victory marked by thehighest type of coordination in manpowerand weapons.

There had been complete unison amongBritish, American and French fighting ele-ments.

There had been concerted action by allair, ground and sea forces.

There had been, particularly, an effec-tive teaming of air and ground strengthright in the battle area- -with air powerproviding infantry and armored divisionswith a measure of aid and support prob-ably never before attained.

To officers and men of the Army AirForces, this air-ground cooperation wasamong the most significant developments ofthe war to date. It was achieved by the in-troduction of a new type of air combat unit-the tactical air force.

Estahlished during the campaign itself,this organization allowed for the employ-ment of air power in a concentrated mass,striking at such time and at such points andwith such speed as to be most valuable inthe over-all operation. It prevented the mis-use of air power, the scattered, inefficientemployment of planes and personnel solikely to occur under old conceptions of airsupport.

It is intended that the lessons learned andthe successful methods developed in air-ground cooperation shall be translated intothe broad American air effort as quickly aspossible.

During the Tunisian Campaign, Air

4

Marshal Tedder, under General Eisenhower,commanded the Air Forces in the MiddleEast, in Malta and in Northwest Africa.

Lieutenant General Spaatz commanded allof the Northwest African Air Forces, thefighting elements of which were the Stra-tegical Air Force under Major General Doo-little, the Coastal Air Force under Air ViceMarshal Lloyd, a Photographic Win,,; underColonel Roosevelt and the Northwest Afri-can Tactical Air Force under Air MarshalConingham.

This discussion concerns the {lir-grmmdcoop eratlon between the top air unit in thebattle area, the Tactical Air Force, and thetop ground unit in the battle area, the 18thArmy Group. Because this discussion con-cerns 0711y the Northwest African TacticalAir Force in the battle area, it should notbe inferred that the magnificent work ofthe Northwest African Strategical Air Forceon the ships, ports, docks and distant airbases on which the Axis forces in Tunisiadepended was not appreciated by our battlearea air and ground forces.

MosT certainly, our victory was directlyinfluenced by the Strategical Air Forces'shattering blows on more distant linksin the Axis armor and on the North-west African Coastal Air Forces' effectiveprotection of our ports and coasts and, nat-urally, on extraordinary efforts by MajorGeneral Dunton's Air Service Commandand Colonel Ray Dunn's Troop Carriers.Our battle area air force is only one of sev-eral air forces which can claim a portion ofGeneral Eisenhower's Allied Force victory.

The Tactical Air Force is a completelynew idea in the organization of an air force

•fighting in the field alongside of an army.The idea was not evolved from book studyor by theorists. Its conception, together withthe details of its organization, grew gradu-ally and as a direct result of long and bitterbattles stemming back to the air-groundefforts of the British crossing the WesternDesert. During the years of that fighting, aseries of failures illustrated errors in air-ground cooperation and a series of suc-cesses indicated effective methods. In theTactical Air Force we combined the desir-able features learned in the Western Desert,and we believe we have eliminated theerrors that had previously been made.

The concept of air-ground organizationin the Tactical Air Force and in the J xthArmy Group can be traced back to June,19"'0, when the RA F could oppose a large,powerful and more modern Italian AirForce in Libya with only a handful of obso-lete aircraft. This tiny RAF force not onlyheld its own but eventually swept to com-plete victory when General Wavell, nowa Field Marshal, advanced for the first timeacross Cyrenaica.

In that operation the Italian Air Forcein Libya operated under the direct commandof the Italian Ground Forces. The ItalianAir Force ronscqucntlv was used in pennypackets at the order of local army com-manders to give protection to their ownlocal sectors. In contrast, the RAF, em-ployed as a true air force and in concen-trated mass, completely destroyed some1100 Italian ai rcraft.

By the campaign of J 941-1942, the Brit-ish had a large and efficient air force in thedesert, this time opposed by the Luftwaffe.Several factors, principally the drain on

AIl{ FORCE, JIIly. £943

the British ground forces resulting fromtheir requirements to move large units tothe Far East, resulted in the long and nowfamous retreat to Alamein. Even thoughRommel was continually pressing theground forces back at this time, the airwas largely controlled by the RAF in theWestern Desert. The RAF was respon-sible to ;1 great degree for the fact that Rom-mel did not annihilate the British Army atthis time and was finally halted at Alamein.

During the lull that followed at Alamein,Air Vice Marshal Coningham, then com-manding the RA F units in the WesternDesert, put the final touch to his trainingand tactics and rebuilt his numerical andqualitative strength. The air force whichwas launched against Rommel in connectionwith the success of the Sth Army at Ala-mcin and which pursued the defeatedenemies across the desert to Tunis was ineffect the first full flowerina of a tacticalai r force, although at that 'time it didn'thold that name.

On February 18, when the NorthwestAfrican Air Force was formed, Air Mar-shal Coningham, promoted and knightedafter Alamein, was placed in command of

. all air forces fighting in the battle areaalongside the armies. Our Tactical AirForce, therefore, composed of both Britishand American units of fighters and bombers,was the first expression in actual practiceof the years of experience gained by theRAF in the only theatre in which allied airunits have fought the enemy alongside theground units in the field. It was the quiu-tessence of battle experience, the result ofmany mistakes, many tri,tls and at last re-sounding success.

It was something far superior, as provedby results, in organization to anythingwhich the Germans had ever evolved. It isan example on a big scale of the encourag-ing fact that the A Ilied commanders arcclearly able to utilize the experience gainedby hard fighting in this way. It is the pat-tern of the future, the way in which airpower in collaboration with armies in thefield will beat the enemy and win the war.

Doubtless, in the course of time and fu-ture experience, changes will be made, butthe basic conception of a Tactical Air Forceas the air power in the actual battle areawill probahly remain until the end of thewar as tried and proved.

The function of the tactical air force isone of working in partnership with othercomponents of air power, with the strate-gical homhing force which uses the longestrange bombers on relatively long-term tar-gets. such as munitions establishments, sup-ply ports, and the like. The tactical airforce works with the coastal air force whichis intent on cutting the enemy's supply routebv sea and in protecting our own. Thetactical air force is concerned with the hattIeitself immediately in the battlefield.

It is easy to say that such an air forcegives air support to the army, but the word"support" has now so many old-fashionedand wrong implications in the public mind

How the Tactical Air Forcefunctioned in the North Africancampaign, and its potentialinfluence on future 0perations

that it is much better not to use it. The word"support" always makes people think ofair power used as an ancillary wC<lpon ofthe army or navy; in operations which areprimarily land or sea. It brings to minda picture of bombing to extend the rangeof arti Ilery, and particularly of squadronsof fighters at the immediate imperative callfrom ground commanders of relativelysmall sectors to attack enemy troops imme-diately in front of them or to defend theirown troops from enemy bombers.

The local ground commanders obviouslycannot have any knowledge of what is hap-pening over the wide area of the land bat-tle and of the air battle. So this conceptionobsrures the inevitable two phases of themodern battle-the air phase and the com-bined air-ground phase. The narrow con-ception of air support is firmly imbedded inthe public mind and particularly in themind of the inexperienced soldier who ishaving his first taste of enemy bombingor strafing. That method is precisely themethod by which the Italians threw awaytheir air force with no gain in Libya. Al-though it is the method by which the Ger-mans advanced throuuh France, when airopposition was very ;:ant, it is surely themethod which was found to he totally ob-solete and leading more tow:' rd defeat thanvictory in operations against a well-trainedarmy and a well-trained air force in Africa.

It is much better to speak of collaborat ionbetween the army and the tactical air force.The army strikes from the ground, the tac-

Stuck in the mud! This is a problem whosesolution requires plenty of elbow grease.

•tical air force strikes from the air. Themethod by which this coordinated air-ground effort is applied is best illustratedby the workings in the combined air-groundheadquarters in the battle area in Tunisia,

In a tent camp in the Tunisian mountains,the air and ground commanders lived andworked side by side. One was GeneralAlexander, controUing and coordinating the1 Sth Army Group which consisted of the8th Army, the 1st Army, 2nd U. S. Corpsand the 19th French Corps. The othercommander was Air Marshal Coningham,controlling and coordinating the TacticalAir Force which consisted of the WesternDesert Air Force in the South and twofighter forces in the West which werebacked up by a tactical bomber force. Gen-eral Alexander controlled the land forcesin the hattie area. Air Marshal Laninghamcontrolled the air forces in the battle area.

THE two commanders lived together inintimate daily consultation. They madetheir plans together, each stating what hisforce could contribute toward the generalvictory. They worked in complete har-mony. They both knew that only the longreach of air power could achieve the quick-est triumph in Tunisia, which was a de-struction of the enemy rather than pushinghim out of Africa. So General Alexanderon his rart moved his ground units steadilyforward to capture and protect the air fieldsneeded to tie down and then drive forwardto c;lptu re the enemy.

Air Marshal Coninnhnm's effort was intwo distinct phases. First, the requirementthat he reduce the enemy air to practicalimpotence, and after that to throw the fullweight of his air force aI;ainst the enemyarmy. The importance of those two com-manders of land and air forces living sideby side in the same camp, eating in thesame mess and planning and operating dailyon equa] terms in close collaboration, can-not he overstressed.

The successful stages of the Tunisianbattles follow much the same pattern. Fi rstcarne the Sth Army push through theMareth positions. The Mareth hattIe actu-

Loading bombs on a P-40 of a Fighter Groupin North Africa. Note daisies in the field.

AIR FORCE, JIt!y, ]913 5

- "'I

A flight of bombers sets up a flurry of sand during take-off.

ally began with an air blitz on enemy air-dromes. Prior to the attack of the 8thArmy, Air Marshal Coningham concen-trated his entire air force on the enemyairdromes. After the strength of the Ger-man air force had been materially reducedby this blitz, he kept the northern andcentral air units operating exclusivelyagainst the German Air Force which re-lieved the Western Desert Air Force andthe 8th Army of any concern over Germanopposition in the air. This left the WesternDesert Air Force free by day and by nightto employ hundreds of bombers and manysquadrons of fighter bombers to search outindividual enemy concentrations and divi-sions and operate with great effectivenessin the immediate front of the ground unitsof the 8th Army.

At the crisis of the battle in front ofEI Harnrna, the Hurricane tank-busterswere thrown in. The enemy broke and re-treated. In this particular operation, the14(;th Panzer Grenadiers Division wascaught moving on a road and renderedcompletely ineffective by air attack alone.

After a short pause the 8th Army at-tacked at Wadi Akarit. Again the airunits in the north and center were concen-trated on the German air establishment.Once more the Western Desert Air Forcewas free to work at a maximum intensityon the German forces in the Wadi Akaritposition. Again the enemy retreated, thistime more quickly than was expected, toa semi-circle position from Bizerte to Enfida-ville.

At this point it was the turn of the West-ern Desert Air Force to draw away whatwas left of enemy air power while the Tac-tical Bomber Force lent their strength tothe attack by the First Army and the Sec-ond U. S. Corps.

The battle for the capture of Germanforces in Tunisia began, not on April 22,on which date the ground forces pushedoff, but on the night of April 18-19 whenwe employed ninety night bombers againstGerman airdromes. We had guaranteed toreduce the German air force to relativeimpotency by dawn of the 22nd. Our op-erations for the next three days are alreadywell-known in the American press. It wasduring these days, of course, that the]U -')2s and many of the escorts were de-stroyed. Our total efforts destroyed 112German airplanes those two days.

The spectacular destruction of the 20ME-323 6-engine transports on April 22,which incidentally were carrying the equiva-lent of a German regiment into Tunisia,was the continuation of our plan to knockthe Luftwaffe down and keep it down dur-ing the period of the ground movementforward. During this period there wereterrific, spectacular and important air vic-tories which, however, in the long run,were not so important as the steady weightof air attack that the Tactical Air Forcewas turning on the enemy troops in frontof the 1st Army. On the 22nd and fromthen on we had free fighter squadrons sit-

ting over the German airdromes daring theGerman to get up. On the 22nd and 23rdhe did try to get up and was knockedback down. During this period, he was keptdown by a small proportion of our fighters.The great balance of our force at this timewas steadily in front of the main effort ofthe 1st Army.

The weight of daily attack during thisperiod increased each day and was heavierthan any air force had ever delivered inbattle in collaboration with an attackingarmy. Our air units were placing in frontof the main effort of the 1st Army a heavierconcentration than had been employed atAlamein. This air effort increased to acrescendo on May 6 on the final drive fromMedjez el Bab to Tunis. On that day wedelivered 2,146 individual airplane sorties,the great majority of which were bomber,fighter-bomber or strafing missions on a6,OOO-yard front before the main effort ofthe 1st Army. This continual rain ofbombs in front of the advancing divisionshad the effect of blasting a channel fromMedjez cl Bab to Tunis. You know theresult of that drive. General Alexander'sview of the effectiveness of that effort isexpressed in a single sentence of his onMav 8 to the Tactical Air Force: "Withoutyour support this drive would just not havebeen possible."

THE fact that each step in this hattIe wasa carefully planned one and that the resultsof each step were exactly the results that weexpected to accomplish, hath in the air andon the ground, is most reassuring. Therewere no accidents. None of the rs-sultscame from chance happenings. This battleis clearly the result of carefully detailed andcoordinated air and ground planning andexecution.

One result of this particular battle is be-lieved to be of great significance for thefuture. That result is briefly stated in thefact that the first 25,000 German prisoners,whom we saw in our 2nd Corps Cage on

May 9, consisted of selected Nazis fromtwo S S Divisions, the Manteuffel andHermann Goering, and German soldiers ofthe highest state of training from onePanzer Division. If these men were notthe cream of the German armed forcesthey were surely well above the averageNazi. They apparently had been orderedto fight to the last man, to eat the lastbiscuit and fire the last round for theglory of Hitler and the Fatherland. Theydid fight well and bitterly. However, whenit became clear to them that they wouldlose that battle, they immediately surren-dered without further ado. They surren-dered great quantities of food. They hadmuch ammunition still remaining. Althoughtheir units had disintegrated their individ-ual morale was high.

As prisoners arrived for admission tothe 2nd Corps Cage, many of them drivingup in their own motor transport or mov-ing in enormous columns where there wasno effective guard at all, they were assem-bled in groups of one hundred by Germanofficers, and marched off like guardsmen,singing German marching songs, into thecage. Surely if this picked bunch of Nazishauled down the flag and surrendered afterit had become clear to them that they hadlost the battle, our course toward defeatof Germany is assured.

The effectiveness of our bombing wasgraphically illustrated in Ferryville, III

Bizerte, in Tunis and particularly on theroad from Bizerte to Tunis. Bizerte wasa town and port full of establishments be-ing used effectively by the Germans. Weattacked Bizerte with the intention of blot-ting it off the map. On May 9 when Gen-eral Alexander, Air Marshal Coningham,General Bradley and I drove throughBizerte, we drove around for over an hourand found not one single inhabitant ofthe city. We saw no single building, how-ever small, which was unscathed. On theother hand, the town of Ferryville was onewhich we knew to (Continued on Page 33)

6 AIR FORCE, [nl», 191i

A flight of 8-17s (above) returns after inflicting this damage on the Naples harbor.

By Lt. John H. Namleu. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

FO'{ a long time we had been anxious toget a kick at the shin of the Italian boot.

From our secret airfield in French NorthAfrica our B-17 Group had bombed targetsin Tunis, Sardinia and Sicily, but we hadbeen looking forward to our first visit toItaly as a memorable landmark in the Medi-terranean campaign.

Awakened at seven o'clock on a Sundaymorning, we were told to eat breakfastquickly as there was an early briefing. Forbreakfast we had pancakes, fresh eggs, ce-real and coffee. We then piled into trucksfor the ride to the old granary which hadbeen taken over as the Group's headquarters.

We knew that the planes had been loadedwith fragmentation bombs so speculationran high as to whether the target was anairdrome or a troop concentration.

The intelligence officer in charge of thebriefing stepped on the platform and pickedup the pointer. Somewhere in the room anews cameraman's photo bulb flashed.

"The target for today is the CapodichinoAirdrome s eve r a I miles Northeast ofNaples

This was it-the target we had been wait-ing for. The briefing officer went on:

" flying over Capri ... Mount Ve-suvius ... "

THERE was little sound in the room whilethe target information, the amount and po-sitiou of anti-aircraft batteries, and the num-ber of enemy fighters we would probablyencounter were revealed. The navigatorschecked on routes. The weather man gavehis report on the weather out, the weatherto be expected over the target and on ourreturn trip. We synchronized our watches.The briefing was over.

After we had drawn our maps, trucksdrove us out to the dispersal area where ourplanes were warmed up and ready to takeoff. Since it was to be a long mission themess hall had sent out a box of food foreach crew and a candy bar for each man.

At 8:45 we took off, circling the fieldseveral times while other groups joined us,making a total of about a hundred planes.The sky seemed full of grey B-17s. Thenthe swarm of planes assembled in formationand headed toward the coast.

AIR FORCE, luly, 1943

Captain L. V. Casey was the pilot of"The Gremlin." 1 was co-pilot and we wereto fly on the squadron commander's leftwing.

The sky was clear although there was aslight ground haze. We passed over thenorth coast of Africa at about IJ,500 feet.Directly below was a small fishing villageclustered at the foot of a mountain. TheMediterranean was calm, clear, and the mostremarkable blue I have ever seen. Near thecoast, it was easy to distinguish the shallowwater covering the reefs and bars.

Once clear of the land we tested ourguns. The sharp rat-a-tat-tat of the practiceshells sang out above the noise of the mo-tors. Soon the steady drone of the enginesbecame ,1 part of the silence and we wereunconscious of it. The bright sun was re-flected on the metal of the planes.

The monotony of our crossing wasbroken by chatter on the interphone, Spamsandwiches, and Casey and r spelling eachother at the wheel. Ou I' cou rse was directly

between Sicily and Sardinia. Although wewere flying at only 1,000 feet the haze al-most hid Sardirtta and we couldn't see Sicilyat all. Clouds far off in the distance markedthe coast of Italy. At a signal from ourgroup leader we started to climb.

We went on oxygen at 10,000 feet. At20,000 we were well in sight of the coast.Below us was the Isle of Capri, a barren,rocky island with several small white vil-lages perched on the shore. A thin spiral ofsmoke drifted up through the clouds. Thiswas Vesuvius.

As we passed over the coast of Italy, wewere at about 25,000 feet. In clear viewbelow were small, neat Italian farms, thenthe city of Naples, the airdrome, and eventhe insane asylum we had been warned notto hit. Approaching the target, we stayedabout 25,000 feet for a minute or two andthen dived down a few hundred feet, turn-ing towards the target and opening thebomb bay doors at the same time. We wereon our bombing run.

The engines were purring smoothly. Caseywas flying and I had nothing to do but lookaround and watch the excitement. Off tothe left, I could see the other groups drop-ping their 500-pounders on the docks andrailroad yards. Clouds of smoke rose fromthe explosions. The other groups were at-tracting quite a bit of inaccurate flak, hun-dreds of large black bursts.

Then I could see bomb clusters from theother two planes of our element start todrop. That meant that our bombs would hedropping too. (Continued on Page 32)

7

c. Texasd. Arizona

a. Californiab. Florida

,19. What is the British name for

this airplane?

lB. A profile interruptera. Automatically switches from full rich

to lean mixture at the proper timeb. Prevents a turret gunner from shoot-

ing into the tail, the propeller or theother surfaces of his own plane

c. Cuts off the oxygen supply on reach-ing the ground

d. Prevents a mechanic from putting toomuch air in the tires

16. A Navy flying officer withtwo broad gold bands onhis sleeve is equivalent to anArmy Air Forceso. First Lieutenant c. Majorb. Captain d. Lieutenant Colonel

17. Morrison Field is located in

15. A theodolite is used bya. Pilots c. Meteorologistsb. Navigators d. Mechanics

14. A wind sock ise. Worn by Arctic airmenb. A tow targetc. A wind direction indicatord. A pitot tube cover

20. What is the British name forthis airplane?

11. How far below the top of theshoulder seam should theAir Forces shoulder sleeveinsignia be worna. 1 inch c. 1'12 inchb. '12 inch d. On the seam

,)«9. It is .wise to drink carbo-

nated beverages prior tohigh altitude flights.a. True b. False

7. The total weight of an air-plane is divided by its wingarea to calculatea. The cargo loading c. The bomb loadb. The wing loading d. The gas load

B. At which of the followingcommands are both silenceand immobility required?a. Fall out c. At easeb. Rest d. Parade rest

12. The wing span of a B-24 isa. 85'12 feet c. 110 feetb. 210 feet d. 175 feet

13. Grease and oil must never beallowed to come in contactwith oxygen equipmenta. True b. False

10. When presented, the Medalof Honor is usuallya. Pinned on the upper left coat pocketb. Pinned on the upper right coat pocketc_ Hung on the recipient's neck, sus-

pended on a ribbond. Pinned above the left coat pocket

Here's a hot weather teaser to testyour knowledge of a variety of AirForces questions. Credit five pointsfor each correctly answered, and ifyou score 100, yell for promotion.Ninety is excellent; 80 good; 70, fair,and 60 is below par. Answers areon Page 32.

b. Falseo. True

6. When spoken to a warrantofficer named Jones shouldbe addressed as

3. The expression "Full Rich" isassociated witha. Payday c. Bombsb. Gasoline d. An inebriated heiress

o. Jones c. Mister Jonesb. Officer Jones d. Warrant Officer Jones

4. All steps in marching exe-cuted from the halt beginwith the left foot.

1. The Army Air Forces' newA-36 is the dive bomber ver-sion of thea. P-51 c. P-47b. P.40 d. P-38

5. Which word is inappropriatein this grouping?a. Benzene c. Calcium hypochloriteb. Carbon tetrachloride

2. Beds in barracks are stag-gered head to foot in ordertoo. Keep snorers from annoying othersb. Prevent the spread of respiratory dis-

easesc. Keep the barracks neat and orderlyd. Uphold an old military custom

'-----------_._ ..._._._-8 AIR FORCE. IlIl) , 1943

\\£'s\lf~ll~\\\\\1£~ M~N\

COMMANDING OFFICER, DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION DIVISION, ATC

THE next time an airplane comes taxiingup to the ramp at your station and the

pilot steps out wearing a uniform withstripes on the sleeves or bars on the shoul-der straps of his shirt and with a cap insig-nia bearing the letters "ATC" don't askhim as a soldier did recently at one of ourSouth Atlantic bases, if he is an officer inthe Australian Tank Corps.

You'll be seeing this uniform a lot fromnow on all over the world. It is approvedby the War Department for the civiliancrew members employed by the commercialairlines under contract to the War Depart-ment. Together with Army crews, thesemen are flying cargo, mail and passengersand are training aircrews for the Army AirForces Air Transport Command. To betechnical, AAF Regulation 40-4 calls them"Air Carrier Contract Personnel."

Step up and get acquainted with one ofthem. You'll find he is quite a flyer, usu-ally as good a story teller and a nice guywith it all. And although retaining hiscivilian status, he has earned the right towear that uniform, just as much as anyman in the Army Air Forces.

Because today the Air Transport Com-mand is flying to places that yesterday wereonly names on a map--in India, the Arcticand China, over North Atlantic, South At-lantic and South Pacific, to give you a gen-eral idea. And these pilots of the Commandhave a personal acquaintanceship with themonsoon in the Far East, the sandstorms ofthe Sahara and the milky fog of the Arctic.

Remember the first time they turned youloose on cross country down there at Ran-dolph or Ellington or Maxwell? Okay then,

AIR FORCE, July, 1943

The Air Carrier Contract pilotwears a different uniform, butit pays to respect him for the

vital [eb he's doing.

just imagine how these pilots feel when theAir Transport Command has orders for adelivery of high priority material to somelonely mountain airport halfway around theworld.

As one chief pilot expressed it the otherday at New York's teeming La GuardiaField:

"A year and a half ago our company madeits first flight from New York to MexicoCity. For a month before the scheduleddeparture everybody in the company fromthe president on down was in feverish con-ference to iron out the details. Recently Igot orders to survey a route to India for theArmy. A couple of days later I went out,cranked up and took off. There weren't morethan a handful of people who knew any-thing about it. They were all too busy send-ing planes to other remote spots to care abouta new route that in ordinary times wouldhave been enough to give everyone the jit-ters for a month of Sundays."

The next time you meet one of these pilotstake a good look at him. He was probablyflying the mail or barnstorming passengersoff golf courses when you were readingBoy's Life and wondering if you could talkthe old man out of fifty cents to buy somebalsa wood for that new model airplane youwere building.

Like most of them, he probably has a

minimum of 2,500 hours of flying time,with the average being in the vicinity of4,000 or 5,000 hours. Stack that up againstthe average of 300 or 400 hours for theArmy Air Forces pilot.

Chances are he is a reserve officer andthat he graduated from Kelly and Randolphback in the twenties or early thirties, whenthey really braced you, mister. Nine outof ten have applied for active duty and beentold by Uncle Sam to stay put. They aremore valuable where they are, flying vitallyneeded supplies and personnel to combatareas and training new airrrews here at home.

As an ATC man he has his own statusin the organizational picture of the ArmyAir Forces. All air carrier contract person-nel are directly responsible to the Command-ing General, Air Transport Command.When they are in the field they are subjectto military law and in the event of captureby enemy forces air carrier contract person-nel are entitled to be treated as prisoners ofwar. To assure this status they are beingprovided with official War Department Cer-tificates of Identification.

Pilots, navigators, division managers, sta-tion managers, assistant station managersand all personnel of equivalent responsi-bility will be accorded the same privilegesas commissioned officers with regard to ac-commodations, transportation and messing,both within and outside the United States.

Listen to some of the stories these mencan tell as they sit around of an evening.

Like the old timer who returned recentlyfrom way above the Arctic circle. He hadto make a forced landing on a frozen lakein the wilds of (Continued on Page 24)

9

,

7TH AIR FORCE

ONE blacked-out Hawaiian midnight inJanuary of 19-12, three B-17s were

wheeled out of bomb-scarred hangars atHickam Field and rolled to the edge of themat. Flight crews, guided by dimmed flash-lights, approached the ships. The feeble raysof their lights played on engine nacelles,ran up and down landing struts and acrossall movable parts of the huge planes.

No item of inspection was slighted. Itwas a thorough, last-minute check, for theplanes were 'about to take-off on a trip thatwould require top-flight performance. Theirswas to be the inaugural flight of a new trans-Pacific war-time ferry route for the ArmyAir Forces.

One by one the Fortresses taxied to theend of the mile and a quarter strip. For aminute or two they sat there, the roar oftheir engines rising and falling as the pilots-Captains Hobson, Hewes, and Macf'her-son-warmed up the motors and checkedtheir instrument panel. Then they turnedinto the wind. The first plane started itsrun, gathering speed. In a score of secondsthe control tower clicked past the wing tip.As it reached the last hangar the Fortresslifted and moments later passed low overthe ghost town of housing units that clusteralongside the Kameharncha Highway lead-ing to nearby Pearl Harbor. Planes numbertwo and three followed in quick succession.

They were on their way to the battlefrontin Java, hopping southwestward via a stringof Pacific islands and atolls most of whichhad never before seen a land plane. Only

10

Kingsford-Smith, fourteen years earlier, hadever made a similar trip. Actually, the twoflight lines would differ by hundreds of milesof latitude most of the way.

Only a few Army men saw the Fortressestake off. A handful of officers ~- the lateMajor General Clarence L. Tinker, Com-manding General of the Hawaiian AirForce; Colonels Albert K. B. Lyman, B. L.Robinson and Bob Fleming of the Corps ofEngineers, and Colonel Gordon Blake of theAir Forces watched as the blue exhaustflames of the B-17s moved out over the canefields, turned across a darkened, sleepingHonolulu, then out to sea across DiamondHead. After the sound of the motors diedaway into the night one of the men said,"\Vell, there go the first planes on the longroad to Tokyo." Someone mentioned that'The Road to Tokyo" would be a good namefor the war-baby.

General Tinker had his own thought onthe subject, and since the name he offeredwas a good one and since he was a General,his suggestion stuck. "I believe we oughtto call it The Southern Cross Airways," hesaid.

AND, thus, without fanfare, was born theaerial sky-lane that today rivals the NorthAtlantic Newfoundland - British Isles runand the South Atlantic Natal- Africa routesin strategic importance. The Pacific line hasbeen opened more than a year, yet most ofits operating details are strict military secrets.Most of the bases the planes use have never

been mentioned in public print in connec-tion with the route; many of the alternatefields ._- some of them nothing more thanclearings in a coconut grove, others dredgedcoral strips --. are names that would sendeven a veteran beachcomber to an atlas.Most of the bases, both primary and sec-ondary, are far out on the Pacific combatfrontier. Some of the airports have beenbomber, some shot at from Jap subs.

At Fiji the biggest menace seems to bemosquitoes. At one of the New Caledoniafields the native deer were so numerous theybecame a hazard. There's no record of aplane hitting one of them while taxiing, butthe deer used to graze right at the edge ofthe runway. Sometimes this proved too muchof a temptation for some homesick nimrodwho would unlimber his .30 caliber and blazeaway. It was good sport, shooting deer froma side window of a B-17 or from a parkedjeep, and it made good reading in theletters back home, but it unfortunately wasdangerous to the welfare of the encampment,a few eucalyptus trees to the rear of the hunt-ing grounds. One of the squadrons, as a re-sult, had to establish game laws, pro-hibiting deer hunting in camp. "Anyonewanting to shoot deer will check in with thesergeant before going out," reads the order.

Some of the South Sea airfields, exceptfor their cane-field and coconut settings,could be a ferry station somewhere in Eng-land. P- 38s sit next to ancient tow-targetVincents. RNZAF Hudsons bunk next toC-47s, De Havilands and Beau fighters mixwith B-26s, and even Gypsy Moths andL-5 Grasshoppers get together.

The South Pacific route was in the plan-ning and construction stage long before weentered the war. Early in 1941, we had one"aerial life-line" open to the Far East. It

AIR FORCE. fitly. 194;)

Born of the war, this Hawaii-Australiaferry route has grown into a trans-port line of mojer importance in main-taining the long Pacific battlefront.

was the above-the-Equator Hawaii-Midway-Wake-Guam run. This route had been suc-cessfully tested by a couple of flights ofB-17s that were sent to the Philippines, butit admittedly was of dubious value in casewe got in a scrap with the Japs. The runwas highly vulnerable, cutting across Nip-ponese lines of communication and sur-rounded by Jap-mandated bases. It didn'thave much of a chance. That's why MajorRoger Ramey and Captain Brooke Allen ofthe Hawaiian Air Force were sent below theEquator and across the date line early in1941 to find a better lane for land planes.They traveled by PBY, steamship and fish-ing boat and with Dutch and Australianairmen over much of the South Seas, gather-ing information, maps and photos for Col-onel Lyman's construction crews.

Later, another party headed by MajorGordon Blake went out from Hawaii to sur-vey mid-Pacific islands. After the SouthernCross Airways got under operation Gen-eral Tinker put Gordon Blake, now a Col-onel, in operational control as his trouble-shooter, passenger agent, freight managerand communications chief. Today ColonelBlake probably knows more about Alliedterritory in the Pacific than any other manin uniform.

In constructing some of the bases, Colonel Lyman used British equiprncnr andmen to get the job done. The work was notscheduled for completion until mid-1942,but when the war broke out the task wasrushed threefold. The pony-express air linegained operational status in record time.When the first planes went through, theyrefueled from SS-gaiion drums and thecrews slept on cots under the planes' wings.The islands were practically defenseless.The whole thing was run on a day-to-day,plane-to-plane basis in its first months. Theconstant threat of the advancing Japanese,the rudimentary nature of radio and tech-nical aids for long cross-water hops, thebumpy runways, the temporary flow of sup-plies to the island dots, made constant per-sonal supervision a necessity. No Armymanual covered the problems that arose eachtime a plane took off. Yet surprisingly fewplanes were lost in those first days of war.

Since its rugged birth the ferry route hasgrown to a transport line of major impor-tance in our successful maintenance of thelong Pacific battlefront. Compared withthose early trips from California to Aus-tralia, in the days when ferry pilots didn'tknow for sure whether the Japs would beatthem to the next stop, the present traffic isdoing an enormous job. Dozens of planesdaily are winging over the Pacific. GeneralHenry H. Arnold's plane holds the flightrecord, 3S hours and 10 minutes, from Bris-bane to San Francisco. The best elapsed timeduring the Southern Cross Airways days

AIR FORCE, fttly, 1943

was made by Consairs Captain Ted Howe,who flew from Amberly Field to HamiltonField in 42 hours and 31 minutes. CaptainMcMacon, another contract veteran, hasmade the round trip from the States to Aus-tralia and back in five and a half days.

Types of planes that have made the Aus-tralia run include B-17s, B-24s, C-47s,C-S3s, B-2Ss and B-26s. P-38s have madeit from Hawaii to Australia. The planes arerlown not only by ferry pilots, veterans ofthe Atlantic route, but also by Army pilots,some of whom have never fiown a body ofwater larger than San Francisco Bay.

In its year and a half of operations theSouthern Cross Airways, now the PacificWing of the Air Transport Command, hascarried thousands of military and govern-ment passengers. Hundreds of tons of pri-ority war cargo have been sent" down un-der" to the Solomons and New Guinea

fronts via this route. Not all the space,however, has been given over to G. 1.Early cargo records, for instance, list onekangaroo, transported to California fromAustralia by Captain Haigains. A General,needing some uniform material, had somewool yardage delivered to him via LR-)().One urgent request from a wind-i.Iownstenographer at Hickam Field for a card ofbobby pins (Honolulu's flve-and-dime hadsold out) was filled by Hamilton Field. Col-onel (now Brigadier General) "Blondv"Saunders' cigars always received a high pri-ority on the Solomons run. Dogs, rat poi-son and flit guns were on the early freightlists. A bathing suit for an AustralianColonel's wife was sent from San Francisco.Some coffee percolators made a rush trip toAustralia shortly after the Americans movedin, " ... because Aussie coffee just isn't

ILLUSTRATED BYCAPTAIN RAYMOND CREEKMORE

made right." Then a second kangaroo wassent up to California to provide heart inter-est for the first kangaroo.

Travelers who have made the long triprecall many famous landmarks, includingHawaii's Diamond Head (which, inci-dentally, doesn't look like much from theair). Fiji's "Handle-bars" Carriker, an AirForces captain and genial major domo inthe land of the Bula Boys, belongs in theAirways Baedeker because of his startlingwaxed mustache. There is the flat coralisland that has its level monotony broken byone lonesome palm tree. There are the sun-sets, some of the Pacific's best, viewed fromthe sagging canvas chairs on the veranda ofthe Fiji Officers' Club.

MUCH of the credit for pioneering theSouthern Cross Airways should go to civil-ian pilots flying under contract to theUnited States Government and to RAAFFerry Command flyers. Captain Ernest W.Gray of San Diego, California, is typical ofthe commercial skippers who are keepingAustralia closely linked to the United States.Gray was a veteran of the Pacific even be-fore we got into the war, having twicedelivered British-purchased PBYs to thePhilippines. He was on his way to WakeIsland the morning the Japs took their stabat us. He was delivering a plane destinedfor Singapore and was between Midwayand Wake when he got word to turn back.He spent that night at Midway, sitting in adugout while Jap cruisers and destroyersshelled the place. Captain Gray returned toHonolulu and the mainland, but the follow-ing March found him on his way again, thistime delivering a B-25 to Dutch flyers inAustralia. Today Captain Gray is takingC-87s back and forth to Australia.

Captain Stan Young, another commercialpilot who was on the South Pacific run in itsearly days, illustrated the type of flying thatwas sometimes needed to get planes throughfrom one island to another when he flew afour-engine bomber for five hours withnumber one and two motors out. He had anew crew on board, but his experiencebrought them through, despite the fact thatto keep his altitude he had to heave all loosebaggage and gear into the Pacific.

The record made by the Southern CrossAirways in its day and the record the ATeis making today in moving cargo and per-sonnel foreshadow a tremendous Pacific airtransport system in post-war days. A veteranflyer of the Pacific air route pointed outwhat it may be like when he said:

"Even under the inconvenience and un-certainties of a war we have airfields outhere in the middle of the ocean that com-pare favorably with many metropolitan air-ports in size and ability to handle traffic.After the war - after we beat the Japs--there will be so many planes !lying acrossthe Pacific that it will look like the vicinityof a training field. From the States to Aus-tralia in thirty hours or less, and to thePhilippines or China in a day and half. Asfor Japan, she probably won't be worthflying to." '*

11

"GEl THE JOB DONE"

IT WAS a cold gray morning in Februaryat an American bomber base on the

Tunisian front. Shivering groups of men,flying crews and ground men, lined thesouth edge of the field watching the skyto the east.

Tiny specks that soon grew to be planesappeared on the horizon. Anxious eyescounted them, then an excited voiceshouted: "I count nine. They're all hack !"

A buzz of relieved conversation and thenthe planes were circling to land. B-26Marauders, coming in low and hot, likethey always do.

By the time the last plane had landed, theMajor who had led the flight had beenpicked up in a jeep and whisked back tothe operations tent.

"Ran onto a big Axis convoy out there,"he said to the eager crowd around the tent."We got two ships, but they sure threwthe flak at us. My wings look like ascreen door."

Already the operations officer was on thephone giving a brief description of theraid to higher headquarters. Suddenly, heput the phone back in its little leather box.

"We're going back after the rest of thatconvoy," he announced. "This is one they'vebeen waiting for, and it's carrying a lot ofimportant stuff. Everyone of those shipsthat gets through now may delay our clean-ing up Tunisia by three weeks.

"We'll use different pilots and crews,but we'll have to put most of those sameplanes in the air again."

The operations officer called for thegroup engineering officer, Captain WarrenS. Bradford of Kingston, Massachusetts.

"Get at least six of those ships that justlanded ready to go on another mission earlythis afternoon," he said.

"Yes, sir," said Captain Bradford.Bradford hurried out to the planes where

squadron engineering officers, aircraft in-spectors and mechanics were looking overthe damage done by Axis marksmen.

He delivered the news of the new missionto Warrant Officer George O'Dell of Mis-souri, an engineering officer, and Master Ser-geant Howard S. Scott, Jr., of Fort Worth.

"But some of these ships have got a lotof flak holes, and we've got no metal topatch them," protested Sergeant Scott. "It'sin some of that equipment we haven't beenable to get shipped up here yet."

"We might put three in the air withoutany work, but at least three will need patch-ing," explained O'Dell.

"Then put all your men on those threeand find something to use for patching, any-thing you can find," said Captain Bradford.

It was several hours later when a G. I.truck loaded with flying crews, colorful intheir yellow "Mae Wests" and white para-chute rigging, pulled up to the planes.

Ground crews were just ending their

12

work, putting on finishing touches. A pilotwalked over to a little knot of mechanics.

"Say, what did you use to patch thoseflak holes in this plane?" he asked.

"I patched some with the bottoms offive-gallon gas tins," said Tech. SergeantJohn D. King of Fort Worth.

"I used linen patching," exclaimed Tech.Sergeant Harry C. Engle of Chicago. "Itwas the kind of patching they used on fab-ric planes before they made them of metal."

"Holy smokes," exclaimed the pilot,squinting at a patch. "Will they hold?"

"Sure," said Sergeant King. "Maybe notfor months, but for a few weeks, any-way."

"I'Il take your word for it," the pilot re-marked as he turned away.

And in a few minutes another formationof B-26s headed for the Mediterranean"hot spot" between Sicily and Tunis toknock out more of the shipping needed bythe Axis to supply its Tunisian forces.

That was just one dramatic example ofthe way ingenuity and hard, grueling workby Army Air Forces ground crews during

ILLUSTRATED BYCAPTAIN RAYMOND CREEKMORE

the early days of the Tunisian campaignkept planes in the air despite hardships andhandicaps, and helped lessen German "stay-ing power" in that vital theatre.

Moreover, it's an example of what me-chanically adept American boys are doingto keep planes flying all over the world.Their motto is: "Get the job done." Ifvital supplies go down on sunken shipsor are delayed by difficult terrain and badweather, then something else will have todo until the supplies arrive.

NOTHING is called impossible until it'sbeen tried and proven so.

Seldom, if ever, has more been done byan air force group with less equipmentthan by the B-26 outfit about whom thisstory is told.

"Yet we actually maintained our shipsfor a long while with little more than ascrewdriver and a pair of pliers," said War-rant Officer O'Dell.

"Because of the nature of the campaign,we began operating in the African theatrelong before we expected to start," he ex-plained. "Much of our tools and equipmentwere still in England, and replacementswere hard to get in Africa then.

AIR FORCE, [nl». ]943

Her left wing and engine nacelle riddled by flak,this 8-26 of the U. S. Army Air forces flies home to asafe belly landing after a bombing raid in Tunisia.

"Things are well organized here now,and most new groups coming over are prettywell equipped when they land. But, ofcourse, there is still plenty of chance toimprovise, and it will never be like aircraftmaintenance in the United States.

"A kit with between 100 and 200 specialtools is considered the minimum with whichto maintain airplanes of our type back in theStates," O'Dell continued. "Yet, I remem-ber one day when two of our crew chiefs(Tech. Sergeant Harry F. Beals of SanAntonio and Staff Sergeant Robert E.Farnsworth of Akron) set out to repair aplane and get it into the air with only apair of diagonals, a crescent wrench, asc;e",:?river and a pair of pliers to workWIth.

Sometimes there was only one tool ofa special type in the whole group. Thatmeant hours of waiting by one crew whileanother used the precious tool. It meantmiles of walking every day, too, for theplanes were widely dispersed to avoid beinga good target for Nazi bombers.

Spare parts were non-existent in Africain the first months of the Tunisian cam-paign. So, when an airplane came backfrom a mission too shot up to be used againor had to make a "belly" landing, mechan-ics swarmed over it like vultures. Shot-upplanes served as "warehouses" of spareparts for airplanes still able to fly.

An important part of working on anairplane engine is being able to reach it,but those handy metal crew chief standson which mechanics stand while at workweren't available when this outfit went intoaction.

"Mechanics stood on barrels, balanced onflimsy sawhorses and hung precariouslyfrom wings to work on engines at first,"O'Dell recalled. "Then we found that oneof the flight chiefs, Master Sergeant HubertJ. Treille of New Orleans, spoke excellentFrench. From a nearby French army unit,he got some big window frames, and wemade some crude stands from them. Eventhen we didn't have too many, and it wasa major tragedy when a bomb got two ofour five stands and two tool kits one morn-ing just before dawn."

Changing tires on the big planes looksimpossible without the big wing and nosejacks that are standard equipment in theAir Forces. Yet it was done dozens of timesby ingenious ground crews.

To change a nose wheel tire, they raisedthe nose by having ten men get into thetail of the plane. Then fifty-gallon oildrums were placed on either side of thenose with heavy timbers between them tosupport the nose. With this accomplished,the nose was lowered onto the timber sup-ports by having one man at a time comeforward out of the tail.

"Once the plane was jacked up like that,"said O'Dell, "we'd cross our fingers andhope another plane wouldn't t~xi. by tooclose and blow it off the blocks WIth Its propwash."

To change a main landing gear wheel

AIR FORCE, July, 1943

Ground crewmen of this 8-26group in Tunisia scored a vic-tory with screwdriver, pliers

and a patch of tin.

tire, the men would block up under thewing to keep the tire up, then dig a holeunder the wheel. After the tire was changed,the plane had to be taxied out of the bighole. They nearly burned up the motorsoccasionally but planes were always readyfor their missions.

Improvisations were the order of the day.They were so common nobody even dis-cussed them.

There were no air compressors available,so tires were pumped up with a compressoron a British army gas truck. The men hadto wait for an American transport planeto land at the field if they wanted to pumpup the landing gear shock absorbers. Thetransports carried booster pumps.

Mechanics "borrowed" an old Frenchbattery charger to keep up batteries. Severaltimes, bullet holes in the self-scaling rubberfuel tanks on the planes were repaired witha tire patching kit from a G. 1. truck. Thepatches last several months, too, althoughlOO-octane gas eats up regular rubber ce-ment.

Auto-wrecking trucks were used tochange the big, SOO-pound propellers onthe B-26s. But ten men had to exert alltheir strength to raise the prop the lastfew inches because the wrecker's winchwasn't quite high enough.

One day during a period of bad weather,the group was asked to bomb an Axis air-field near Tunis despite the adverse flyingconditions. Pilots were willing, but thevital rubber de-icer boots on some of theplanes were in bad shape and needed patch-ing. For an hour the whole group was at aloss as to where the necessary rubber, scarceeven in the States, could be located inAfrica.

Finally a young mechanic hit on the solu-tion. Several rubber life vests were tornup, and the rubber used to patch the de-icerboots.

The mission went out on schedule,caught thirteen Axis fighter planes on theground and destroyed them. All our planesreturned safely through an icy overcast-thanks to some worn-out life vests.

Welding and soldering were out of thequestion until a French construction com-pany arrived to enlarge the air base. Ser-geant Treille was pressed into service again,and soon the contractors were doing all thewelding and soldering for the group.

For a while the big gas tanks on theplanes had to be filled by hand from five-gallon cans-an endless, back-breakingjob. Later, small British gas trucks withhand pumps were used, but all the gasfrom these trucks had to be strained througha chamois-skin held by hand. Americanautomatic gas-tanker trucks finally relievedthat problem.

Once an air-oil strut was found to havea crack in it. Sergeant Treille got theFrench contractors to solder it-somethingunheard of in plane maintenance in theStates- -and the strut is still holding.

The lack of tools and equipment alsoaffected the armament and ordnance crews.Ordnance men often worked most of thenight in the freezing cold and under a strictblackout to load bombs for the daily mis-srons.

BAn weather was a thorn in the side ofthe ordnance crews in more than one way.If bad weather caused cancellation of aflight for which bombs had already beenloaded, those bombs had to be taken outof the bays-always a ticklish job-andanother type loaded, because a change intargets usually meant different types ofbombs would be used.

Loading and unloading bombs in thepitch-black cold of an African winter nightwas a job that called for steady nerves. But

no rrussion ever failed to go out becausebombs were not loaded. Ordnance crewsheaded by Captain Herbert Hartman ofNewton, Kansas, are proud of that record.

Armament men who maintain the deadly.50-caliber machine guns on the B-26s alsodid their jobs well without full equipment.

"If you keep thinking that if a gun isn'tin perfect condition it may cost the life ofone of your buddies, you'll always find away to keep that gun in shape," explainedLieutenant John R. Campbell of Stanton,Tennessee.

In all, the record of this one outstandingmedium bomb group shows that the ArmyAir Forces' careful training program, plusYankee ingenuity, pays off in seeminglyimpossible feats in the field of opera-tions. *

13

WHEN you've got your B-l7 bouncingand weaving over Europe like a buck-

ing steer, dodging hellishly close flak andgiving your gunners a crack at swarmingenemy fighters, you realize for the first timejust what they meant back in O.T.V. whenthey told you a good crew was the most im-portant element in combat bombardmentflying.

Old "Jack the Ripper"-that's what wecalled our B-17E--was saved from many aplastering simply because the sharp eyes ofour gunners detected an enemy fighterslipping in from out of the sun, or judgedthe accuracy of flak almost before the stuffbegan popping. We hit many a target onthe nose because our bombardier knew hisstuff and wouldn't allow all the shells andmachine gun bullets in the world to dis-tract him when he was lining up his sightduring a bombing run--and, because ournavigator could hit a landmark on the headalmost with his eyes closed.

We honestly believe we have the bestcrew of them all. And we know that othercrews think they're the best. That's the wayyou should feel. Not cocky. But knowingyou are the best because hard work and con-fidence in each crew member has made youthe best. We don't have any individualistsin our outfit. If you have a man playing forhimself get rid of him because he can ruinyou in combat.

You usually will know between four andfive 0'clock in the afternoon when you areto take part in a raid the next day. On the

14

Once in the air and after leaving thecoast of England, your gunners should testfire their guns. If a gun is out and con-tinues to function improperly after a check-up, the pilot must then maneuver his shipin the formation to assure maximum cover.age of the "dead spot" in the firepower.

A turn-back due to gun failure results ina weakened formation and exposes thesingle returning aircraft to intense enemyattack. I know of several instances wherea returning ship has been surprised byenemy fighters and shot down. The wisepilot makes it clear that he does not intendto turn back because of gun failure oroxygen trouble so the crew will be kept alertand careful to check on all details priorto take-off.

From the time you leave the Englishcoast, your ship is in constant danger ofenemy attack. Your gunners must stay men-tally alert and keep on the lookout forfighters. It may take only one burst from anenemy fighter to raise havoc with yourplane. On several occasions we were at-tacked in mid-channel on the way over.

Whenever there's a lull in activity keepthe crew chatting over the interphone.Talk about anything. This is one sure wayto keep the boys on their toes.

AIR FORCE, luly, 1943

morning of the mission you are aroused be-tween 4:30 and 5:.)0 for breakfast and de-tailed briefing.

About an hour before take-off time, thepilot and co-pilot report to the ship and per-sonally inspect the engineering, oxygenequipment, ammunition, guns, parachutes,life vests, clothing and first aid kits, andthey talk with the other crew members. Tome this inspection check is the most im-portant duty of the pilot. Failure to do somay lead to unnecessary turn-back andeven loss of personnel.

TBy Capt. William J. Crumm, pilot

IN THE

!mpn2:5siOriS gl{~dned by crew members ofc e, 7 d1.5 rlnfJ eIe v en oper-et io no] rnissionscv e r Gerl"ncrny and Occupied f~ ~:,r!c(}.

NAVIGATORS and bombardiers in O.T.V.who may see service in England should ob-tain all possible practice in pin-pointing ataltitudes of 20,000 feet and up-and from1,000 to 1,500 feet. Most of our flying wasdone at one or the other extremes.

On the average mission it is the job ofthe lead navigator to lind the target and forthe most part he employs pilotage. Wingship navigators do not have to be so

15

exacting although they should always knowwithin a few miles the position of theformation. Even during the run from thebase to the British coast, you must keepthe other crew members informed over theinterphone as to their whereabouts. Andit is wise to follow this procedure when-ever possible throughout the flight. Suchinformation as your location, the time whenapproaching the enemy coast, when enemyfighters may be expected and when the tar-get is being approached proves a greataid to morale and tends to aid in weldingthe crew together as a team. This shouldbe a primary function of the navigator.

I might add that all hands should benotified on the return trip just whenfriendly fighters may be expected. This pre-vents firing on your own pursuit planes.

The bombardier and navigator shouldknow each other well and work togetherperfectly. At altitudes from which we op-erated, the target could usually be seen20 to 40 miles away. When you spot thetarget you should point out to the bom-bardier a landmark near it so he can usepilotage in lining up for the run. It isyour job to give him a heading that willrequire very little drift correction.

During the last ten minutes on the tar-get approach, interphone silence is gener-ally observed by all but the navigator and

again. But in many respects, accomplishingthis from a base in the British Isles is any-thing but the simple application of trainingreceived back home.

For one thing, we found that precisionpilotage is the mainstay of navigation inthe British Isles and the only navigationmethod which gives the accuracy needed forsurccssful precision bombing. It is impera-tive, for instance, that the navigator knowwhere he is at all times, frequently withinone-quarter of a mile.

By Lt. William C. Leasure, navigator

THE many tasks that fall to the lot ofthe navigator on combat missions are

difficult to realize until he actually gets inthe fight. At least, that's the way we foundit in England.

You realize, of course, before you go outfor the first time that your primary job is toget the plane over the target and back home

evasive action taken in formation againstthese enemy fighters was to dive into theattackers. This would increase the rate ofclosure, throw off the fighter's line of sightand at the same time give our top turretgunners a crack at them.

In a situation like this a pilot has a three-fold job. He must fly a good formation,which, I might add, is the best life insurancein the world. German fighters always gofor the loose formations when they can findthem, and a straggler really catches hell.Secondly, the pilot must know the directionof the attacks. And, then, he must maneuverhis ship to bring as many guns to bear aspossible. A good inter phone system is abso-lutely essential if he is to accomplish allthree jobs, for there must be split-secondcommunication between all crew members.

Not only does he fly in a good formationbut a wise pilot takes individual evasiveaction. He changes elevation, skids, tryingat all times to bring maximum firepower tobear against attacking planes. However, hemust keep his relative position in theformation-and tight- -to avoid laggingbehind.

Evasive action must be continued afterthe turn on the target from the initial point,which is usually about five minutes away,up to the time the actual bombing run starts.Then it is up to the pilot to fly as level aspossible, making any corrections in forma-tion smoothly, in order to keep the gyro inthe bombsight from "spilling."

Violent evasive action is frequently neces-sary both before and after a bombing run.In a raid on the submarine installations atLorient on January 23, evasive action wasthe only thing that saved us at one or twostages of the mission.

The trip home is usually every bit asrough as the trip in, sometimes rougher. Sodon't let your men relax for a second. Thepilot must fly a good formation until hepeels off into the traffic pattern at his homefield. Other crew members should keepon their toes right with him.

Remember a well disciplined, hard-fight-ing unit is hard to beat. Train your crewto be able to cope with any situation withoutlosing their heads and you'll have very littletrouble in combat.

Once over the European Channel coast,the Iireworks usually begin. Sometimes theenemy will throw up light flak at first. Thisflak is white in color, and white puffsusually indicate flak with an effective rangeof about 15,000 feet. This was always be-neath us. Now and then enemy batterieswill throw up flak with pinkish burstsapparently for psychological effect and asdeterrent fire. Flak with black puffs is theheaviest and is effective up to an altitudeof about 35,000 feet.

Unless you are going on raids deep intoFrance or Germany, you seldom encounterfighter opposition until you are fairly nearthe target area. We found this particularlytrue when bombing submarine bases alongthe French west coast.

Enemy fighter tactics, as far as our ex-perience is concerned, differ decidedly overFrance and Germany. In our first raids overGermany late last fall, fighters attempted topress head-on attacks but they seemed tolack the experience and finesse of the olderpilots we later met over Western France.After several unsuccessful attempts at head-on attacks, they would revert to attackingthe tail and beam, coming in from eitherside. Fighters seldom used the sun to ad-vantage in our raids over Germany.

If\; Western France the attacks almost in-variably came from between eleven and twoo'clock. The fighters---mostly Focke-Wulf-1 ')Os in Western France in contrast to almostall types in raids over Germany -wouldclimb and fly parallel to our formation at adistance of some 1,500 yards, just out ofrange. They usually approached in groupsof four, flying in trail. They would fly outin front of our formation about two miles,then peel off and come in head-on, the rateof closure being about 600 miles an hour.

It was at this point that we could dis-tinguish between an experienced pilot anda novice. The veterans would close in towithin 200 or 300 yards before firing andif they were too dose for a safe break-away,they would fly directly through our ele-ments. You could almost count theirwhiskers on occasion. A standing commenton returning from a raid in Western Francewas: "I saw the guy with a red mustacheagain today." They came that close. Other-wise, the veteran's tactics were to roll overand dive straight down beneath the forma-tion, exposing themselves to am gun firefor the least number of seconds.

Newer pilots, on the other hand, veryoften failed to bring their guns to bear be-cause they would misjudge and overshootour entire formation. Or else they wouldbreak away before they were within effectiverange, sometimes without even firing ashot at us.

We found that the most effective type of

AIR FORCE, lilly, 1943

bombardier. We found that this preventedneedless confusion.

If attacked by fighters during the bomb-ing run, the navigator takes over both hisand the bombardier's guns, firing fromwhichever station will best meet the at-tack. When the bombs are away, it is thenavigator's duty to note the time, heading,altitude and air speed. He also must de-termine hits and damage, obtaining re-ports from other crew members. The ballturret operator is especially well situatedto report on damage.

During action--or at any time on a mis-sion, for that matter--the navigator mustnote on his log any of our planes seento go down, the time, location and whetheranyone was seen to bailout. Reports ofenemy planes shot down also must bereported by crew members to the navigatorwho enters the information in his log.

Although a navigator has his hands fullthe entire trip, the time spent ncar thetarget is a particularly busy one for him.After bombs are away and the plane isturned about on its home course, the navi-gator must take care to remember flak in-stallations and avoid them. With the leadnavigator pacing the formation homeward,wing navigators have plenty of time forshooting in the case of enemy fighter at-tack.

Every navigator should learn his gun aswell as the theory of sighting. Tracer fir-ing is deceptive and not very satisfactory.Each navigator cleans his own gun in com-bat theatres and in this way gets to know ex-actly how it operates and just what to doin the event of stoppage.

Although they have more time for firingon the way home, all navigators in a for-mation should know within a relativelyclose margin what their position i" becauseone of them may have to take over thelead navigator's duties if he is woundedor the lead plane shot down. From theBritish coast to home station ALL navi-gators must know their position to withina quarter of a mile, not five or ten. AllEngland looks alike and anyone of thenavigators may be required to take overthe formation at a moment's notice. More-over, it is particularly important to knowyour exact position at this stage since some-times there arc wounded men aboard yourship or other ships and no time should belost in needless guesswork. Ships whichhave injured men aboard shoot a red flareand are permitted to land first.

Your job is by no means over when yourship rolls to a landing. In the interrogationby inteIligence officers the navigator is akey man for he has kept in his log a com-plete and exact story of the mission.

HITTING THE TARGETBy u. Robert L. Kleyla, bombardier

WHEN you. have your eye glu.ed to thatbombsight and are making ready to

shout, "Bombs away!", you can't let a littlething like exploding flak and enemy fighterplanes bother you too much. But the mo-

16

rnent your load is dropped, you can grabyour gun and start shooting.

That's just about the size of a bombar-dier's job over a target in France or Ger-many. However, unless he docs his pri-mary job well, the bombardier wastes amission, and a lot of good men and equip-ment have been exposed for no good reason.

Before you leave on a mission it's yourjob to have a clear mental picture of thetarget you are supposed to hit. If you don'tit's your own fault. At briefing you get acomplete run down on the prospective trip

over the Continent. Y aLL know the sizeand number of bombs, the route in and out,weather reports and the zero hour or timefor crossing the British coast on the wayout. The group C. O. projects on a screenmaps of the target section and pictures ofthe target itself. The bombardier is in-formed of dummy installations, ways ofavoiding them and hitting the real target.

IN addition bombardiers get togetherlater for a special briefing, during whichthey may request maps and pictures of thetarget area to be flashed again on the screen.They are given the opportunity to recheckthe meteorological officer for such data asground, air and mean temperatures at thetarget, and pressure tendencies in the tar-get area.

By the time the bombardier visits thebombsight vault to get his sight, he shouldknow all the information available on thetarget for the day. Before take-off, heshould check the bomb load, his sight, thebomb racks and bomb bay doors, switchesand any other equipment he might use onthe flight.

In order to insure proper performanceof his secondary job--that of shootingenemy fighters--a bombardier should checkand recheck his gun before the mission.

As your ship gains altitude on a mission,you convert all data obtained from themetro officer. During the early stages ofa flight, I also made a practice of memo-rizing some of the bombing tables so thatif we failed to approach the target underexactly the conditions given at briefing,corrections could be made quickly and with-out confusion. I generally marked possiblevariations in pencil on the disc drum sothey could be made with the least amount

of trouble. By setting all the values possiblein the sight at this time, you have more ofan opportunity to man your guns.

A bombardier should learn pilotage well.particularly from higher altitudes. Thisknowledge can be put to valuable usc whenthe navigator gives you a landmark nearthe target after you have approached towithin 30 or 40 miles. On reaching theadvance initial point in the target approach,the bomb bay doors are opened. This isdone for two reasons: Enemy fighters arcunable to ascertain which target is our ob-jective (there usually are several potentialones in any given area), and the pilot isgiven a chance to correct for ai r speed andaltitude with the doors opened.

In making a bombing run in formation(which is usually the case), the lead bom-bardier sights for deflection and range; thewing bombardiers, for range only. Then,too, wing bombardiers may drop either onthe lead bombardier or by their own sight-ings, depending on instructions at briefing.

It is your job to observe results wheneverpossible and to obtain reports from othercrew members. At times you carry a cam-era. At least two or three ships in a forma-tion are equi pped with them and most ofthe time they arc operated by the radiomanon instructions from the bombardier.

On returning from a mission the bom-bardier supplies the intelligence ottircr withthe number and types of bombs dropped,fusing data, results observed, altitudes, timeof attack and the like.

All during our experience on combatmissions over Europe I was particularly im-pressed with the value of plenty of highaltitude bombing practice by the bombar-dier. Get in all you can in training be-cause it is su re to payoff in bulls-eyes later.In addition, you can't get too much gunnerytraining. Learn how to sight properly andknow the nomenclature and the action ofyour guns so you can feel you arc gettingthe most out of the shots you are sure tohave at enemy fi!,hters.

The bombardi~r's got a hot seat on anycombat mission but to me it's the best seatof them all. You get a peculiar feelingwhen the flak starts popping almost underyour nose ancl the fighters come in so closeyou begin to think they want to roost in yourlap, but it's all worth it when you dropyour bombs where they'll do the most good.

RADIOMAN IN COMBATBy Tech. Sgt. Peter F. DeBoy,

radioman

IN ENGLAND the radio operator isn't apassenger any longer. Combat has given

him an important twofold job.On operational missions from the Brit-

ish Isles he maintains radio communica-tion while over friendly territory ancl indoing so serves as a valuable second to thenavigator. Away from the British coast.where complete radio silence is observedexcept in emergency, he is a gunner-andmay become an all-purpose one.

(Continued on Page 40)

AIR FORCE, ltd}'. ] 943

TECHNIQUE'.,

A MONTHLY REVIEW OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AIR FORCES

The Army-Sikorsky helicopter takes off from a moving tanker.Right, landing again on deck.

The Helicopter Gets Sea LegsAn Army-Sikorsky helicopter recently madeapproximately 24 take-offs and landingson the deck of a moving tanker on LongIsland Sound, marking the latest step inthe military development of this winglessaircraft.

Colonel H. F. Gregory, the Air Forces'helicopter expert (author of an article de-scribing the military possibilities for thistype of aircraft in the March issue of AIRFORCE), piloted the ship in the demon-stration staged at the reeluest of the WarShipping Administration as a potentialmeans of combatting enemy V-boats.

The Long Island experiment was con-ducted from the tanker's deck, which offereda space 78 by 48 feet for take-offs and land-ings. Immediately fore and aft of this spacewere housing and mast superstructure, leav-ing only side and vertical approaches.

The first take-off and landing were ac-complished with the tanker comparativelymotionless, but for the remainder of thedemonstrations the vessel was under steamup to maximum speed.

Colonel Gregory, who has been the proj-ect officer for the development of the heli-copter at Wright Field, not only took theship off, flew away from the tanker forsome distance, returned and landed but alsodemonstrated the ability of the helicopterto hover above the tanker and land indifferent positions, on the deck space.

AIR FORCE, jllty, 1943

With the tanker under full steam, the Army-Sikorsky helicopter demonstrates its ability

to hover nearby.

The helicopter was equipped with flota-tion gear which permitted Colonel Gregoryto make two successful landings on water

near the tanker. The ship can land ona deck as well as water with this equip-ment since there is no roll of the helicopteron landing. This factor was further dem-onstrated by three flights, each with a pas-senp;er, from the tanker to shore and backagam.

The flights took place over a period oftwo days, with representatives of the Army,War Shipping Administration, the BritishRoyal Navy, the British Air Commission,the Coast Guard and others among the wit-nesses.

Engineers and pilots of the MaterielCommand at Wright Field had recentlycompleted the experimental testing of themachine. Since last summer, take-offs andlandings had been made from a compara-tively small raised platform, so it was noproblem to carryon the same type of flightsfrom a ship's deck. The only differencecame in the movement of the landing area,and this factor offered no obstacle, in viewof the helicopter's ability to rise and de-scend vertically; fly backward, forward andsideways; spin like a top about its verticalaxis, and hover motionless in the ai r.

Incidentally, the Long Island Sound dem-onstration added two more "f rsts" to thelist held by the Army's helicopter: the firsttake-off and landing of a helicopter on aship deck and the first helicopter ship-to-shore ferry service. (Continued an Page 18)

17

Rear AdmiraI Howard L. Vickery, vicechairman of the Maritime Commission andDeputy War Shipping Administrator, is-sued the following statement in Washing-ton after the demonstration:

"Under the circumstances existing at thetime of the demonstration of helicopters'ability to take off and land on the deck oftankers, the United States Maritime Com-mission and the War Shipping Administra-tion believe that the feasibility of the opera-tion has been sufficiently proved. Theseagencies are now preparing a plan for asmall deck to be installed on Liberty shipswithout interfering with the cargo arrange-ment, which will permit helicopters to beused at sea, thus giving the ships addedprotection from submarines."

Clover Seed CleanerClover seeds are speeding up the clean-

ing of pistons and cylinders in the enginerepair shops of the Sacramento Air Depot,California. It's the idea of Frank Perry, ci-vilian aircraft mechanic. The seeds, whichwill not clog up delicate machinery parts,are blown against the parts to be cleaned bya small sand-blasting machine.-PRO,McClellan Field.

Shorty Slim

18

Manikins for Plane DesigningJust as a tailor fits a suit to an individual,AAF engineers are now fitting airplanesto the men who will fly them. Aerody-namic design comes fi rst but no longerare the tall men or the short men ignoredin designing turrets, cockpits, emergencydoors and passageways.

Three synthetic men-transparent plas-tic manikins--now are influencing designof aircraft installations to a greater extentthan any other three men in the country.Each is an average sized pilot, representingthe tallest, the shortest and the medium of2,954 cadets formerly at Kelly and Max-well Fields.

These three silent men already havebeen responsible for changes in some in-stallations of production model aircraft.Turrets, for example, have been modifiedin the last three months to give air crewmembers more room for effective opera-tion of their guns. Upon the recommenda-tions of the "human engineers" whofathered the manikins in the Wright FieldAero-Medical Research Laboratory, prac-tically every type of ball and top turretnow has undergone alterations to give thegunners more room.

Slim represents the tall five percent ofour pilots, who average six feet, one andone-half inches, and weigh 172 pounds.Shorty stands in for the short five percent,who are five feet five and one-half inchestall and weigh 140 pounds. The remain-ing ninety percent, who average five feet,9.2 inches and 154 pounds, are representedby Roger.

Slim, Shorty and Roger are used as thestandard yardsticks now in all plane de-signs. They are flexible, lightweight andsturdy and can wear flying clothes like anEscluire model.

The trio is used to solve problems ofadjustable pilot seats, location of instru-ments where any sized pilot can see them,proper placement of controls so both short-armed and long-armed men can operatethem with equal ease, and of the hundredsof equipment items involving proper eyelevel, adequate elbow room, height clear-ance, passageways and seats of properwidth, knee room, cockpit roominess, andso on.

Before Slim, Shorty and Roger were cre-ated, aircraft designers were using statisticsand "typical guys" working around theshop. In such cases, however, there wastoo much chance for human error in meas-urements and the "typical guy" sometimesturned out to be not-sa-typical.

If an airplane crew does not have roomto perform its duties efficiently in the air,

the plane becomes inefficient. To get themaximum performance from plane andcrew, the AAF Materiel Command Aero-Medical Laboratory inaugurated its pro-gram of building synthetic men as yard-sticks for aircraft design.

In 1940 a conference between ColonelO. O. Benson, Aero-Med Laboratory chief,and Dr. E. A. Hooton of Harvard Univer-sity, one of the country's leading anthropologists, laid the groundwork for Slim,Shorty and Roger. Some time later, meas-urement statistics of almost three thousandcadet pi lots were recorded and classified.During the research dimensions of variouslyshaped heads also were tabulated to assistin the design of properly fitting oxygenmasks.

Upon completion of the investigation thethree average sized pilots were defined andhead shapes reduced to seven typical formsrepresenting 98 percent of the men in theAir Forces.

With the specifications written for thefirst time, sculptors were put to work mak-ing models of heads and full sized statuesof the average man. Flexible manikinswere molded from transparent plastics.

Now, after three years of extensive re-search, Slim, Shorty and Roger have beencreated and delegated to devote all of theirtime to helping aircraft designers makecombat aircraft more comfortable and betteradapted to efficient operation by crew mern-bers.-lieutenant Robert V. Guelich, WrightField.

Model air base in action at Chanute Field.

Miniature Air BaseOperation of a miniature model airport, 16by 24 feet, complete with lioodlights, ob-stacle lights, wind indicator and radiotowers, is a feature of the final phase ofthe Control Tower Operators trainingcourse at Chanute Field, Illinois.

Technical Training Command studentssit on two sides of this miniature field with

AIR FORCE, lttly, 19+3

its hangars, runways, aprons and model air-craft, and communicate by radio with thestudent operator in the model control towerat one end of the field.

Each student, representing the pilot ofa plane, has a card stating his problem,which may involve either coming in for alanding or preparing for a take-off. Thestudent operator then has the problem ofhandling all planes and giving pilots neces-sary directions to assure safety and com-pliance with air traffic regulations.

The miniature was originally built bythe 4th Airways Communication Regula-tion School at Smyrna, Tennessee, but wasbrought to Chanute Field where it was reno-vated and expanded after the course wasmoved to Illinois late last year.

The Control Tower Operators course isunder the Department of Link Trainer andTeletype, Captain Ray D. Dallmeyer, Di-rector. Instruction is given by First Lieu-tenant D. L. Morgan and Warrant OfficerR. G. Phillips, both veteran control toweroperators. -First Lieutenant T. V. Watson,Assistant Public Relations Officer, ChanuteField.

Wooden WheelsBorrowing the idea from private airplane

manufacturers, maintenance shop crews atthe Sacramento Air Depot are using woodenwheels to replace rubber tires on aircraftwhile the planes are undergoing repair. Thewooden wheels serve to protect the rubbertires from damaging grease and oil while theaircraft is on the repair line. Inspecting awheel (below) is Clinton B. McElheney, shopsuperintendent in the maintenance division.- Public Relations Officer, Sacramento Air De-pot, California.

AIR FORCE, [nl», 1943

-------------

Improved Battery CartAn improved battery wagon has been de-

signed and built at Barksdale Field by StaffSergeant O. J. Naquin. It fits any AAF air-plane, is suitable for field conditions, andcharges its own batteries. The cart will adaptto 12, 24 or 28 volts. Made from salvagedmaterials the wagon is stenciled to insure cor-rect procedure by "alert crews."-CaptainHarry B. Barnhart, Barksdale Field,Louisiana.

Starter WrenchTo speed up the starting of nuts on bolts

in inaccessible points on aircraft, CorporalWalter Ott of the Army Air Base at Casper,Wyoming, devised a starter wrench. Hisdevice is expressly designed for use onmounting bolts of inertia starters and bat-teries of B-17Fs.

The tool consists of a :y, II inch shaft, tenand one-half inches long and enclosed in acopper tube. At one end of the shaft is aknob and at the other a series of three gearswhich are turned by the shaft, thus causinga socket mounted on the third gear to rotate.The nut to be installed is placed in thesocket, and the knob is turned to start thenut on the threads of the bolt. The nut istightened with a standard wrench.-CaptainJames A. Hilton, Army Air Base, Casper,Wyoming.

Artificial HorizonsTaking off at night into a background as

black as the inside of a tomb is no cinchfor an experienced pilot. Add inexperience,instrument lag, a fast modern bomber thatwon't climb immediately, and you have apotential accident.

In fact, a recent Third Air Force studydiscloses that these cond itions have causedcrashes because young inexperienced pilotsunable to compensate for instrument laghave a tendency to let a plane nose to theground.

A solution was found that should be ofinterest to all bases where a similar hazard

exists: Provide the pilot with ground con-tacts so he needn't go on instruments untilhe gains altitude.

A good deal of credit for developmentof the idea is due Lieutenant Colonels Clint1'. Johnson and J. T. Winstead, Base andGroup Commander, respectively, Avon ParkBombing Range, Florida.

From odds and ends of equipment alighting system was created at this Floridabase which will be duplicated throughoutthe Third Air Force. The system is calledan "artificial horizon."

The lights were installed about twomonths ago following the crash of twoB-26 aircraft, each of which apparently hadbeen caused by the failure of the pilot toorient himself with the ground. There havebeen no similar accidents since.

The "artificial horizon" consists of sixclusters of red lights fanned out at a 20degree angle for two and one-half milesfrom the runway's end.

The fan arrangement was selected so thelights would remain in view of both thepilot and co-pilot as the rising nose of theplane restricted forward vision. The lengthwas calculated to give ground contact dur-ing the first minute of flight-a period ofinstrument lag, cockpit activity, and lowaltitude operation.

The light banks were constructed of ma-terials found around the base. Each is madeup of six 20()-watt bulbs painted red, strungsix feet from the ground in a box shape 20by 3() feet. Two clusters were placed halfa mile out; the next two, one and a halfmiles, and the final pair, two and a halfmiles. The last two banks are approximately4,500 feet apart.

To avoid the delay entailed in obtainingmiles of wire to connect the clusters withthe regular power source, the commandersdecided to use portable generators. Thebase's aviation engineering battalion scrapedtogether six units and provided the men tooperate them.

The permanent installations will be pat-terned after the Avon Park model, accord-ing to Colonel E. H. Walter, commander,Corps of Engineers, Third Air Force. Minormodifications of spacing may be necessarydepending on the type of plane operated ata station and strings of lights instead ofclusters may prove effective at some loca-tions, he said.

The installations wiil beco,me a regularpart of a field's lighting equipment, con-trolled by a switch in the tower.

"If we save only one bomber," ColonelWalter explains, "that's a quarter of a mil-lion dollars, not to mention the lives. "--Flight Control Command, Winston-Salem,North Carolina.

19

the familiar pastime

EXERCISE. Between missions, members of abc>mbergroup relax at a game of volley ball.

SWEET DREAMS. Your best girl 10c>ksevenbetter when you're operating away from home.

EXTRA STRIPE. This is never a chore for the men, but athome, you don't have seamstresses with handle-bar mustaches.

SNACK. Bomber crewmen smack their lips overdoughnuts and coffee, awaiting another missic>n.

INSPECTION. Nothing like broad day-light as an aid in seeking bugs in the blanket.

rlURCH. To the accompa-ment of a portable organ,AF personnel at a forward.irdrome join in singing Q

lymn at Sunday services.

21

. . David Dauntless extricatedhimself from the twisted wreckage ofhis plane, only to stumble and gropeinto a green hell of tangled vines, teem-ing with insects. Unnamed terrorgripped him as he faltered into theclutching net of a fearful spiderweb.Struggling to free himself, he sensed thenew menace of a giant tarantula nearhis face. Overhead, he saw the cruelbody of a boa constrictor uncoiling itslethal length. Somewhere in the bush, ajackal screamed. Cold sweat beadedon his brow as he lay helpless on thedark, steaming earth, awaiting a slow,tortured, certain death ..•• "

THESE might well be the words of back-room fiction writers who have never

been near the jungle, or of publicity-seek-ing professional travellers who boost theirstock by coloring the jungle with an aura ofglamour and terror. Take the word of com-petent scientists and explorers with first-hand experience-it's strictly hokum!

Plenty of people, aside from the natives,have lived unromantically and without in-cident for years in jungle regions. Thosewho visit the jungle return with an almostunanimous conviction that it's a much morepleasant and safe place in which to live thanmost of our big cities.

The truth is that fear of the jungle, likemost fears, is caused by an ignorance of thefacts. This fear is largely the result of talltales from unreliable sources. What arc thejungle fears" There is the fear of animals-of snakes, crocodiles, spiders, wild beasts,bats and insects. Then there are fears ofpoisonous plants, of disease, of cannibals,of suffocating heat, of the impenetrabilityof the jungle "wal]."

Let's look at the facts through the eyesof experienced naturalists and explorerswho know the jungle intimately. Let's takeup the "dangers," one by one, and "laytheir ghosts." It is quite true that tropicaljungle areas have a greater variety of ani-mals than any other type of region but theiraggregate number is relatively small. Andcontrary to popular notion, dangerous ani-mals are rare and even these are timid inthe presence of man.

Snakes, of cou rse, are the number onejungle fear. The concensus among men whoknow is that the chances of being bitten by

22

a poisonous snake in any tropical region areactually smaller than in many parts of theUnited States where rattlesnakes or watermoccasins are found. Many of the tropicalislands are actually free of poisonous snakes,and even where they do exist, they're sel-dom seen. Normally, one may expect tosee only one snake a month even whenwandering through the jungle each day,and the chances are that this one will not bepoisonous, Scientists who go out deliber-ately to catch snakes experience considerabledifficulty in finding them. Some years ago,a large party of some seven hundred mentravelled through a wide area of NewGuinea and in a year's time, not a singlemember of the party was bitten by a snake.Pythons may be seen but they do not attackhumans; no snake of the constrictor varietyin the South Pacific islands is big enoughto harm a man.

Some snakes in tropical jungles are poi-sonous, but they are easy to avoid and ordi-nary precautions are sufficient. Be especiallycareful when clearing ground for a campsite or trail, or when gathering firewood inthe brush. Don't put your hand into darkcrevices or behind rock ledges. Don't walkbarefooted. You'll be given detailed in-struction on suitable clothing to wear to pro-tect yourself against snakes, along with afirst aid kit for treatment in the exceedinglyrare event of a bite. A last word on snakes;Visit your local zoo before you depart forthe tropics and have a look at the onlysnakes you may sec until you return home.

You've heard a lot about poisonous liz-ards in the tropics, but they're like ghosts,

~~/C'L', ..~~I/At

/ ') ..}

often reported but never caught. The onlypoisonous lizard in the world is the Gilamonster which lives in the southwesternUnited States. Large tropical lizards maylook very fierce but they're actually quiteharmless. If you come across a lizard whenyou're lost in the jungle, consider yourselflucky. It makes good eating. The smaller •lizards you'll sec scampering around in theforest or even in your tent are about asnoxious as your maiden aunt's canary. Evenif you deliberately make one bite you, itsteeth aren't strong enough to pierce yourskin. A mouse is a dangerous beast com-pared with the jungle lizard.

Man-eating crocodiles represent anothermuch overrated danger. They're big, to besure, but they have minute brains, very littleinitiative and certainly no courage. Theyrely for protection on their very tough hidesrather than on their ferocity. As you ap-proach them, they'll get out of your way.Only if you deliberately try to provoke orcapture a crocodile will he put up a fight,and then the danger is more from the swiftstroke of his strong tail than from his ratherweak bite. A crocodile swallows its foodwhole and for this reason it won't attemptto attack any animal too large to swallow.To take on even a small man a crocodilewould have to be more than fifteen feetlong, a size rarely seen. Usc reasonable cau-tion; don't approach a crocodile too closely,and you'll have nothing to fear.

Now for the fable of the "dangerous wildanimals." About the only carnivorous ani-mals you'll find arc in Africa; in Sumatra,Bali, Borneo and southeastern Asia there arctigers; the South Pacific has none. You'll

AIR FORCE, JuLy, 19-i3

have to be a mighty good hunter even to seeone of the big cats (outside a game reserva-tion). Even if you should meet one, he'llmake himself scarce. Large animals aredangerous if cornered or if you startle themsuddenly, especially the females with young.But these are rare circumstances. Don'tbother the big animals and they won'tbother you.

But what of the other jungle "terrors"?What of the vampire bats, tarantulas, scor-pions, leeches and army ants? Like thesnakes, they're real enough, but they'remuch less fearsome than the Sunday supple-ment explorers would have you believe. Onescientist deliberately exposed himself to theattack of vampire bats and was so little dis-turbed or frightened that he had consider-able difficulty staying awake long enough toobserve the results. It is true that their biteis painless, and that they can draw a smallamount of your blood while you sleep. Forthat reason, if there are bats around usescreens if you have them. But the batswon't leave you a bloodless corpse. Theworst they may do is act as sleeping sick-ness carriers and this is rare.

Old wives' tales have it that the "taran-tula" found sometimes on bananas from thetropics is capable of a bite that results inquick and certain death. Very large spiders,averaging two to three inches in diameter,are found in burrows in the ground, but

they quickly retreat into their hideouts whenyou approach. Centipedes, scorpions, taran-tulas and spiders may bite you. Generally,the worst you can experience is severe painand some swelling, which will disappear ina few hours. The bite of certain largespiders in Australia may prove fatal but thespiders of America and Africa with one ex-ception are not dangerous to a normal indi-vidual. The one exception is the notorious"black widow," a rather small and harmless-looking black spider with a red hour-glassfigure on her underside. This spider hascaused a few deaths, and, believe it or not,in the very healthy climate of Californiarather than in the "dangerous" tropics. Youcan take some simple precautions againstspiders and tarantulas that should protectyou. Before you lie down at night, lookover your bedding carefully. Before you putyour shoes on, shake them out; they're afavorite resting place for scorpions.

Leeches are common in the tropics in wetor swampy places and are often a nursanre.Their bite is harmless but the small woundthey make may become infected and causea sore. It is well to wear leggings or to tiethe trouser legs snugly to protect yourself inareas where leeches are present. If a leechdoes attach itself to your skin, it is easy toremove. Don't tear it off, because the headmay remain imbedded in your skin. Flickthe leech off with a knife or if you have

AIR FORCE, J1Ily, 1943

salt available, apply a pinch to the pest. Atouch of a lighted cigarette or a swash ofalcohol also will make it let go. Disinfectthe site of the wound. When you have acompanion handy, it's a good idea to stripdaily to examine each other for the presenceof leeches or ticks. Get them off beforethey have a chance to imbed themselves.

Army ants move about the jungle in longcolumns hunting for insects and other food.They are swarming killers who can devouranything small in their way that will notresist strongly. Unless you are helpless, ab-solutely the worst that can happen to youis a few stinging nips. If you get out oftheir way the army ants won't trail youthrough the brush like a pack of huntingdogs. And don't worry about being set uponand devoured in your sleep; you will bewide awake at the first bite and have plentyof time to move away.

Poisonous plants of the contact varietydo exist in the jungle but none of them isas common or as virulent, as the abundantpoison ivy and poison oak found in theUnited States. At the worst, you'll get apainful rash. You may happen on thorn-bushes and nettles, but once you getscratched you'll learn to recognize and avoidthe offending growth. Watch the scratches.Disinfect them immediately if practicable.A secondary infection in the tropics is likelyto be more serious than one at home. Learn

the technique of moving about in junglegrowth. A slow, deliberate, snake-like move-ment is best. Blundering forward onlyleads to bangs on the head and thornscratches under the chin. You'll go faster ifyou watch your step. Keep your head for-ward with your chin in. Part the jungle;don't try to push through it.

Your first night in the open or in a tentin the jungle may give you the "heebie-jcebies." The forest is alive with sound,with all manner of howls, shrieks, screamsand eerie echoings. There some birds rattleout a machine-gun tattoo on tree trunks.The magnificent peacock makes a horriblenoise. Monkeys may howl or roar like lions.Dead trees may fall and snap like pistolshots. Don't get the idea you're going tobe jumped and mauled. Animals lookingfor food don't advertise. The loudest andmost terrifying noises are made by harmlessbi rds and monkeys. A cat fight on your backfence at home doesn't scare you. Get usedto jungle sounds at night; they have aboutthe same significance.

Now what about tropical diseases? Theaverage fighting man imagines himself com-ing back from the tropics shivering withfevers, rotting with parasites and sufferingfrom the ravages of dysentery and cholera.The truth is that a man can stay reasonablyhealthy in the tropics provided he observesa few simple precautions.

In many jungle and tropic areas, mos-quitoes are thick and malaria is a seriousproblem, although the scourge is by nomeans universal. If you find yourself in amosquito area, sleep under your net andtake quinine or atabrine at the direction ofyour medical officer. Be especially cautiousat night when mosquitoes are at their bitingworst. Keep your face and head coveredand if you have them, wear mosquito bootsand gloves. Don't scratch mosquito bites.Malaria may be an uncomfortable ailmentbut with modern treatment and medicines,there's not much to fear from it.

Dysentery and cholera are intestinal dis-eases which you put into your own mouth.If you're careful about sanitation and thecleanliness of the food and water you con-sume, chances are you won't get them. Un-less you are lost and starving, eat only foodcoming from cans or freshly cooked in yourown mess, or fruit (thick-skinned) that youhave peeled yourself. Watch the water youdrink. Mountain streams distant from hu-man habitation are safe. However, unlessyou know that there isn't a native hut amile or two upstream, always boil the wateryou drink or sterilize it with chemicals.

News on tropical climate frequently hasbeen distorted. The weather is warmer as awhole on a yearly basis than in the tem-perate zone to which you're accustomed, butactually the temperatures are not excessivelyhigh. The heat is simply more persistentand continuous, and in humid areas it maybe somewhat uncomfortable. Yet, seasonedjungle travellers tell us that they have foundWashington, D. C., in the summer muchmore oppressive than any jungle they'veever visited. Chilly nights are not uncom-mon in the tropics.

Now a word about the native "terrors."Cannibals and headhunters are a thing ofthe past. You may find natives hosti le tosmall parties in the interior of Dutch NewGuinea and in the Admiralty Islands. Butfor the most part, primitive jungle tribeshave come under the influence of mission-aries practically everywhere. The best evi-dence is represented by the invaluable as-sistance given our flyers who have beenforced down in jungle areas. Most nativesknow they will be rewarded for the aid theyrender. Just remember to respect native cus-toms; try to conform to their manners, orat least be tolerant of them. Let theirwomen alone. It's a good idea to find outsomething about the natives in the area inwhich you will operate. A little under-standing of their habits and language mayhelp save your life some day.

While the tropical jungle will be verydifferent from your home environment, thesame principles of precaution apply. Yousoon learn how to live in the tropics butit's best to go there with foreknowledge.Take all the "terror" stories you've heardwith a grain of salt. Knowledge and com-mon sense will see you through. i:i:

(Additional re,<ding on ibis subjcct : "Jungletlnd Desert Emergencies," diJ/rifmted by theFlight Cantrol Commuud, --Ed.)

23

tributions of this country's airlines to thewar effort.

The importance of this domestic aircargo operation cannot be over-emphasized.

It is a system that permits air cargo planesto operate schedules between the factoriesturning out vital parts and the modificationcenters, training units and air depots.

Frequently a plane is finished at the fac-tory needing only one small part before it isoperational. The part may be produced ina plant that is across the country. If partsof this kind can be picked up today by plane,delivered to the manufacturer and installedon the waiting plane, it may be flown to itsdestination with ,1 minimum of delay. It maysave five days in the time required to get anairplane into action. Adding these savingstogether often totals a month. A monthsaved getting a plane into combat may meanthe difference between victory or defeat.

These pilots work hard, averaging 100hours a month in flying, making daily tripsof eight to twelve hours duration. On around trip from a base in the United Statesand return they'll maybe be gone from aweek to ten days, putting in a total of .35 or40 hours of actual flying time in that periodand covering up to 12,000 miles.

Submarines arc a big worry to them, notonly because of the danger U-boats representbut because it makes their blood boil whena German sub crew down in the South At-lantic mans the guns on the deck and wavesfor them to come on in and fight.

"And us without even a brick to drop onthem," they moan.

But submarine scares furnish many alaugh, too, on cold icy nights at lonely basesacross the North Atlantic route, as they sitaround waiting for the weather to clear. Theytell and retell the story of the crew flying aC-87 up an Arctic fjord last winter, undera heavy overcast, when they spotted whatthey thought to be two submarines firingtracers from their bow deck guns. Theygot out of there in a hurry only to find outlater that their "submarines firing tracers"were a couple of whales spouting water.

They've had German aircraft chase themin the skies off England and icy runwayscrack them up in the Arctic. They havesweated in temperatures as high as 105 de-grees and a few hours later been in the midstof a raging blizzard.

"Why we don't all die of pneumonia, I'llnever know," more than one marvels.

So the next time you see an Air CarrierContract man we'lring the "ATC' insignialook at him with respect. Maybe he's for-gotten more about flying than you'll everknow. And remember that fighting a warisn't all ribbons and fast pursuits and sortieswith tons of bombs over the enemy. Re-member that it takes supplies and men andvital materials to carry out these missionsand they are needed in a hurry. It is theAir Transport Command's job to see thatthey are delivered there when they areneeded. And this man is doing his part tosee that they arrive on schedule.

He's really quite a man I "0:

AIR FORCE, July, 191'1

(Cal) Iuaignia)

Sometimes their cargo is as dangerous asenemy planes in the sky. One pilot tells thestory of carrying a load of 6,000 pounds ofshort fuse detonators, which is just about asdangerous as coming home to your bride ofthree weeks and telling her you dropped thefamily bankroll in a friendly game of poker.

"We showed up at this base," he says,"and the dispatcher tells me there are threeGenerals waiting to hitch a ride on to thenext stop. 'You aren't afraid to fly so muchbrass in one load, are you?' he asked me.

" 'I think a hell of ~ lot more of my ownskin than that of any General and I'm ridingwith it,' was my answer."

However, the Generals failed to arrive intime for the scheduled departure so anArmy chaplain, evidently having alreadymade his peace upstairs, climbed in for theride and slept peacefully the whole trip atopthe detonators.

Overseas. however, isn't the only placeyou will have a chanceto become acquaintedwith the new A TCuniform. They arc ap-proved for airline per-sonnel in the vast tran-sition transport train ingprogram and domesticcargo operation of theAir Transport Com-mand. At Army Train-ing Detachment fieldsthese airline veteransare conducting the train-ing program under theArmy-approved curricu-lum prepared by theAi rlines War TrainingInstitute. On the regularcargo runs each veteranpilot will have twoArmy Air Forces train-ees under his guidance,teaching them the im-portant "know how" oftransport flying. The graymatter and experiencein transport techniquetucked in between theears of these air contractcarrier personnel andnow being conveyed toArmy trainees is one ofthe most important con-

eran million-miler told me. "Hell, we evengot it planned to stick broom handles outthrough the cargo doors to make' em thinkwe got machine guns if we ever get jumped.Maybe it'll scare' em off."

As a matter of fact the only armamentthey carry is a forty-five for their life raftand a Very signal pistol. Not much useagainst cannons or lead-spitting fifties. Butthe Air Transport Command will tell youthat their job is to deliver the goods andarmament weight reduces precious pay load.

STRII'ES(On Lowe-r Steen)( Blouse )

PREPARiD BY AMERICAN AIRLINES. INC.

BARS(011 Shoulder Loop.)(Shirt or 'I'reneh Coat)

A IR TRANSPORT COMMAND

WINGS(Above Left Breast Pocket)

/~""'U''''

W4~.•>•..'..'.. I .......~ (1:'<~J(,r.I'" O~ AIR I:ARRIER UI:,<TR"CI' !'H(~Or. .. t.I)"',IA-~~ """!!I. j ..KIT:Y HAWK MEMORIAL EMBL~Mt..~"".~ Achieved By 1)(/llllllc!5s Resolutwn->. and Unconquerable Faith"

(On Shoulder Loop)

/"~~.

J{

---------FLICHT MECHANIC---------

---------CAPTAIN (PfIot) ---------,-------- FIRSTOFFICER(Co-PHo.)--------

/-------FLIGIIT NAVIGATOn--------

~ /-------FLIGllT RADIOOPERATOR-------

HE'S REALLY QUITE A MAN!(Continued from Page 9)

24

northern Canada and he was there with hispassengers for .39 days before the weatherpermitted rescue crews to get them out. Fora month this pilot, his crew and his passen-gers had been supplied with food suppliesby parachute. Equipment was droppedwhich permitted them to cut out a runwayon the ice of the frozen lake. After theirrescue, crews went in and flew the forceddown C-87 off the ice.

Both the pilot and plane are still in theNorth Atlantic service, each of them graphicexamples of the closely meshed coordinationbetween the civilian and military personnelof the Air Transport Command.

If you've ever flown one of the commer-cial luxury airliners you'll remember upabove the instrument panel where they had

.thc cigarette lighter, just like the one on the" dashboard of your car. Down over the

South Atlantic recently one of these old air-line pilots absent-mindedly reached up abovehis head for the lighter. Before he coulddrop the cigarette from his mouth the rightmotor conked out on him. He had forgottenthat on ships heing delivered to the Armysuch luxury items as cigarette lighters arcnon-essential. Where the lighter used to beis the control for feathering the props.

Little incidents like that keep them ontheir toes.

They have no guns on their planes eventhough they arc often flying through skiespatrolled by enemy planes.

"Yeah, we think about it some," one vet-

SAVING LIVES WITH YOUR FINGERTIPSIN THIS and other wars, untold hundreds

of lives have been lost due to excessiveand uncontrolled flow of blood fromwounds received in battle. Bombers havereturned from missions with bodies of crewmembers who bled to death. In many cases,the simple knowledge of first aid pressmepoints on the part of a companion mightwell have saved a life.

The accompanying diagrams illustratethese pressure points for the control ofhemorrhage. On the full figure are pointedout the locations of these vital arteries.while the close-ups show the proper placingof the fingertips to accomplish pressurecontrol.

5 -

Sketches by L. K. Young

AIR FORCE, fuly, 1943

1. To control bleeding in.the scalpabove the ear, .lig!ltpres$u.reisap-plied in front of the middle of the ear,where the temporal artery Can befelt pu.lsating.

2. In a notch oR---theu.nder'edgeof the ;aw, two-thirds of the way backfrom the tip of the chin may be foundthesmal! facial artery. Very lightpressu.l'e here will control bleeding inthe cheek.

3. About a hand's breadth belowthe ear and about halfway betweenthe jaw and the collar bone, the cora ..tid artery can be felt thrObbing in theneck. Moderate pressure of this arteryagainst the spinal column controlsbteeding above that point on theseme side of thabody, both on theinside and on the outside ofthehead.

4.t.oeated behind the middle of~he collar bone is the su.bdavianartery. When this artery is firmlypressed against the first rib bleedingin the arm cenbe controlled.

5. At this point the large artery ofthe arm (brachial artery) can be com-pressed' against the long bone of thearm. When strong pressure is exertedhere the pulse at the wrist will disap~pear. It is at this point olso that onemay apply a tourniquet for controlof hemorrhage in the forearm belowthe elbow.

6. Sf-rang pressure in the groinwith the heel of the hand presses thefemoral artery against the pelvicbone and stops or decreases bleed-ing in the thigh and leg.

25

Daisies won't tell-but T.O.s will.This page will give you some laughs but it isn't meant

to be merely humorous. The real idea is to depict someeveryday maintenance boners. Some of the mistakesthat look funny in the picture aren't quite so laugh-able when they happen in the hangar. You'll find thosemistakes listed on Page 32. Technical Sergeant

26

John R. Hicks, crew chief in the photograph, conpoint out eleven errors. Did he miss any? How aboutit, mechs?

The picture this month for our regular feature "ONTHE LINE" was posed by Technical Sergeant Hicks, onthe stand; Private First Class Leonard Gallas, left, andSergeant Gene Wefler, all stationed with the 18thHeadquarters Squadron, Air Service Command, Pat-terson Field, Ohio.

AIR FORCE, [nl», 1943

ON THE LINE. ~--,,-<-----------------

27

Stop

Turn Left

Turn Right

Parking Completed

~ilit \..~Man on Foot Shall Precede Towing Vehicle

Go Forward(Stand where pilot can see you)

IS THIS NEWS TO YOU?That there is now a standard sys-

tem covering the use of hand sig-nals to guide the operation andmovement of all aircraft on theground? Every mech should learnand use the signals officiallyadopted by the AAF to direct taxi-ing airplanes. It's the real way toinsure a high degree of safety.

Illustrated on this page are thefive signals needed most frequently.The drawings give the correct sig-nals. Refer to Schedule A of AAFRegulation 62-10 which gives thecomplete setup on the new standardhand signals.

COTTERPIN ...Keep the old eye on each cotter pin in-

stalled in landing wheel retaining nuts. Ifthe pin is not bent and cut off as directed,the end will rub against the dust cap. Thiswill cut off filings, which work their wayinto the bearings and inflict damage there.

See TO.'s of 03-25 series. These per-tain to landing gear.

DEFLATINGSTRUTS..Damage to a valve core causes air leak

and possible disaster to the airplane whilelanding with a deflated strut. This troubleis often traced to air-oil shock absorberstruts being deflated by depressing the valvecore. TO. 03-25E-1 specifies that the strutis to be deflated by backing off filler plugslightly. Lightly and politely, mechs.

ENGINEHOISTS...Remember that the type A-2 engine

hoist assembly must not be used withoutthe crossbar attached. Minus the crossbar,the legs might spread, dropping the engineto the floor. Think of what this does to theengine, or you, if you're underneath when itfalls.

HERECOMESTHESANDMAN.••Sand and other impurities often are

found in gas strainers. TO. 06-1-1 givesinstructions for cleaning gas servicing noz-zle screens. If not cleaned regularly, dirtgets into the aircraft fueling system. Asorry situation if that dirt stops the enginewhile in flight.

CARBURETORAIR CLEANERS•••Many an airplane engine's life has been

cut short in early youth because carburetorair cleaners were not cleaned and oiled daily.This daily requirement is set forth in TO.01-1-23. Our engines must live to a healthy,ripe old age.

IMPORTANCEOF CRATING.••Sloppy crating of Army Air Forces equip-

ment for shipping will inevitably result indamage en route. Frequent example ofcarelessness: improper or inadequate crat-ing. Crates should be made plenty strong,as prescribed in T.O. 01-1-31.

Engines, in particular, have not beengiven sufficient care in crating. For theright way to do it, see T.O. 02-1-1, para-graph 4. Bust our stuff over Tojo's head,not in some railroad boxcar.

DID You KNOW ...

That salt tablets and water for mechanicsare plentif ully supplied in all hangars andshops? Don't wait until the heat gets you.Take these salt tablets and drink plenty ofwater to replace the salt and water your bodyloses in excessive perspiration.

Radial engines do not require water, buta human engine does. Service your owncooling system regularly. Camels can drinkten or twelve gallons of water at a time,store up a water supply. Human beingscan't. Their water intake must be at frequentintervals to avoid dehydration. There'syour cue.

Ventilation is important in combattingthe ill effects of heat. Look around and seethat windows and doors are kept open. Getall possible circulation of air when tempera-tures are torrid.

Take salt tablets before you need them,not when it's too late.

Cool off a little before gulping coldliquids. Keep windows and doors open forbest ventilation possible.

Such simple heat precautions may preventyour incapacitation. Stay off the sick listfor your own comfort, and to fill the vitalneed for your work.

STRANGEAs IT SEEMSAt a midwestern field, eight airplanes

were found to have either one or two wheelretaining nuts safetied with common nails.Cotter pins should be used, as indicated inTO.'s -03-25 series.

TWISTEDCABLES...Rudder trim tab cables, particularly on

single-engine trainers, occasionally gettwisted inside the rudder during installa-tion. This condition is often overlookedduring subsequent inspections. These twistswill break the strands, thus weakening trimtab cables, and endanger steering apparatus.Watch for this at the next inspection. Takea look at TO. 01-1-26.

AIR FORCE, luly, 1943

A monthly maintenanceroundup prepared in collabo-ration with the Air ServiceCommand and the TechnicalInspection Division, Office ofthe Air Inspector.

For theSouthAtlanticRun

By CAPTAIN T. W. FINNIE

GROUP 5-2, MORRISON fIELD

COMBAT crews headed for the battle-fronts by way of the South Atlantic

route arc processed through Morrison Field,Florida.

This station is responsible for seeing thatall departing planes arc properly equippedand prepared for the flight overseas and,moreover, that they are manned by crewsprovided with adequate training and infor-mation. Officers and men of such crews gothrouj.h our Sol, S-2, S-3 and S-/[ sectionsfor the final check-up.

Not the least of these responsibilities isthat of the briefing unit. It is the duty ofthe briefing unit:

1. To insure that all crew personnel areproperly equipped for the flight, in-cluding the issuing of route data,maps, navigational equipment, secretcodes and other necessary material.

2. To insure that all flight personnel ofdeparting aircraft are familiar withthe facilities and conditions of theroute.

It is upon information supplied by thissection that a crew largely depends in meet-ing its initial challenge~to get over thatwater.

Briefing for trans-oceanic flights, as nowpracticed in the Army Air Forces, reallybegan at Morrison Field.

28

More than a year ago the field was estab-lished as an Air Transport Command baseand since that time a vast store of flightinformation has been collected. So extensiveis this data that, if necessary, a crew couldprobably be briefed for a trip not merelyacross the South Atlantic but to any part ofthe eastern world.

Route information concerning weather,radio beacons, location and procedure ofairfields, and other conditions affectingflight is maintained in complete and C0111-

pact form. This data is kept up to date andexpanded by reports from returning pilots.The briefing section has a wide variety ofUnited States, British and French aeronauti-cal, engineering and hydrographic charts.A map and chart room, perhaps the mostextensive library on the South Atlanticroute, has shelf after shelf of both the longrange and pilotage type maps. Some arespecial maps and projections developed by

ILLUSTRATED BYCAPTAIN RAYMOND CREEKMORE

navigators sent out from the station itselfon trail-blazing missions.

Supplementing all this information arephoto displays with pictures of main andauxiliarv fields, runw,lys, living cluarters,repair and overhaul facilities, and the like.

IN a word, briefing at Morrison is com-prehensive, visual, and up-to-the-minutedesigned to give a pilot a rounded pictureof any area to which he may be going.

The actual briefing of pilots and navi-gator of a combat crew takes very littletime-i--approximatelv 45 minutes. This time,of course, varies with the experience of thecrews being briefed. Those familiar with.the South Atlantic flight can be briefed infifteen minutes, receiving only changes andlate information since the crew's last trip.

When a crew first arrives at MorrisonField it reports to group operations forprocessing. Briefing is scheduled for threedefinite periods each day, but it is actuallyavailable day or night, at the request of aplane commander or flight commander.

AIR FORCE, J1Ily, 1943

Combat crews are wellprepared for their first big

over-water flight

Briefing appointments are made at least24 hours before take-off. Last minute in-st ruct ion is not satisfactory because it addsto the mental confusion of a crew neces-sarily engrossed with other details of depar-ture. The purposes of advance briefing are:

1. To discuss with pilot and crew theroute folder, which has its maximumvalue when studied at leisure.

2. To give pilot, co-pilot and navigatoran opportunity to read the latest in-formation about the route, and to ex-amine reports of returning crews.

3. To allow time for pilot and crew toquestion experienced personnel at thestation, on matters pertaining to oce-anic flying.

4. To allow the navigator enough timeto calibrate his instruments and pre-pare his maps.

AIR FORCE, Jttly, 1943

5. To allow time for study of photo-graphs and all related data exceptweather information which, of course,is imparted just before take-oif.

Briefing takes place in a large roomwhich has a relief map of the CaribbeanArea, fifteen by eighteen feet, to illustrateverbal information.

Normal briefing includes a discussion ofvisual signs for identification purposes,communication identification codes, Rekohcards, and an explanation of the weatherfolder which the pilot receives from theweather officer.

Explanation of the pilot's folder comesnext. This is prepared by the briefing officeand contains the latest route informationobtainable from all accurate sources. Crewmembers always have an opportunity to readover this folder before a briefing and areready to ask pertinent questions.

The folders are arranged very logically.Like the data used by commercial airlines,the regular route and regular stops are sepa-rated from the alternate route and alternatestops or emergency fields. This techniquepermits the pilot to have a small, compactfolder for the regular route he anticipatesflying.

FOR use in an emergency, the pilot willstill have additional information about thenearest alternate airport and a route to it.

Since it is obvious that the value of theinformation furnished by pilots passingthrough Morrison Field is the speed withwhich it is made available to other crews,a new directive permits the use of certaindata in these pilots' folders without waitingclearance from Headquarters in Washington.

Folders are arranged geographically sothey can be followed progressively alongthe route to be flown.

They include descriptions of fields, radiostations and frequencies, of housing andmessing facilities, and of prominent geo-graphical landmarks which can aid in navi-gation. All this material is illustrated byphotos. The weather folder, given immedi-ately before departure, contains a weathermap of the pertinent area, a cross-sectiondiagram of conditions forecast over theroute, a flight plan, and the weather codes.

During the briefing, the briefing officerdiscusses individual airports and the pro-cedure for entry through corridors to avoidrestricted areas. Radio facilities along theroute are thoroughly analyzed for their navi-gation value. Crew personnel are invited toask questions relative to any of this infor-mation.

The general climatic conditions to beexpected are discussed by officers who havecovered the route, and suggestions are madeconcerning elevations, let-down procedures,and methods of avoiding turbulence andstorms. The crew receives a detailed weatherbriefing one hour before departure.

Briefing covers the Caribbean Area andthe South Atlantic as far as the fi rst stop inthe South Atlantic Wing. This is done forseveral reasons, principally because the first

long flight to South America is frequentlya "shakedown flight."

New crews are inclined to be worriedabout the long over-water hop. Confidencecan be inspired by a complete discussion ofthe entire route within the Wing by officerspersonally familiar with it. Each stationwithin the Wing supplements the overallbriefing with a detailed briefing of thenext leg of the flight anticipated by thecrew.

A new crew, therefore, receives at Mor-rison a highly specific briefing on the firstleg, a specific written instruction for theentire trip, and a verbal treatment of theoverall route within the Wing.

No night flights are permitted without anavigator. After the briefing, the navigatorof a crew is taken aside by an experiencednavigator who explains in great detail theproblems of long-range aerial navigation ofthe South Atlantic. Each navigator mustsatisfy the briefing navigator that he isproperly equipped and capable of makingthe flight. All essential equipment for hiswork is available at the field. He has, more-over, a locker to store his equipment andbroad desks upon which to facilitate thehandling of his maps and charts.

Radio operators are likewise given spe-cial attention after the main briefing. Theyare briefed in detail by radio operators whoare well experienced in communications andprocedure along the route.

To all members of the crew much stress islaid upon the necessity for maintainingmilitary security. The briefing officer dis-cusses the possibilities and procedures incase of capture, escape and parole in enemyterritory, and the destruction of classifiedmaterial. Instructions concerning IFF andVHF equipment and its destruction is in-cluded.

Emphasis is placed on the current posi-tion of enemy and friendly troops and airforces, so that the crewmen will be orientedwhen they set out.

Maps extending as far as Cairo and theMiddle East are provided at Morrison.These maps cover all four of the methodsof navigation-pilotage, dead reckoning,celestial and radio. It has been found thatall four methods may have to be utilized.

With folders, reports from returningcrews, photographs and various other kindsof data, every member of a crew has a massof material on hand at Morrison with whichto inform himself for the South Atlanticflight. This written information is supple-mented by personal advice from briefingofficers, who are always available.

It is not expected that either a pilot or anavigator will memorize all the details ofwhat he has been told, for they are volumi-nous. But every effort and facility is providedto help him know his business thoroughly.The procedures, material and methods usedin briefing at Morrison Ficld have been theresult of much experience. When a crewleaves the field it should not only know howto get where it's going-it should be readyin every way for foreign duty. j;:,

29

- ...

tl'1

, ',,-y

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSSBRIGADIER GENERAL: Howard K. Ramey (AlsoDistinguished Service Medal). CAPTAIN: DavidA. Campbell. LIEUTENANT COLONEL: George B.Greene, Jr. LIEUTENANT: Edward D. Durand.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDALMAJOR: Lewin Bennett Barringer.

SILVER STARCOLONELS: William W. Momyer (With Oak LeafCluster, Also Distinguished Flying Cross and AirMedal with three Oak Leaf Clusters), EdwardTimberlake, James H. Wallace, Stanley T. Wray.LIEUTENANT COLONELS: Charles E. Mario, ClaudeE. Putnam, Jr. MAJORS: Raymond S. Morse,Walter B. Putnam, Henry N. Sachs, Allan J.Sewart, Jr. * (Also Distinguished Flying Cross*and Air Medal*). CAPTAINS: Glenn W. Clark,Edwin A. Loberg (With Oak Leaf Cluster, AlsoDistinguished Flying Cross), Raymond P. Sal.zarulo ", Roman T. Schumacher, Leo F. Wolcott,jr., Boris M. Zubko. LIEUTENANTS: George F.Callahan, Jack I. B. Donaldson (With Oak LeafCluster), Bruce A. Gibson, Jr., Rush V. Green.slade, Thomas L. Hayes, Jr., Kermit C. Hynds,John W. Kidd, Edward J. Magee, Mortie M.Marks, Ralph G. Martin, Kermit E. Meyers, Rich.ard E. MilIer* (Also Purple Heart*), James B.Morehead, Marne Noelke, Glenn C. Osbourne,George A. Parker, John C. Price, Gustave R. Rau,Robert H. Richards, Daniel T. Roberts, Charles E.Rogers, Mabry Simmons, Luther P.. Smith, Jr.,Lloyd H. Stinson, Charles P. Sullivan, Joe Walker,Dugan V. Woodring. MASTER SERGEANT: FranzMoeller*. TECHNICAL SERGEANT: Clarence E.Daugherty, Thaddeus S. May, Claude B. Phillips,Cal Russell, Robert Starevich (Also DistinguishedFlying Cross and Air Medal), James H. Turk,STAFF SERGEANT: Richard T. Brown, Harold J." Posthumous

30

A monthly record ofdecorations award-ed to personnel ofthe Army Air Forces.

Leamster, Hubert M. Stratton, D. C Stuart, ArthurWebber, Leslie D. Willard (Also DistinguishedFlying Cross}. SERGEANTS: Ronald]. Allsop, KarlE. Binder (Also Distinguished Flying Cross andAir Medal), Joe G. Maupin, Charles Perrakos, LeoT. Ranta, George D. Scheid*, Aaron B. Shank*,Thomas W. Smith, John J. Stephenson. COR-PORALS: William R. Holmes, John W. Kinnane,Hyman Marder, Leo E. Shreve (Also PurpleHeart), Robert P. Swan (Also Purple Heart),William J. Wagner*, Charles H. Young.

PURPLE HEART

COLONELS: Harry G. Montgomery, Wilfred J.Paul, Augustine F. Shea. MAJORS: Victor C. Huff.smith, Carey L O'Bryan (Also Air Medal), Mar.vin E. Walseth. CAPTAINS: Gilbert E. Erb (AlsoDistinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Clusterand Air Medal), Howard R. Fellenz, Andrew J.Reynolds, Donald R. Strother* (Also AirMedal * ). LIEUTENANTS: Barnett S. Allen, GardeB. Baldwin, Edwin M. Boughton (Also Air Medalwith three Oak Leaf Clusters), Everett L. Clinard,David M. Conley, Herbert V. Dow, Robert PaulDresp, Jamt's H. Foster, Delbert H. Hall, EdwinP. Heald, Cleveland D. Hickman, John T. Hylton,jr., Oscar R. Krebs, Allan W. Lowry, Clarence E.McClaran, Mac M. McMarrell, William R. Ma-loney, Robert H. Markley*, Louis G. Moslener,Romulus A. Picciotti, Harvey E. Rohrer, Jacob C.Shively, Frederic E. Whitaker. MASTER SERGEANT:Warren B. Caywood. TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: An-thony L. Buckley, Edward J. Cashrnan*, Harry D.Donahey, Lloyd C. Martin, Clarence A. Witmer.STAFF SERGEANTS: Rupert W. Arnold. William A.Bellwood, Edwin A. Bettencourt, George P. Bolan,Maurice P. Cotter, Edward C. Graboski, ElwoodR. Gummerson, Wilson A. S. Howes, Maurice W.Knutson, Harold F. Lightbown (Also Disnn-guished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and

Capt. E. H. Nigro

Lt. A. W. Lowry

Lt. R. L. Hartzell

Capt. R.T.Schumad

31

DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS

Air Medal), Sheldon D. Nearing, Everett F. Per.kim (Also Oak Leaf Cluster to Silver Star), Andrew Seman, Paul]. Smith, Earl E. Teats, Charle,D. Wright. SERGEANTS: Wilbert R. Burns, Fran.cis D. Crossman, Samuel H. Deberry, Robert CDewey, \Villiam Hislop*, Edmund B. Lcppcr " ,George 1\1. Marrin, Jr*, Edwin N. Mitchell*.Robert J. Nichols, Richard K. Rarnm, Roslyn CRichardson. TECHNICIAN FOURTH GRADE: TamesL. Schiller. CORPORALS: Edward Finn, RZ,bertoGonzales, Emmett E. Morris*, Hoyt A. Pollard,Antonio S. Tafoya*, James M. Topalian*. TECH-NICIAN FIFTH GRADE: Martin J. Zimmermann.PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: Louis H. Dascnhrock ",James E. Gossard, Jr. ". \1(filliam E. Hasenfuss,Jr. -, Carl E. Lanarn, William E. McAbee*, Har-rell K. Mattox*, Alfred Osborn, Sidney E. Wro.ton, PRIVATES: Garland C. Anderson*, Williamf. Blaklev, Robert S. Brown*. \Villard Fairchild,Russell E'. Gallagher*, Robert'R. Garrett*, GlennV. Grex-nheld, John]. Horan, Walter J. Hughes,Jame' R. Johnson. Robert H. Johnson*, DonaldY. Kemmerer, Marion E. King, Jr*, Herbert E.McLaughlin*, Charles Mesrobian, Victor L. Mcy-ers>. George A. Moran*, Robert S. Waugh, Theo-dore A. Wenzel.

BRIGADIER GENERAL: William E. Lynd (Also AirMedal). COLONELS: Thomas O. Hardin, ErnestK. Warburton. MAJORS: John A. Roberts, jr.,Raymond F. Rudell, Francis A. Smith. CAPTAINS:Charles H. Bowman. Vincent M. Crane (Also AirMedal), Charles H. Hillhouse (With Oak LeafCluster), Clyde B. Kelsay (With Oak Leaf Clus-ter), Ira F. Wintermute. LIEUTENANTS: GeorgeW. Beaver, John E. Bloomhuff, Robert E. Carlson,Charles M. Carter, Leo M. Eminger, David C.Everitt, jr., Richard H. Dennis. Dan D. Draku-lieh, Rush E. McDonald, Clarence L. Marthey,William R. Morhous, Richard W. Nellis*, JackPebworrh, Arthur J. Platt, R. V. Prouty, MichaelL Reitman, Francis L Schneiders, John W. Sears,Robert L. Stevens, .James c. Watson, Frederick G.Wheeler (Also Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clus-ter), John L Wolford. FLIGHT OFFICER: Burl SAshley (Also Air Medal). MASTER SERGEANT:Russell E. Mackey. TECHNICAL SERGEANT: LouisBurleson (With Oak Leaf Cluster). STAFF SER-GEANTS: Ralph W. Barnes, ]. W. Childers, DavidC. Culver, Lawrence E. Donald, John]. Gerrity.James E. Houchins*, James M. Iverson*, P. J.Leonard, Joseph W. McWilliams, John R. Meeks.Jr., Peter F. Novak, Robert K. Stone, jr., JohnF. Szyrnonik, Thomas G. Thompson, David C.Vaughter, Wilbur H. Weedin. SERGEANTS: Jos-eph J. Brust, Victor A. Edwards, Charles D. Hud-son, Wayne E. Johnson, Donald J. Kundinger.Doyt T. Larimore, Howard S. Peterson (WithOak Leaf Cluster), Walter E. Shay. CORPORALS:Bruce W. Osborne, Robert G. Tho~as, AlexanderZaretsky. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: George R. Graf.Edwin Rhodes. PRIVATES: Francis J. Foye, PaulPanosian. (Continued on Page 32)

Lt. Col. L. I. Davis

Sgt. Alfred A. Ise

Sgt. H. F. Lightbown

Capt. DenverTruelove

Lt. R. H. Dennis

Col. J. H. Wallace

Lt.A.E.Aenchbacker

Capt. C. H. HillhouseLt. R. P. Dresp

lajor W. B. Putnam

:apt. G. W. Clark

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TODISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS

MAJOR: John Dougherty. LIEUTENANT: Curtis ].Holdridge. TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: Stanley C.Jackola, Fred S. Secrest. STAFF SERGEANT: Doug-las H. Logan, Lloyd D. Whipp. SERGEANT:John J. Witfley.

SOLDIER'S MEDALTECHNICAL SERGEANT: Lee R. Embree. STAFFSERGEANT: Moses B. Tate. SERGEANTS: NormanL. Johnson, Gcorg« ]. Manger, Jidward L.Schmidt. CORPORALS: Joseph H. Hanl'jcek,Luther O'Neal. PRIVATE FIRST CLASS: Leon A.Thomas.

AIR MEDALMAJOR GENERAL: Hubert R. Harmon. COLONELS:William C. Bentley, John K. Gcrhcart, Arthur W.Gross, Benjamin S. Kelsey, A. ]. Kerwin Malone,Elliott Roosevelt. LIEUTENANT COLONELS: Wil-liam Basye, Elwin H. Eddy, Cass S. Hough, Her-bert Morgan, Jr., Donald N. Wackitz. MAJORS:Owen G. Birtwistle, Adam K. Breckenridge, Rich-

MISTAKES IN liON THE LINE" PICTUREon Page 26

(Beginning at lower left corner)

1. You on the left, buddy. That file looksbig enough to whittle a horseshoe. It's purefolly to attempt to dress those threads thatway. Return the cylinder head (from the pro-peller control unit) to the machine shop forrethreading.

2. Hey, you on the stand, there's a toollying on the edge of your maintenance stand.The slightest shift of your foot and ... konk•.. it's on your friend's head.

3. Nix on tightening that retaining nutwith a screwdriver. To get the proper lever-age and tension use the specified bar. Refer-ence: T.O. 03-20A-1.

4. And look what you've done. Believe itor not, it does ha ppen. The mech installedthat prop by hoisting it right off the mainte-nance stand, locking the stand between theprop and the engine. Now the prop will haveto be removed to get the stand free.

5. That maintenance stand must be ourjinx this month. Another offense: It's rubbingagainst the spark plug terminals. LO.'s giveyou essential information but you're expectedto use common sense along with it.

6. And, Sergeant, the wheel locks haven'tbeen tightened on the maintenance standwheels. After all, it isn't a tea cart.

7. There's a rear cone on the floor infront of the stand. Could it be that the mechforgot to install it? Reference: LO. 03-20CB-2. Besides, what's that rear cone doingon the floor anyway? The surface of the rearcone is machined and polished and shouldn'tbe exposed to scratching or other possibledamage. Never leave it carelessly on thefloor or allow other surfaces to nick its finish.(Incidentally, that bar resting on the rearcone is the tool that should be used to tightenthe retaining nut instead of a screwdriver.)

8. A torque blade beam shouldn't bewedged in the ladder. It might mean abroken ankle should the crew chief make aquick descent.

9. Now, you, on the right. Those waterpump pliers are too large for tightening hoseclamps. Hose clamps should be finger-tig htened. Reference: T.O. 03-1-20.

10. And what's going on here? You'restanding on a toolbox. It's unsafe and, be-sides, it might injure the box.

11. Are chocks being rationed? Or didthe mechs just forget to put one under theright wheel? If the plane moves, the main-tenance stand will couse the prop to lose herschoolgirl complexion. Reference: T.O.01-60FC-2.

32

ard G. Buswell, Bruce K. Holloway, Dwight F.Lewis, Stephen D. McElroy. CAPTAINS: ArthurKush, Edward H. Nigro, Duwer V. True-love, Laurence R. Blackhurst, Jr., Joseph W.Boone, Donald E. Bradley, John .I. B. Calderbank,Kenneth K. Wallick. LIEUTENANTS: Oscar Aar-ness, Robert L. Hartzell, Arthur Eugene Acnc!i-backer, Donald L. Arlen, Thomas F. Armstrong.SERGEANTS: Donald C. Appleman, Melvin C.Buhruuillcr, Robert E. Browe, Henry A. Buller,Robert E. Collins, Keith F. Colpitts (With OakLeaf Cluster), Raphael A. Cournoyer, David C.Dodd, Charles F. Donahoe, James T. I'llenburg,Roy Ellis, Earl D. Favinger, Welton K. Fulton,Daniel E. Gabll', Archihaldo Gonzalez, Zackil' T.GOW'I11,Jr., Herman S. Haag, Wilmer]. Harver-son, James M. Henderson, Thomas E. Hight, Al-ton H. Hinson, Warren K. Hughes. Alfred A. Ise,Joseph W. Sanders, Randy Shclhorse, Ir., Ed-ward D. Smith, Edward H. Smith, SylvesterStanley, Jr., Francis G. Stein, Earl E. Su-vcns,Jr., John H. Stolting, John D. Sullivan, Bur-rel T. Thorne, Joseph R. Tokar, John E. Treon,Felix A. Trice, Dana R. Wemette, Hinson C. Witt,CORPORALS: Walter A. Bohncnstiehl, John J.Duffy, Edmund M. Fitzjarrell, Edward C. l.ind-quist (With Oak Leaf Cluster), Hubert E. Mc-Kinney, Frederick T. Mayer, Phillip J. Murphy,Stanley O. Niedwecki. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS:Lenwc;od E. Benham, Jobn Q. Brock, AbrahamLevin, Bernard P. Ritts, Ralph W. Thomas.PRIVATES: Theodore A. AlIcckson, Harry F. Ar-nold, Frank D. Axtell, Johnie O. Burcham, Al-fred M. Faries, Ellsworth L. Kidd, Fred .I. l.ittle-wolf, Roland C. Lorenz, William G. Merriman,Lewan! T. Opsal.

ANSWERS To QUIZON PAGE 8

1. (a) P-51.2. (h) Prevent the spread of respiratory

diseases.3. (b) Gasoline.4. (h) False. The command, right step,

marcb is executed starting witb the rightfoot.

'l. (c) Calcium hypochlorite is inappro-priate. It is a chemical used in water purifi-cation. Benzene and Carhon tetrachlorideare cleaning fluids.

6. (c) Mister Jones.7. (b) The wing loading.8. (d) Parade rest.9. (b) False.

10. (c) Hung on the recipient's neck,suspended on a ribbon.

11. (b) Vz inch below top of shoulderseam (see AAF Reg. 35-11).

12. (c) 110 feet.13. (a) True.14. (c) Wind direction indicator.15. (c) A theodolite IS used by meteor-

ologists to follow the ascent of the gas filledballoon in checking wind velocity and direc-tion.

16. (h) Captain17. (b) Florida.18. (h) Prevents a turret gunner from

shooting into the tail, the propeller or theother surfaces of his own plane.

19. Mustang.20. Hudson Bomber.

PICTURE CREDITS

7: Royal Air Force. 8: British InformationService. 9 and Back Cover: AIR FORCE StaffPhotograph. 39: First Motion Picture Unit,AAF, Culver City, California. All otherphotos secured through official Army AirForces sources.

FLIGHT TO NAPLES(Continued from Poge 7)

Clusters drop out horizontally and, a fewfeet below the plane, the six little bombssplit ,iway from each other and point theirnoses down toward the target in a longparabol ic arc.

"Bombs Away! Bomb bay doors closed."Suddenly two bu rsts of flak went off di-

rectly between us and the other wing ship.I could hear them both faintly. Then aboutfive seconds later there was a tremendousexplosion which seemed to come from be-hind my seat. I could hear pieces of metaltearing through the plane in several places.The cockpit was filled with dust and smoke,and for the first time I could smell the acridgarlic-like odor of the charge.

The flak had gone off just below ourplane, causing it to lurch violently. Thenumber two engine began to wind up likea siren. I looked at the tachometer and sawit passing 2500. I glanced at the pilot. Henodded. I shut off the engine and featheredthe prop. Another explosion came from thestarboard side. I glanced at engines threeand four. Oil was gushing from the top ofnumber three. I cut it off, too, and feathered.Casey and I were both thinking the samething: "Did one of those explosions getnumber one or four I"

i WE had lost so much speed that our ele-ment was far ahead of us. I saw the secondelement of three planes, led by LieutenantDavid W. Bishop, snuggling in on ourwing to give us protection from the fighterswhich were now swarming about,

We kept the throttles on our two engineswide open. We dived and turned until wewere out of the anti-aircraft zone. But theMesserschmitts, Reggianis and Macchiswere still on us. We could hear the pound-ing of every gun on our plane. The gunnersknew that they were fighting for dear lifeand the sound of their guns proved it. Afterthe first attempt, the enemy fighters decidednot to press the attack. We all breathedeasier when we discovered that no one onthe plane had been injured and that wecould hold our altitude without forcing thetwo remaining engines too much.

On the long journey home I suppose theMediterranean was just as beautiful as ithad been on the trip out, but somehow itdidn't have the same appeal. During theentire day there wasn't anything that lookedas beautiful as our home base as we circledit prior to landing.

Casey made a beautiful landing. Whenthe wheels touched the ground "The Grem-lin" swerved sharply to the left, the first in-dication we had that the left tire had beenpunctured by flak. But Casey kept the planeon the runway with the number one engine.

When the engines finally came to rest andall was quiet, Casey turned to me with asmile and said, "Those Italians really takethat 'See Naples and Die' stuff seriously.don't they?"

"I think the Italians will remember to-day, too," the intelligence officer said. as hewrote the report of our bombardier. ~

AIR FORCE, lilly, 1943

AIR-GROUND COOPERATION IN NORTH AFRICA(Continued from Page 6)

be heavily populated with refugees. Ferry-vi lie, itself, was packed with civilians whosepleasure in seeing the Allied commandersin the city was very genuine and quitemoving. The city showed no evidence ofthe war at all. The waterfront area in Ferry-ville, however, was a twisted shambles ofsteel, broken concrete and sunken ships.

The road from Ferryville to Tunis wasdifficult; the center and sides were litteredwith damaged and burned out trucks,armored cars and tanks. It was on thisroad in the American 2nd Corps areawhere we had dispatched some 240 fighter-bomber sorties to work on the 15th PanzerDivision when it had endeavored to movesouth to escape the 2nd Corps but foundthe 9th Corps blocking its way to Tunisand then tried to turn around and moveback on the same road. The effectivenessof the fighter-bombers on the 15th PanzerDivision was evident all over the road.Truckloads of rations were standing onthe road showing evidence that they hadbeen hit by machine gun tire or by aircraft.Piles of riiles were beside the road wherefleeing troops had obviously thrown them.The evidence of a defeated and panicked,trapped German Panzer Division was every-where at hand.

Tunis, itself, is a large, modern, attrac-tive city. It also shows almost no effectsof the war. For in Tunis again we had noobjectives in the city but many objectives inthe harbor and in the unloading facilitiesthere. Here in Tunis, also, was a heavilypopulated city through which a sharp linemight be drawn. On the waterfront side ofthe line, the effect of the war is vivid; ware-houses, docks, piers, planes, ships andall waterfront installations were smasheddebris. On the other side of the line is anattractive, unscathed city. Both the effec-tivcness of our bombers and the accuracyof om bombing is graphically illustrated.

With General Alexander and Air Mar-shal Coningham, we landed at El Aouinaon the 9th in what was probably the firstcombat airplane dispatched to that airdromewithout a load of bombs. EI Aouina hadbeen a principal transport operating basefor the German air force. It was litteredwith a gratifying number of wreckedJu-'i2s and Me-323s. There was also aconsiderable number of combat ai rcraftwhich we could flyaway after very littlemaintenance and repair.

The Northwest African Tactical AirForce was our most completely integratedallied air establishment in the theatre. Wemaintained the national integrity of onlytwo of our major units. They were thetwo major fighter commands in the northand in the center. The center group wasan American unit which retained its origi-nal name for administrative purposes ratherthan any other reasons.

It was the ] 2th Air Support Commandwhich throughout the battle was com-

AIR FORCE, July, 1943

manded by Brigadier General Paul L. Wil-liams. Williams' command consisted ofthree of our fighter groups led by top-notchfighter commanders our Colonels Momyer,Dean and West, and an observation unitcommanded by Major Dyas. These threefighter groups are now outstanding fighterorganizations and are able to meet anyenemy any place in the world. It is mostreassuring to know that those Americangroups completed the last day of the inten-sive operations in this battle at a greaterstrength than ever before. The flow of air-craft into the theatre fully met all require-ments and resulted in our having fullstrength, battleworthy, experienced ai r unitswhere one might ordinarily expect tired,worn and under-strength air commands.

The Tactical Bomber Force was an in-tegrated unit consisting of a superb lightbombardment group commanded by Colo-nel Terrill.

This group also included two B-25squadrons with long experrence 111 battlearea bombing which had been moved tothis front from the Western Desert AirForce, an RAF light bomber wing andFrench night bomber unit. The tacticalbomber force was commanded by Air Com-modore L. F. Sinclair, an outstanding lightbomber leader whose skill and gallantryis justifying his long service throughout'this war and his George Cross, DfC, OBEand several other high British decorations.:

The Western Desert Air Force similarly.was an integrated unit consisting of manyfighter squadrons. including our excellent'; 7th and 79th P-40 fighter-bomber groups. ~The ';7th and 79th had come across theWestern Desert with the Western Desert'Air force and showed the skill, experience,strength and toughness which that drive.across the desert had instilled in all of'the components of the force. The Western .Desert Air Force had a number of lightand medium bomber units in it, in whichour 12th medium bomber group, equippedwith B-2';s and commanded by ColonelBachus was a star unit. The Western Des-ert Air Force was commanded by Air ViceMarshal Harry Broadhurst. Broadhurst hadbeen one of Air Marshal Conirurharns prin-cipal commanders when Coningham com-manded the Western Desert Air Force inits long d rive across the desert.

THlJS it is seen that the Northwest Afri-can Tactical Air Force, operating directlyunder General Spaatz' Command, as oneof the major components of the NorthwestAfrican Air Forces, was an almost integrateAllied air effort with its RAF commander,Air Marshal Coningham, and an Americandeputy commander, four major units, twoof which were about half American andhalf British. The desire to respect thenational integrity of air units is a real oneand a worthy one. However, to win thisbattle, the keynote in our employment of

our Air Forces was the word "concentra-tion." When we wanted to use bombersin front of the 8th Army or in front ofthe First Army, we found it much moreeffective to direct one bomber unit intothat operation than to direct an Americanbomber complement and a British bombercomplement. We were guided solely bythe military necessity that the full advan-tages of the ability to concentrate greatmasses of aircraft on the vital point takepriority over ;II I other considerations.Among the air units, the result of thisAllied effort was most satisfactory. TheAmerican Command is proud of the RAFunits it had the privilege to handle. TheRAF Command states it was similarlydeeply impressed by the American unitsunder that command. We are assured thatthe Allied effort in the air when the battlerequires it need not be confused by bar-riers of nationality.

The complete illustration of air andground command planning and working inclosest coordination may be summarized inthe daily intelligence and operations con-ference at the combined Air-Ground Head-quarters, Tactical Air Force, l Sth ArmyGroup. Each day the Ground Operationsofficer presented in detail the previous 24hours' operations on the ground, and theair operations officer presented the day in

. the air. The ground intelligence officerthen presented his concept of the enemy'scurrent situation on the ground and theair intelligence officer presented the enemysituation in the air, after which GeneralAlexander and Air Marshal Coningham,or in his absence, his American deputy,discussed the immediate situation and fu-tu re operations. When the air and groundcommanders were at the map after thisdaily conference, one saw the cockpit fromwhich the air-ground war was controlled.The air commander not infrequentlypointed out specific locations on the frontwhich would improve the air situation ifcaptured.

The ground commander would examinethat particular location and if possible directthe Ground Forces to move on to thosespecific localities. In this manner, GroundForce support to air operations continuallyrecurred. Similarly, the Ground Forcecommander would find the spot at which

-the ground effort had been hampered by. the German air force. Normally the neces-. sary movements were made and actiontaken by the air commander to further theeffort on the ground in that particular loca-tion which was, in turn, air support ofrecurred. Similarly, the Ground Forceand its final result showed to very highorder the soundness of the airman runningthe air war and the soldier running theground war, but working coordinately andwith striking success toward the same ob-jective.

This close teamwork by allies was notonly in the air effort but in all operationsof General Eisenhower's allied com-mand. '*

33

DIRECTOR OF TRAINING, CENTRAL INSTRUCTORS' SCHOOL, RANDOLPH FIELD, TEXASI!

OUT OF TRAINING

TAKING THE

WE HAVE taken pains to see that ourArmy Air Forces has the best team

in the conference in the matter of playersand equipment. Now we can devote moreeffort to strengthening the coaching staff.That's the reason for the Central Instruc-tors' School at Randolph Field.

The Army Air Forces has expanded tre-mendously in the past three years. Natu-rally enough, the Flying Training Com-mand, responsible for training all pilots,was the first to feel the effects of thisgrowth; and the growing pains have beensevere and prolonged.

Not the least of these pains was caused bythe shortage of qualified flying instructors.

This problem was solved by selecting stu-dents at the advanced schools to be instruc-tors. After graduating, they are given addi-tional flying time and instruction and thenplaced on duty as full-fledged flying in-structors.

That the solution was correct is provenby the fact that our pilots go to combat bettertrained than those of any other nation.

It did have some faults, however, and theprincipal fault was the short amount of timeavailable for additional instruction. Thisnecessitated the training of instructors attheir assigned stations, which led to varia-tions in the kind of training given themand, consequently, to the students through-out the Flying Training Command.

Some instructors would emphasize onephase of training to the probable neglect ofothers, either because they considered thelatter phases relatively unimportant or wereunable to present them correctly to thestudent.

The result was just as though you had adozen cooks in one kitchen, each trained bya different chef but all trying to do the samework.

One cook might have learned to preparesome excellent egg dishes, since his teachermade a specialty of that line, but he won'tbe able to roast a leg of lamb. A meat ex-

pert won't be able to handle the egg dishes,So the meals won't be too consistent inquality.

Now that the expansion is not so rapid,the growing pains are not so severe; time,equipment and personnel can be spared formore thorough training of instructors.

The Central Instructors' School at Ran-dolph was established to produce compe-tent, thoroughly qualified Flying Instructors,and to standardize the instruction of stu-dents throughout all of the pilot trainingschools. All instructors in the Flying Train-ing Command will eventually come to Ran-dolph before they start teaching.

The best methods found in anyone placewill now be made available to all. We shallconstantly have access to the latest informa-tion pertaining to our assignment. We willlearn anything developed at any of ourtraining fields. Three of our departmentaldirectors have observed RAF training meth-ods and are giving us the benefit of theirfindings. Men returning from combat areaswill bring information of value. The in-structors leaving here after receiving theirtraining will take this knowledge with them.

Also, this school will serve as a labora-tory for evaluation of new training ideas, orconflicting theories about existing methods.No other training field has this set-up.

In the twin-engine division, for instance,2,OOO-milecross-country flights in the C-60type of craft are soon to become an irnpor-

tant part of the curriculum. Pilot, co-pilot,radio operator, navigator and engineer willparticipate in these flights and will gain ex-perience they could get in no other way ex-cept on long-range combat missions. Thisprocedure is brand-new to flying training.

In the same division, the initial phase ofinstruction has been concentrated on dis-proving certain false beliefs the averagetrainee brings with him about twin-engineaircraft - beliefs which would nullify hisability to serve as a competent instructorwere they allowed to exist.

Specifically, the false beliefs concern theAT-9 and AT-lO twin-engine planes. Manypilots believe these planes can't be safelyflown when operating on only one engine.They believe it impossible to turn into adead engine, and word-of-mouth has estab-lished a landing speed for single-engine op-eration of the twin-engine craft some fortymiles in excess of the speed at which theseplanes can actually be landed.

The scarcity of experienced twin-enginepilots in the early days of this type of in-struction and the guesswork basis on whichqualified single-engine pilots attempted tofly multiple-engine craft gave rise to thesefalse beliefs. Before his first week here hasclosed, the instructor-trainee is freed ofthese flying "superstitions."

Also, to accomplish more efficient train-ing, the Central Instructors' School has setabout to eliminate the "cockpit-riding" typeof instructor-the fellow who attempts toinstruct his students with verbal whip-lashes.Trainees are being schooled in an intelligentand understanding approach to the prob-lems of each student. They are constantlybeing impressed with the fact that they mustnot be slaves to a tradition.

Development of curricula hence will bean important service of the schoo!. Alongwith this we shall give considerable time todevelopment and improvement of trainingaids, such as films, charts and mechanicaldevices.

34 AIR FORCE, lltly, 1943

r

t.

This will not be an advanced flyingschool. The instructor-trainees must be goodflyers when they get here. They are espe-cially selected, so they'll have to be.

However, they will learn precision intheir aerial maneuvers. A man in combatmay be too busy to do a maneuver in an ex-act fashion. But an instructor must beprecise to show the student exactly what heis trying to put across.

Not all of the work is done in the air.In the ground school are taught such coursesas "Analysis of Maneuvers," "Psychologyand Technique of Instruction," "Opera-tional Procedures" and "AeronauticalEquipment." Some of the courses are gen-eral and apply to all types of training. Othercourses are specifically designed for a par-ticular type of training - Primary, Basic,Advanced Single-Engine or AdvancedTwin -Engine.

The means of putting across the knowl-edge he already has is what we are trying togive the instructors. They learn just whyeach maneuver is made, what it does for thestudent, and why it is in the curriculum.They are taught what abilities are necessaryfor each performance and what a new trickwill teach the student. The purpose, tech-nique, training value, and proficiency re-quired in every individual act of flying areanalyzed.

This analysis of maneuvers is taught inthe ground school, along with psychologyof instruction, operational procedure and

A standardized course forflight instructors is introduced

at Randolph

aeronautical equipment. In the psychologyof instruction, the trainee will learn to studyhis students' personalities, abilities, and re-actions to all phases of training.

Means of instilling confidence in thecadets are an important phase of this sub-ject. Many a potentially great flyer has beenruined or retarded because he was allowedto lose confidence early in training. Underoperational procedure come such subjects asplanning and supervising night flying andcross-country flights. In the courses on aero-nautical equipment the instructor - traineewill learn just what can be expected, andwhat cannot be expected, of each part ofhis plane.

Instructors required for the GroundSchools and for the Military Training ofCadets are also produced by the CIS. Theyare given additional instruction in their spe-cialties and instruction in methods of teach-ing, and in the use of training aids, films,synthetic devices, models, and so forth. Alarge part of their course will be devoted toactual instruction of classes under the super-vision of experienced personnel.

The ground training is divided into threeparts - the pilots' ground school, for theflying instructor - trainees; the groundschool; and a tactical officers' school.

The "tac" officers' school is expected tofill another long-felt need in the Army AirForces. It has been a problem as to howmuch "military" the cadets should have. Inthe old days, when there was more time,rigid class system was in effect. The cadetslearned courtesy, discipline and responsi-bility through the merciless ministrations ofthe upperclassmen.

But we're in a war and the frills have hadto be eliminated. Pilots must be turned outat the fastest rate compatible with efficiency.Hence there has been a problem of just howmuch time and effort should be spent on thestrictly military phases of training. It mustnot interfere with flight training. Yet it hasbeen shown on the war front that pilotsmust be able to assume responsibility andto take orders---to function as members ofthe teams essential in modern air operations.Such abilities are not stressed in the ordi-nary course of flight training.

The amount of "military" training hasvaried greatly at the various schools. Nowwe are standardizing this, as well as theflight training, to assure that the cadets willbecome good officers besides good flyers.

All of this implies that the general levelof instruction will be raised throughout theFlying Training Command and I believethat this will result. With the wealth of in-formation, ideas and developments of everyschool available to us there is every reasonto believe the new program will be suc-cessful. 1<

..

These instructors in twin-engine advanced flying at the RandolphCentral Instructors' School (below) enter the "c1assroom" inwhich they teach - an AT-9. Left to right: Lieuts. D. J. Kingsbury,New York, and E. G. Harrington, Wisconsin. At right, MajorE. G. Righetti, outlines a formation to Capt. W. J. O'Donnell.

AIR FORCE, fttly, 1943

Lieut. Robert H. Cuyler, former associate professor of geolagy atthe University of lexas, lectures on maps and charts before agroup of officers who soon will become ground school instructors.

35

\.

..

*

4

SYNTHETIC DEVICES •••BOON TO WARTIME TRAININGTODAY more than ever before, the

training problems of the Army AirForces at war have to be met in majordegree by the use of synthetic devices.The necessity for the conservation ofcritical materials, aviation gasoline,man hours on the part of both studentsand instructors, and lives of futurecombat pilots has called for the maxi-mum use of gadgets which provideshort cuts.

e.O.s and instructors are daily sav-ing themselves headaches by the suc-cessful employment of synthetic train-

ers now available for use. Scores ofofficers and men and commercial engi-neers are working overtime to developothers which may aid in the AAP train-mg program.

Now on display at the headquartersof the AAF Training Aids Division,Park Avenue and 32nd Street, NewYork City, are most of the availablesynthetic training devices, recognitionequipment, training films and strips,training literature and posters. Thedemonstration is primarily set up as ashop window for e.O.s and instructors

who may have the opportunity to visitthe headquarters.

AFT AD's "stock" of training aidswas collected from the AAP, the ArmyGround Forces, the Navy, the RAF,RCAP and commercial manufacturers.Catalogs listing materials availablethrough each section of AFT AD are be-ing distributed to headquarters of AAFCommands and training Air Forces.

AIR FORCE from time to time willdescribe selected items of equipmentavailable for training within the AirPorces.

L.

Drift Determination Trainer

•,.

36

ADRIFT determination trainer has bcendesigned to aid student bombardiers,

navigators and pilots in acquainring them-selves with a fundamcntal factor encounteredin navigation. To tcach students to operatea drift sight by the usual classroom methodrequires considerable imagination on theirpart. This factor is eliminated in using thisdevice (left), which simulates drift in flight.

The trainer consists of a simple driftsight, a motor driven cylinder and a rheo-stat-controlled light source. The cylindercontains aerial map photographs of landand sea. In spots, the cylindcr has been per-forated to allow specks of light to filterthrough, simulating ground lights at night.A constant speed motor rotates the cylindcrto give the effect of ground speed. A setof switches is provided to control the in.terior lighting providing either day or nightproblems. Rheostats control the intensityof interior lighting and illumination of thedrift sight grid.

In operation, the instructor, by means ofa lever on the side of the box, sets the de-sired amount of drift. The pupil thensights through the tube of the sight, adjust-ing it to determine the drift angle. Uponcompletion of the operation, the instructormakes any nccessary corrections in the stu-dent's results.

This instrument is approximately onecubic foot and can be placed convcnientlyon a desk. It is commercially manufacturedand operates from 110-volt light service.

AIR FORCE, J1Ily, 1943

,

Tactical BoardA BOARD designed as a tactical map,

(above) has flexibility in its possibleuses. The board is made up of four sections,each 4 by 21/2 feet. The surface of theboard is plywood, finished in several layersof abrasive silicate blackboard paint of olivegreen color. The boards are perforated atone inch intervals to accommodate the as-sortment of models required in each situa-tion. The small models are pegged, en-abling an instructor to place the boardv~r.tically in front of the class for bettervrsion.

White and colored chalk may be used inlaying out a problem, and objects necessaryfor illustration of combat principles andproblems may be applied in any desired

AIR FORCE. TNly. 1943

manner. Examples of some of the pegmodels that are available with a board arevehicles, pill boxes, trees, bridges, high andlow flying and grounded airplanes, tanks,command posts and hangars. Changing thesituation on the board is easily achieved bymoving the object as required. Instructorswho might otherwise be handicapped bylack of practice in handling chalk on ablackboard could make a clear demonstra-tion.

Sections of this board may be added togive a larger map and, if special terrainfeatures such as large mountains are re-quired, they can either be obtained with theboard or manufactured locally. One of thefeatures of this board is its visibility due tothe contrasting colors and three-dimensionalobjects.

Automatic RaterL1 N automatic rating device (left) presents

£\.. to the student a series of questioncards pertaining to various military subjectsand automatically records his score based oncorrectness of answers and speed of an-swer selections.

When the student presses the starter but-ton, a card appears in the window at thetop of the machine. This card presents aquestion and several possible answers fromwhich the student makes his selection. Hethen presses one of seven numbered pushbuttons corresponding to the answer whichhe considers to be correct.

The machine records a score based notonly on the correctness of the answer butalso the time, within a range of twenty sec-onds, required by the student to make thecorrect selection. The student is given [ourseconds to read the question. If he pressesthe correct button immediately, the "cor-rect" light shows on the machine and hereceives twenty points for that question. If

(Continued on Next Page)

he delays while thinking abouL the correctanswer, his score is reduced one point persecond. If the student presses a button cor-responding to an incorrect answer, the "in-correct" light will go on and no score isrecorded. The card is delivered through achute to the student after each play. He maythus ascertain the correct answer in case hehas been in error.

By pressing the starter button again, thestudent releases another question card intothe window of the machine. A total of tenquestion cards may be played consecutively,after which the "reset" button must bepressed.

The machine may be loaded with a maxi-mum of 800 cards at one time presentingquestions on aircraft and ship recognitionand a number of other subjects. Latestmodels of the device may employ film stripsrather than cards. About 4 by 6 feet of floorspace is required by this commercially pro-duced device. A llO-volt light ci rcuit sup-plies xullic ien! alternating current for power.

Turret TrainerEFFECTIVE use is being made of a turret

trainer in giving the potential turretgunner economical training in smooth tur-ret manipulation. The turret closely re-sembles real equipment in appearance (seebelow) and operation and the controls areidentical with those on operational turrets.

A training reflector sight or spotlight canbe readily attached to electrical connectionsin the trainer. Patterns may be drawn ormechanical moving targets may be mounted

on available wall space (or on wires) forthe student to follow. A free spotlight canbe used to project a beam of light upon thetarget in order to observe the degree ofskill with which the student manipulatesthe turret. In using the trainer in this man-ner, the 120-degree azimuth and 70-degreeelevation of the trainer offer no handicap toits efficiency.

A lID-volt, 60-cycle light source operatesthis device. It is of commercial construction.

37

MirrophoneAs its name implies, the Mirrophone mir-

rors one's voice or other sounds andimmediately "phones" back to an individualor group the voice or sounds recorded.

For a full minute, the Mirrophonc's mag-netic tape records sound of any kind---in-dividual or group messages, conversation.music, code messages or portions of radiobroadcasts. At the flick of a switch, theMirrophone instantly stops recording andbegins to play back over its loudspeaker thesounds it has picked up. The recorded soundmay be reproduced over and over again.After the "repeat" switch is changed for

IILearn and Livell

Hollywood star Guy Kibbee, whogave his services gratis to the AirForces training film program, donsthe robe and halo of St. Peter to putacross some timely lessons in flyingsafety in TF 1-3300 "Learn and Live."St. Peter and Joe Instructor reminisceover the earthly fate of some of thepilots who are seen wearing wingsin St. Pete's Pilot's Heaven. Theirconversation sets the stage for flash-backs to the pilot errors that broughta typical few of the boys into Pilot'sHeaven: Hank with the empty tank,the familiar guy with propellers inhis pants and in too much of a hurryto check temperature gauges beforetake-off, the hotshot pilot who likedto stunt at low altitude and the ego-tist who thought many of the routineflight orders were meant only forothers, to mention only a few. "Learnand Live" is a film for all pilots,whether beginners or advanced.(For more details see Page 39.)

38

another recording, the new sounds auto-matically erase the results of the previousminute of recording on the automatic tape.

Those who use radio communicationsshould find the Mirrophone especially use-ful in developing clearer speech and bettertechnique in transmitting concise and directmessages. By listening to his own voice onthe Mirrophone, a pilot or radio operatorwho has difficulty making himself under-stood can criticize himself and thus con-tribute to a more effective communicationsystem. An output jack on the machine per-mits connection with an external loud-speaker or another recording machine ifpermanent records are desired.

"Flexible Aerial GunneryMaking a Gunner"

"Flexible Aerial Gunnery-Makinga Gunner" (TF 1-760), released lastmonth, shows how aerial flexiblegunners are made-a survey of whatgoes into their weeks of intensiveinstruction, the tools and armamentthey use, a preview of what theprospective gunner can expect, astory substantiating the statementthat "gunners are made, not born.""Making a Gunner" is the first of aseries of six training films being pro-duced under the general title of"Flexible Aerial Gunnery." Alreadycomplete are two others, TF 1-762"Arithmetic for Battle" (backgroundmaterial for instruction in harmoni-zation of guns and sights) and TF1-764 "Range Estimation" (estimat-ing target range with the sight ring).Titles of other films to be completedsoon are "Bullet Between You andYour Target" and "Estimation ofLead."

"Fifty-Hour Inspection of TheB-24D •• The Airplane in General"

This past month saw the releaseof the first in a series of aircraftmaintenance and inspection trainingfilms especially designed for theground crews who keep the cratesin the air. "Fifty-Hour Inspection ofthe B-240- The Airplane in General"(TF 1-818) shows the proceduresfollowed in the first phases of theSO-hour inspection of a B-240-washing down the plane and en-gines, exterior surface inspection,

checking the flight controls, emer-gency hatches, and other detailscalled for in columns 31, 32, 33 and34 of Form 41-8. Four additionaltraining films will follow at an earlydate, to complete the details of theB-240 inspection. In addition to thisgroup on the B-240, production iswell along on other films dealingwith the SO-hour inspection of prac-tically all types of bombers, fightersand cargo aircraft.

"Photo Intelligence inBombardment Aviation"

Welcome news to the bombard-ment intelligence officer and the aircrew personnel with whom heworks is the release this month ofa new AAF training film, "PhotoIntelligence In Bombardment Avia-tion" (TF 1-3306). Through themedium of a dramatic story whichhas its beginning at a bombardmentheadquarters "somewhere in Eng-land," this film depicts the role ofphotographic reconnaissance in airwarfare, the futility of photo recon-naissance unless it is interpreted cor-rectly, and how correct interpretationof reconnaissance photos enablesthe bomber crew to spot a difficulttarget.

(All films produced by AAF Training FilmProduction Units.)

TRAINING OFFICERS,ATTENTION!Ask for them. Your comm~nd

headquarters has copies for you ofAAF Training Film and Film StripCatalog - First Edition, and Supple-ment No.1.

AIR FORCE. [nly, 1943

~

GLIMPSE OF PILOT'S HEAVEN-«<~,

EVER hear of Pilot's Heaven? It's theplace that flyers go who insist on learn-

ing their lessons the hard way.Of course, nobody ever came back from

Pilot's Heaven but the AAF's Directorateof Safety Education and the First MotionPicture Unit have collaborated to produce"Learn and Live," a movie that shows theplace in all its detail. It's a dull, drabplace. There is no flying, there are no girlsand even the pool tables click with eightballs exclusively.

Undesirable as this fictional residencemight be, St. Peter (Guy Kibbee) is faceto face with a housing problem. Pilotsare coming in faster than he and his as-sistants can care for them. This gives rise toan emergency call for Joe Instructor, St.Peter puts it squarely up to him to cutdown the rate of entrance. By way of

AIR FORCE, July, 1943

reply, Joe reviews how each of the pres-ent restless, unhappy inmates got there.

As St. Peter listens to these stories(dramatized on the screen) of carelessness,inattention and mistakes of all kinds, heoccasionally is moved to observe, "Thedevil you say!" Whereupon his neon haloflickers and goes out only to re-lightbrighter than ever for the next incident.

There is nothing new about the use ofmotion pictures in flight training, but thisfilm is a far cry from the usual class-roompresentation. Designed for use in eitherpost theatre or classroom, "Learn and Live"is as good for entertainment as it is forthe lessons it teaches. It is sixty minutesof good sense wrapped up in a neat pack.age.

Ideally, of course, good pilots will ab-sorb good sense without the trimmings.

Employing a novel motionpicture treatment to teacha vital flying safety lesson

Likewise a hungry man will eat almost anykind of food regardless of how it looks,but if it's made attractive he will eat alot more of the right things. Director ofSafety Education, Major Robert L. Steinle,figures the same way about safety lessons.Safety isn't a bit more interesting than araw potato. But the same things can bedone to make safety attractive as can bedone to make a potato practically irre-sistible.

Professional excellence in this film wasassured by the talent of those who pro-duced it. Guy Kibbee as St. Peter bringstop-flight acting ability to the production.Most of the personnel of the First MotionPicture Unit are former top-ranking mem-bers of the motion picture industry.

The project was under the general super-vision of Lt. Colonel William Keighley,chief of the motion picture division atAAF Headquarters, and Major Paul Mantz,commanding officer of the First Motion Pic-ture Unit. One of the movie industry's toppeacetime executives, Major Owen Crump,chief of the production department, pro-duced the film, while Lieutenant EdwinGilbert, one of Hollywood's finest writers,turned out the screen play. The musicalscore was created by Alex Steinert and ar-ranged and conducted by Dave Rose, usingeighty musicians now members of the SantaAna Air Force Band.

"Learn and Live" is the forerunner ofother films in which the same techniqueswill be used. *

39

ILontinued from Page 16)

HAVE THE BEST CREW OF THEM ALL

Pilots, navigators and bombardiers aren'tthe only crew members to get a thoroughbriefing before a mission. Enlisted men aregiven a fill-in on details of the flight--thetarget, route in and out, concentrations offlak along the way and ncar the target,enemy fighter, airdromes, type of fighters tobe expected, enemy interception tactics andthe like --- and later, radio operators aregiven a special briefing by the Communica-tions Oflicer who distributes log books andseveral sets of signals.

Fl irnsies cont.i.nrng such information asthe call sign for code, the voice call sign,all f requcnrics and flying control stationsalso are given each operator.

You can't put too much emphasis on thenecessity for the destruction of all data andequipment which may be of value to theenemy in the case something goes wrong ona rrussron.

A THOROlJ(;H check of all equipment isabsolutely essential before taking off. Inaddition to the careful inspection of yourradio equipment and gun, you also shouldcheck your ammunition, parachute, liferafts, clothing, escape kits and make surethe kit knife is located where it can befound quickly. This is important. Youroxygen mask may freeze and that knifewill come in mighty handy when you haveto cut the tube and get your oxygen sU'lplydirect- to name only one of its many uses.

As soon as the engines of a ship arestarted, the radio operator begins his log,and, I might say, you don't fool aroundwith this log on a combat mission. It mustbe complete and accurate, and entriesshould be made at five-minute intervals atleast. It would be a good idea for radiooperators to get in as much log-making ex-perience as possible before going to a com-bat zone. It is sure to prove a great help.

Once over enemy territory the radio op-erator breaks radio silence only on ordersfrom his C. O. He buckles down to hisgunnery job. While at his gun, a radiooperator is in an excellent position to ob-serve flak. It is his duty to call it out tothe navigator, giving the place of burst bythe clock system, the height and color, all ofwhich is used by intelligence officers later.

A good combat radio operator should beable to take lifteen or twenty words of codeper minute. He should have enough ex-perience to perform minor repairs on bothradio equipment and machine guns. A stu-dent should operate radio equipment asoften as he possibly can and especiallyshould practice interpolating and calibrat-ing frequencies.

Plenty of "di:;';ing" in training willmake things a lot easier when he getsacross. In England an operator is givena two weeks' course in British radio pro-cedure and a code check and he must passthe course before he is permitted to fly.

Aircraft recognition is particularly im-portant in the European theatre. If you

40

don't watch out you may find yourself"pouring it into" one of your own fighterescort. On several missions we WCI L C.'i-

corted by Spitfires, which to me are plentydifJicult to tell from anME-I09 at a dis-tance. At times, one or two of the Spit-fires would pull lip over us to show theywere friendly, but any fighter plane thatdived toward the formation was fired on.

It also would be a good idea to get inplenty of Iirst aid training before goingon a combat mission, learning particularlythe usc of morphine and what to do incase of shock. This is knowledge you aresure to have a chancc to put to good usc.

FIGHTING FROM A TURRETBy Tech. Sgt. Carl L. Masters,

engineer

EXcEPT in case of emergency, an engi-neer of a B-17 operating on combat mrs-

sions from England engages in a minimumof engineering and a maximum of gunnery.In my case I handled the top turret and, be-lieve me, you can get in some good shoot-ing from there.

The best tip I could possibly offer as aresult of combat experience is KNOWYOUR GUNS-every inch of them.

In the first place, before starting outon a mission, you can't know too muchabout your guns when you give them thatlast once-over. This check-up, to my wayof thinking, is the most important job ofa gunner-next, of course, to his work ofputting the finishing touches on an enemyfighter plane.

In England we made a practice of strip-ping our guns completely before a flightin order to check in detail for rust andworn parts. In this theatre don't be afraidto use oil. I remember one occasion whenwe were ordered to clean our guns withgasoline and then dry them thoroughly-that was all. When we took to the airthere was just enough condensation tocause the guns to stick or freeze. We couldfire one shot and then the guns wouldstick. At one point on the mission--justover the target -five guns on our shipwere not working properly. In a flight ofseventy planes that day, all except thirty-seven turned back due to gun or engineer-ing trouble.

Later we found that best results were ob-tained fro .. , our guns simply by wipingthem dry and giving them a thin coatingof oil. It is important, too, to check thehead space and the oil buffer, as well asthe quantity of oil in the buffers to makesure they are full.

Don't rely solely on the other fellow inliguring your turret is operating properly.Specialists give the turrets a thorough goingover the night before a mission, but wealways made it a practice of checking theiroperation with the aid of a portable ener-gizer. The energizer provides electric cur-rent which builds up the necessary hydraulic

PRINTED TN U. S. A.

pressure to run the turrets for this chec~~Gunners should be at their positions from

the time the ship leaves the field until itlands again. Be on the alert always. Enemyplanes can come at you anywhere, any time.

The top turret gunner has a responsiblejob. He has a good view of everythinghappening above and on either side of theship and he must continually sweep a fulll80-degree range, depending, of cou rse, onhis plane's position in formation.

On our early missions last fall fighterswere coming in head on most of the time.I got plenty of action then simply by tellingthe pilot to dip the B-l7's nose a little.The one sure enemy fighter I have to mycredit is a FW-190 that came in that way.When the enemy pilot turned to duckout of it, I let him have a good squirt lightalong the 190's belly.

LATER, however, the lighters began com-ing in out of the sun. They would beginfiring directly out of the sun and sometimeswould be within 200 yards before we couldsee them. We tried putting burnt cork I

around our eyes to cut down the glare, thesame as in football, and it helped a lot. ~

It's a good idea for all gunners in acrew to feel at home in all gun positions.You can never tell when somebody hun-dling a particularly hot position is goingto get knocked out and you will have totake his place. On the St. Nazaire raid,our two waist gunners were hit by flakand Sergeant DeBoy, our radioman, wentback to take care of both waist guns whilethe co-pilot took over the radio gun. Inthis way we were still pretty well defended.

Coming home from a mission the topturret gunner is apt to get his roughest workbecause enemy fighters are usually lying inwait for the formation as it comes backoff the target. In the European theatreyou can count on fighters following youback to their own coast. We even hadthem follow us to within thirty miles ofthe English coast over the North Sea. Thetop turret gunner should stay in the turretuntil his plane begins circling the homefield.

About the only thing a gunner has to doat the intelligence interrogation is to claimany enemy planes he shot down. It is awise idea never to claim a fighter unlessyou are absolutely sure it was destroyed.Intelligence might check off enemy fightersin that particular area and the next timeyou and your buddies go over that territoryyou may be jumped by a lot more fIghtersthan your intelligence officer warned you of.There's no glory in claiming an enemyfighter-your primary objective is bombing,not shooting clown fighters--and if youclaim too many you are only making itharder for yourself and the rest of thecrews to gauge your opposition.

When you finish the interrogation, don'tcall it a day and head for the barracks.Go to the armament shop and clean yourguns. There may be a mission again thenext day, and it's a comfortable feeling toknow that your guns arc OK. *

AIR FORCE, ltd) 7943

t

r

The war on paperwork, that oldArmy hairshirt, has spread even toHawaii, the land of grass skirts andleis. from the pen of Lieutenant A. O.Williams of the Seventh Air forcehave come these lively sketches in-tended to encourage elimination ofreams of unnecessary memoranda,letters and indorsements. "Pau" inits literal sense is Hawaiian for "end,""complete" or "finish". In this in-stance, for all practical purposes, itmight well read, "phooey on Paper-work," or, if more dignity is preferred."let's End Useless Waste of lime."

/

SUPERFLUOUS pi, ~, '"'"APERS ,/

MAKE ARDUOUS LABORS

DON'T CAUSE Ao GREAT PRF NEEDLESS CORR EPONDERANCE

ESPONDERENCE!

~HE SADDEST WORDSINDORSE THAT OF TONGUE 0LETTER BACK R PEN-

AGAIN!"

DON'T USE THE PHONEOR CLASSIFIED, IMP FOR IDLE CHATTER

BUT FOR ALL ELSE ~~:ANT MATTER;GET THE TELEP' GOSH SAKESHONING HABIT! GRAB ITI

(.

DONE!

'\

\\: '''":,.- I''''~''r~--"

.,.,.,.~" \ Ii,>, j'\" "./(-,:)1

'''-_/ ~\i

'\TELEWOMAN ' •MAY BE 'BUT A TELEP MORE FUNHONE J 'OB IS QUICKER

/

IHE OFFICIAL SERVICE JOURNAL

~ s:~

AUGUST 1943

OF THE U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

. r '", I Jr'J. ; ( }/

OF THE U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

;7:>;;>'

THE OFFICIAL SERVICE JOURNAL

'=~"'"""=~'~~ , .b~~2~

No.8Vol. 26

AUGUST 1943

General Chenn.ault's Fight Talk toHis New Pilots. . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Our "Flight Strips'<-Their Use inWar and Peace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

A B-24 Gets Action Aplenty in aRaid on Bizerte. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11

The Story of a Bomber Pilot's Sur-vival in New Guinea 12

War in the Aleutians: FightingWeather and Japs 14

Building a Chinese Air Force inthe Arizona Desert. . . . . . . . . .. 16

What Every Pilot Should KnowAbout Traffic Control. . . . . . . .. 22

Blasting the Japs on Nauru - AStory in Pictures. . . . . . . . . . . .. 24

How to Keep Well in the IndianTheatre of Operations. . . . . . .. 27

Profile of a CO Whose ToughnessPaid Dividends . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29

Pacific Raids With B-2bs - Whythe Japs Don't Like Them. . . .. 30

Broadening the Scope of Third-Dimensional Photography ..... 32

A Production Line Method for Air-craft Maintenance 36

Supplying Troops From the SkyWith Cargo Parachutes. . . . . .. 38

New Developments in Clothing ForWar in the Air , 40

DEPARTMENTS

August Brief

Cross Country .. 1Technique 18Air Force Quiz .. 26

Snow, Sand and

On the Line .Roll of Honor .Training Aids .Sarongs. .. 4

344246

ONE OF THE FIRST assignments for newpilots of the 14th Air Force in China is atalk with their Commanding General. MajorGeneral Claire L. Chennault. An article onwhat he tells them has been written for AIRFORCE by General Chennault and it appearson Page 6 of this issue. General Chennaulthas been fighting the Japanese air forcesince 19"7 ~ as aviation advisor to theChinese government, organizer and com-mander of the American Volunteer Group,chief of the China Air Task Force andCG of the l-tth.

"FLIGHT STRIPS, II the Army AirForces' practical solution to the landingarea problem, have become a definite factorin wartime operations. Long regarded asthe "father of the 'Flight Strips' program."Colonel Stedman Shumway Hanks has takena leading role in the development of theprojects which have been set up not only inmore than a dozen States but up along thevital Alcan Highway to Alaska. On Page SColonel Hanks presents a progress reporton the wartime significance of "FlightStrips" and explores several post-war con-siderations.

IF YOU'VE ever wondered what wouldhappen to you if your bomber exploded inmid-air "vel' enemy territory, you might beinterested in the story on Page 12 whichrelates the experiences of Captain Frank P.Render who had just that happen to himover Buna when that section of New Guineawas in Jap hands. His trying ordeal inreaching his base makes Captain Bender'ssurvival story not only spectacular hut highlyinformative. Captain Bender. who is nowA-" of a Bomhardment Wing at DrewField, Tampa, Ela., saw action in the Philip-pines and Java as well as in New Guinea.

Two OFFICERS and two enlisted menrecently returned from the Aleutians havegiven Herbert Ringold of the Am FORCEstaff a graphic description of what it meansto fight J;lpS and weather in the northerntheatre. Their story appears on Page H.

THE AIRWAYS TRAFFIC CONTROLotganization. key to the network of airwaysleading pilots safely "on course" through-out the United States, has never been clearlyunderstood by many of our airmen. With

this in mind, Lieut. Colonel George C.Price. chief of staff, Flight Control Com-mand. has written an article for Am FORCr-on the organization of Airways Traffic Con-trol, how it works and the plans lin,krwayfor the future. Colonel Price's article ap-pears on Page 22.

ONE OF THE MOST devastating raidsyet made on a vital japanese industry hyAAF bombers was that which blasted enemyphosphate plants on Nauru Island in mid-April. A picture story of the raid. whichwas led by Maim Gener,t1 Willis H. Hale,Commanding General of the 7th Air Force,is presented on p,'ges 2.j and 25. The [ro n]co rer this month shows an important stepin the preparation for this raid.

THE JAPS don't like our R-2(,s andMajor Dill R. Ellis tells why in his storyon Page "0. Major Ellis returned to theUnited States recently after flying n urncrouxmissions against Jap installations as COof a R-21) squadron in the South Pacific.

EVEN in the first 'J(!mld \X'ar. an irn-portau t intelligence faLlm in determiningenernv position~ and mappiru; new adyanccswas the use of third-dimensional photogr".phy by means of the sterc.oscope. The latestdevelopment in the field of thircl.dimen-sional photography and interpretation is theVectograph, which permits entire groups toview pictures and mos.iic-. of cncrnv terri-tory simply by using polarized spectacles.Lieutenant Colonel M. E. P"rks dcscribesthis new method and its rnanv milir.uv usesin the article on Page ~2. Colonel Parks isa technical advisor on techniques of pho ..togrammctry and photographic equipmentand development at He;,d'1uarlcrs.

YOUR AIR FORCE this month has hada shave. The margins have hccn reduccdand the format trimmed to afford readersmore type and illustrative matter per squareinch and. at the same time. conserve thepaper required for each page of the puhli-cation. This trimming is accompanied hy anincrease in pages~-frorn forty to forty-eight~to permit your service journal to ket'ppace with the expanding activities of theArmy Air Forces. The increase in pagesalso is in keeping with numerous request:'-from readers for a larger publication.

AIR FORCE is primarily a medium for theexchange of ideas and information amongArmy Air Forces personnel. Opinions ex-pressed by individual contributors do notnecessarily express the official attitude of theArmy Air Forces or the War Department.

AIR FORCE (formerly the Air Forces News Letter) is printed monthly hy authority ofArmy Air Forces Regulation No. 5-6, Sept. 6. 1942, and with the approval of theBureau of the Budget, Executive Office of the President. AIR FORCE is published bythe U. S. Army Air Forces at the AIR FORCE Editorial Office, 101 Park Avenue.New York, 17, N. Y., U.S.A., for use of personnel of the Army Air Forces andallied activities, and is not to be republished in whole or in part, except hy Armyfield publications, without express permission. Direct communication with this officehas been authorized on matters of editorial content, circulation and distrihution. Tel.,MUrray Hill 5-1951; Teletype No. NY 1-2530; Director, Major .Tames H. Strauhe!. A.C.

CROSS COUNTRY/

1

Precision BOJilbillg

"As TIME GOES Bv"A Hollywood "idea" nun suddenly

found himself in the Army, stationed a.';a private at a West Coast hase. It wasn'tlong before he had developed what hethought to be the answer to the Army'sprayer. The next step, of course, was to

HANGAR OF FAME

A letter from First Lieutenant L. A.Hamilton, Tactical OtJicer of the Av i.it ionCadet Detachment at Brooks Field, Texas,tells of a special use at his station for theAIR FORCE "Roll of Honor." A "Hangarof Fame" is kept at that advanced flyingschool, listing all its graduates who havebeen decorated. So far, he writes, sixtynames have been gleaned for the BrooksField "Hangar of Fame" since AIR FORCEbegan its "Roll of Honor" feature. Thisis one convenient method hy which train-ing schools can keep track of their alumniwho distinguish themselves in combat.

ANOTHERCHUTE MISSING

Base Operations,Army Air ForcesProving Ground. Eg-lin Field, Florida, re-ports a missing para-chute, Type S-I, No.42-63129. If you lo-cale it, please returnthe chute to BaseOperations at Eglin.

vilian-at continental install.rtions ; andto fill as many of the remaining jobsas possible with limited service men,W AACs and civilian women, and over-age or permanently deferred males,"

Obviously, a small Headquarters unitlike the Manpower Division can't carryout the enti re manpower conservation pro-gram in all commands of the Air Forces.Its main job is to aid in initiating studiesin the commands, geneLdly monitor themanpower surveys, analyze results andmake recommendations. Surveys at se-lected stations will result in the estahlish-rncnt of ground rules, yardsticks andstandards for the over-all program.

Where possible, "Exact Manning Ta-bles" will be employed as it basis forpersonnel re'luests in place of Tables ofOr,l:anization, Adoption of an ExactMi\l1ning Table means a complete and ob-jective survey of an installation to deter-mine the exact number of personnel rc-qui red, rather than the allotments ofpersonnel by squad-rons or other groupunits.

Other factors in-volved include theelimination of un-necessary and/or du-p l icat ine reports,elimination of non-essential and the cur-t a i Imen t 0 f 0 v e r -ex pan ded activities,and simplification ofadministrative prac-tices and procedures.

The manpower conservationprogram, and other develop-ments of the month within

the Army Air Forces.

ARE genual service men at your station1'"1.. being used in post headquarterswork, as runners and messengers, on or-derly room clerical detail, for policinggrounds and huildings, as motor vehicledrivers and maintenance men, as officers'mess attendants?

Official reports indicate that a largepercenLl"e of the housckccpinj; and ser-vice jol~~ at Air Forces installations inthis country can be done hy personnelother than those classified for generalservice duty- lunitcd-svrvirc otJicers andenlisted men, WAACs and civilian wo-men, and male civil i.ms over military ageor those permanent Iy deferred.

How nuny oflicers and enlisted menin the Army Air Forces are en!~al:ed inunncccss.rr-,: jobs at stations with'in thecontinental limits) How milny arc per-formini, duties for which thcv arc notsuited'" How many units are ~versLlffedfor the part icular joh they arc perform-inl:) How can otJice"s and men in suchjobs and units be made available fortransfer)

The answers to these questions, andothers like them. .irc now being de-veloped. The j,(.,t. we are told, isdefinitely on. In brier a manpower con-scrv.uion prog:',un is under way in theAir Forces,

The p"ogra"l is being directed by thenewly create] ~<~npower Division, whichoperates under tilt' Chief of ManacementControl at Hc.ulqua rtcrx. T. Ie program inthe Air Forces is part of a general WarDepartment effort, supervised by the WarDepartment Manpower Board. to put theright man in the r:,:ht job and accom-plish a reduction in military personnelengaged in non-combatant activities,

Here's a statement from the AAF Man-power Division:

"The job is two-fold: to eliminateexcess manpower---both military and ci-

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

get the idea before proper ;lutho(ity.Laboriously he sold his brainchildthrough channels. Then the great dayarrived and he was standing before theColonel, a tough old compaigner. Ourhero, using his best Hollywood technique,employed "terrific," "stupendous" and"colossal" with abandon. The Colonelsat unmoved. Finally, his presentationover, the Private paused for breath. Itwas the Colonel's move. Said he: "Thatidea has merit, young man. Come backand sec me in six months." The Privatedidn't blink an eyelash. With militaryprecision he raised his arm and stared athis wrist. "Shall we synchronize ourwatches, Sir?" he asked.

MULLET KEY

Perhaps the most bombed and strafedgroup of men in the continental UnitedStates is a detachment of Army Air Forcespersonnel on Mullet Key, Florida.

Mullet Key lies about thirty miles offTampa. A strip of sand, palms and beachabout three miles long, it is used as abombardment and ground strafing range.Virtually 24 hours a day, medium bomb-ers from MacDil1 Field and Sarasota andfighters from the 3rd Fighter Commandat Drew Field raid this peaceful island,while on a tall flagpole a red-orange Aag,hung below the stars and stripes, warnsships in the vicinity to keep well awayfrom there.

The detachment is from the 97th Avia-tion Squadron at EacDill Field. It isunder the command of First LieutenantR. G. Gilliland. The last we heard therewere two white soldiers-Privates FirstClass Robert Koch of the Medical De-tachment, Base Hospital, and James Man-well, a rnechan.r-Lal] the rest, Negrotroops.

This detachment maintains the r.irure,keeps and reports scores from spottingtowers, repairs the bulls-eye panel tar-gets which line the beach, operates theradio. and performs other duties of aregular post. Retreat is an impressivelittle scene.

Facilities of the island consist of onlythree or four white clapboard buildingsand a dock. However, the unit boasts the~'smallest P~ in the Army":-a large pack-1I1g case WIth a lock on It, from whichtoilet articles and other supplies are sold.It does a business of about S 1 50 a month.

None of the soldiers has ever been hitalthough Lieutenant Gilliland admits that"some of the Ayers are a little wild."They "can scare you a little, but neverhit real close."

Morale on the key is as high as you'llfind anywhere. For example, while the~en can ~ave frequent two-day passes1I1to MacDI11 and Tampa, they practicallynever take them, even when urged byLieutenant Gilliland, and their only worryis that they'll be transferred. The rea so-t-swimming, fishing, volleyball and so c~

2

ball arc ,tll aood on this clean whi:e "of sand an,l' the weather is pleasant. Thefood is said to be absolutely tops. Andthe job is an important one in a countrythat is depending heavily on its abilityto train first-rate combat airmen in a.minimum of time.

AUTOMATIC NAVIGATOR

An automatic n.iviuator that will makepr.irtica llv all computations for the navi-gator therehy peatly simplifying deadreckoninu and oliminatiruz some instru-ments i's one of the late'st products offthe Wright Field engineering line.

Three indicators on the device con-tinuously gi\C air mileage, latitude andlongitude. Havinu set the rnileaue meterat zero at the start of a mission, the

"Scare me - I've got hiccups!"-FRITZ WILKINSON

,',l'l,,~ator has only to take off readinj.sdwing the flight to stay on course.

An averaging sextant further aids th(;navijrator in est'lhlishing his position bycelestial observation. It will record andaverage 100 readings of stars and planetsin two minutes. virtually eliminatingchance error due to speed, vibration andrough air. With the astrograph, theaerial navigator can h x his position on achart (using the sextant readings) in oneand one-half minutes.

DOCTORS OF BOMBARDIERING

From the Midland Army Flying Schoolcome reports of the outstanding successachieved by former college profs andpublic school teachers, who were roundedup to staff the ground school classes atthis bombardier "college" when instruc-tors were needed in a hurry. Thesetrained teachers, beyond the age of maxi-mum combat efficiency, offered a doublesolution-not only could they cut themustard from the teaching angle, hut alsotheir utilization relieved younger men forAight instruction and combat duty.

In finding a direct connection betweena schoolmaster and a blockbuster, theirprevious unfamiliarity with hombardier-ing did not hamper them in the least, sowe hear. It was a neat jump-from mu-sic. economics, history and chemistry totheory of bombing, fuses. analysis of re-sults and automatic pilot operation. Ofcou-se, the teachers first went throughthe entire bombardiers' course, includingthe actual bomhing of targets on thepractice range.

The teachers are said to have found noimportant differences between instructingaviation cadets and college students, ex-cept that they say the cadets are moreeauer to learn and discipline is morerigid.

One exception. A former Universitvof Wisconsin prof confesses, "We missthe co-eds."

MIX-UP IN PHOENIX

It is told around Phoenix how Chinesecadets who came to Arizona for flighttraining earlier in the war unwittin'glythrew a scare into the citizenry. The firsttime the Chinese students went into theair and used their radios, they began totalk to earh other over the inter planesets. Naturally, they spoke Chinese. Whenit was heard on the airwaves by civilianstations and others around Phoenix. itvery nearly caused an alert in the cityagainst what many thought to be a Japinvasion.

PILOT'S TEN COMMANDMENTS

In the columns of "The Flyer," publi-cation of the Reno, Nevada, Army AirBase, we found "A Pilot's Ten Com-mandments." Here they are:

1. Seat thyself well upon thy fifth ver-tebra, leaving not thy fingerprints on the

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

controls, and chewing not on thy finger-nails.

2. Know thy instruments. for they arcthe true and appointed prophets.

3. Follow the indications of thy instru-ments, and verily the airplane will followalong, even as the tail follows the sheep,

4. Do not stick out thy neck a foot;stay within the confines of thy ability. andthou shalt live to a happy all! age,

5. Know the appointed words and 'lp-proved methods; so if thy neck drapethout thou shalt be able even unto thyscl fto place same in its proper place, uponthy shoulders.

6. follow thy radio bcarn : for theirways are the happy w.ivs and will le.idto the promised land-ing.

7. Listen carefullv. VC.l verily. to thesit:ml impinging on thy eardrum. forsometimes they seem to have the tonguesof snakes and will cross up thy or ient.i-tion, to the sad state to where thou mustask Heaven itself for ~uid,mce,

8. Assume not, ~('ithcr shalt thouguess, that thy position is such. hut l'roY('to thine own satisfaction such is the case.

9. Boast not, neither hrat:: for surclvOld Devil Overcast shalt write suchwords in his book, and thou shalt, someday, be called for an JCcounting,

10. Trust not thy seat (of thy pants)but follow thy instruments: re.i.l anlltruly interpret' the word as given fromthine instrument board: k now tint the:responsibility lieth nut with the h.uid tlutrocks the control column, but in the mindthat directs the hand, and thou xh.i l! beblessed with a long and happy life.

CEILING ZERO MINUSSailors in the Armv are norhinu new.

The Army operates many kinds of boatsfor one purpose or .mother and they .HC

manned by Army personnel.But under-sea divers in the Air Forces

are rare. So far as we know, there .irconly six of them, They are under thecommand of a Navy warrant officer butare personnel of the First Proving GroundTorpedo Squadron at Eglin Field. Florida,where medium bomher crews are tr.rincdin the technique of torpedo attack,

It is the function of these divers, whohave full under-sea equipment arid aspecial boat of their own, to go out tosea during practice runs, mark the pl.iccswhere the torpedoes s.uik, and later re-trieve them.

DAMN THE TORPEDOES •••Back in the April issue we carried an

article by Captain Charles D, Frazer, en-titled "Night Mission Over the Cari]»bean," in which the author described .1

submarine hunt in a B-18. At one point,quoting the bombardier of th,lt pl.tne,the article states:

"The best time to catch (cl subn1.lrine)is when he's filling his torpe,lo tuhes, HeGlI1't dive until his tuhes arc close,1 an,1

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

that ~ives you a little buke on him. Ifhe's onlv dIM~in~ b,ltterie~, hl' r.m rr.ish-dive on'you,"- L

We'r; indebted to Capt.rin lby D. '('ar-buck, D, S, Navy, N~w,tl LiJisotl (Htilt'rat the AAF Navigation School, Sclm.inField, Alabama, f~r checking tJut st.ue-merit. Writes Captain Tarhu:k:

"In the Department of Na\'.11 Forll'sand Operations at Selman Fiel,! the stu-dents learn that suhnurincs do no: lOllleto the surface at all to relill torpc.lo lubl's,because it is accoml'lishe,l bl' brndl10'lding within the vessel. \Ve ,t!SO tc.uhth.it torpedo tubcs 0pl'n UI' ,losed ,"lIl1ll.tdeter divin~ since th« intcrlo.k s mak,' itim possible to open hot h cn.ls of the lubeH the same time,"

A checkup reveals the point in 'Iul',s-tion to be worthy of turt licr dis'lissillll,R.LSed on iuform.tt ion receiYc,! trorn f\ ,\ FAnt ixulunar inc Comm.m.l Ilc.l,l'lll.lrtLTs,our reference to the Jill ing of tl)rpnl'l

....------

"Scram, boys-I heard him say he's goingto feather hie props!"

-CPL, PAUl. .J. KAAll

tubes is open to misintl'f'j'rd.ll ion sin,ethere .irc two l'!'l1ce,lures iu vul vc.l in Ihisconnection: First, the .ut n.i l lilllllg ot t lutubes: «xon.llv, the l'l.l,ling nt the tor-pedo room with torpl'dol'S t'n'!1l Ihe .lc.kcont.iiner after the tnq'e,llles in the !'l10!1lhave been utilize.] in .ut.uk s ,tt su.

The Comrn.ind informs us:"The description llf llper.lt inn con.c-ru-

ing interlocking of ch.unl-cr« .in.] 10.1,1-ing within the vessel ,'llllL'ernS only t hcsingle operation of leu,ling thl' tuhes, Hutwhen the torpedoes ,lrl' USl'.! up withinthe room itself, then the onlv pl.l'c IT-n1.lining to ol-t.rin ruor« pl'ujnliks isfrom the ,leek nllluincr where sp.lI'Ctoq,r locs arc kept. To re.uh lite dnk,cont.uner it is ncccssarv tor the xuluu.uincto surface rompletelv: the lult'h on thelleck must be opcue.] 'lnd .I h.uch in thcpressurc hull dircdl\' hcne.lth Ihc ,Inkh.ircl: must he of'enc,l J Iso, Cr.uu-: .1I'Cwh eele.] into position f()[' rl'mo\'in.~ thc,leck torpedoes to tile tmpcclo rOO!1l 11ll-

mediate!\' below, It is helic\e,1 thai tltisoper.ltio;1 rClluires Jh,)ut t Wll III fourhours in a N.lZi suhnurinc, But. tltisoper.ltion is f'erformc,1 only onLC durillgan enlire voyal,:e Ltsting sllJ1lL'timcs two

to three months. Rltlef\' c1l;lr~ing is ,11-mos: a d.lil\' ol'lurretll~' und~'r '.I\'l'I',I~e(,ol1.lilions, (>f course. if '1 suh is <,au~'hrwith its Iutlhcs ,1')\I'n, so to s!,eak, 'the:time t.ikcn to h.lttc'll tltl' IUkhvs i,s 1I\.ll\)'mill utes beforc u dive is possible, I Icu.c,ill this illsLtn<'l' of o!'ellillg lite IUI,hvson.c in t wo or thrl'l' ruourhs t imc, lheslIh is "'lu~hl .u ~re.lkr ,lis,l,h'.lnLt~l' ih.in,1lJ[ill,~ tl\(' h,ltkr\'-llt.lrgillg ll!)~'c.llinll,wh i,'h is mu.h more fre'quell!."

lro.u [hi,s we l,<)lhlu,lv ih.u llun- woul.!h.i v« lx-cn Ill) ch.ui.« {Ol' nuxint crprvt.t-lion h.id the homh;lr,lil'l"S St.ltelllL'llt been:"Th« hest t imc: Iu ,.It,h on.- (.l suh-m.uinc) is wlu-n hc"s tilllllg his 11)1'/',-./0I',IO/!!. l!e elll't d iv« 1IIIlii his /',1/(/'" Iii:

t l-,: .I"d .irc l'll)se,! .ui.] tlut ~i\'l" vou .1

lillie hul~,. ou lum. 11 Itl.'S lll;'" ,h,lr~ill~his h.llle;'ies hl' LL ll.lsh-,ll\c on YOl;, .

BLACKOUT

;\.s IhIS slnr\, h.ls it. thl' <'ul'ilnt of .1

(r,ll\s)'"l't \\'.IS IlukiIl~ his \ir!-,-ill Iril' over.1 uort hcrr: run. Su,l,kttl\, .u IS.(1()() fl'l'l,he I'l"di/l,d th.u IllS \i~inn W.1S L;d(jll~blulre,!. Ill' h.r.] hlIt lllll' Ihu:lt:ht '-.uio x i.r ' Thc' ,u!,ilul !llIn'it"I" ,heYk",lItis m.isk Nl) Ic.iks. II" ,hnke',J therV~lIl.llllr It W,IS Ok,I\, BlIl sttll it ~rew,I.;rker, !-'J',1I1Ii,all\' lu- lucl)l,,1 III thl' 1\i1'lt,'11\,! fUUlhl hil1\ hlt,lily lIll,listurhe,1. \X'henour ''<''I'ilul kll hiIlbl,lt ,lhlllli III bl.ll'k-out lllllll'kkh he l'rvl',II""! III g.ISp int'lthe intcr.un t(lC hell" Hut hd',ll'V he go:the ,h.lllll' he hl',lr,! t l«: t11~lll ellc;ineer's\'l'I,,' •om« III: "!),lll\lI, l';is is t'he tirstluLtI ellq'sl' I cvcr S.l\\1"

A BOMBARDIER SAYSNl)w 'lIlll t lu-n, l'\l'l'\'thill~ on ,1 lxuul»

illL!: lnissintl l:,i..lL'S .tltU"lL: .t~ uuc .IS ptClIJ;til itOs til1\~' for "H~)flll,.s ,IW.l\" ,lnc!llu-n 11(1 humhs ,Ir,)!' out

TVlllllil.t! Sl'I'~l',II11 [ulin ()' Bricll, ,1vct cr.rn H __'() l'lll;1h.u,lil:r with more: tlunt\\enl\' 'lllllh.lt l1\issilH1S ov cr the hutkst-'I'UtS'III thl' S'lIIlh\\'c'St I'.h'itie to hiscrc.lit. full"ws Ill' t h.it .ouuncn! "ith ,1

kw ot hc-rx.He fel.ls th.u if ,1 h,)l1\h,lr,lin w.ints

tu m.ik« xure: Ilis h'lIllhs .irc ,In','pe,l cor-r,',ll\" hl' shoul.] Ill'st fluke' surc thl'\' .ire1",ld~'d ,'l)rrnll\" Ill' ,1,ll1\its t h.ir s~lll1e-timc-, it is iJl1pl'.lltl,.tI tu w.urh !'crson-.ill v t lu- l-oml», hcin~ Ilu,k,! illtu th« r.u ksit;", this is U{tl'll Jl)lle while' the I\lissilll~is hving hriek,l. Hut whenever J',)ssihle,the h"l1\h'lr,!ivr shllul,l hv '\l1 h.lll,1 forIhi.s ul'l'l'.lIiun .ui.] not "IlI\' kllnw wh.u' isI,vill~ d,)f\v hut vX,I,(I\' /,0'/1' .IS wvll. Hc-f,nc' IU,I,lill~. thv hoillh r.uk -houl.l herun lhrulI~l~ Iwo or t hrc« timvs to Sl'e ifit is fUthtiullillg I'rllJ'l'l'h', Th« hnl\lhs. heS.LI'S, .rrc ullim,ltel\' thv hUI1lh,lr,lin's re-Sj;llllSihility .1nJ \;l' sllllul,l know C\Tr}'-tltin,c; thnl' is tll kllllW .lbuut thl'I11, Inthis klluwlnlgl' hl' ilhluJes the setting ofthe fllse .lnd thl' ,Ihilitl' tl) lll.ll1~e thesdtin~ ur tltl' (usc ill tfi~ht. hl",II~lSe ll(-osiut;,llI}' the lll'igin.ll' Urgc't, which

3

4

TIPS FROM THE ARCTIC DESERT AND TROPIC INFORMATION CENTER

called for a scttinL:: o{ i cn .sec-ond.'will Ix (Iosed uf' ';1I1,1 ,:I~(l:;,e;', recluirine;an insr.int.uicous .se'llll,c;, will f'roentitscl f.

O'Brien also \\;HIlS a,~.lilbt (.He-\csSh.mdliru; of the- bombsi,~hL which can'tbe tossed around like a footb,tli. :\n .ir-curate time check should also be kel" .lnc1the bombsi",ht sent into a dq'ol whenthe time is up. A bombardier shoul.! .lc-velop skill in adjustin,~ 'Iuickl, to nel\'altitudes and in inst.uit lv sellin", uf' ,lif-ferent dropl'ing an,~lcs in ,lddililln toknowing si,~ht setting, so lIell he «.mmake a set without ronsr.uu lv I'durin!!to his bomb book. ' ,

finally, O'Brien advises bomb.lrllicrsin medium bombardment outfits nOI to

get itchy fingers just before the run sLu'ls.Wait until the pilot calls "level .m.] oncourse," then go to work, says he.

A "HERO" COMES HOME

Everyone expects modesty in a return-ing hero. When the home-town folks turnout in celebration, a hero is supposecl toblush and stammer, reluctant to admit hi.,bravery and exploits. That's why thcvwouldn't believe Private First Class OraG. McClain.

Private McClain, after a knee 0l'era-tion thar had no more to do with comb.\tthan a game of ",oIL received a twomonths' fur louul: early in i\brch and de-parted for his home town of Creem'i1le,Ohio. Wearing the red, white and blueribbon, indicativc of foreign scrvicc inthe Western Hemisphere, .ind hobblingon crutches, he soon found himself thecenter of attention.

Thev stared pop-eyed as he got on thetrain for St. Louis. Beautiful girls andmotherly women found excuses to en~Jgehim in' conversation. The men reg,\~d~clhim with envy and admiration.

Private McClain tried to disillusionthem but couldn't get to first base. Afteral L wasn't he an overseas veteran) Y cs,he was, with a ribbon to prove it. Andthose crutches! He looked just the type--self-conscious in civilized surroundingsafter those days an d nights of bitt~rstruggle with a knife in his teeth and abullet in his leg, coaly facing a cruel,ruthless, cunni ng, reI en tless enemy.

"But I tell you I wasn't in action,"pleaded McClain. "I haveri't been withinfive thousand miles of an enemy bullet.The reason I'm wearing these crutches isthat I had to have an operation on myknee. It was a busted cartilage."

"A cartridge1 A cartridge' You hearthat. folks?" cried an excited man. "Hewas' hit in the knee by a cartridge."

"No, no," said the embarrassed pri-vate. "It was a cartilage. It got tlo.uiru;around and giving me trouble so themedicos cut the knee open so I couldhave it dug out."

"It happened in a dugout," said some-one in the rear of the crowd. "Must

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

DESERT STATIC. To overcome the haz-ards of static electricity under desert oper-ating conditions, the nose wheels of theP-~8 and P-~9 and the tail wheels of theP-47 and P-35 are now equipped with staticinductive tires having a graphite base. Thesetires do away with individual conductorwires. After the war, they might be madeavai lahle to college boys parked in lovers'lane on moonlit nights.

DID You KNOW ••• that a planeflown continuously on a course of N.45° E. Itrue bearing) from New York.will eventually arrive at the North Pole• . • that Fairbanks. Alaska. is equi-distant from Washington. D. C.• Tokyo.and Murmansk. Russia ... that thelowest temperatures ever recorded havebeen found south of the Arctic Circle?

JEEP JAUNTS. The inventor of the jeepmust be pop-eyed by now at the legendsand deeds of his famous brainchild. Hutthis latest one tops them all. New pastimefor the boys in North Africa is shagginggazelles in a jeep, thereby solving the fresh-meat shortage and proving that the age-oldsaying "as swift as a gazelle" just meanssecond gear as far as a jeep is concerned.

FICKLE STORMS. In the SismarckSea engagement. the Nips had countedon an overcast similar to that whichpermitted the Gneisenau and Scharn-horst to escape through the EnglishChannel. They expected an existingtropical disturbance to afford cloudcover for operations for at least fivedays. During the nights of March 2 and3. however. the storm suddenly reversedIts direction and made the armada looklike sitting duckpins. Flying and bomb-ing weather is at its best after the pas-sage of a tropical storm.

ARAB ApPEAL. "S/ood chits" arenow carried by our pilots on all mis-sions over North Africa. These are writ-ten In three languages and are intendedto secure the friendship and the aid ofthe Arabs. They're as good as moneybecause the natives can cash them inas a reward for helping our airmen tosafety.

KITCHEN SINK. American airmen inthe Pacific area have found a fascinatingstudy in hits of shrapnd picked up "fter aj.ip raid. Some of the fragments are easilyrecognized as Arneric.m in origin nuts,holts, scissors frorn a wcl l-known sewing-machine makcr, pieces of farm mar hiucry,even two first-class radiator caps. The boysare looking for the radiators in the nextraid.

JACK SPRATT. In Arctic regions. youcan literally "eat yourself to death."There are numerous entries in the Northcountry log about men who've eatenhare to bursting and yet lost weight dayafter day. Hares have little fat con-tent. and fat is a vital part of the Arcticmenu. It you're ever faced with aforced hare diet. be sure to garnishyour banquet with seal or walrus blub-ber lor any other similarly delightfulfat equivalent J.

The Arctic. Desert and Tropic Information Center welcomes contributionsfrom all Army personnel with knowledge of the non-temperate theatres of op-eration. Submit to: Arctic. Desert and Tropic Information Center. Eglin Field. Fla.

PHANTOM ICE. Alaskan fiyers havereported several cas"s of willg-icing in ap-parently c!e,H air. Theoretically, this isn'trossihJe since visihle moisture in the forrnof suhcooled water must he present to formwing-icc. AAF pilots encountering a condi-tion producing wing-icc in apparently clearair are requested to report the followingdetails to the nearest weather olJice: (a)condition of the sky; (h) tcrnperature ; (c)altitude; (d) looking at the sun-ice crys-tals or halo or both,

have been a shell fragment. Got one inthe elbow myself at Chateau Thierry."

"Please, please, don't misunderstand,"begged McClain. "I don't want anyoneto think I'm a hero when I'm not. Ihaven't seen a minute of action yet."

To complicate matters, a Marine,loaded down with a Japanese rifle andhelmet, got aboard and immediately cameover to visit, further convincing everyonein the car that the trophies actually hadbeen captured by our Private McClain.

And so, on and on it went until theyreached St. Louis. In the crowded UnionStation there, police and gate guardscleared a path through wbich the dis-comfited AAF soldier hobbled in triumph.Servicemen and civilians alike steppedaside, and from all around came cheersand benedictions.

"God bless you, son," "Hip, hip hoo-ray," and "We'll blow those monkey-faced Japs into smithereens," were someof the shouted messages. But by this timehe had given up trying not to be a hero.He found it easier just to relax. So hebowed, smiled and waved in all direc-tions to the roaring delight of the throng.

But finally he found someone to be-lieve him. It was when he reached home,His wife. But of course she probablythinks he's a hero anyway. (Our thanksfor this one to Captain Richard D. Grant,6th Air Force.)

GOOD NEWS FOR PROSPECTIVE FATHERSThe Children's Bureau of the United

States Department of Labor is makinggrants to public health agencies of thevarious States in order to provide medical,nursing and maternal and infant hospi-talization for the wives and children (un-der one year of age) of enlisted men ofthe seventh through the fourth grades,irrespective of legal residence or financialstatus.

Application forms may be obtainedfrom State and local health agencies,home service of local Red Cross chapters,prenatal clinics, other community agenciesand physicians. The form must be signedby the enlisted man's wife and by her at-tending physician. It is necessary that thehusband's Army serial number is in-cluded.

CLUB NOTESOur editor in charge of the Keeping-

Track-of-New-Clubs Department comesforward with fraternity news, Recentlyorganized in North Africa among airmenis the "Point Snorkers." This new societyimitates to a certain extent the "ShortSnorters" in the use of a membershipcard, but instead of a dollar bill the"Point Snorkers" carry a five-franc At-,gerian note. It is furnished by the can-didate for membership himself, after heIus proved his eligibility by growing amustache which points toward his ears.Once a member, a snorker cannot remove

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

the lip adornment unless by order ofhigher command or upon return to theStates.

Failure to produce his membershipcard when asked to do so by a brothersnorker results in the careless memberforking over five francs to all membersin the immediate vicinity.

Our editor in charge of the KTONCDpasses on the further tidbit that a snark-er's mustache must be of such dimensions

Emblem of the "Goldfish Club" Cbelowl isworn by RAFers who've had to swim fortheir lives. "Late Arrivals Club" membersdisplay the boot above. signifying they havereturned to base on foot from a mission.

that it can be clearly seen from a distanceof 100 feet. Major Charles R. Greeningis Chief Doozer and other charter mem-bers, all members of a medium bombard-ment group, are Majors Farrell 1.. Bowenand Marius P. Hanford, First LieutenantsLee E. Romine, Jack E. Ryan, William R.Kemp, John E. McClure and GeorgeBeall, Master Sergeant James J. Flanagan,Technical Sergeant Harvey J. Belser, StaffSergeants Ferdinand A. Watson, Jr.,Maurice A. Davis and Herbert 1.. San-ders, and Sergeant Philip C. Croyle.

Then we have club news from the

RAF. Newest with them, we he.ir, is the"Goldfish Club," made up of those whohave had to swim for their lives or putin "dinghy hours," as they say. This out-fit has a fancy badge, portraying a white-winged goldfish on a black backgroundskipping over two blue waves. It's wornover the right pocket of the battle dressor under the lapel of the regular blouse-like a detective's badge. The first mem-ber to bring the smart emblem of thisquaint society to this side of the pondwas Flight Lieutenant Johnny Tett, RCAPnavigator attached to the RAP, who re-cently returned from two years' overseasservice. He also holds membership in theancient "Caterpillar Club" and the newer"Late Arrivals Club," to which member-ship is gained hy returning on foot tobase from a mission. The winged boot ofthe "Late Arrivals Club" and the emblemof the Goldfish Club are pictured here.

COLLEGE CREDITS EXPLAINEDIf you go back to school or college

when the war is over, you can receive fullacademic credit for educational worktaken while in the Army.

Upon completion of a correspondencecourse with the United States ArmedForces Institute, the Registrar will havea record of your achievement. If youfinish a training course at a trainingschool, your record can also be placed onfile with the Institute. And if you enrollin a voluntary, off-duty class, you cantake a special examination ancl have theresults placed on record. The Institutewill send your entire record to any school,college or employer requesting it.

For enlisted men who do not take ad-vantage of the Institute's educational ser-vices, an opportunity is offered to take aneducational matur ity test. This is a surveyof your general knowledge, designed todiscover what you have learnecl duringyour military service which may be ofvalue in formal school work. These testswill be administered upon request, theresul ts recorded wi th the Institute, andreported to schools and colleges as eVI-dence of educational maturity. This evi-dence will serve as a basis for assignmentof academic credit.

The tests for use at the high schoollevel will consist of comprehensive objec-tive examinations in each of five majorfields of educational development, includ-ing correctness and effectiveness of ex-pression and the ability to interpret read-ing materials in the social studies, or thenatural sciences or literature. A test ofg~neral mathematical ability will also begIven,

A similar but more difficult range oftests will be established by their tryoutwith groups of high school seniors andcollege freshmen. Separate standards willbe fixed for schools in different geo-graphical regions and of different typesand sizes,-THE EDITOR.

5

IS 01](An early assignment for new pilots ofthe 14th Air Force in China is a talk withtheir commander. General Chennault.Here. in part. is what he tells them.l

FLYIN(, in China is different from anv-thing you have ever done. Your rr.iin-

ing has he en good, hut you have a lotmore to lc.i r n. It will take at least an-other twenty to thirty hours in the air outhere hefore'vou are 'ready to Ay missions.

Your first prohlcrn is to learn how fafi11l1 your way around China. Getting lostover China is a simple matter. Most ter-rain patterns look alike. It is almost im-possible to tell one valley or mountainrange from another. Rivers. terraced ricepaLiLlies and villages all look alike. Thereare few landmarks and fewer names onChinese nMps tlLlt r.ui he re'ldily recog-nized. Roads and r.ulro.nls are scuce.

\X'e.lther changes rapidly and violently.You r.m seldom Ilv for 100 rni lr-, withoutencountering a weather change. l:nderthese conditions pilotage is almost impos-sihlc, Much of your Aving will be oninstruments, and' you n{usl rely entirelyon r.idio and compass for [uvi,gation.

It you get lost don't w,lsle ,gas fiym,g astraight course. The minute vou get intotrou!)le circle for lin' minut~s We h.ivca r.idio reporting net th.it will pick vouup and ",ive you a course to the nc.u csthase. This net extends throughout Chinaand also gives us weather rej\orts .in.l airraid waminp. The Chinese people h.iveheen wcl l trained in the o pcr.u ion of thenc-r. It has lunct iono.l well for scvc r.i lyears. \X1hen you get into trouhle you c.independ on it.

Scores of our p!:lnes han' been ,!2uideds.lfeh' home hy the net. :\1.1I1\" of our menwho hJ\T been forced dO\\11 li.iv« heenfound hv OpC'r'ltorS of Ihe,)"sle'm. If younuke a forced landin,g. don't w.tIl,lerawav from lour pl.urc. The net will rq)ortyour Ltndin,g .in.] disp,ltch friendlyChinese to lind vou.

In rombar you arc pout of a lc.un.Ne\'er for"et that. Tc.un-vor], is the h.hisof all our'tactics an,l one o{ the princij).dre.ixons for our low lu,.,es. Our fightertart i.s .uc h.lsed 011 the I.ur that' rwoplanes work in.r together .uc more eti"ec-t ivc th.in thr~e or four I'bnes li,ghtingas ifldivldu,tls. ,\Iv- men IL1\e {,]uc,:ka,l.:.l;nst OLLis of fivc: and tell 10 one \\'itht hc«. [,ldics 'lnd won ,on,i,tcnlly v.it hsm.il l )o",cs. Thcv han' hu'n l're)ved inb.itt lc .uu] the:- J:lj';lI1c'e .lont like them.

Our homhin,l.: mi"iun:; l.lJ! for evenmore tum\\ ork . -ion .IIld .u r ,j~,.i-

6 ~dR FORCE. August. 1943

B't Muje qen. elul4e .P. e~u1iCOMMANDING GENERAL, 14TH AIR FORCE

pI inc. Day bombers never go out withoutfighter escort. We have worked out asystem of escorting bombers that makes itimpossible for Jap fighters to get at ourbombers without first tangling with ourfighters. This gives our bombardiers thetime ,l1ld security for del iberate and ac-curate runs over the target. As a result,our targets take a beating and we seldomlose a bomber.

You must use the strong points of yourequipment and deny the enemy the advan-tages of his equipment. Each type ofpianc has its strong points and weak-nesses. The pilot who can turn his advan-tages against the enemy's weakness willwin every time. You can count on ahigher top speed, faster dive and superiorfirepower. Japanese planes have a fasterrate of climb, hiuher ceiling and shorterradius of turn. ' c.

Japanese fighter planes were built forturning combats. If they can get vou intotheir kind of fight they arc deadly. Useyour superior speed and faster dive tonuke a pass at your op poncnt , get in aquick burst and then brc.ik away. Youha \e the edge in that kind of combat.All your advantages are brought to bearon the Japanese deficiencies. Never getinto a long continued turning combat.

You need to sharpen your shOal ing eye.Nobody ever gels too good at gunnery.The more Japs you get with your firstbursts, the fewer arc left to jum P you.Accurate l!:unnery saves ammunition.Your plan« carrie» a limited number ofbullets. There is nothing worse than find-ing yourself in a fight with empty guns.

You will face Japanese pilots supcrblvtrained in mechanical flying. They havebeen drilled for hundreds of hours inflying precise formations and rehearsingset tactics for each situation they may en-counter. Japanese pilots fly by the book.They have plenty of guts but lack initia-tive and judgment.

They go into hattIe with a set tacticalplan and they stick to it. Their bomberswill fly a tight formation through thetoughest pursuit as precisely as thoughthey were in an air show over Tokyo.Their pursuits always pull the same tricks.God help the American pilot who tries tofight them according to their plans.

The object of our tactics is to breaktheir formations and make them fight ac-cording to our style. Once the Japelnesepilot is forced to deviate from his plan,

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

he is in trouble. They lack the ability toimprovise and react instinctively to newsituations. Their rigid air discipline canbe used as a strong weapon against them.

The Japanese pilots you will face overChina arc only slightly less skilled dunthose we fou,l!:ht two years ago. The Jap-anese seem to have speeded LIp theirtraining program to meet the demands ofcombat. As a result, their newer pilots lackthe polish of the older China veterans.

All Japanese pilots arc good gunners.They use deflection shots almost exclu-sively. However, their guns don't havethe range or destructive power of Ameri-can aerial guns. The Japanese 20 mrnaerial cannon is heavier th.in any of theguns we carry out here, but it lacks therange of our .50-caliber machine C;Llnsdue to a low muzzle velocity. J'lp~;neseaerial armament is c;eneral I\' not effectiveat a range of over :ZOO yards.

Japanese pl.incs are still made fromgood materials, but the workmanship isnot up to the sr.ind.n d of the materials.The light materials that give enemyplanes their maneuverability also makethem hard to maintain. The Iight partswon't stand repairs. Even slight damagewill put a plane out of commission. Theydon't hold up under heavy fi reo

Our planes can take a beating and still

be patched up to fly and fi,,,ht '1,"JinMany times the ruggedness of our .i ir-planes was all that kept us in the fight.

China has been at w.ir for six vcar:and Chinese pilots haw been in the I~atllcfrom the beginning. Some of these vet-erans will be fighting with you in Ameri-can planes. Other Chinese pilots h.iv« re-ceived the same training in Amerir.inflying schools as you did. They arc goodpilots and do their job well in battle.

In the early days of the Sino-Japanesewar the Chinese pilots fought }lpanesebombers to a standstill as long as theirpl.tnes lasted. Over Nanking in 1937,they shot down -12 bombers in two weekswh'ile losing only six of their own planes.They forced the Japs to try night bomb-in,l!: and then, with only a week's trainingin night flying, they went up as nightfighters and stopped the new Japaneseassaults. One Chinese pilot got threebombers on his first two night Hights onconsecutive nights.

Chinese pilots were the first to Hy overJapan and the first to raid Formosa. Theydid that in 1935 with Martin B-l0 bomb-ers. Chinese pilots have plenty of nerveand are superior to the Japanese in indi-vidual comhat. They have better judgmentand headwork in rapidly changing situa-tions. The Japanese are better in forma-tion work.

Six years of invasion have sowed hitterseeds of hate in China. The Chinese willnever stop fighting until the Japanese arcdriven from Chinese soil. One of the rea-sons for China's resistance to the Japan-ese lies in the fact that every Chinesehas something he considers worth light-ing for. Even the poorest coolies withonly a dirt mud hut will fight to keep it.You can never concluer a nation like that.

And that's something for you to re-member. {:

1

IJll',,) '/ /) /)1/

,I' ~J / I"J"I//

fOR WAR AND PEACEPROJECT OFFICER FOR 'FLIGHT STRIPS,' ARMY AIR FORCES

A :",T~jBER of unassuming but impor-t.mt patches of concrete have "p-

peareLl since the start of the war in thecountrysides of more than ;l dozen Statesand ,;p along the Alum Highway toAL"b.

These are '"Flight Strips"--tht ArmyAir Forct' practic,ble and workable solu-tion to the I'roblem of developing prop-er ly located and adequately maintainedlanding areas.

The "Flight Strip" program has defi-nitely progre.ssed beyond the experimentalstage. I state rh.it with meaning. It hasbe~n my good fortune to .ut ,;s ProjectOrlicer for the program since its birth andto have followed it clos':ly, slep by step--or inch bv inch- eV<:J since. So oftenhan: I di~cussed it in the future tensethat it is a pleasure to report on actualaccomplishments and on what experiencehas shown regarding future possibilities.

Now it can be reported that the "FlightStrip" program has surpassed our fondestexpectations. Moreover, I have reason tobelieve that it will prove to be one ofaviation's most far-sighted developments.

First and foremost is the wartime utilitvof "Flight Strips" in this country. "Fligl{tStr ips' tod.iy are being used by the ArmyAir Forces in several aspects of flightrr,lining. in tactical operations includingthe dispersal of military aircraft, in anti-<ubm.uine work, in the ferrying of .ur-craf t :lI1l1 the transport of car~o. Thevhave proved suitable for gliJer opera-tions. They will be LlseLI as auxil iarvfields in connection with the standardize~!control of l11 ilitary .u rcraft. And theyh.ivc .i 'pecial role in the air defenseplans for this country.

All this is in .ul d it iou to the use of"Flight Stri p," .l' emergency ficltb. Th.itthe "Strips" .He .u ta in iru; our originalobjectives is evident from the reportsbeing received.

Even heiore they were finished. at every"Flight Strip" site on the West Coa-t .indin the Middle \'\1est where it was possible

8

to land on a shoulder. plane, came downon the: "Strirs" when it was impossiblefor them to re.u.h their objectives bee.ruseof had weather or bck of fuel. Theplanes included a p- 3S in Oregon. a Navysingle-SLIter in Ar izona, a Douglas trans-port in California . More than once our"Strips" have prn-ented bail-outs.

Dozens of erncrccnrv lamlings havesince been nude 'on 'finishcLl' "FJi~htStrips." The casc of the 13-2~ th.u 'en-countered storms while flying up the Ll.stCoast was ty!'!c.,l. The pilot wa, hUlledfor Lw,eley Field, Virjrinia, hut .in ex-tremely low cej]in~ shut him out fromthat airport. The 110mc iield at Dover,

Delaware, W'lS also closed in. The pilotfound that a 'loo-foot ceiling existed overa Vi rginia .. Fl ight Strip." and broughtthe plane safely in to this landing area.

Perhaps the best working example ofw.rrt.imc usc of '"Flight Strips" can befound along the Alcan Highway to Alaska,under an agreement hel ween the govern-ments of the United States and Canada.

"Flight Strips" have for several month,been in usc along the Alcan Highway, andthe entire "Fllgllt Strip" program for theHighway is just about completed. Theyform tble first chain of inreruarion.rl l.md-ing areas.

'Because of the precedent th.u h,l' heenestahlished. and becllIse the program 'ISit applies to the Alcan Highway illus-tr;lles the newest develol'ment in "FlightStrips." it might be well to go into somedet.ril on this phase of the opeLltions. To\v'<.:in with, it is essential to understandsome of the h'lckground.

THE Alr.m Highway, hasic.tlly, was de-veloped as an overland route [0 link .ur-craft landing arC1S and not, as is generallysupposed, an out-and-out truck suppl;:route. The need for a series of lnndim,areas from the United States to AI'lsLIwas real ized years ,lgO. and hy no onemore defin itely than by General Arnold,our Commandinj; General, who in 19.3-!led ,1 flight of H-I 0 bombers to Alaska.

General Arnold thought in terms of"Flight Strips" and inst~ucted me to ex.plore the possibilities of placing such"Strips" in Canada, But the Canadian"overnment which governed selection of81e highw;:y route,' preferred to selectsites for airports and to develop existingairports and build others instc.ui of"Fli:..;ht Strips." Finally the C:orps ofEngineers was instrurtc.l by the Presidentto connect the Canadian airports hy J

road so supplies and equipment could hesent along the route.

At this point it might he well to men-tion the unheralded hut important I,Llceaircraft and airmen have played in theconstruction of the road itself. Underthe pressure of speed, normal road-loca-tion procedure. thorou gh ground recon-naissance and c1ahoLlte' SUI\ cv and stak-ing work-- generally h.id to b~ dispensedwith. The usc of aerial photographsproved to be the answer. Also, pontoon-equi pped ohscrv.rtion planes proved to beideally suited for the early rcronnaiss.mccwork.

Due to the difficulty of making surveysand loc.lting the route, ai rplanes flewengineers, supplies and equipment aheadof the actual road construction, Campswere set up and the engineers beuanbuilding trails in both directions. Bvestablishing such camps by airplane ;don.~the proposed route, it was possible forconstruction parties to begin building thehighway at many different points aloru;the route, In all cases. the camps were

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

-<'500 ft.'\ /'

Minimum Y

How these new type landingareas have gone to war, inthis country and along theHighway to Alaska; and somepost-war considerations.

supplied by plane with food. personneland m.ril and miscellaneous equipment.

Then. too, the airplane was essential incase of emergency. List fall, for inst.inrc,.ilonj; the Alean route an enlisted manhad a ruptured appendix. With all othertransportation facil ities closed out byweather, there was no wav of saving h islife except by flying in m~',lical aid. 'TwoArmy doctors were flown in to a ne'lrhy"Flight Strip." Trucks on the roadlighted up the "Strip" so the pilot couldland. The doctor, performed the opera-tion. the m.ms life \\',IS s'l\ed, and thepilot Hew the doctors back to their base.

But. you may ask, what about theCanadian airports? \)(fell. first of all. theairports are localed near towns whichwere built up from old tmding posts. Notso with the .. FI i,c:ht St ri ps.' for weatherand terrain arc our first considerations,and vital rousider.u ions along the Alaskanroute. For inst.u«c, the weather at a cer-tain important airport along the route isvery uncertain, Conditions change rapid-ly. If this port is closed due to zero-zerovisibility, as it often is, there is a "FlightStrip" along the Highway to the northand south. A pilot can lor.ue both these"Strips" by following the Highway. Also,the "Flight Strips" have been laid out sothey can be enlarged at any time to meetour expanding requirements. This is notalway« true of the airports, which wereoriginally built to handle light planes ofthe pioneering "bush" pilots,

Bemuse an adequate conanunicationsservice is essential for the route, the U. S.

PI,," of4R "Flight Strip"

at Sea LevelThe length of the paved run~W«Y is .increased 500 ft. foreac;il 1000 ft. above sea level.

Signal Corp'. at our re'luest, Ius builtsuch ,I cornmun icat ions line. It include"repeater st.u ions and a TWX sysleill.Then the Army Air h11Tes We,lthu Su-vice established weather ohscrv.it ion st.r-tions and weather Iorecaxtirn; xr.u ion-,along the route. These st.ition-, .uul thecommunications lines are roordiu.uc.lwith the "Flight Strips." As ,I pilot fliesover a ''Flight Strip" he can rCLl'i\e byshort-wave radio a complete wc.uucr re-port. which is sent over the T\VX systelllon the Highw'IY for the cntir., route.

THF mere fact that J highway, e'lsilydiscernihle from the .iir , run- from thiscountrv to A lask ,I ILl' <.::ivcn (,)n ti,lence toinexpe'rienced pcrsolln~'1 ilyin,L: th« routeand h.is proved to h.ivc 'I m.irkcd clfecton the morulc of fc-rryin,g pCl'.sonne!.Markcr-, arc hciru; construcled on theground along the

L

High W,l}' route. Incase pilots should get too far to the leftor right of the Highway, thc,e markersarc easily visihle from a distance.

Air Transport Command pilots of theAl.isk.in Wing now flying the northernhop use the 'TI i,dlt Strips" Alcun High-way Map. This map shows them wherr-the "Flight Strips" are located, in rclation to airports, where the weather sta-tions are, and other important landmarkseasily discernible for contact flying,

Shelters have been built at each "FlightStrip" along the route. These sheltershouse approximately eight men, A stove,kind! in;..; wood, axe and other emergencyequipment are al wav« available in theshelter, as is the telephone connecting the"Strip" with the nearest repeater stationcommunications system,

There is hound to be considerable difIi.culty with sickness and emergency situa-tions among the personnel operating theHighway. "Flight Strips" will keep therest CUl1pS and other sections of the High-

9

way in immediate contact with the larperbases or command ho.i.lquarrers. \Vhensections of the road arc unusable at ccr-r.iin times of the year due to bridgesheing washed out and the like, "FlightStril~S" will play another important r~le.

"Flight Strips," by the way, are shownon all aeronautical charts by a specialsymbol. Two windsocks are on each"'Strip" and in many cases these socks areli;:hted. The runway is always built in thedirection of the prevailing wind.

All "Flight Stri r-" located on ,I civilairway become staging fields or auxiliarylanding areas on a rq:ular Air Transportroute. Those located off civil air routesare being developed so they can be usedfor training without interfering with or-dinary commercial or military air tralEc.

Ail "Flight Strips" have been con-structed at the recluest of a commandinggeneral of one of the Army Air Forcescommands and authorized by the AirStaff.

In establishing a "F1ight Strip," everyeffort is made to obtain all ava il.ihlc in-formation regarding mer coro lor ira l con-ditions in the areas being considered. Inaddition. local farmers arc inrcrvicwe.]for further information re,g,lrding thepctul iar characteristics of the location.Sur vel'S must be made of at least 1 'j()

sites to be assured of obtaining fIfty suit-able locations.

Because many of the present Armyair bases are former airports, there arcvarious limitations to extending runwayson these fields. This is due to the sur-rounding terrain and buildings and theproximity of the fields to cities. In m,l11ycases the cost of improving existing air-ports, compared to the cost of building"Flight Strips," is prohibitive.

IN one of the defense commands whereit is difficult to obtain sites for airfields,several "Fl iuh! Strips" are being used assub-bases. This means that housing facili-ties have been erected near the "FlightStrip" area for troops. In another sectionof the country. approximately eip:ht"Fliuhr Strips" have been ascigned to dif-ferent Army air bases as auxiliary fieldsfor heIpinp: the trainiru; program. The"Strips," however, remain as part of thehighway system.

One air force in this country is rnak-inp: first and second phase stations at-ome "Flight Strips" for heavy bombard-ment aircraft to step up the training pro-,gram. Reports from overseas indicate thataircraft in the various theatres of opera-tion must f requcnt ly use landin,g areaswhere only one runway is available.Training officers are of the opinion thatif pilots have been given some trainingon a sinp:le runway type of landing are:"hefore receiving orders for overseas dutythat they are better prepared for condi-tions in the combat zones.

Another air force 15 using three

10

THESE 'FLIGHT STRIPS'DEFINITION

A "Hi,ellt Strip" is an area of lanJ \\;tllc!ell' appro,'ches. located as a part of ahit;hway riuht-uf-w.ry or adj.iccnt to a pub-lic hiuhwav on public land. for use as .inaux ili.irv landing area for aircraft. (0,otc"The highw'ly itself is not med fur lIreLll1din,C;and r.ike-off of aircr.rf t.}

PROCEDURE"Flight Strips" are authoriz e.] by an Act

of Cr>nt;IT\S and constructed by PublicRoads Adrmni-tr.u io» in str<ltcgicd arl-<lSclesit;n:lted bv the Army Air Forces. Theyarc rn.i in tuincd by State Highway Dep.u t-ments following completion.

TYPES

To facilitate the design, constructionand descriptir>n of the paved runway sec-tion s on "Flight Strips," the followinglengths. widths and other design criteriahave been aJr>pted:

a. The .iR,O "FI ight Strip" is for usebv tactical airplanes, including med-ium bumb.irdrncnt airplanes. Thistype is sari.shetr>ry for use bv nHlstt r.mspurt airplanes. The paved St"C.t iun of the runway is 1 'SO' in \\",,: ,hhv .1.000' in lcnuth, corrected foraltitude, and designed for a gl"llSS

lo,t.d of ;0.000 pounds.b. The )R-IFli:~ht Strip" is for usc

bv hC:lvy bombardment a irpl.mes, in-cludinl( the B-\7 and B-2.!. T'C'p,lvcd'section of the runway is 1)0'in wid th by 5.000' in len-ith, co r-reeted for altitude, and d{'si:'~ned fora ,,,ross load of 71.000 pounds.

c. The fJR120 "Flight Strip" is for useby heavier airplanes than any nowin (lpnation. The paved section is150' in width hy 6,000' in lcnuth,ClllTtlfed for altitude. and desi"!]edf"r a ~rnss load of 120,000 pounds.

d. Tilt" SR 120 "Flight Strip" is usc«]{(II" instrurncnr lanJing opcr.u ions.The paved section is 150' or more inwidth hy H.OOO' in length, correctedfor al t itu.ie and designed for a gross]o"d of 120.000 pounds or more.

"Flight Strips" for tactical operations forfip:hter aircraft and two "Strips" for me-dium bornhar drncnt aircraft.

Apl'roximately six "Flight Strips" inone of the training commands arc beinglighted. This is being done by the instal-lation of portable lighting equipment. Ifthese "Strips" prove satisfactory in the firstand second phases of training, some ofthem may he used as third phase stations,

The "Flight Strip" principle has beenused in seYer,t! over seas theatres, wheretheir use as auxi l i.iry landing areas anddispersion points for military aircraft hasbeen of great strategic value.

Since the "Strips:' are large and can beused by any type of plane, we are fre-quently asked whar will preYcnt enemyaircraft from using these landing areas inthe event of an invasion. Some "FlightStrips" are omoufhged; others are not.If a "Strip" is within a certain distance: ofcoastlines or the Gulf of Mexico and isused regularly our military forces, it

may be camoutlaged or toned down. BUl

the point is that all "Flight Strips" mu-tbe protected, either by local civilianguards arranged for throuuh the localcommunities, by the Public Roads Admin-istration of the Federal Works Agency, orthrough the Office of the Provost Marshal.It may take troops and they may have tohave anti-aircraft !,uns. The defensivestrength of "Flight Strips" lies in the factthat we can have many "Strips" for usein case one of them is taken by the enemy.If the enemy takes an ai rport, the entirecombat force is made useless.

No attempt has been made III the de-veloprnent of "night Strips" to usc theselandinu areas as a basis for the construc-tion of more elaborate instal lations. Infact, the desire to develop the "Strips'into conventional ai rports has been re-sisted in order that the value of "Fli:..;htStrips," as such, mal' be determineLl' hyuse of these facilities as originalh'planned. It Ius been found, ho'wC\c;,that certain "Fli{,ht Strips" possess opeLl-tional charartcr istics which warrant con-t iiue.] tartir.il use. In these instanccs,housing and technical facilities have beencon:;tmcted on land adjacent to the"Strips."

A final wartime consideration is thefact that less than one percent of criticalitems have been used in the developmentof all "Flight Strips" to date. This is dueto the fact that the policy of using localmaterial has been clearly established.

In addition to their wartime use,"Flight Strips" promise to playa majorrole in domestic post-war aviation. I willnot go into that discussion at length be-cause right now we have a war to win.But in passing I submit these few, brieflyexpressed thoughts.

The location of airports has paralleledthe location of cities, and cities were builtirrespective of weather or terrain-as theyapply to aviation. Many of these airportsare not only unequipped to accommodatethe ai rcraft of the future, but cannot heexpanded to handle such aircraft. Weknow that airports in our large cities areoften closed in by purely local conditions,principally fog and smoke. We also knowyou can build just so many airports in agiven city and that an airport can takecare of just so much traffic. Assuming asubstantial increase in air traffic, we canappreciate the need for auxiliary airfieldsoutside the city belt dominated by fog,smoke and congestion. Finally, for arc.isnot near cities, we know that the cost ofconstructinp: and maintaining the hugeairports needed to handle our futureplanes is likely to prohibit the expansionof air traffic on a substantial scale ott thecstahlishc.] air routes.

"Flight Strips" can be built almost any-where space is available, without reg,udto cities. Weather and terrain are first

(Continued 0/1 Page 48)

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

HELL OVER BIZERTEA co-pilot's story of bloodand bullets in a 8-24 during abombing raid in North Africa

IT was the day after Christmas. . . .We took our regular place, number

three in the last element of the formation,and off to Bizerte we went. We flew eastpast docks south of the town just farenough to miss the flak.

Swinging north and back west for ourrun on the target we could see the flakhopping all around the planes in the firstdement. I knew it would get worse aselement after element of three ships cameU;' to the bomb release line. And ourB-21 was the last of the group.AIR FORCE, August, 1943

Every plane was leaving a beautifulvapor trail to guide the flak and fightersto us. Now we were in the stuff. It wasbursting all around in those greasy blackpuffs. Many times the ship bounced froman explosion. Someone in the rear calledout, "We're hir." but no difference couldbe felt on the controls, and Harry Law-rence and I were busy. It was time for thebombs to go. We were loaded with sixone-thousand-pounders. I watched thebomb release light blink six times.

I turned then for a look at Tom Bor-ders, flying number two in the Birming-ham Blitzkrieg, to see his bombs go.I've always had a mania for watchingthose beautiful golden eggs come slidingout. This time I wish I had curbed mycuriosity, for just as my eyes found himthere was a blinding flash and the loudest

explosion I've ever beard. I saw the tailof Tom's ship fly backward; then downtoward the ground five miles below. Itwas the only visible piece of the ten-mancrew and airplane. A direct flak hit inhis bomb bay bad set off three tons ofTNT. When the flash and smoke clearedthere just wasn't anything left.

But right now we were having ourown troubles. I remember saying, "Poorboys, God bless them," and, in the sameinstant I saw our right wing tip curl up.About three feet had been broken off bythe explosion. Number three and num-ber four engines were just starting toburn. The rest of the formation turnednorth to avoid the flak, but we were toobusy to turn and began to fall back fast.

Right down flak alley we flew. Theconstantly (Continued on Poge 44)

11

Prepared by the Arctic, Desert and Tropic Information Center

THE flight of fiye B-2'5s scrambled offthe P~rt Moresb}' strip for .in egg-

byin,g jaunt over the J;IP shippin~ roostat G,lsnuta in New Britain. The date wasJuly 2(), 1912. The time: early rnor ninjz.

"lhcv never reached the target area.Twent). Zeros jumped them at 12,000feet oyer Buna, swarming in from everydirection.

ClpLlin Frank P. Bender saw fourZeros go down, saw one of the B-2'5s hitfelt hi~ own ship sluvcr under ;tmdder:blow, sensed shrapnel ripping into hisleft leg. The nose of his plane dropped.The wheel snapped back into his lap.\''/ith control cables d'lngl ing uselessly,the ship went into a steep glide.

Bender ordered his crew to hit the silk.The two rear gunners got out. Then theship caught fire. The co-pilot started forthe escape hatch. Bender, looking back,S;1W him reach into the flames for the re-Ie.isc-i--and miss it, saw him sucked into aiJbzing he II. Flaming fabric peeled off thecontrol surfaces. The ship went into aspin, hopelessly out of control. Bender,wed,t:ed helplessly in the cockpit, waitedror the end.

The rest isn't clear. There was an ex-

12

plosion --perhaps the gas, perhaps thebombs or the ox I'!.;en. Render came to atwhat he thinks' ~vas about :,>,000 fee~~thrown clear of the ship. His eyt:s werefixed on an enormous object under hisleft armpit. He pulled it. The chuteopened.

There was pain in his right knee,gashed somehow when he parted com-pany with the ship. It didn't much mat-ter just then. In the distance he saw thewreckage of the plane. Below him ran astream, bordering a native garden: hecould tell by the clearing and the isolatedtrees in the center. It loo'ccd good. Helanded in a young tree on the edge of thesrrc.im : and when it broke under hiswei:;ht, he slid to the ground, wrenchinghis back.

Bender crawled on to the jungle earth.dazed, his leg bleeding heavily. He hadcome down six miles from Buna. Thetime was 0900. He looked oyer the clear-ing. He knew there were natives about, forhe could sec their machetes lying around.Apparently, they had run off in terror.

As he sat there waiting, he got out hisjungle kit and took inventory. Except forthe bleelling mess of his right knee and

A bomber pilot's story of sur-vival in New Guinea.

the shr.i pncl wound on his left foot. hewas all there. He still Iud his I'istol. .ui.lhis G.!. boots were on his teet. He: S.ltthere \\'iliting.

Twenty minutes went by. He km\\ thenatives were nc.i r for he «oul.l smell therancid coconut oi I they smcilred mer \hll rhodies. He hegan to' shout "T:lbalLt:'.~:Motu;ll1 for '~\\hite friend." A childscampCfed out of the hush, then another.He,itantly at lirst, then with powin,C: nm-fideme. Then «.unc the adults. liltuin,~h.lck into the clearing from which thu'had fled. lscn.icr hegiln to win themover. He held out his \nsil:;ni;l, his \\':lnd hars. That did the trick. Some ofrutin's reached for them. some wen; h,l<"1.:.into the bush to summon others.

A I I:Mll:R c.une forward. the: prolld pos-sessor of a few words of English. Renclercame: throuul: with ;1 littlei\lotu,l11, J.

little EnglisL, a L:rClt de,ll of .irrn-w.rvm z.and turt~ecl on \~.lut he hoped ""ch a \\'i;1-niru; smile. He asked to he carried to thenc.i e:st mission, motioning down thepaths r'ldiating from the ckarin:!. Then.u ivc« lin;d!y understood. But first thcvhelped Bender reach the scene of hispL\lle'S wreckage. There he faun,! thebodies of his hombardier and cn v incer ,thrown clear of the smashed nose. Theevidence seemed to indicate they h.id heenki\le:d in the air. He gave inst~uctions tothe natives for the burial. Before they leftthe scene, Bender ,grounl! his sulfanil(miJetablets into a powder and dusted it intohis wounds, using the gauze banda~esfrom his kit. The shrapn~1 woun.l heiliedin time. But the gash in his knee becameworse. He couldn't walk.

The natives then carried him tow.ird-,the mission, arrn'lng there at 1 ')DO.Bender found the native residents in astate of apprehension, fearful that Jappatrols might come in morncnt.uilv.The missionaries offered to hide him.Then they told him that one of hisgun ncrs had just passed through. on hi,way to join an Australian who knew therount rv and the language, and who hadheaded out earlier for the Owen Stanleyrange and Port Moresby. Bender decidedto push on.

The natives built a litter for him. sup-ported by poles. Eight natives volun-teered to carry. Four of them supportedthe litter; two went ahead with poles. one

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

on each side, separatin,f! the dense foliageas they went, while the other two, up front,hacked away a path with their machetes.

As they went along, the little caravanbegan to grow as if by magic, until groupsof twenty to fifty natives trailed alongwith it, from village to village. The wo-men followed their men, carrying foodand smoldering bits of coal-embers forfire-making. Children tagged along. Thestrange procession made its unhurried waythrOllgh the bmh.

On the night of the first day BenderCaU,l2:htup with the Australian and StaffSergeant A.M. Thompson, the gunner, andthey joined the caravan. (The other gun-ner apparently was captured.) The Aus-tralian produced some tobacco, and na-rives were paid, each with a precious half-strip--the best currency in New Guinea.

The next morning the trek began inearnest-a harrowing, humid journey ofninety terrible miles through New Guineaswamp and over the rugged Owen Stan-ley range to Port Moresby. The trip wasdestined to take three weeks.

A kind of shuttle service was set up,from village to village. The caravanwould start with a fresh set of bearers at0600 each morning and stop for the dayat about 1700. The next day, a new shiftwould take over.

Because the Japs were reported atKokoda, the party detoured widely, twist-ing through the dense growth. They av-eraged four and a half to five miles eachday. Every foot of the going was wet, wetunderfoot and wet dripping from thejungle bush. The natives fed Bender atthe stops. They gave him stewed pump-kin. He hated it. But he ate for fear hemight offend the bearers and the rest of

the native entourage. He drank the waterfrom the quick-running mountain streams.At first he used his iodine for purifica-tion, but as the wound on his knee grewsteadily worse, he saved the iodine fordressings. He cut pieces of his parachutefor bandaging and gave other pieces tothe natives who prized them. He hadtaken his quinine regularly from the timehe hit the ground, and the symptoms ofmalaria lay dormant (a malaria bout camethree weeks later, at Port Moresby).

The experience related in this article isone of the many gathered by theArctic, Desert, and Tropic InformationCenter at Eglin Field, Florida. It is thefunction of this organization to pre-pare and disseminate information onall aspects of Air Force operations[maintenance, health, shelter, cloth-ing, etc.l in non-temperate zones. In-formation on forced landing pro-cedures and survival is a major inter-est of the Center. All Air Force unitsare invited to request such informationfrom the Arctic, Desert, and Tropic In-formation Center.

On they went. The wet was depressing,uncomfortable, maddening at times. Theswaying of the litter was irritating. Oftenthe bearers would run the litter into a treewhere the going was rough, and Benderwould cry out with pain. The nativeslaughed at him. They couldn't understandthe white man's reaction to pain. Theyjust went on creeping, slipping, partingthe hush leisurely, ambling on childlike,singing, yodelling, yelling as they walked.

The native stench steamed up from thewet. It tried Bender's nerves. At timeshis impatience taxed all his control. Hisfingers itched for his pistol. But he en-dured. He understood the futilitv of driv-ing the hearers. Anger was useless, evendangerous. He lay in the litter, day afterday, his leg wound festering dangerously,and losing weight (from 1 SO pounds to105 pounds in three weeks).

As thev crawled on he watched thenatives 'live off the land. They caughtbirds and ate them; they cooked bananasand pumpkins, and ate coconuts; theyused the jungle vines for ropes, impro-vised all the means for existence as theywent along. It went on and on, all wet,all swaying, all pain.

Late in August the long nightmareended. Bender entered Port Moresby. Helay for three days in a hospital bed, won-dering why it didn't sway. White man'sfood seemed a miraculous manna to him.It was a wonderful new world. On thethird day he was flown to Townsville, inAustralia, and hospitalized there for threemonths. On the first of November, 1912,he was back on American soil again.

Today, Bender (now a Major) review-ing his experience, has this advice to passon to airmen operating in the SouthwestPaci fie area:

1. The natives are the surest meansthrough which you can survive and reachsafety. In more than ninety percent of thebail-outs and forced landings in this area,natives have played the most importantsingle role in rescue. Appreciate thisfact. Here's what you can do.

a. Learn something about the nativesin the area in (Continued on POCJ8 48)

UP WHERE THE SOUP BEGINS

As TOLD TOWhen the rain stops and the wind dies down, mud takes over.

d!e/l,belzi Rin90.LJ~By Lieut. William J. Wheeler. Pilot;Lieut. Graham S. Campbell, Navigator;MIS Norman C. Threewitt. Radio Op-erator; and TIS Clair Hails. Gunner.

A LL we know about the Spring push upn in the Aleutian» is what w« haveread in the papers. Wt: were on duty inrh.u fog-drt:nched island chain for ahout;1 \T;U. hut unfortunately we returned he-fore the current hunti I~g season started.However, our gang did 'I lot of sottcniru;up preparatory to the recent action.

We fou"ht the we,lther more than wedid the ]al~s. SII,"!l! must have ori,,,in;lteL!as a description of the Al.-utian weather.

Fi rst, there was tllt: fa". A lcuti.ui fa"has been descrihed ;IS the 'kind of weath~ryou can cut with a knife. Don't belie-veit. The-re isn't ;1 knife made th.it r.in ,,0

through that stuff. But, seriously, we wereon lv ten miles from a nun-sized ruountainiorf.hrcc months before we ever saw thedamn thing. We ,,,at u-cd to not st:eingthe sky. When vou rctur ru-d from ,1 mis-sion. your report would invariably he,e;in:"Wt:ll, I was flvine: alone; in the soup--."

Then there 'W'l~ the 'wind. Up thereyOU could sec the wind blowing from two,lifferent directions at lhc s.unc time.Th.its the truth. And although it's hardto helie\'e. we often had more than 100-mile-an-hour winds. One day the weatherreport rc.id "11 o-mile-an-h~ur winds--and strong gusts'" We had to tic downthe 13-17s and 13-2.4s most of tbe timeEither we would attach a'i5-,ga110n watertank to each wine:. or sink a steel bar orwooden plank in'to the snow, tie a ropearound it and attach it to both ends of

Hair must be washed no matter where youare, and it's a strictly mutual arrangement.

the ship. Even with that we had trouble.One day it took Captain Hetrick fourhours to get to his target- -an.] sevenhours to "d hack.

And tl~e rain. Did you eyer sec it rainup? It does at Umnak. When that winddecides to blow upward. e\'Crythin;.: ,L:oeswith it, including the falling rain. Butplenty of it .amc down. For days ourairfield looked like a lake. with the b,dlturrets of the 17s all the way under Welter.

YES. and it gets sort of cold up thatway. too. In some parts of inland Alaskait "ets down to ci "hty de"rees belowzer;. So at Umnak '~e- wer'~ practicallyswe,lting with our .)'1 below. Hut vourUncle Sam is on the beam with his .lorh-ing. A st;lnd,u-d e:ae: concerned the robrhe~1f that put on c()~e of our parkas anddied of the heat. And .u times it rcal lvgot up to decent temper.ttures. For;1while. it was warm enough to play base-ball and volleyball on Umn.ik.

To top it off we had williwaws. Awilliwaw is the: result of strong windsbuilding up on olle"ide of ,u~ i-I.m.].passing over the isl.m.l. ;md pushing allits strength downward on the other side.You jll~t don't fly through ;1 williwaw.They can usually be found on the lee sideof the IsLmds. so stay away.

After a while vou vet used to theweather. But it's (Llrde~ to get used tothe waiting. You spend half your lifewaiting for the wcat licr to open so voucan do some flying. Fighting the lapswasn't had at .ill -it W,IS the: sitlin,c:

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

Four Aleutian veterans sing atune of "Hang your hat on adrift meter and get down

near the water."around w:liting for the chance to fight.Sometimes we'd be only twenty minutesfrom our target and wait for weeks togd to it. No single factor had a greltererled on the men. We used to stay in bedso long that we had a tourn.uncnt toselect the "sack" champion. A fellownamed Hanson copped the honors with2(, hours in bed at one stretch. When itlooked like the weather might clc.u , wemaintained a constant alert status. Thatmeant th.it the entire crew, except thepilot and navig:ltor, had to stay in theship from morning 'til night.

When the weather beelme clear enoughfor us to see our hands in front of oureyes, we knew there was some flying tobe done. Then we'd go out on the "milkrun." These were the weather f1i'~hts wemade to send mctcorolouir.il reports backto the base e\'cry thirty minutes. Wecalled them the "milk runs" because theywere so damned monotonous. It w.rsri'tuncommon to be flying th rouvh the soupon such runs and report back "'VV' cathcruntlyablc." Th.u's how crazy it all was.

Don't think there wasn't action. Ourb,lses up there were so close to the J.lpSth.u we didn't need a lot of rlvint; weatherto get in some bombing. \X'ilen'we werethere, the Japs didn't have much in thewav of an air force. Wc never saw theirreiu Li r bombers. l\fost of the time wera;1 into the float type Zeros, some withbombs att.uhc.] to their wings, althoughthe" di,ln't do much bombing this w.iv.

tl~ose J'lpS re,llly on fly 'their pla;1es.Don't let .uivonc [001 you about that. Thepilots they had up there were plentyca,gey. They often turned their ships up-side down to shoot :It us. A Jap wouldcome out of the clouds on his belly andst.ut firing, nuke a pass and dive away,then corkscrew up for a thousand feet,shooting all the w.rv, Once we were about2.000 leet over Ki~b harbor heading forthe main rIp camp when a float type Zerotook off into the wind, looped around,and fired at us on his belly, But no cigars.

,\)'hile they didn't have a strong airforce, the Ni ps must Inve had every ack-a.k !.2.un that's ever hecn manufactured.The 'sky was actually bLtck--re,tl bhck-from the stuff they were .scluirting at us.And the falling shrapnel sounded likelui! on a tin roof. On one mission a,gunner reported that the ack-ack wasfairlv light--.he onlv saw a hundred burstsahm:e J\ill1, And the Japs were very ac-curate with those guns.

Our boys got :tround, though. Hell,after sitting on our re.ir ends for so long,a little thing like some ark-ark wasn'tgoing to prevent us from getting ourreguLll' exercise. (Coilinued 011 Page 45)

AIR FORCE, August, 1943 15

CHINA'S CADETS

"Ol'R ancestors came downstream agesa~o to settle China's ~reat coastal

cities. ~ow, because of a war we did notw.mt. a war that was pressed upon us,we have had to carry those cities up-stream."

Cadet Shah thought a minute."One of our philosophers once said

that China, as a nation, did not fightenouvh. Perhaps he was correct. We donot li:~e to fight. But we have learnedand some day we will move our citiesback."

This young cadet referred, of course, tothe mi~~ration inland achieved by some50,OUU,UOO of his countrymen, a massexodus-~perhaps the largest in historv->-dur in: which the gallant Chinese, follow-ing the Yangtze, carried on their backsmore than 600 factories from one cityalone, dragged boilers fifteen feet indiameter up the steep and cragged hillsof Chungbng, and so stripped the metalfrom the city of Hankow, for example,that not even the heavy sewer plates of itsstreets were left to the pillaging Japanese.

Cadet Shah is 2.:\. His breeding and in-telli:2:ence and crisp military bearing aresuch that you would single him out in anygroup of men. He has been in the warfor six years, was a lieutenant in two otherbranches of China's armed forces and as

a tank commander took part in the fa-mous Battle of Kwang-Si Province beforecoming to America as an aviation cadet.

Shall it not his red name. Japanesereprisals being what they are, there isdanger in names. But, more important,Shah would shrink from personal pub-licity. Like all his fellow cadets, he hasan l;onest modesty that is compelling. Heconsents to an interview only because hisbackground and attitude toward the warfairly represent those of hundreds ofChinese now in flight training under theauspices of the Army Air Forces at vari-ous bases in the Southwest.

WHETHER they are to be fighter orbomber pilots, the training given thesemen is identical with that given our ownstudents. They fly the same planes, studythe same manuals.

Generally speaking, their aptitude isabout the same. They do, however, havetheir own mental approach to the waritself-v-an approach conditioned by yearsof struggle with inadequate weaponsagainst a vicious and powerful enemy.

Shah was born in a coastal town, hetells you proudly, in the native provinceof Generalissimo Chiang KaiShek. Hehad primary education in Peking beforegoing to Shanghai, where he attended

high school and bep:an his college course.Stocky, of middle height 'Ind athletic

build, Shah played basketball and soccer-both popular sports in China because somany can participate at such little cost.Mostly, however, he played tennis ane!badminton in Shanghai's clubs, where hemet many British and Americans.

"Then, in 1937, when a sophomore incollege, I joined the infantry," CadetShah explains in precise and culturedEnglish, "and remained in that service,as first lieutenant, until August, 1938.My early preference was the Air Forcebut my teachers dissuaded me on theground that 1 was an only son.

"While I followed this advice, I didnot feel well suited to the infantry. So in1938 I gave up my commission to be-come a cadet in the Army's Academy forMechanized Forces.

"Normally, it takes a year and a halfof study to be commissioned as a tankcommander but in January, 1910-~justbefore we were to graduate the Battle ofK wang-Si Provinc~ entered a s(:liousstage, so we were released before act u.rlgraduation to take our places as secondlieutenants with the 'Sth Army."

After live months of see-saw fightingfor control of this province. the Ja;'Jnes~forces withdrew. During this period,

16 A group of Chinese pilots gets instructions from Major Hubert Zemke. translated by Lieut. W. S. Hsu.

- ....-""",

Chinese caaets train on AAF.flying lines for the day whenthey will move to the attack.

Shah commanded a tank in several im-porLlnt drives and is nndcrst.rnd.tblyproud of the fact that "the whole provlDceis sti II clear of the enemy right now."

Shah later served as an instructor andworked with Allied advisors in the per-fection of intelligence operations, the de-velopment of plans, and the like, He waspromoted to first lieutenant but preferredcombat service and felt that hi» bestchance of obtaining it was as an AirForce pilot.

Ten: transfer was not easy; in China theAir Force is independent of the Arrnv,But at LIst he ohr.uncd permission fromhis su per ior.; and gave up his commissionto st.ut aerial t r.un ins; in March, 1')1 J,

I t was in October of that year thatarrangements were nude to train manyChinese air cadets in this country.

There were two pr imipal reasons be-hind this, First, China had so meager asUl1ply of aircraft and gasoline that thetraining of flyers was severely limited, ItW,IS far more economictl to bring menhere than to ship necessary planes andsupplies to China, Second, many ofthe Chinese fidds available for the pur-pose were unsatisfactory, The Jap~ll1eseIud occupied much of the country, Someof the training fields still left to theChinese were within Japane:ie bomberr.mee and this interfered .IisastrouslvwitJ~ training operations, Some were 10'-c.ucd high in the mountains, ~ISmuch as7,CJ()CJ feet up. a di(ficult altitude at whichto start inexperienced men.

Ca.lcr Sh.ih was in the basic phase oftuining when he was selected to rome tothe United States. Before his group couldleave, the Japanese had attacked PearlHarbor and thereby cut ofT the normalmethod of travel to this country.

The cadets had to wait "That W,IShc.i n break inu.' Shah recti Is. But at lastthcv left China in March, 1')12. Theyfle,~' to India. then traveled by ship toNew York and fin.dly reached Arizona.

Shah, in May of this year, was nearingcompletion of his a.lvancc.] twin-enginetraining in AT-9s and was looking for-w.ir.] to O.T.U., with a preference for theB-2') bomber.

Whv did he choose bombardment!"1 l~ight have preferred to be a fighter

pilot," Sh.ih .ulrnittcd. "It is, I think. amore interesting type of flying and offersa better opportunity for personally shoot-ing down enemy planes, which of coursesati:ifies the desire for revenge, But if Vieall took that view, China would h.ive noborn her pi lots, And train ing for hom-b.ir.Iruent will be the most difficult kindfor Chin.i to achieve by itself."

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

This statement points up what is per-haps the most notable characteristic ofChinese cadets- -their selflessness, Thewar to them is purely a cause. Their ownpersonal futures, their lives, mean noth-ing. Talk to Chinese students and youwill find them courteous, cheerful, studi-ous, thoroughly disciplined and mentallyconcentrated upon one thing-combat.

"We have shut our minds against ourhomes," explains Shah, "because many ofus come from cities and provinces nowoccupied by the enemy. We do not cor-respond very much, if at all, with rela-tives still living in occupied areas, for itis through the mails that the Japanesetrace people whom they mark for reprisal.j\;Lll1Y men have asked their parents toforget them completely. Our one aimmust be to save China."

Col. c:. J. Kanaga, Director of Train-ing for the Chinese in the United Stateswas attached to the American Ernbassvat Peking for four years and is cxcep-t ion.illy fluent in the Chinese language.He has nothing but praise for the Chineseas students of milirarv aviation.

"The men we traiil are picked men,"says Col. Kanaga. "Virtually all have hadmi lit.irv academ,' training and have beencommissioned in other hranrhe-, of thearmed forces before signing up as cadets.Most have had combat experience.

"THEY receive here the same traininggiven any American boy. Primary, basic,advanced single --- or twin-engine, andtwelve weeks of O.T.V., generally inP-40s or B-2')s.

"But along with their flight work. theChinese have the dual responsibility oflearning some Fnglish. Om policy inthis respect is to teach them in daily Eng-lish classcs only such words, phrases andsentences as will help them learn to fly.These lessons par.illel thei r training. Forexample, whcn a cadet hegins work in aLink Tr.iincr, his English lessons will bedescriptions of how' the Link operates."

Some of the cadets. like Shah, spe.il:our langu,lge perfectly, having lc.uncd itin China. Others pick up enough forordin.iry purposes. Con vcrsclv, theirAmerican flving instructors absorb someof the Chinese language. But heretofore.intcrpreters have l~een' relied on for con-vcrs.it ion between instructor and student.

"This has presented ditliculties," Col.Kanaga points out, "because it preventsan instructor from correcting his cadet atthe time a mi st.il«: is made, He must doit I.ucr through an interpreter. But aninterpreter is not a flyer and, therefore,much is lost in the transition, The answerwill be, I think, to keep some of the out-

standing Chinese Cldcts in this count rv toserve a~ instructors in future." '

An understandable yet bothersome com-plication of the langl;age problem is theneed for the Chinese to learn the slangof our flying lines, For instance, .1 stu-dent must not only recognize the mc.ui-ing of "adv.inrc the thrall le." let us say,but must a lso understand five or si x ofthe common slang expressions used byAmerican pi lots ~lnd instructors to in di-cate the same operation.

Most at' the train inj; of Chinese cadetsis taking place in Arizona and NewMexico, with large detachments at LukeField, Williams.' Thun dr-rbini and Ros-well, among othcr«. Thcse detachments,while under direct 1J. S. Army Air Forcessupervision, have otlicers and enlistedmen of their own.

The bulk is pilot t ra in in r; n.rtura llv.Elimination is low-less than ten perccnt-partly hcr.iuxc much of the climinationof unsuited cadets takes place back inChina in clemcnr.uv fli!.';ht tests. Thosemen who are elimiI~ated in this country!.';o to other schools in the Arrn v Airl;orces, to study armament, perhai~s, orohscrv.it ion or ma intcn.mcc- some phaseof militarr aviation which will make themvaluable on their return to China.

"As pilots they arc earnest, studiousand vcrv capahle," says Col. Kan.ur«."Some men. of course. just can't get thehan,g of it. I remcmbcr one boy whoinvariably got lost on cross-countryflights: he had Iorccd landings alloverArizona, vet never so much as scratcheda wing-ti i~, But for the most part theyarc good all-round Hyers---'on the ball'as the instructors say."

The cadets themsel vcs have a consum-ing and common urge to h.ivc our peopleknow how much they Iike us and thecountrv, and how much they appreciatethc chance to tr.un here. They are filledwith won.ierrncn! at some at" the thingsthey ha vc seen,

CADET SHAH W,IS astonishcd at Arizona."Geography is one of my enthusiasms,"

he says, "and I had rc.u! a great de.ilabout the United States. My books h.r.]informed me that Ar izon.i was a desertcountry, But here 'IT have found thesewonderful irrigatee1 val ky», with richbrms and ranches and fine cities. I knowjxuts of China which should be like thissome day."

Nohodv who Ius met and talkcd withChinese c:,Hlets could possibly quest ion thesincere friendlincss of these w.rrt imc visi-tors, It is a unique an.] warming ex pcr i-ence to attend one of their ear lv mor ninuclasses and to sec thc udet< in trim,orderly ranks, dressed in American uni-forms' with the gold-and-blue shoulderpatch of the Chinese Air Force, start theirday hy singing with a gusto rarely fount!anywhere the song of the AAF---"OtT wego, into the wild blue yonder. ... " ,,:,

17

TECHNIQUE A MONTHLY REVIEW OF TECHNICAL D£V£lOPMENTS IN THE AIR FORCES

Above are some typical fuel cells. Note thot all fittings are covered with masking tape.Inspection doors are safety wired and cells are properly stenciled for identification.

By LIEUTENANT C. G. WYMAN and J. E. NAGLEPATTERSON FIELD. OHIO

Below is a deteriorated fuel cell. Extremecare must be exercised in re-fue!ing inorder that no gasoline is allowed to spillor overflow on the exterior. The exterior ofmany fuel cells is not gasoline resistantand disintegration from contact with gaso-line may cause future failure of the cell.

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

into the sealant rubber is concerned. Bunafuel cells now under construction containa synthetic dam or barrier between theliner materia! and the natural rubbersealant. This barrier is yery effective instoppin!! the dispersion of fuels. Buna-lined fuel cells which contain ,\ syntheticbarrier do not need to be treated in anyway for special blends of fuel. All l-una-lined fuel cells which do not cont.un asynthetic b.uricr must be slushed withFuller's Slushing Compound TT.-:'s1(AAF Specifications )~l)~) which is the011/.1' slushin,g cornpoun.l appro\cd by theAAF. lthvl .i.ct.uc. which is the hasicsolvent fOI. Fuller's Slushing Compound,is dctrimenLll to b,ma synthetic rubber,so huna lined cel!.s should not be slushedunless rCLjuirc:d by :lhove clas.sillc:ltion.

Neoprene synthetic rubber is not re-sistant to special fuels and will deterioratewhen in contact with them. Therefore. itis iml,cT:lti\e that all neoprene-lined fuelcells be flushed with FLdler's SlushingCompound TL-2S1 (AAF Specification3595) .

Thiokol .synthet ic rubber is rcs ist.uit toall blends of fuel. None of the:: sj'eci,llblends will di.sintegr:\te or disl'ersethrouj-l: this tYf'e::of liner. Thus, thiokol-lined cells nee'! not be slushed under anyrircurnstanrcs. nor should thcv be bCL\ll.sethe cthvl acetate solvent .ont.uncd in Ful-ler's Sl~,shin,g Compound TL-2Si is detri-mental to thiokol synthetic rubber.

Royal in plastic, ~\"hich acts in the samemanner as th ioko I synthe::t ic rubber, is re-sistant both to disinte,c;ration .m.l disper-sion l-v blends of fuel. nhyl acetate isalso detrimental to rov.i lin-l incd fuelcells, which also should never be slushed.

reacts with gasoline to close the puncturercsultin,g £rom bullet penetration.

The retainer or cover is the outer orexterior laver. Its primary purpose is tolend strength and protection. Varioustrpes of rn.iterial have been .used for therct.iiner in. past constructions. Prominent.unoru; these were leather, vulranizcd rub-ber. f.tbric :l(lel rubbcr-impreuu.uc.I tire-cord ing. The latter is now being usedexclusively in stamhrd AAF-approvedconstruction.

1:hsiullr, the function of the self-sed-ing fuel c~J1 is this: T'pon 1'el1etr:\tion by:, i,roje::ctile or other ohject, g:bolineseepsthrough the d,lln'l~edHe;l of the inner-liner' .rn.l comes < in contact with then.itur.r] rubber sealant causing the rubber(0 swell to many times its normal pro-portions. This swelling react ion closes thepumlure prohibiting further gasolinele:::lk:lge.

The inrr o.lurtion of speci.11 blenels offllel intoscn ice-tlpe .iircr.itt h.i : pre-scnte,l a of ,litEcult problemswhich have been ovcrtomc. However,there:: .irc manv self.sc,din", fuel cellswh ich were m;\l1u!:te( tIred 'prior to theuse of such fuels and these cells requireacllhiun:d trc.umcnr.

All self-scaling fuel cells now beingusc.l by the AAF are built with an inner-Iincr of one of these four materials: buna,neoprene, thiokol or rovalin.

Buna synthetic rubber is resistant tosr-ecial fuels insofar as actual disintegra-tion is concerned. However, buna, by it-self, is not resistant to special fuels inso-far as dispersion through the liner and

Self-Sealing Cells

A self-scaling fuel ceIl is a gasoline con-t.uncr constr~,cted by huildi,~!! up «vcr«!Ltn:rs of natural and svuthct i« rubber.

. The bullet-sealing ~Iu~tlity of the self-selling fuel cell is b~lsee! upon the ehemi-cd principles t h.u synthetic rubber isgasoline resist'lI1t ~1Ile! luluml rubber isriot. By control .ui.] m.mi pu l.it ion of thesef.utor s the self-se.ding cell h,IS been de-veloped into an clilcient .uid practiulcomponent of combat airrr.ut.

Ma nv types and v.iricr ics of fuel cellconstructions are !lOW used in scrvi.e air-craft but ~dl construltions del,c:nd uponthese prinnry chc:rnictl i,rincil,le::s.

Ihsicdly C:\C:'ry ,elf-sc:eding fuel ceIl isconstituted of three parts: the inner-liner,the se:\!Jnt .m.l the rct.uncr or covcr,sometimes c,tlled the outer-liner. Theavcr.u;c cell ,"onLlins from rive to sevenLt\"er~ of m.u cri.i l hut these l.ivcr-. lIUI" :tllh~ ,Lhsitied under one of th~ three l~.\sicp.\rts.

The:: inner-liner is the first or interiorl.rvr-r. This IS :\ i. ruhlx r sheel. Itis the me i"l,:St.lN itv uf thisl.ivcr that a llow, inc to he ~onl.,ineL!in' the fuel ceil ':lLlsinp: ,leterion-tion or (Ltmage to [he cell. Obviously,no fuel can he manut.uun c.l without agasoline resistant inner-liner., The se,lL-tnt is the seconl! or middlelaver of m.itcr ial. This is a cheet. orse'rie::s of sheets, of natural rubber. Thesealant may be made of one or more ofSCHeLl I types of n.itural rubber, generallysponge, coagulated latex or serni-vul-c.inizcd rubber compound. As the nameimplies, the sealant is the material which

18

RIGHT. Fuel cells which are ta be shippedor stored should be crated as shown. Re-member never to stack crated fuel cells sohigh that the bottom one is under pressure.Crate all cells so that the fittings are se-cured and the cell does not sag. If possi-ble. store and ship them in their originalcontainers. Privates Matthew BodamerlIeft) and Cecil Allen of Patterson Fieldare shown doing a proper crating job.

WRONG. Never stack uncrated fuel cells.Uncrated cells should be given an individualspace, placed on their widest surface andsupported from the interior so they do notsag under their own weight. Never storefuel cells without properly crating them.Great harm is done to fuel cells by anychange from their original shape. as col.lapsing. warping, bending or twisting.

Inspection alone is not sufficient to dis-tinguish between the var ious types of cel Isor to determine if slushing is rcqui red.The type of cell at hand may be deter-mined only by reference to T.O. 03-10-26,which lists the construction numbersstenciled on each tank and describes thetype of cell by these numbers.

Because of current discrepancies in theinf ormation previously suppl ied to AAFactivit ics. a number of self-sealing fuelcells have been unnecessarily treat~d forresistance to special hlends. Extreme ClU-

tion should be exercised in the use ofthiokol or royalin-lined cells which havebeen slushed, since it is diffICult to de-termine the extent of damage by the ethylacetate solvent to the liner.

Moreover. it is inadvisahle to attemptto remove the slushing compound fromthese cells due to the fact that ethylacetate is also the cleaning solvent that

AIR FORCE. August. 1943

would be rcquir cd to remove it. Usc ofthis solvent in removing the sIu'hingcompound woul.l only cause further d.un-age to the seams and the fuel cell lining.Do not reslush fuel cells. The originalslushing is considered satisfactory tlll'~ugh-out the life of the cell.

One of the chief causes of fuel-cellfailure in the p,lst has been the disin-tegration of the retainer or covering ofthe fuel ccl l: caused by gasolll1e comingin contact with the exterior of the cells.

The covering of all fuel ceJls now inproduction is' being ro.ucd with hunasynthetic rubber, or with a resistant l.ir-quer to pre\'Cnt deterioration caused byspillage of g'lSoline. But those of pre-vious construct ion are not protected torspillau:e in any way ,md will disintegr'ltera p.d lv when repeatcdlv splashed withgasoline. The buna-coated exterior ofpresent production cells will remedy thissituation to some extent. However, be-cause no srnthetic barrier is p-O\'idedunder the Buna coating for the exteriorcovering. gasoline of certain blends even-tually will penetrate into the natural ruh-ber layers. Therefore. extreme care shouldbe taken in all cases to avoid spillage ofgasoline on the exterior surface of allfuel cells.

The main cause. however, of fuel cellfailurcsvLorh in the past and at present-may be traced to f aultv and clfeless in-stallat:ion and removal' methods. Par-ticularly is this true in uses concernlI1gaircraft whose fuel cells arc of the so-called collapsible type.

By the \Try n.iturc of its construction,the ~elf-sealin~g fuel cell is injured by anynltcr.it ion of the cell from its originalshape, collapsing. w:!rping, bending ortwisting. In some cases, of course, thereis no alternative and collapsing the cellbecomes a necessary evil. Manv types ofaircraft now incorporating self-sealingfuel cells were not designed origin.lilyfor these cells and. as a result. cells mustbe in.etal led and removed under unde-sirable conditions.

In view of these facts, it is extremelyimport.mt that all fuel cell insta ll.u ionand removal work be pLtced in the handsof competent, trained men who under-stand the care which is necessary in theh'lI1dling of self-sealing fuel cells. Aninexperienced crew should never he al-lowed to install or remove fuel cells un-less the job is done under the guid'll1G:of capable and conscientious supervisors.

The Maintenance Division of the AirService Command has estahlished a unitof trained fuel-cell experts to assist in allmaintenance and repair problems on self-scaling fuel cells which arise within theAAF. Any questions or comments onfuel-cell problems should be addressed tothe Commanding Gener:!l. Air ServiceCommand. Patterson Field. Fa irfield,Oh io, directed to the attention of theChief, Maintenance Division.

Boot StarterThe Bungee starter, as used by the A A l'Flying Training Dot.uhmcnr. OuLl.Horida, consists of a hoot. shock cord ,We!rope handles. The hoot. six by nine inrhe,tapered to '1 point like a rounclc.] "v'is made from two pieces of }~ inch belt-ing riveted together. To this is .ur.uhc.!at the point of the "Y" five feet ofinch manila rope. then an eight-footlength of % inch elastic shock cord. Twofour-foot manila ropes ,~o at the end forgripping pieces. To operate, the en:~incis primed by turning the propeller hyhand, then the boot is placed over theend of the blade on the far SIde .indneeded tension is ,~ained hy two men pull-ing slowl), .. 1SsllOivn in the 'lClompan)'ingphotograph. The propeller r.ui now bestarted with only a sli~ht lift from a thirdnun. As the I;rope!ler wh irlx the hootflie, off. - Flying Training Detachment,Ocala, Florida.

The Bungee Starter in action.

Flashlight Guides NightParachute DeliveriesTo provide a means of speedy identifica-tion of aerial delivcr\' containers dropf,edduring night ojxr.u ioux, the MaterielCommand has dcvelopo.l ;1 new type ofidCl,tiflcltion LUllp assembly.

It resemhles the ordin'lfY Ihshli.ght butis made of pbstic an.] has a light hulh .itc.uh end. Colored pbstic caps of hlue-green. red or yellow can be sn.1pped overthe bulb so th.i! types of aerial deli\Try10'HIs r.tn be c.rsilv identified by me.ins ofthe different col~rs. The cylinder holdsthree flashlight bJtteries.

On the outxi.l« of the lamp arc twoloops for attaching the lamp to the de-livery containers. A spl'ing contact switchon the exterior of the l.unp is eCluippedwith a fibre separator so that the switchis kept open except when the l.unn isactually in use. The assemhly is so' ar-ranged that when the load is' dropped acord attached to the parJChute line with-draws the fihre separator from the switchand the light is autom.rtica lly turned onwhen the pa r.u.hutc opens.

The weight of the lamp, except for hat-teries, is 5.6 02S. (T echnique Cod/nude)

19

TECH NI QUE(Conlinucd from Page 19)

Model of a special repair scaffold.

Designing With ModelsTiny models arc dictating the desiuns forvarious types of maintenance eClulpment,small service trucks, portable repair shops,bomb cradles and other misce11aneousfield devices used by the AAF, The mini-ature planes, trucks, g,lsoline storagetanks, portable houses and other air-borne cquprncnt. all precision-built toone-thirtieth exact scale, are daily savingthe e:overnment thousands of dollars inits n'ever-endine: task of finding the be';tpossible equipment for our combat AirForces.

"Building the models first," one en-gineer explains, "makes it possible tostudy desirable shapes and sizes for thelarge equipment without going into thetremendous cost involved in the buildingof fu11-sized products,"

The plant for the construction of thesemodels is a small wor1:shop in the bigMiscellaneous Ec]uipment Unit of theMateriel Command at W;-i'iht FieIL!,where the models are scaled down bydraftsmen from full-sized blueprints fur-nished by various manufacturers and thenbuilt of wood and metal. They ran ve insize from a tiny onc-inch boml; cr a.l!e toa three-foot sc{le mo.lcl of a four-ene:inebomber complete with rcti.ictab!c landinggear.

One of the most delicate models is asix-wheel truck-trailer rornhination socomplete in detail that the truck even hasa tiny rear view mirror, Another intricatemodel comprising hu:~Jreds of s111a11p,trtsis a replica of a bLl:~e crane whose reallife version is usn! to haul around 2s-ton

20

bombers as thouch it were liftine: a sackof wheat. '- r,

Other models include btest type fiphterplanes, bombers and CHgO r.uricrx. eachwith movable controls, instrument p:lnelsin the cockpits and hollow cabins whichpermit arrangement of cargo inside theplanes; jeeps, peeps and a truck withthree e:Jsoline carr icrs .ut.uhc.l : a srn.rl lg\ass-~ndosed portable m.uh ine shop,canvas-covered cn e iuc repair housin"s, :1cm;o truck, and' a lone: hc.ivv tl~:liler111u'chlike a {LIt, ,II', cl curr~llt dev(:lof';:lCntand only recently pm,:uced a (ull-,izcc!mo.!el.

Bcuu,e the models to he of value mustbe preci,;ioll perfect, the)' sometimes re-quire as long as two or three weeks to

Even extra heavy equipment is duplicated.

build, On such projects involving trucksand other mobile units, even the en,c:inesan.l metal chassis arc built to exact ~cale,

Models of special scaffolds used in re-pairing various p.irts of aircraft have beenespecially valuable, These framework de-vices, simple ill construction, have beenmanipulated into various positions on themodel planes just as the Etrge repairstallds would be on regular aircraft, andthe results have ,given' engineers knowl-edge enabling them to build super-struc-tures that make repairillg a combat planea much simpler task-Wright Field.

Training continues behind the front lines.

Tech School in Combat ZoneOne of the fl'w (possibly the only) AAFtechnical schools in a fo:-e;"n theatre orromb.it zone was established sl'veralrnont.r-, ago along the North AtlanticRoute bv a fer:" S('U,lc}:-on of the AirTransport COmi~1'll1d t'o take worthwhile,ldnnLI,!!e of the enforced inactivity clueto weather conditions.

Sixty-five enlisted men h.ivc alreallrbenefited from instruction received in theschool, which was oq,anil',l'L[ at t'l: Sl"'-e:c;zion of enlisted p(l:sonnel and throu~i1the cooperation of the comllunding otJi-cers and top-rated N,eO.s,

The 1'1'O,e:ra111covers studies of .iircr.tf:en,e:ines, general ai rpLulL' m.rintcn.inrr, ;111,1en!!ine m.urucn.m.c. sern:>; a:; a refreshercO~lrse for ol dcr men ,\ild dc:vllops skille,lmechanics out of the h.ISIl'S,

Since its bc:e:innlne: the course of in-»truct ion ,c:r'ldL:,Iily lL;s hec:n e:--::"ulllcd toin.lu.!« a stulh, of nece;S,l!'\ to COIll-

),Jc:te a success'iul ::'~- .1nd 'i()-hoilr in,,'ec-lion, the usc of tup> .111d bean' t r.urore,-!uipmc:nt, opcr.u ion of \\in,e: j;lck.s (orfour-el1~~ineLj pl.111eS, and instruction oninslrun~c:nls al~d electriLal snlems. S,hc:d-ulcs arc arran~c:d to en'lblc:'mc:n on ni i-hrshifts to parti~ipate, In addition to tc'~h-nical phases, one hour daily i.s devoted tothe study of rnanu.i ls and T.O,s,

Credit [or oraanization of the schoolgoes larpcly to !:irst Ser,e:eant Roland F.Grisson, Master Sere:eants Ccorue Grol11o-shak and William L H, Kelly,' Staff Ser-geants John Ramsey and Arnold King,and Sergeant Joseph Verdun. They alsoserved as instructors. Lieutenant WilberHarnstrcct, Squadron CO" and Lieuten-ant Charles D. Horvath. adjutant, gavefull approval and assistance.-Air Trans-port Command.

High Altitude BrushesAn intensive five months' research pro-gram stimulated by comphints thatbrushes on generators and crunncs werewearin,c: out within two or three hours onplanes flying at extremely high alt itudcshas resulted in the development of newbrushes with an cffcrt ivc high altitudelife of from :10 to 1 SO hours,'

Two B-17s, assigned to the project atWright Ficld, rolled up a total of 500hours of comprehensive testing in 107flights, after it W:1.S determined in earlierexperiments th.it brushes operated satis-factorily in high altitude test rh.unhcrsbut wore out after a few hours of actualoperation above ::'5 ,(JOO feet.

The Engineering Di\ision called inelectrical t~chnici,\;1s from ,\\1 n1:\nuf.lc-turers capable of sLlpplyir\e: materials, mo-tors and e:enerators, and in Octoher oflast year l~e,e:an a series of high altitudetest fli[!hts in r.ucticd atmosphere above3(),000 feet.

One of the B-17s was converted into aflying electrical l.ibor.u orv. Panels of test-in,e: instruments, installations of penera-tors and motors for tests under olv-erv.r-tion, tcmncr.uure recording e:,lUe:l'S andmany electrical recordine:' d'l:\ic~es ' weremou'nted in the radio comp.irtrncnr andin the homh hay.

Flie:ht after flie:ht was con.lurtcd thoseover '30,0()() fc:et uxu.i l lv of three hours'duration. Civilians al~d otlicus spcnt

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

their days "upstairs" testing new mate-rials and new designs, recording instru-ment readings of the hundreds of variantsof the flights, and observing how genera-tors and motors survived under increas-ingly heavy electrical loads. In the eve-nings all observations and readings werereviewed and worn-out materials werethoroughly examined and tested.

It was discovered in the early stagesof these tests that motor and generatorparts were we.uiru; out at high altitudesbecause of frictio~ resulting from a lackof lubr iration , This factor was not presentat lower altitudes, because while the airat. high altitudes is almost absolutely dry,that at lower altitudes roruu inx sufficientmoisture to serve as a lubricant for thebrushes.

Before a satisfactory brush had beende\'eloped, 27 different brushes weretested. not including those which wereproved unsatisf artorv in laboratory andhigh .i lt itudc chamber tests.

Flight tests were completed in Marchwith the perfection of brushes capable ofoperating from vi O to 1 'i0 hours efficientlyan.] continuously under heavier-than-nor-nul loads at altitudes above ')O,O()O feet.This development assures a constant sup-ply of electrical current to operate guns,turrets, automatic pilot, props, radio andother equiprnenr in aircraft at high alti-tudes. - Lieutenant Robert V. Guelich,Wright Field.

Swapping EnginesA shortage of R 1820- 51 engines made itnecessary at Hendricks Field, Florida, tomodify B-17Bs to permit use of R 1:--:'?()-()'iengines. This tricky problem was solvedby Glenwood A. Schaefer, 2'i-ye:n-old ci-vilian employee at the 95th Air ServiceCommand Sub-Depot.

Here's his solution, reached after daysof studying the standard Boeing cowl flapassemhly:

An Adel type G-9714 cowl flap selectorvalve wa s installed on the cockpit side-wall. to the co-pilot's right, forward ofthe thermo-couple selector switch.

Pressure and return Iines were con-nected from the selector valve to the hy-draulic system. To control the time r~-qu ir ed for opening or closing the flaps,the !'ressure line was passed throu,d1 avari.ilile restrictor valve before connectingto the selector va lvc.

Eclipse Type A-I') supercharger regu-lators, which operate from cn o ine oilpressure, were installed in pIal'; of theoriginal Type A-7 regulators which oper-ate from the hvdr.iul ic svstcm. The hv-draulic lines ru~ning frOI;1 the bomb bayto. the outboard nacelles for operating theongll1al supercharge regulators were usedfor operation of the cowl flaps on theo.utboard engines by capping the Tee fit-tll1gs where the inhoard regulator linesconnected. This resulted in one continu-

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

ous line from the bomb bay to the out-board nacelles.

Lines were then installed from thebomb bay ends of the former superchargerregulator lines to the selector valve andf rom the nacelle ends to the cowl flapcylinders." These installations provided a complete

system for fluid to pass from the pressuresystem, through the restrictor valve, to thes~lector Y,1Iv~, thence to the bomh bay,through the former supercharger regu-lator lines to the cowl flap actuating cylin-der. The fluid displaced by the movementof the piston in the cylinder, passedthrough the other former regulator lineinto the bomh hay. forward to the selectorvalve, then thro~l"h the line connectingthe selector valve ';0 the return line fro~the brake system, and into the hydraul icreservoir.

New lines were then installed connect-ing the selector valve to the inboard en-gine cowl flap actuating cylinders, Thiscom plctcd the installation.

With this new cow! flap arrangement,each flap is operated inclependently andmav he locked in any position. The opera-tion may be arrornplishcd either whenthe engine-driven pumps.ne supplyingthe system with pressure. or when theemergency hand-pump is used.

Through Schaefer's development, modi-

Progress Through DestructionEngineers and static test workmen listenan~iously {or that first crack, the first signof weakness, as the tail of the C-7(, belowis piled higher and higher with bags ofshot in Wright Field's Static Test Labora-tory, where planes are destroyed in the in-terest of safety and progress in AAF air-craft. The actual breaking of the planeunder the test load is preceded by long

fication of B-17Bs at Hendricks FicIc! iLl.'

been expedited considerahly .m.] theoperation of the modified Bs Ius proVl:nmore satisfactory. - Private Charles M.Watt, Air Service Command.

Link Spin-Delay MechanismAn attachment for Link Trainers whichpermits instruction on instrument take-offsis the invention of Technical SergeantSherman A. Holbert, Moody Field, Ga.

Heretofore, it was necessary for the in-structor to bring the Link out of ,1 spinwhen it was fi rst started before the stu-dent could take mer the controls, whichmeant that the student elssumec! controlof the tr.urier after it was in full "flight."By the usc of Technical Serge,mt 'Hol-bert's invention. the student is in fullcontrol from the time the trainer isstarted. He c.m simuhte taxiing on theground and perform a complete instru-ment take-off.

The ctttachmcnt is e.,.senti.dly a com-plex three-way val \'C which regulates thevacuum .lpplied to both the spin-actuatingsystem of the trainer and the instrumentassembly. The key to the successful oper-ation of the unit is the LIse of an electro-magnetic latching device which locks thevalve II1 place at the critical time.-PublicRelations Office. Moody Field,

periods of mathcmat iral calculations andcareful 'lrrangement of the: plane or pentsfor testing.

Giant lacks and cranes hoist planes intotesting positions on gi rder platforms.Shot bags, lead hars, or sand bags areused to simulate actual load conditions ofthe aircraft in fli~ht. On lv after suchplanes survive the~e tests. arnonj; others,are they adopted for general use by theAAF.-Wright Field. 1\

21

/1lf .Pkui. eo.lone1 qe04r;e e. Plz.keCHIEF OF STAFF, FLIGHT CONTROL COMMAND

IN the sky over America there is a net-work of airways that will lead the pilot

safely "on course" through soupy dark-ness to almost any destination he m,Lychoose. Proprietor of the network is theCivil Aeronautics Administration whichoperates and maintains the more than 3,)0!<ll1i!;e stations, radio aids, lii!;ht beacons,and' emergency fields and the' 23 AirwaysTraffic Control Centers necessary to thesmooth functioning of the system'.

Although the Airways were a creationof pilots, by pilots and for pilots, thereare many who fly these skyways formonths and even years without a clearunderstanding of the Airways TrafficControl organization and how it works.

Here is a play by play description ofsome of the facts every pilot must keep inmind as he proceeds on an airways flight.

Suppose you are about to take off fromChiGli!;o for Patterson Field, Ohio. You'vecheck~d the weather, the notices to air-men, and completed Form 23. YourForm 23 specifies a flip:ht along the air-ways on contact flight rules and youknow that your Hight plan has been sentto the Chica~o Airw.iv« Tr.ut«: Contra!Center for trunsmission to your destina-tion.

It is important for you to know alsothat this Hight will not he posted on theflight prowess boarels in the ControlCenter. The Center pays no attention toClR tli cht s unless l'nd weather or othertrouble '~Jc\eIOi)' in YOLIr line of Hi,c;ht.You arc !1yini!; contact and whether on oroff the air'wa}., yOll arc expected to ilv atthe proper altitu.I., for your hcadiru; aridkeep your eyes peeled for tralllc en route.

You take all from Chicago in weatherthat looks good, meanwhile wondering alittle about a front that the weather ot1icerwarned you about. Sure enough, thefront starts muddying the atmosphereacross your line of flight as you proceedtoward Goshen, Indiana, and you wishyou had filed an instrument flight planwhile you were still in Chicago.

22

The weather won't Itt you proceedCFR. What can you do now) You canturn around and go back, land at thenearest airport with suitable minimums,or file an instrument flight plan. Sinceyou are a qua liticd instrument pilot andwant to get where you started for, youchoose to reeluest an instrument flightcl ear.mce.

Y OLl tune in on the Goshen RadioRange ahead, well in advance of yourarrival over that point. You don't waituntil you are over or past the range be-cause radio conversations take time andyou don't want to be past the station andout of radio touch with it before yourconversation is completed.

What every pilot should knowabout America's protective

flight network.

Goshen Radio jots down your requestfor an instrument clearance and asks youto wait. Why must you wait? BeGLUSe alocal range station cannot clear you for an:lirways flight. It serves only as a "go-between" for messages from pilot to theA TC Center and hack. The only oruan-iz.u ion that can i!;ive vou a c1e,;LLlll~e isthe Center th.u heels ju'risdiet ion over the.tirw.lYs .dong which yOU propose to fly, inyou r use, the Chicago Center.

RIEl'S what Juppens during the min-ute or two that ebp..;es while you arc\IcLiting for a reply. The Goshen Rangestation operator calls Chicago hy inter-phone and (luickly gives the ChicagoCenter your instrument flight plan. This,of course, tells your position, the time,your present and proposed altitude, yourcruising speed, your destination, your esti-mated time of arrival, etc.

It is also important that you give yourproposed route of flight so there will beno mistake as to the exact set of airwaysyou intend to fly.

What happens in the Chicago Center?With a cOf1Y of your Ili,~ht pLLl1 in hishand, a traf1ic controller :teps to theflight progress boards in the Center.Here on lar,!;e boards arc posted ,111 in-strument flight plans that have beencleared in the area cont rollt-d by thatcenter. These boards carry the n.unc ofevery range station in th~ area. Undereach range station there is a strip of paperrepresenting each airpl.ine expected to re-port over that station-a strip identifyingthe airplane and p:iving all necessary in-formation, includiru; the f1i~ht altitudereserved for the flig11t an,! th~ time whenyour "report over" is expected.

A quick glance at the f1 ight strips underthe: range station you have named in yourflight plan shows the ChiC<Lgo Center op-erator that all is clear for your fli,~ht. Hecalls Goshen and Goshen calls you, i!;i v-ing you your clearance to procee<.l at S ,(lOOfeet and asking you to report north of theFort W,Lyne Rani.':e for further clearance.

With ',L sigh ~f relief you be,~in yourascent to the S,OOO foot level with com-plete assurance th.it you won't cross pro-pellers with other airrrafr as you go upand that the 'S,OO() foot level is reservedfor vour exclusive usc. On instrumentflight more than at any other time pilotsdislike the company of other aircraft.

All's well. You arc sailing along asky road all your own tow.ir.] Fort \X'avne,Meanwhile. the Chic<l';o Airw'LVs TrafficConrro! Center Ius teldYl1ed your flightplan to the Cincinnati Center.

Why were you ,lskeel to rCJ10rt overFort \X!avne fur further clearance) Be-cause :t (ew minutes out of Fort \X!,lyneyou rc.uh the bourul.uy of the Ch iC:LgoControl Ar e.. and enter the CincinnatiArea. The Cincinnati Center nul' w.int tomove VaLLto a different altitu:le. As amatter' of fact. they do. \X/hen you reportover Fort Wayne Raru-c vou are in-structed to aSlc;1d to 7 .o'7)() f~et five min-utes south of the Fort Wavne Rance Sta-tion and to report when vou re.u h '7 ,OO().You know immediately th.it the Cincin-nati operator sees on his Hight pro;-;ressboard that you are ;-;ctting too close tosome other aircraft at the S,OOO foot level.He's pushing you up a couple of thousand

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

fe:et to increase this dist.inrc. Th.u 01'-cr.u or doesn't w.int to answer all thequestions he:' d be ask cd if your plane andanother onc hoth tried to occupy the sameSp'ICC at thc same time. His job is tokecp you wcl] separated and he's on thejob cvny minute.

As soon as you reach 7,000 feet. yourcport this fact back to Fort Waync Radioand arc instructc.] to report again tcnminutes out from the Patterson RangeStation. Fort Wayne: radio notifies theCincinnati Centcr that you are: at the7,000 foot level and the Cincinnati op-erator stops worrying about you.

Au. information concerning your flightis immediately relayed to the: center thathas vou under its control so that theFligl{t Progress Board will show yourexact position. When a plane fails tocomplete a contact within a reason.ibleperiod after its cstim.itcd time over agiven range station, the Airways TrafficControl Cc:nter starts worrying.

Something must be wrong with the

New Pilots Advisory ServiceA new Advisory Service for militarypilots was launched in two regions of theUnited States on June I, 1943, when per-sonnel of the Flight Control Commandbegan operations in the Boston and SeattleAirways Traffic Control Centers.

Scheduled for expansion throughout thenation by the end of this year, the servicewill function on all cress-c ountrv flights bymilitary airplanes whether on or off theairways. Flight plans will be filed in theusual manner. Pilots should plan frequentcommunications contacts, whether flyingairways or not, and maintain a constantlist .. ning watch throughout their flights.

Detailed description of the new Serviceas it octually works will be contained in afull length article in the September AIRfORCE.

-- - - -- -~-----'AIR FORCE, August, 1943

pilot. the Lidia or the airplane. After atime, a gcner.ll alarm will he hroadust.

You continue on your flight; ten min-utcs out you ront.ict thc Patter son R:lngcStation. You are notified that ATe wantsvou to climb to S,()()O feel now and holdon thc southeast Ice; of the Patter sonRange. Why, you p~ohahly are asking!Bcausc just prior to your arr iv.t] sixother ailTlanes arr ived in quirk succes-sion over the Patter son Range Station andare stacked up at suo.essive 1,000 Jootaltitudes starting at 2.000 feet. ATC isputting you up on top to wait your turnto come down. As the planc at 2.000 feetis cleared to the Patterson Field tower toland, the planes above arc gi\"cn instruc-tions in succession to descend 1,000 feet.Thus one hy one ea,h plane is lowcrc.ithrouuh the pdtern and hrouuh! safelyinto Patterson Field. Your tripon an in-strumenr fli,c;ht P],ll1 from Co,hm toPatterson held is safely completed.

In the Cincinnati Center the picture ofthe st.u l.up over Pan c.von Range wasclc.uly shown on the f1i,~ht proc<.:ress

board. EICh change of altitude is notc.]for each plane on its individual tit.L;htprogress strip. ATC knows a lot moreabout what's going on Mound you th.uivou cia. As e.ich aircr.ut l.rn.ls, Patter sonj"ieId notifies Cincinnati ATe:, whichteletvpes or inter phones the arrival rncs-,age back to pilot's point of departure.

This streaml incd, cxpert lv OJ'l'utedsvstcm of Airway, Trat1ic Control is aproduct of some of Amc:rica's best avia-tion min.ls. Installed and operatc:cl hy theCi\'il Aeron.iut ics Authority. it has pro-vi.icd Amcrir.; wiil . the: Jinest network ofskyways and navijz.u ion.r! aiels to he: foundan)" place in the: world. The avcr.u;c con-troller fe:els the tremendous responsihilit}.invo lv. d in nuint,linings;lfc sep.tration ofaircr.rlt that arc flying the airways inins: rument cond it ions. The whole plein i,one of service that will provide aid ,wdsecurity to all who use the airways.

You, as a pilot, can best do your p,lr::bv pbnning your f1i{~ht:;r.u clul ly, rCj'ort-ing faithfully. an.I obeying instruction, t.Jthe letter. *

23.

FINAL CHECK. After their briefing, these airmen takea last minute stereoscopic squint at photographs oftheir assigned targets on Nauru.

FIREWORKS. Smoke and debris (below) billow fronithe main phosphate plant on the island while otherbombs burst in a nearby housing area.

24

CRATING EGGS. These 1ODD-pounders were among the tons of bombsthe 8-24s unloaded over the enemy's island industrial center.

BULL'S.EYEONE of the m~os"\'lt", .......bombers against the enema large force of B-24s blastedthe circular island of Nauru (circumGilbert Island group. The raid was carrielargest of the Ellice Islands, which was occupied mencanforces several weeks earlier. The Liberators were subjected to in-tense anti-aircraft fire and fighter opposition but they made theirbombing runs "down the groove" and returned safely to theirbase. From five to seven attacking Zeros were shot down.

The Japs retaliated the following day with a raid on Funafuti,but the damage and casualties were small compared to the destruc:.tion on Nauru. * .

HOMEWARD BOUND. With the plant area of Nauru Island aflame,the 8-24s head for their base on Funafuti-mission successful.

FIRST LICKS. An early target was the Jap airfield tohamper fighter interception. Note burning planes.

20. Is this Technical Specialist'ssleeve patch for Armament,Engineering, Communica-tions or Photography?

19. Identify this medal

15. Does the stem of a Ma;or'soak leaf insignia properlypoint toward or away fromhis neck?

16. 3:30 p.m, regular time is theequivalent of .••••• Armytime?

17. Which is the Army AirForces' heaviest single-en-gine fighter plane?

18. Identify this medal

8. What German airplanes dothe following abbreviationsdesignate?

(One wrong is all wrong)a. FW c. DOb. JU d. HE

~14. Army Emergency Relief ;s

available toa. Officers onlyb. Enlisted men only and their de.

pendentse. Sergeants onlyd. All members of the Army and

their dependents

9. The angle of climb of an air-plane is controlled by thea. Elevators c. Rudderb. Ailerons d. Fin

10. GI is the proper abbrevia-tion fora. Government Inspectionb. Government Indexc. Government Installationd. Government Issue

n. Where does the accent fallon the word "materiel"?a. Materiel c. Materielb. Materiel d. Materiel

12. W hen h a It in gas qua dmarching at quick time, onwhich foot should the com-mand of execution, HALT,be given?a. Left footb. Right footc. Either foot

13. There are four forces whichact on an airplane in flight.Can you fill in the missingone?a. Weight c. Thrustb. Lift d •••••••••

A Colonel we know scored 85 points inthis month's AIR FORCE Quiz, whichputs him near the head of the class.Credit yourself 5 points for each correctanswer and see if you ring the bell witha perfect 100; make a near miss with90; rock the target with 80; get a pass-ing nod with 70 or wash out with 6~ orless. Answers on Page 48.

c. Radio mand. Bombardier

a. Navigatorb. Pilot

5. The expression, "leading anairplane" is most closely as-sociated witha. Taxiing c. Piloting a trainerb. landing d. Aerial gunnery

6. A chandelle isa. The right nacelle of airplaneb. The lighting system in the

fuselagec. An external bomb rackd. A maneuver in flight

I. How many of the followingcolors appear on the Ameri-can Defense ribbon?a. Yellow c. Whiteb. Red d. Blue

2. A Peashooter is the nameoften givena. A .30 caliber machine gunb. A tail gunnerc. A fighter planed. An armament specialist

7. Don't look now! Is the AirCorps insignia on an officer'sshirt collar worn on his leftor right side?

)\t 'em boys, give 'er the gun-give 'er the gun."

3. Can you fill in the missingwords of the Air Corps Song"Off we go, into the wild blue

yonder, climbing high into the sun.Here they come . .....•

4. The astral hatch of an air-plane is commonly used bythe

26 AIR FORCE, August, 1~43

How to Keep Well •In theINDIAN THEATRE

B!U~JielL q~ :ha-oi.J N. W. q~tTHE AIR SURGEON

* * * * * * * * * * *nrricl es

of~rhc (oJ/lllt'i'l/!.. ;.\ ,DJ()/h(). jJ1 ;1 icric:'II} hc.,/Jh ({)}h/iliOJ/1 In t l.« {',iF/Oill

"lie I"ili{) II I " -"J'f1 F Fnno/<.

1'-!'iIHA i" ,1 stran!.;<: and colorful land, Thecustoms. dr<:s~, Ian!.;ua!.;e, reli!.;ious be-

liefs and mode of lif~ b~'lr littte rcscrn-blanc<: to 'll1yrhing American. Althoughin the Europc.m section of some of India'slarger cities and in the homes of the marcwca lrhv Indians, conditions may resemblethose in the United Staks, constant ..ireshould be exercised to avoid <:xposur<: tohealth h.iz.u d».

The n.u ive c]uarters of town and ruraldistricts in India arc v<:ry much as theywere hundreds of years ago. There a rc nosafe publ ir: W:lter works, sewa,!.;<: is .l is-pose:d of by the <:asiest and most con-venient 111c.in S, and foods a rr r'lre:ly in-sp<:cted to nuke sure that they arc safe.

Over oncf f th th<: world's popu l.itionl ivcs in l n d i.t. an are:,l a little more th.mone-half the size of ih« United Sr.itcs.

Pr.ut ira l!v «vcrv dise'lse known to rn.inoccurs in this cO~JI1tr\. ReCluse the un-informed is always fik<:ly to mec: withtrouble. thl' reco!.;nition of the dan!.;<:rsthar <:xist in Indi'l' is of ut rnox: impU"t.'mceto American troops. Modern mil it.irvmedicine, especially mil hv;"ien<: .uidsa n it.u iori, h'ls he<:n developed to 'otcctthe soldlcT. no matter wlul ror.dit hem.rv be for.c.] to Ltc<:. If the in.l i: ,Ju:il'ol~lier kno\\'s wha! to e:xj'ecl. has ,l fun-.l.uucru.rl knowleLke of how to ra l«. careof himself. .in.] pr:lctices ordillary .lc.uil i-Iless .m.] Lammon scn«. he is ahl<: to m.iin-r.i in his cfTlcienc\' ,1S a fi!.;htin!.; man .uidavoid hecol11in!.; ,; casualty' due to dise:,he.

Althou!';!] disuse: con,litiom v.rrv some-what in ,liffe:re:nt parh of India, l~:l!aria,"dysenluy," the fungllS diseases, venerealdiseases :lnd snake hire present gLlve rnili-rMY medical problems throughout thecountry,

A c~nserntive estimate has heen madethat 1.000,000 of the 3S9,OOO,OOO In-dians die of malaria alone each year. This

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

sta~~erine; fie;ure indicates its e;reat irn-po;.t',tnce 'in lJ~edicaJ consideratiOl\s. \Xfhilethe disease is most common I\' cout r.utcdin the lowlands, where fre~luently 100percellt of the people have m.il.u ia, it isnot infrequcnt lv encountered in the hilldistricts.

l.vcry precaution must be taken to nvoi dthis disease hecause troops suffering frommalaria can not be effective as a fi!.;htini;force. Luh man should have a th~rougllknow Icdg<: of the methods of protc.r iou:Jg,linst mos'luitoes, not only from themal.uial tvpe but from .il! others, fordenglle and fiLHi:lsis, both mosquito-bornediseases. also occur in India, Since it isim poxxil il« for anyone other than a trained,\fedic,d Dcp.utrnent oAicer to differen-ti.itc her ween discasc-c.irryinu mosquitoesand the pllrely pestiferous types, theyshould all he mnsidcred d.mucrous.

Although the malaria mosquito usuallybite,; .ir night, it m:1Y be encountered dur-in~ the day in dense jungles or shadedmo.mt.un valleys. When it is necessary togo ou.of-door, at night or to operate in:l 111lh"1I ito-i n festell region .u any time,rel,-e,'her to I\Tae lonu-slcevcd shi:'(s hut-touc.: to the neck, long t rou-cr , tuckcdinto hoots. hC'ld nets ,md doves, Eachsoldier should know the \,due of hisrnoxouito net, how to usc it and how tocare foe it. He shollid consi,lcr it an es-,senti,LI piece of his cllllii,ment and shoul.!keel! it ;lyaiLlhlC:' .u cdl times.

~'Il m.inv of India the medicalanice'" 1\ ill rc.onuucu.l the ";lIPI'ITssi\e orprol'll'lactic t rc.umcn; of m.il.ui.r witheither uuin iric or .u.ihrinc, This t reatrncntdoc:; not !,re\ent rnal.ui.i in the true senseanll .on-icqucnt ly can not take the place ofthe external precautions. However, itdocs suppress the symptoms of malariaand thus allows a man to carrv on untilthe mil i tary tactical situation perrn its hos-pitalization. When suppressive quinine oratahr ine treatment is once instituted, direc-tions must be followed explicitly or it may,

do more harm than ,!.;00l1. "Dysentery" isa term med in its hroadest sense when ap-plyin,!.; it to India. Actually the term in-tcxt in.i l dise,l.se is more 'LJ'!HO!'ri:1te, he-cause typhoid f everand p,lf;l-typhoi,] feverarc extremely prevalent as arc hoth .uncbicand b.icil larv .lvscnt cr v. Cholcea IS an-other dise;ls~ that falls 'in this group of in-testinal diseases and cornruon lv occurs ,lSan epidemic, usu:Llly during th~ rainy sea-son from June to Octoher.

All of these intestinal diseases .ircdiseases of nlrh. Thcv un he transmittedby Hies, throu,!.;h w:~ter or food, or hyphysie.tl rout.ut. They CU] he prev<:nkd ifthe usu.i l sanitary preuutiollS, obse-rvedby any • lc.m individu.il , arc carefully fol-lowed. The Indian people have littlekuoxv ledge of, ,1nd even more im port.mt,less re~ard for modern s.initat ion. C'lr-hage ,l;ld human w.rxte» :lIT deposited inthe steeds, in the fields .m.] along thebanks of strc.uns. 1'1 ics .ue ahund.mt.1 he\' hreed in waste .urd since there is noscre~'i i:n!.;, th cv ILLvc e,lSI' ,lCless to thekitchen.' Streams ,lIT CO;,LlIllil1.lted ,mdfoods n rc soiled. Conscqucnt lv, lOll mustalw,1\"S De (J,i !.;lIard. W:lters!Jould hebod~d or chlor'inJted. ])0 not t r uxr toluck drink on lv w.u r-r that Ius heentlTd'ed hv prO!'~r Armv l'llsonne!. Bexure tilal lhe kitchens \\.h~TC your food is

"{lci .m.] the \yhl'r~ yOll c.u .ucof f1 ic-,

Since Ire,'Jed w.itcr nul' not he .iva il-:lhk .u times in Indi,]. C\:eIT su!c!ier 0j'-cr.u in this are'l should k no« one ormo-e Llethods of I'LJI'ihin,~ w.itr-r (1',\121-1 OJ, If he Ius no chloriu« or iodinehe sliould .il w.iv-, rememher rh.u hoil in~water is orie (if the easiest and 'lIIestmethods of f'urifv'ing it.

Because the rate of eXChdf1!.;e is ravor-able and wages are so 10\\ in 'th is part ofthe world, Arncr ic.in, trcqucn t lv hire na-tive hoys to cook. run th"ei I' errands. dothe laundry and perform other menialtasks, These boys may appear clean and

27

may be intell igent. However, do not trusttheir knowledge of sanitation and hygiene,for thei r customs usual IY arc the same asthe: r forefathers. Per~onally superviseeverything they do until you have thor-oughly trained them. See that a medicalofTicer examines them and says that theyare not infected with a communicabledisease. Make certain that they wash theirhands with soap and water w!;enever theyare soiled. See that they prepare yourfood exactly as the Army prescribes. Andabove aIL be sure that the supplies thatthey purchase for you arc safe.

Native fruits and vegetahles are danger-ous. The safest rule is to eat only thor-oughly cooked foods. Soaking fruits orvep:etables in potassium permanganate so-lution is not satixfartorv unless they aresoaked for four or five" hours. The" veryfew dairy products existinp; in this areaare not safe to cat. Raw or dried freshwater fish. crahs and crawfish. as well asthe water chestnut. should not he eatenunless they arc thoroughly and carefullycooked. They transmit the dangerouslung fluke.

One should never walk about barefootin India. Fungus diseases, such as athlete'sfoot and dh;bie itch. are very prevalent.They arc seldom fatal but they can cripplea man and make him a liability to a fight-ing team. These diseases arc easily pre-vented by bathing frequently and keepingas dryas possible. Dry all parts of thehodv thorouuh lv with your own towelnot" with ,1 t'owel that l~as been used bysomeone else. Be especiallY careful to dryhetween the toes, in the groin and underthe arms. Dustinj; the bo~ly with powder,such as Army issue foot powder. andchclOginp: to dry clothing as often as pos-sible are additional methods of preventingthese diseases. During the "rains." eventhou,gh precipitation is not continuous,the humidity makes it very difficult to staydrv. This calls for extra precautions.

Fungus diseases can he transmittedeasily' from one individual to anotherwhen the clothiru; of a man sufferin«from a fungus infection is washed withthe clothing of others. It is best to doyour own laundry or to see that mixed~lothes are boiled.'

Because of the difficulty in keeping dry,minor wounds such as leech and insectbites, scratches, cuts and burns whichwould he considered trivial at home. be-come c.ixilv infected. No matter howsl ight a w~und appeMs to be. it shouldalways be thorough I)' cleansed and treatedwith an antiseptic.

The jungle rountrv of India is in-habited by many animals and insects thatmal' be dangerous to man. Although mostof 'them ~ill go to great lengths toavoid man, thev may become dangerouswhen threatene~1. Tile buffalo an~1 hearare perhaps the most dangerous animalsto be encountered. The buffalo has beenknown to attack man without provocation.

28

If luge cow-like tracks are seen on thetrail, move warily, try to avoid attentionif a herd is sighted, and prepare to climba tree if attack seems imminent. Curiositymay draw it tiger or elephant to a camp-ing place so it is well to keep it fire burn-ing all night. Animals arc not likely toinvestigate a mosquito net closely becauseof the human scent and fear of a trap,adding value to this AimS\' protection.Eleph~][]ts show their pres~ncc by the~Lul1age done to the forest. If a clearingshow~ signs of these animals do not mak~Gtmp. because you may be taking over aregular resting place for a herd. W/henshot, all animals should be regarded ascLtngerous until they display no furthersigns of life.

Several types of crocodiles arc found inthe G,mges system of rivers and along theeast coast of India. and sharks aboundalong the entire coast line, so it is neces-sary to exercise caution when swimmingin strange waters. Scorpions. spiders an.lcentipedes are common in India. Thesting of some of these pests . .llthoughpractically never fatal to an adult, is ex-tremely painful and may prone incapaci-tatmg. Ants, hornets, wasps, mites andthe small stingless sweat-bee are annoying

pests. There are two types of leeches towatch out for in India. the large, darkhorse leech in fresh water, and the small,red jungle leech on shrubs and junglegrass. AlthOLlgh leech bites are not dan-gerous, they frequently become infectedand lead to painful chronic ulcers. Aleech should not be pulled off the skin.The)' can be ca si lv removed by touchingthem with ,1 lighted cigarette or prodc!ingthem with a knife. The n.uives of this partof the world f rcqucnt lv remove leeches bytouching them with a small sack of moistsalt which they carry tied to the end of astick.

Ticks are not uncommon especially inthe jungle areas. One variety of tick car-ries :l disease somewhat like our RockyMountain spotted fever. known as "In"-dian Tick-Typhus." When travelingthrough tick-infested country. tuck yourtrousers in your boots. and do not lie downin the grass unless ahsolutely necessary.RemO\"C vour clothing two or three timesa day :lfl~! search the 'body thoroughly for

ticks. Never remove a tick with your h,lrefingers. Place a piece of paper or clothabout the tick before touching it, or re-move it the same way as a leech v-with aknife or a Iigbted cigarette.

India reputedly has more deaths fromsnake bite than any other country in theworld. Poisonous snakes frcqueru ly liveclose to human habitations which thevvisit at nigbt in search of food. Since 0;1cool nights snakes like to get into warmplaces 'such as shoes and' clothing. allclotbmg and shoes should he carefullvexamined in the rnor ninjr hdvl'e gettin,~dressed. Before getting out of bed atnight turn on a flashlight to make suretb~t there are no snakes on tbe floor.Always look in cupboards, drawers andother dark places before reaching in withyour hand,

If bitten bv a snake, the pat ient shouldbe kept quiet and medical attention ob-tained as quickly as possible. Do not givethe patient a drink of whisky or otheralcoholic beverage, and do not permit himto exert himself. Follow the procedureset forth in paragraph 12S. FM 21-l0.Start the treatment immediately. If thebite is on an arm or leg, apply' a tourni-quet just above the bite. This tourniquetcan be made from a neck tie. handker-chief, bandage, piece of string or vine Across incision, one-half by one-h.ilf inchshould be made over eacl; fan,g puncture:These cuts shou Id be from one-cjuarter toone-half inch deep. Suction should then beapplied for at least ')0 minutes. This mal'be done by either sucking with the mouthor by heating a bottle and applying itsmouth tightly over the wound When thebottle cools. considerable suction will heproduced. If any cracks or sores are presenton the lips or inside the mouth, place asmall sCluare of ruhher over the woundand suck on it to avoid having the snake'svenom come in contact with the mouth.

Every type of venereal disease is presentin India. Syphilis, gonorrhea and chan-croid arc especially prevalent. Professionalprostitutes are nearly always infected withone of these diseas~s. The great rn.i ior itvof clandestine pick-ups are' a lso like:ly tohe carriers. The soldier who has hcr-n ex-posee! to these diseases should go imme-diatelv to the nearest Army prol'hl'l.t,ticstation or, if one is not av.i ilul-l«. use :l

chemical prophylactic kit. Mcchanira lprophylaxis should always be use,!

Leprosy is widespread in Indi,t hut itis not as easily contr.utcd 'IS m.mv peoplebelieve. Avoid art un l l'hysical contactwith a leper and there is no d,mger ofgetting this disease.

Trachoma, a vcr)' serious dise,1se tlutleads to blindness. is common in al] p,trtsof the country. This is a dise,tse of filth.and mal' be avoided bv refraining fromrubbing' the eyes with soiled hn,~ers. Itcan he transmitted from one person toanother by means of a common l.uctowel. U

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

29

have heell smooth if he bad told thembefore hand th.u they were going to trysonic: h inl.; new and d itlicul t.

The e~perimelll pro\'L'd that Fort rc-scscould lJy the forrn.uiou, which on p.lpersceme.] to him the hest defense al.;ainstenemy fighters. Although he ,lain;s the[orm.u iou is "nothing new - just an allap-tat ion of the old sLH~ger fOfllution--" ithas ach icvc.l new re~,;It.s for high-altitullewarfare in th is theatre of opcr.uions.

The Group has suffered the compara-tively low loss of thirteen air planes on 25missions including the Ma rrh .) I raid. andtwo of the Forts lost to enemy fighterswere first forced to drop out of torm.u ior;because of mcch.in ira l uoul-lc.

Alone with this tight defense, the CO.drills the l!;unners to start shoot inr atenemy figh'ters, if possible. before 'theydive in to attack at close range. It hasthe same effect ,IS a boxcr"s left jab. Pop-ping away at the Focke-Wulfs .ind Mes-serschmitts while they're waiting for a.break keeps them off balance.

"I don't care how few fighters yOU

knock down," he reassures th~m, "Keepthem aw.iv from the formation."

The G;'Ollp is prou.l of coming homewith few .l.ums. For their CO. con-tinually tells them that their primary pur-pose in the war is to pick up a lon d ofhombs and drop them on the t'lrget. Thisindort rin.uion has h.i.] other results, too.

The Group has h.u l fewer "'lbortive"aircraft- -tho-«- Fortresses wh ich take offbut return to home base without drol'pingtheir bomhs. There al w.iv-; .irc good rea-sons for "abort. vex." hlit the /;len ha \'C

beller rc.rxon s for hittinl.; their m.uk.New adapt'ltiolls or'this ti,ght, dudly

formation to meet new encmv t.ict ics. arecont inu.rlly chanp:in,g the ori,ciilul p,lttert1.

"We\'e got to keep a step ahead of theLufl wa rlc," he savs in one of his r.iremoments when he' ex!,res'ies lhe obvious,

Although policy now is a,g.lillst (om-m.rn.lcr : going on a ll mix-ions. he 'll\\'avsgcws when a new t<lrget, or nc w risL,.i rc involved. The 1Irsl Llid on Gemullv,for inst.mcc-> (Cc:;!inucc! ';'1)

working on a 24-hour schedule, s(!ueez-ing every minute of lLlin;:lg time intothem that W'IS humanly possible.

They didn't like it then. It W'IS nogentleman's way to go to war. They«ursed and sweat, then cursed some more.But they Rew, far into the night- bomb-ing practice, gunnery, naviuation, forma-tions and the myriad things a group mustknow before Llckling the Luftwaffe, TheirCO. drove them, day after day, for twomonths,

He kept it up when they arrived inEn,!~Llnl{, restricting everyone to camp forthree weeks, It was the only recourse. Amountain of work lav ahead and it had tobe done immediately. British radio pro-cedure, ,lids to navigation, aircraft recog-nition, more gunnery and bombing prac-tice, and a hundred other necessary items,

It was his theme of "work an'd morework" th.it he promised would p:lY .iivi-dends, Anel it did.

On the first five of the Group's mis-sions not a Fortress W'lS lost. The Com-manding Otlircr went on them all, takingover different positions in the crew. Oncehe W'IS pilot, another time co-pilot, andon one raid he was in the top turretmanniru; a p.ur of caliber fifties. Hem.i.lc it his joh to understand the prob-lems of each nun he ordered into combat,

;\monp: other th ings, he t:lught them 'I

new Iorm.uion. It was born in a bit ofpsychology.

I-Ie ordered lip the Group on a trainingRi,(~ht one day .m.]. hefore the pilots knewthat they were p:lrticip:lting in an impor-tant cxper imcnt, they were obeying direc-tions cominl.; over the radio,

"In a little closer, Martini--stay at thathci;"ht. Pyle---l'ut your squadron higherfmc! to the right, McGehee-gel moresp,lce bet ween clements, Preston. , ."

It wrnt off smoorhlv, the CO, n/l'orts,but arlds th.it he doesn't tllink it would

,-,L1nners. And only two months to pre-"arc for the "major Ical.;ue." The first:hing was to get the <lirl'l.U1es ,mel crews

AIR FORCE, A!Z;;ll.lst, 1943

THEY used to think their CO. was aslavc-dr ivcr, a h.u d. unvic l.l inu, un-

sympathetic man. ,. lron-a~s" w,;s thename.

There were other descriptions, too, ofthis 13-17 group commander during thosetwo swc!tering months h.lck in the Stateswhen he was whipping his rornb.u newsinto sh.i p«.

But here at a bomber station .. some-where in Enl.;land" the same men r.rl l him"absolutely the best CO. in the Army.'

The story of the transition is an inter-esting one.' It W,lS a tr'lnsition not of theCO, but of his men,

They know him as the rare par.ulox ofa cornrnandinu of lice I' who almost nevertalks while h~'s wor k inj-. But, when hedocs take a loru; puff on his cil.;ar andopens h is mouth: he's to the point'; he hasthe final answer and only answer, bcr.iuscit has been thoroughly thought out.

This characteristic hr cvity, and the re-strictions he slapped on them when hewas desperately attempting to ,I.;et themtrained for combat, resulted in the "iron-ass" reputation right off the bat. They h.u]their reasons for ctlling him that. he hadhis for heinl.; tllelt wav.' ,

\X'hen h~ fi rst to~k command of theGroup it h.id four battered B-17s. a fewexperienced pilots, almost no experiencedn.iviu.uor», bombardiers, r.ulio men or

r---B'feCi-piCi-tH. B. W. elza,nJeIl

EIGHTH AIR FORCE

~PsTO tur"'1..-0,,26OUR flit;ht of five B-2{,s was on a mis-

sion '('0 bomb a Jap airdrome at Lae.We went in at 1. 'jOO feet. laid our bombsin the dispersal bays alongside the run-way. swung out OVCl' the harbor and weresuddenly jumped by fifteen or twentyZeros.

One of our planes was badly hit andit "went in." The remaining four of uspoured on all the coal we could and keptlow over the water. Soon I felt my ownship. which was the lead plane. swerveheavily. The pilot of a plane behind meradioed that my right wing was afire.A 20 mm cannon shell had put a hole in

30

the wing that you could have stuck a bootthrough. But we were still flying and theflame in the gas tank soon went out.

Just then our navigator. LieutenantLeon Kallina, tapped me on the shoulder.I presume he was going to tell me aboutthat right wing. Before he could speakhe fell and I sent Lieutenant B. B. Moore,my co-pilot. back to find out what hadhappened. Ka llina was dead. A machineglln bullet had gone right up through hischest as he stood behind me.

By the time the co-pilot returned to hisseat, a Jap' fighter had attacked from thefront and riddled the nose of our ship.

Our bombardier, lieutenant R. E. Falls,had been scr iouslv hit. Falls, however,was still able to stay on his t;uf1S and hegot the Jap fighter." That was a satisfac-tion, believe me.

Some of cur other planes were alsohaving a bad time. A ship flown byCaptain J. C. O'Donnell had probablysuffered most, with one engine com-pletely knocked out. The Jell'S, realizinghe was crippled. swarmed around himlike bees. But his tail gunner was a verycool customer name.] Corporal Hender-son who knew a couple of tricks himself.

Henderson. pretcnding his guns were

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

loading a 8-26 at a Port Moresby base prior to a raid on New Guineawas a scene that was often duplicated in the author's squadron.

"The 8-26 is every inch a war-plane," says this combat pilot, whotells why the Japs think so too.

31

show uswith ,~ood

believe, either third or fourth amon « allbomb groups in this respect. r-

Our early success against Jap fighterswas due in some measure to the fact thatthey had never seen B-2os before.

It's a tough ship to be introduced to,even though the planes we h.id were notnearly as heavily-punned as the Currentmodel. The laps had quite a time de-ciding upon the best approach.

lap fighters experimented diligently intheir attacks upon us until they fo'undwhat they evidently l.cl icvc.i was an ad-\'antageous approach, which thereafterthey adhered to religiousl\'.

They .rlud)! continued toplenty of respect, however, .ui.]reason.

The B-26 is every inch ,I wa rpl.i n«. Ithas speed, he.ivy armament .uui sturdiness.

Speed, of course, is a great virtue.While in a lon~ chase Zel'Os will trc-lluently be elhlc 'to nuke several .ut.uk »,there arc m.mv occasions when this is notthe case. I r~memher a day when I wasjumped by seven cncmv fi,~hters and theyhad time only to make one pass betore Ifound cloud cover and ~ot elWelY. Thisspeed-together with th~ fact that thepLlnc is so m.mcuvcr.il.Ic that it can behandled like a pursuit ship in many re-spects---is a tremendous asset in combat.

And so is the ship's strength It \\i11take a terrific bcatin s; and ~cnerally ~etyou home somehow,' unless' you YO{H~cIf:ue put out of commission. 'E\-e'n then,there's still a chance. The crew of a planein OUl' group once W,lS severely shot upwhile 'lttacking a Jap:mese ship. Bothpilot .md co-pilot were disabled by gllnfirc, one being un.rhl« to use h is legs, theother unable to usc his .ums. By workiru;together. however, thcv brought in th'cplane for as nice a bnding as you'd everwant to see. {:(

had to be careful of the soft spots---thepiKes where homb craters and shcl I holesIud been filled in. However, it was!.700feet long, which g'l\'e us plenty of room.md later the runway was leveled .m delluipped with a mat.

All our crews ha.] had a lot of time inH-2(,s, particuLlrly during the l.ouisi.m.i.u.uu uvcrs. 'lnd our ground men Iudlearned how to m.unr.un the ships underd ithcul t ci rcumst.m.c; in those samemaneuvers. This helped enormously ,mdW,l.Sone of the reasons, I am sure, wh ,:our group had rcl.u ivclv low losses. .

Durirn; the first ei~ht months of ouropeLltiol~S we tlew al~',lYS without lighterprotection, In addition to the raids,1,~elinst Rabaul (,t1though this \\',IS l.ucr.rhandoncd cIS too loru; a mission for ef-ficient use of medium 'bombers), Lac .mdSa l.rm.iu.i, our grOlip took part in the\filne Bay .in d COLli Sea actions, .in.] W,IS

vcry acti~c throughout the whole BUIl:t

CJmp,lign. From the time th.u lap shipsunlo.ulc.] troops on Papua until, monthsI.iter. they were driven h.u], ,1Cl'OS, theOwen Sr.inlev Range ,wd tin.il lv elimi-nated from tl;e wh;1c area, we w~I'e husv'lttacking ships, storehouses, gl'ound troOf)concentrations, the airdrome at Hunu andother medium bomber tar~ds. Sometimeswe Hew two missions ,I d:lY.

In thc course of these :l;ld other 0peLl-tions our group shot down more enemy.iinr.rfr than '1l1\' other medium bomb,~rollP in the A;'m)' arid now stands, I

jammed, openly invited a rear attack.Every time a lap lirhter accepted the in-vit.mon, Henderson would ~et him witha quick burst. He brought down threeZeros this way while the plane was fly-im; alon~ on one engine.

'The Zeros chased us ]00 to 1::'') rni lc-,down the ro.ixt hcforc they turned hack.We still h'lll to cross the' Owen Si.uilcvMounta ins to ITKh our hase .u Port"\foresby and this, in itself, W,IS :1 problem.

There W,IS one short-cut but it wasthrough el high !)ass in the mount.unrange and it sceme,l unlikely that ()'[)on-nclls ship with one enrll1e gonc-could make the .ilt itudc. On the otherh.m.l. I had a badly woun dc.] man .ibo.rrdand 111V ~as was goin~ fast.

I r'l<v~ orders for th(: other three ,hipsto stick toucthcr and fly b,lCk to Moresbyby w,ly ot' ,I low pass < further along thewnre, while I took the short-cut.

Hlln we got into more troublc. TwoZeros tint had been on .t raid ,I~ainst:1\1or(:sby were usinr that high 10'1)) 'them-selves and jumped my ship. As luck:would have it, not a sin~1e: nun of ourcrew \\'.IS on his guns :It the moment.They were all in the lail, taking cue ofthe wounded bomb.udicr.

I didn't know this. of course. eln,!turned ridlt into t ho:«: two Zeros. Thevdidn't kr~ow it, either and broke .twa)'without f11'in~ at us. \Ve rct urnc.l to,Moresby witI;out further incident .ind alittle while later were joined by the otherthree crews. All our pbnes were ha.l!vshot up it was a da)' when you tlunkedHeaven for self-sealcrs--:1lld WL'h.u] lostone ship. But we h.i.] hrought downeither <even or eight Zeros.

This W,IS tYI,iClI of the many actin:,bys our mL'eJiUIll [,ol11h,11'dment ,~r()upwror. into its record of opcr.rt ions. Thishappened to he on :\[,n' ::'S, I i) I::', but itW,IS on ly one of the m.inv ulls we paidon Lie, Ruhaul and S,d,unau,l

\Ve kid set out from the 1 [nite,1 Statesin Fcl-r u.u,'. Our B-2(,S wcre trans)'ortedbl' shil' i',lIt wav across the P:lCltic .ui.!flown from there, isLin.! isl.rn.I, toAustLtlia. The group operations inApril.

\Ve were stationed .it Townsville, run-nin~ most of our missions from Portt'vfo;'esby. The ,lirfield at Moresbv waspretty rouuh in those days. The runwaywas made of dirt and gra\el and had aslant to it. You took off downhill andlanded uphill. And, since it was beingpounded rather regularly by the Japs, you

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

D£P1UP£RC£Pl\ONS\MPl\f\£\l

Blf .PieuienaHi eolo.nel M. C. PCi/thlHEADCj)UARTERS, ARMY AIR FORCES

CREW members of a bombardmentgroup gather in the briefing room.

The briefing oHicer snaps out the lightsand Hashes a lantern slide on the screen.The sl ide shows a piece of enemy ter-rain, but it has the typical hazy appear-ance: of :1 double exposure and, with thenaked eye, it is somewhat ditJicult toidentify. The men in the room then puton what appear to be ordinary dark sun-gLhses and the reproduction comes tolife. The picture actually takes on de/'tb.Th.it tree-bordered stream snaking acrossthe teruin shows up, not as a stream. butas H,lt paint disguising an enemy airfield.Strictly a camouflage job. And that patchof woods. More camouflage. The treesslope upward in tell-tale humps thatmean not woods <It all but a couple ofcamoutlaucd hangars. Now the crew hasits Luget.

Thr'ee-dimensional pictures of this typeare now being rna.]e by Air Force photo-graphic units. They arc called Vectographs.Aside from their double image appear-ance without the glasses, they look andh.indlc much like ordinary photographsan.l .ue just about as convenient to use.As projection slides they can be viewedby :1I1 entire group with the aid of onlysimple Polaroid Three-Dimensional Pic-ture spectacles. Even handier, Vecto-gL1phs can be made up as prints to beheld in the lund, hung on the wall or

32

mounted in book form for detailedstudy.

The three-dimensional picture prin-ciple is not new. In the first World Warphoto intelligence orhrcrs used three-di-mensional methods on aerial photos toJig out information that could not be ob-tained from ordinary Hat pictures. But thejob required the use of two paper prints,a stereoscope made up of mirrors or lensesand a work table, and the employment ofconsiderable patience and even greaterskill. The stereoscope still represents thebest method of obtaining quir]; three-di-mensional views of aerial photos but ex-pert handl ing rcm.uns a prerccluisite.

What is new about the Vectograph isthat it provides an C1SY way for non-experts to benefit from three-dimensionalviews and permits mass reproduction ofsuch pictures for new and important uses.

THE Vectograph also affords a muchlarger view than the stereoscope. In addi-tion, photo labs may piece together anynumber of these separate area views intoa "model" of hundreds of squ;tre miles ofterritory to serve as quit k substitutes formaps or to show information that mapscannot present. These big Vectographscan be studied by a number of people atonce, wher eas the stereoscope is strictly aone-man show.

This new method is now an established

service in the AAF, the Na,y, MarineCorps and the RAF. Air and groun,lforce groups in the South P'lcitic [heAleutians. Afr ica and Britain ar c h.iviu cthem made up hI' photo units alrc.idvtrained and ellui pped to do the joh.

The Vectograph employs a simple prin-ciple. By placing your lund over one eyeand looking ar oun.], vou can sec th.it ittakes two ~yes to get ~l true three-dimen-sional riew.' For tLe same re.i-.on. it t.tkestwo different pictllres-- one for the righteve and one for the left eye of the oh-s~f\'er- -taken from two ,Iilferent focalpoints, to make ~l three-dimensioned pic-ture. Furthermore, your eyes have to pickup these two different images at the s.unctime and see them as if the\' were in thesame place. They must he ;hown so thatthe right eye sees only the right-eyeimave and the left eye on lv the left-eyeima~e. while the brai;1 fuse; the two i[ltoa single th ree-d irncnxion.rl picture.

With the Vectopaph. the two in1.lgesrequired for the three-dimensional pic-ture occupy the same piece of the speci.l1Vectograph sheet, one irnage r ight oyerthe other, without interferi'ng \\~ith e.Hhother when viewed througl~ polarizingspectacles.

This can be accomplished because the:Vectoj-r.i ph im;lge is renc!ere,! in term,of "degree of pol.niz.u ion" r.u hcr th.in inpigment, dye or xilvcr particles.

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

The Vectogr'lph sheel Ius two sides,>olh .ut ivc lv en,~,lged in the job. Ther-r int iru: «ilui ion comerts the lilm sur-~.l\ cs i;lto light pol.uizcr», which behaveh jf the")' were made of opticJ! slots.ll,c:ht is blocked hI' ,I p,lir of pol.u izer»'.\ hChe slots eross at ri uht an~les with'e'ul t.mt bl.ukne-«. On' the other hand,:J,c:ht is I'Jssed most easily by a pair of:-lliarizus wirh p;lr;lllel slots. As J polar-.z c r. each hce 01 the Vec[ogr'l[,h film ,lelS,h ,I sci of optical slots. The \iewing spec-:.1\ Ic:, ront.i in poLlri:cin,c: el'CI,ieles. In"olllhilution, the sf1Cctaclc:s .m.l the polar-:zin,c: Vectopaph image, crute anLl . on-.r o! the pattern of hl.ukx, whites .uid(un wh i.l: the eyes sec. To separate tlH:i-iLiures. one for ca.h eve. the opt ic.rl slots"i the two VectugLlph poLll'izing images_ross :ll ri~ht an~k,: the lenses of the\lewerS arZ simil,;rl\' .u r.uu-c.l. l.ach eve" m.u.hc.! ui' Ili'th its 'correspondir;,C:

\X'ithout the glasses. thc' Vectogra),hi-flnl. held in your hand or projected on.i "rlen. look s like a fuzz\' douhle-cx po--urr. \\(!ith them. the two imac:es on the']I((,t arc unxcr.unhlcd so lh,lt each eve:..:u, its own perfect inuge to look .it.. n.i .ornbinc with the other into the,inf,:lc depth view.

Pictures of rn.uhinerv. l.:uns an.] other".linin,\! suhJects m.iv 'he: nude with a-;-ccI;d double camera t.ik in r the two\'K\\'S at once, or a re.gubr c.; IIIcr.i. such:c,s the Speed Graphic, t:lkin,~ one f,iLlurerrorn one point and rnovinj sidew,11'S afC\I' inches Ix.fore sn'If'pin.l..: the other.

The Vcctop,l/,h with its poLlrizcr prin-cij'le \Ias in vc nr cd I", Edwin H. l.arid,j-re,idlnt an.l director of research of}J"l.lr"d (orpor.tl ion. work in,C: withJo'q-h "\Llh1([, a 'l,eci,tiist in methods of

The scope of photo interpre-tation has been broadenedby this new third.dimensional

technique

three-Llimcn,ion.d !'I"csenLltion. The I,roc-eS) \I.IS .mnour.rc.] l.uc in 1')50 .indLjllickh- ,luciOi'd Into !'uLti"d form (or\I',lI' 1I,e with the cn.our.urcmcnt of the1\1\1" .Jnd other hunches ~)f the <crvicc.

/\ tir.,t'lju,d itv • lorhc., \\rin,l..:tr is themost tl.!l,or,ltc riele at Sj'eci,d uluil'mentused If] makin~ Veetoer.q,hs.

The l,roces': sUrts \~ith ;1 )',lir of stereo-scol,ic nq':,ltin's ohuined h\ ariv of theusu.rl rnc rho.]s. Here .ur i.i! J,hoto,~raphyIus .1 l..:rC'clta,h'anLlc:e over \isll,d obscrva-t ion. A I'air of r1\otop,q,hs nude withst,ln,hrd xi xtv percent ove r l.ip ,l..:i\es thetltect of :;pe,ldinf,: the eyes .1' far as ther.uncr.i stations .ire apart. ,l..:re,lt)\' hei,l..:ht-cnin e the sule of relief. Tc rr.un t h.ttlook~ ptrfeetl\' flat to an .rcr i.il observerappClrs in full relic! in .hc Vc'tlo,l..:raph.

Axr of t lrc standard .u r i.i l call1eras canhe used. and there is no sj'eci,d trick inr.ik irn; the pictures. The .ir-r i.r] photog-r.u-hcr silllply fo]IO\\'S the re,\!ubr rulesfor rn.rkinj, rcconn.u-x.in. c strips.

He l,rints t hc neg,ltill's photopal'h-icalIY on Lhtman \X',hhotf Htlid Film,the -.un« film used tor nl.lkln~ colorprints. .m d then sO,lks them hrie'Hy in aspeci,d f'rintln,l..:,olution. imerts the Vee-to,l..:Lll'h sheet and runs the sandwichthwul;h the \\rineer. The illla;:es hel..:into .lf~j'car .in.l. i;1 less than ;, minute,rhcv are complete. He next stri)'s otfthe relief films from the Veltopaf,h andsets them to soak for the next Frint. (The

proce:;:; is .lctailcd in '1'.0. I ()-..'~-..',i

Selected AA F l'hotopapher.s take on IIa week's post'gradu,lte course to ,Idd Ve,:-togr.q'h\' to their regular 10,1,[ of tri.k-;

A fter two I,r,ll! icc runs t h rouph Iheprocess, the)' .ue u-ual lv ahle to xt.ur \1 it ha I,air of neg'lti\'es and turn out ;1 I'rlnt,dried .m.] t rirnrne.]. in .ibout t hirr v :nin-utcs. Succeeding copies LIke ahu~lt on cman-minute ,lpiece. The process r.in hecarried out ill ,U1\' place th.u c.rn he d.irk-en e.] the Air Fane <t.m.i.i r.] t r.ulcr. ahLrckecj.out truck hod\'. .inv b,lse Of fieldphotopaf'hic unit. S~r\'ic~ ],erSonlll] .il-re,lIIY, hal'e been tur ninj; out Vecto,l..:Lq'hsof s,ltisfactor\' qu.i l itv under tield roudi-tion- in the com hat thc.n rc.

Although new uses for Vllto,C:Llrhswill arise trom t irnc to t irnc. t hc i r f'rin-cii',d military value nul' he su.runc.l Uf .15

fol lo w»:Bridinl..: combat tc.uns, such as homher

crews. ,IS;'llllt parties, l.m.imin ins- .uouj'S.cnuinccr s, air sUf'f'ort poui's.ship.to-shor e .ir r illery units and l'ar.llhutc troop.

Staff work-, .. for Llctiul pLrnnin,l..: U\([unmapped or sketchily-n1:lj'f'cd tcr r ir orv.

Intelli;.:ence rcports. for 10fl\eYln,C: in-tel liucnrc information to field ottuc r. whoneccl not: be eCjui!'pcd with steru)'CUrUin order to he thorouuh lv f.imi li.ir \\iththe loel/ion ;lnd apf'~;tr.;nce of cncrnv:;upply derols, dumps. road l rc>s,in,C:s,hridl..:es, rommunir.rt ion hottlenecks. iorti-tications, the dfeds of homhinl..: ,lllc!,hc'll-lire. disj'osition of cnemv ,l~tillcrl' ,lfleldesirable tar,c:et ol.jcrrivcs.

Tr.uninc l.irec elasses of stu.Icn: me-ch.mir-; ~llnnc{rs. n,lyi~ator:< l"J!Ol:-- .m.]other ]x~sonnl'1 wlio 'must a"lmtl.lIc ;1

Jot of information rapidly on SuhJCl[' ,lllddevi. e, rh.u ;HC ,litlIcult to undcrst.mdfrom :1 flat picture. *-

Here's how a Vectograph slide of a target area may be viewed throughthird-dimensional glasses by a number of people at the same time.

There's only one girl in this picture. It's the Vectograph. plusa couple of mirrors, one on the rigt.t and one in front of thegirl, that has you seeing double or triple or quadruple. Thisis a photograph of a Vectograph print, with its hazy, d e ubl e-exposure appearance to the naked eye. Through the Vecto-graph spectacles held over the print, you will note that thelegs and arms of the mirrored image at the left appearsmooth and in focus, while the shoulders and face do not.Similarly, the panel back of the girl at the right shows upsingle in the right lens of the spectacles and do ub le o ut s lde ,You actually are seeing a different picture through each ofthe lenses. If you had the opportunity to look through theseglasses at the Vectog.aph print, the combination of the twoimc qe s, one seen by each eye, would produce the third.dimensional effect. And it isn't bod, either.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?H'M. Better ask what's right about it.

We might more appropriately use the title "HowNOT To Change An Airplane Engine." Nine specificmistakes in the picture, listed on the opposite page,were pointed out for us by Private First Class AlfredPurinton, who is the mech tugging on the rope. Didhe miss any?34

This example of how not to change an engine wasposed in the interest of better maintenance prac-tices by men of the Air Service Command. They aremembers of the 88th Repair Squadron of the Fair-field, Ohio, Air Depot, Control Area Command.Left to right, they are, Private Frank De Chirico,Privates First Class Purinton, Ruben Wetherell andWilliam Wharton; astride the nacelle is Private FirstClass Noah Reese.

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

ON THE LINEMISTAKES ON OPPOSITE PAGE

Reading from left to right

1. lust lloticc', will IOU, ho\\ .ill tlHlse:-.caU-crcll t()())s JIll! 1I111"]Cll"s-",lry c'quipIlH .'n tcluttcr up tIle Jllcch< \\'()rkirl,~ "l',ICl'. Thi.'.;greatly interfere>, witl: djilivlll':Y 11\ m.u n-tCll<lllCC pr()(l",!urc ,l1111 (re,ite"" 111.\[1)'

!la/;lrtJs t(l ,'''It"d\'.2. \X."eight.s \)1)' the pr(lp sluft s!JIJuL.t nothe usc,! ( uulc-,« .I "lil1,~ ixnr .iv.ul.rb!c }.Two \\'ci,~hh ,1'J 11tH h()ld tile l'11,L:iIlC ill

currcct !",,(),\itillil f(11" ill"LtlLltiIJl!. yet '.1 rlur.]\\"(.-.ight nli,~ht ,jj"t(lr"t tile pr\lp ,,)ut't. i\slil)g IS Ihe thillg. IZdllellCV: T.O.02-IOC;A-..:.3. S()()Jll'r or Liter ,,(l1l1uJllc ()t" )'()ll tiyc

ll1CChs is going tll he jO(lKillg high ,-111(JIn\\" {(II" tll.lt r.rt.h«: \\TU1Ch. :'l"C it: It'sthere ill the oil ((lokr .ur SL(l(lp" Lvcrvtuul ill its l'1"ll!"cr pL1LC i....rc.lclily ]()L.lted-~n(l rirnc 00; THE 1.1:"\1' tor " C:;llllcof ."Ilitie til(': wn.n. h." The ).lIl1l..-' tlJill.C,applies to the r.«! in the .ipc rr urc \If thelc.ul iru; ClJ~C Ilf the lct t wini..:.4. ~~'\'cr,' ucvcr ..... t;uhl 11l1d'u .111 engine.There is not writ tcn ~ll,lLI!lkL' rh.u .in en-gille wunt ,lrup frll1l1' ic..; hnisl.5. The engirlc 1l1()L1Jltin~ h(>!ts .uc inb.u k wa r.!», fcll()\\'s. Yuu]! iirhl ou t youcan't ill:-.LLI! an cn,!.!;ine this \\',LY. Rl..-fer-cncc: T.O. 111-1-);,).6. \1('h,\t is thi, ,11l\'\\'c\Y. tUi.e; "t w.rr?You, pulling .t t the r11rk. yuu"rc wehting111anpO\\Tr. The clr.un .ut.u.ho.l to the en-gine mount i ... ~ll1nrht.'r sLl!,ertlu\llls ()!'CU-r ron. Knth Jl1isUkes should he c linun.uc.]hy using the slIng .tlrcJ'!y lllL'J)(illlH.-'lLNever lISC a Ill',!'T c]J:lin f{lr ,L;uillance be-cause of the d~If\~er ()f :'llll.lshiJl,L:: tuhing,cOlllJuit :lfld j uu.r ion h()Xl"S. AlsIJ, thech.un mi,l.!;ht S\\.jllg hackwarlJ'l ~lJhl ['ll!f1c.turc the r.mk : 1l1<lIVirnport.uit jf it fed Is,it might kill .I Il1cch.7. He)', vo u up Oil the n.ucl]«. You'reabout to COlllIl11t Iour ullp,lrdulLLhk h(l]ll'r~,You're swill,e;ing fnut c.in rupt ur« theJ1uid lilKs. \\'hl'f) the ellgiile fit, int.: pl.u e)'our leg will he 1l1,,,he,1 het\\l'u) the t.uik.Ind the lire\\',dl. You Il1ic:ht kick ih.ithlock off the \\ing with ):onr h-f t tOOt.

The tln!.!;crs of h(lth Your hands .uc In aswell p;)siti()!l to he ~m;lshcll.8. The main nn.uicc stand on the right isill1propcrly 1'1.1(("1. It sh<lll:d hc closl'!' t<lthe pLIIle to pro' ide s,dely l<lr th'lt meehrelching t(l\\'arll the engillc,9. Look out tur tl"lt r'ltchel wr. nrh justready to dr-up (liT the maintc n.uuc sr.m.].Alld it's right ill l inc to Ldl Ill) t h« hCi\d<ll vour hu.ldv,P.S: You m:ght Cilnclude th.it the de-jecte,1 meeh with his h,ln,lkerchid to hishe.ld is ,leplorill,c: the nl""y joh in thispicture. But it's even more- s.rio us. He's.I victim of thc Au.c:ust lu-n t , I.lrgel)' he-c.i u-«: he lorc:ets to t.rl«. tho-«. x.i l t t"hiets.llld plenty 0'1 w.i tt-r. But we \\,<In't COUlltthi:, (11ll' ;lgainst you.

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

TAXI ACCIDENTS •••

Manv taxi accide:nts are: ca\lse:d bv irn-prope:r 'elre: .m d che:ckinj.:; of hrakes~ Oninspection of scvcr.i l elirplelne:s that wcr c.l.uu.ure.l In r.ix: accidcnts re.cnrlv, oneW,lS f~)und to have an 0.1 I 0 inch cl~elunccin the hrelke:s. While tilxiing another 01thc .urpl.uic-, the: :lCcidcnt otti.cr foundt h.u the ril!"lll br.ikc failed t wicc durllll!"cl test inn;hing .rl-out twenty stops illlJturns. Onc t.i ilurc is one: too many.Brake: clearances should be checke:d e\'e:rytiftv hours .uid the syste:m kept free of air.

An,! don't for,l!"cl rh.u elirpL\nes shouldnot be r.ix ic.] hom the: m.untcn.mrc line.Push 01' tow them into the clca r beforestarting thc e:nj.:;incs for telxiing.

PICK UPS •••

At .t southern .iirbasc, an inspe:ctiondiscloscd enough n.u ls, scrcw-; and or.icrassortcd bils of mct.r] lying looxc on the:Hight line to gi\e JnY"lhilge drivc ilsubstantial hoost. Di\m'lge: to tircs .uultubes of 'Iirplane:s taxied over In im-properly policcd area may have dangerousaf ter-cffccts. Lives of pilot and crew mayhe je:opardized. Would you fccl your fe:etwere safc from cuts if you walked h.rre-foot .uound your apron ~ll1d runways atnight?

IN THE COCKPIT •••

Remember that pl.rcar.Is placcd in cock-pits calling the: pilot's .utcnt ion to im-pOI.tll1t information are uselcss unlc s-. hecan 1'1:,1.1 them. If the: sip1S ,lrC hJdly de-face:d or .icrer inr.uc.], see that the:y arc rc-phce:d hy new ones.

CHECK THIS •••

Learn the loc.ition of the main fuelline srr.uncrs on ,!.;'lsoline: sc:r\'icing t rail-ers. Have the propc:r dust Clp on fuelservicing nozzlc». And is datJ of inspec-tions ster1l'i Ie:d on thc sidc of the trailer?

IT HAPPENED IN SAN JUAN •••

Not so long ago on the tropied islandof Barbuda in the Aru illcs, a British pilotmade a force:d landing. Ingenuity of threeAA F men enabled him to take: off againj nshort order

First Licuten.mt Daniel R. Kelly, Tech-n ir.i] Scrl!"cant Ceorl!"c L. Hilton and Pri-v.u c Ral;lh W. Adord neared the «cneof the wreck with an Army crash boat.

A monthly maintenanceroundup prepared in collabo-ration with the Air ServiceCommand and the TechnicalInspection Division. Office ofthe Air Inspector.

Dcspitc bad wc.u licr thcy wound thrllLt,C:);,bngcrous reefs, fo l lowc.l J n.urowjun,i.;le path 'lnd found the: Unil1}UI~ul i'ilot.

Without facilitie:s ot 'l modern ,kpotand m.uh inc shop. thc men fOI',l,l!"e:d 'lpropeller and .arburcror from il srn.i llplane, They spliced front and rc.i r strutswith an oar frorn the .r.ish l.o.u, usmgtent pcgs and sncws from the ho,u'ssupply. A he:nt eye-bolt on the I'e:ar'p,lfW,lS straightencd ilfte:r it was hc.uc.l overa small l!"as stove.

The 'job was accomplished 111 thrl'e:[bys. The Brit ishcr unhesiL\tin,l!"ly climbedinto his plane: .in d rlcw it to an air basewhere full re:pairs were nude. ;;,

It isn't often that a sergeant pins thegold bars of a second lieutenant andthe silver wings of an AAF flying offi-cer on a newly graduated aviationcadet, but Second Lieutenant J oh nAdams was proud to have SergeantHarold M. Adams do the honors whenhe was commissioned at ceremoniesat Luke Field, Arizona, Army AdvancedFlying School.

The reason - Sergeant Adams isLieutenant Adams' father, a"d a mechON THE LINE in that same squadronwhp.re the Lieutenant was trained.

35

AAFWCTC, SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA

ONI' of the major factors in the aircrew training record of the Army

Air Forces has been Production LineMaintenance, origin.lted last fall by theAAF West Coast Training Center andnow being adapted for use at every basic,advanced and specialized flying school inthe Flying Training Command.

PLM makes maximum use of everyavailable technician and, at the same time,educates the new mechanic with the great-est possible speed. Its installation has in-var i.iblv resulted in reduced man hoursper inspection, higher percentage of air-planes in commission and, above all,better maintained equipment.

Production line maintenance is not aninnovation; it's an evolution born of ne-cessity. The accompanying administrativechart gives the organization breakdownfor accomplishiug all SO-hour and 100-hour inspections, utilizing the highest

36

type specialists procurable at a post. Theimportance of maintenance is indicatedby the contemplated creation of the posi-tion of Director of Maintenance, or atleast an S-4 Officer who teams up withthe Director of Training. Under himcome administrative personnel, hangarchief, specialty shop crews, engine changecrew, and so on. A station operating 1SOairplanes will have a PLM organizationapproximating 1SO men, one-third ofwhom are apprentice trainees. Trainedmen arc procured by the assignment ofdetachments from all school squadrons toaccomplish the organization total.

Airplanes up for SO-hour or 100-hourinspection are delivered to the uncowlapron by the school squadron. Primaryinspection for such apparent faults as oilleaks is made as the uncowl crew removescowling, inspection plates and batteries,drains oil pump and cleans strainers.

These parts and the airplane then moveforward to the rack where the wash crewtakes over. Fifteen minutes on the washrark and the plane moves on to inspec-tion. Cowling goes into a portable dollywhich rolls to sheet metal shop for rcp.ur.Inspectors jill out worksheets, itemizingoperations in addition to normal inspec-tions found and reported by the schoolsquadron. On lOO-hour inspections theradio crew removes the set and the eCluip-mcnt goes to the radio shop.

The chart gives the organization break-down from this point forward. The workstations are each manned by one st.ufsergeant, one sergeant, one corporal, oneprivate first class and four students.

From four to six stations may be desig-nated for a given job. Completion ofwork at Station 1 is followed by themanual movement of the airplane to Sta-tion 2 and so on to 3, 4 and s. Each

AIR FORCE. August. 1943

I'ut it,.dJ our

1he bt:-:t

Streamlining the aircraftm.aintenance program in theAAF to reduce inspectionman hours, speed the educa-tion of new mechanics andkeep a greater percentageof planes in the air.

'1.ltioll records the time rUluired to C0111-

:'lete c.uh operalloll. SpUull) shops .ui.]ell" Inc change h.i \'C: .rcw-, c 01111'.lrabk toII~ resl'ecti\"e stations, although a va rra-,Ie i., cnrountcrcd here In thai prol'ellers

. l1d IITldin,g (br'ackets. minor work. etc.);(1 nol ITlluire the xa m« numl x-:: of 'I'c-:.dl.'rs .l.' radio .1l1d sheet mct.ii. Siudents

Ire .ilxo .lssipled to Ihe sl,eeialty shops..\losr of them .irc recruits h,lving had..ivi] experience in <uch work. /\l tile Ll.st-i.u ron. the .u rpl a nc receills the lirulheck. tollowe,l hI hase lechnic:iI IIIspec-

:1011. I'r'e-tli,ghl check .rn.l return to Hying<t.u u-. tollow.

Some a,h.lllced flyi ng .schools usc a.h rc«. .. .h i fr of,er.llion. Fhsicslhools ac--.oml,llSh nivh: .n.untcn.u« r- with .1 .orn-',in.llion ,!ouble alld slaggued shift. Air-i,Lllle., .11'1" re'Tlled Ior ;r~sf,e'tion at I-'){)

oc loc k . The lirst ,hilt, .il] hul slationwork crews. i.s on trom I i{){) uru i] (){){)orlo.k , .uid the second <hi tt lrorn (){)1 ~

unt i l ()S{){) o'clock. or completion ofwork . This permits an ovcr l.u . at mid-night .in.] a welcome hot rnc.il.

\X1ork.st:ltion crews report successively.u 1 S(){). 1l)(){). 2(){){) oclock :lIld so on,.uid rcrn.iin until their work is accom-plished. Since planes are not :llaiLlhleu nt i l the end of the lLtv'S Hving .ind sinccthey rcqui rc time to' wa~h 'and movethrough the line. the rChon for stagger-ing 01' hours is obvious. One swing'~hifti,~r line. capable of llccomplishin'g anywork , is alw:lYs availahle to permit one2t-hour pass per week for each man. Iftin:!] inspc.tion should determine thai the1\ heel and hr.ikc crew. rele,lsnJ from dutyprior to the final inspection. has failed in:lIlY particular, this crew is returned to thehan,!!.ar to accomplish the correction. Nostoppage of thc production line IS per-mitted by the necd for suhd cpot workor lack of parts. No specialty shop t,lsksHe undertaken that slow th« line.

Supply becomes the master issuing.1!-'cncy and reduces squadron technicalsupplY to ,I hare minimum. Supply per-sonnel .irc on duty 2.] hours a dav to stockul' durin,~ the d,;y and to issue" .it nightwhen PLM is in .ut ivc operation.

Students and one experienced man;110\T from station to station weekly andarc ,~raded by the station leader. These,:.:ra,lcs accompany the trainees upon hisreturn to his squadron. Dur inj; inclementweather. additional tra in inj; is giyen hyassignin,l-( trainees to read technical or.Ier sun der the !-'uidaflle of an experienced

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

m.m. The o pcr.u ion ,km,lIld, ,'o"~i"le~cioo pcr.it ion .11ll0n!-' s,hools'lll.l,!r,)ns. 'lIh-depot .uid the PL:\1 ol).;.lnizalion. Sub-depot commanders rc:,u!-'nize: th..r the sys-tem will reline them of sm:ll1 odd johs,permitting full e!fol.t on l',O. compliance,accident repair ,Ind depot inspect ion re-p:lirs. Personnel on PL\! must he re-lined from speci,t1 duty during workhours.

There must he cooperation on promo-tions. Wed:l)' mcetings hctween "lu,ld-ron orh.cr-, and PI.M oHicers .lre held tore-view ClH;incering stan,!.trds .ui.] divisionof work. ' ,

Impor'unce of "hool s'lu:ldrons is notreduced hy inxt a l lat iun of this -vsu-m .They cOllc'entr:t1c on daily .ui.l 2 ~-hourinspections. clean 'anopies .m.] co,kl,its,:Ind do .il l t hr- Illl,cellaneous lasks thatmake up etJiciLnt sen'ile 10 the pilot.Fu rt lu-rrnorc, .I."t udents an.] Iruined per-sonnel He all ror.rt c.] throu/.;h Pl.,\!. the.ut ivit v hecomes a communitv eHort. TheslJL"ld~ons all particip,tte. all 'profit.

Prior to PL,\1. ,lirl,!aIllS :11 times were,groun,led for Lick of p,Ht, when theneeded Item was .ut u.i llv ill thestlpl,lysection of another s'lua:lmn. Tinder :1Director of ;\1ainten,lflce, the cause forgrounding any 1,lane is irl\"estigated irn-;nedule":. F:!t and lc.in cxtrc;lles, such.1S one ;'lu.ldron with :1 Kerrick cleaner.m.] tl\T other, \Iith none. is rcmcdiedhy assignment of rhe cleaner to PL\1,where ,;11 :Ii rpl.uic-. .II'C washed l:\el"\ Jj ftyhours. The station hreakdown of work iscont inn.rl lj: suhJect to impro,ement. ;\1cnwith some xt a t is t ic.i lt r a i n ins . whether ornot Ihev ha Ie ILld .u ro-n aut i c:; I b a c kg r 0 u n ,l,study parts e~ch.ln,ge,movement of men .in.]eLjuipmcnt. ,tTl,1 utiliz,L-tion of critical tools hvall shifts on the r('la;'race princi pic. The(rrecommendations a r esaving plenty of timeand paper work.

Wilh rcfcrcn.c to thephysical set-up rh.i rt,the 150 by 1(){).Ioothuilding is .I del'arturcf rom the standa r.] h.in-gar in that it isspc-cifie.tlly deSl,gned toIII ii/II I ii/II airplanes. andnot iust to house rhem.Supply. shops. power,light and air lines arec~ntrally locatcd to re-d urc movement. \Vorkbenches arc pl.lced ,dongthe center aisle. l.ichtson counterbalanc('s' .iredesigned to fit the needsof individual work sta-tions.

The C().;-r~ ()! Fn,(inu. r" 11,1> C";

''':U"j uf ~h(: hUJldinc. .il orn; .H ~:, 1.2.11(I'(\.

cOllll,.llT,1 to 9,2.()()() lor' the '111.1])C<

sLlnd,Lrd h.m e.u, the ,;(i.hl.12().tootOBH .:'. The h:lildin~ .. tits' <I lillit 01 I ~()

airplane, .is stand.irJ Clilil pmcl1l. ill muchthc -urnc 11<11' .l.S <l tool kit and motorcover ,go "itl; one pl,lIlc.

Lllh I,o,r PI.,\1 is <I produclion l in c ofstu.lcnt s. Tr.llnin,g of m.untcn.incc .i n.]en,glncnin,g personnel and the .i.corn-plishing of insllC'Ctions «.m function onthe -urnc I'rinMI'y.hasic.,I,h.lllled hasi, .ui.]with the sal1le ccntralizcd sUl'cnision aspilot tr.lillin,g.

Lxcerpts t<lken,lt r.in.lon: f rorn sta-tions' rqx)I':' 011 I'roductioll m.un tc n.i nrchesl'umm.lrize the record to .l.uc :

"Tru in-, lxtt cr lllecluilics in a shortertime."

"(;r<::ltl)" redliles inxpcct ion .wd en.c:incclLlllge m.in hours."

"Prololl,~, .ur p l.uic life and incrc.rscst irnc hetweell ovc rh.iuls."

"Rclca«-. more .urpl.tnc« to thinp lle-1'<lrll1lent. I'CI"mittillp the xt.it ion to0I'CI",tle with fcwer shil's."

"Reduces number of :Iirl'lanes ,l.:J"Oullllel!durin.g eLlY bel.ILlse of <m.i ll d(;-fects ...

"Anticil"ltc, /',lrts fleet/cd in ,1,1I.lnC(;.""(;I\C, 1,l.lne, better <ll'l'e<lr<lnce,"";\LlIIlLIIIlS aiq,l.lfle, bUler."

A,s one Director of Tra in in r"It', ,ISllcli fcelin" to kno w r h.u,lir!,LlfK, arr- hein,~ inspected111tn V~'(:' '\ c ~'ot."

CARGO FROM TH E SKYB'I ~keo.J04e .,(I. BeMido.tJ

WRIGHT FIELD

CARGO parachutes, varying in diameterfrom doll-like two and one-half-foot

chutes for dropping messages to giant-tx-Foot nylon or rayon chutes capable ofdropping 3,()OO-pound loads, provide partof the Army's answer to the problem orsupplying ground troops with equipmentand materiel.

Developed in the Equipment Laboratoryat Wright Field, cargo parachutes are be-ing used by the Army Air Forces in in-creasing proportions in areas where drop-ping supplies flom the skies is the quick-est and most practical method of lickingthe supply problem.

Although the Army's parachutes vary

38

in size, the 24-foot chute has become themost widely known because of its all-round usefulness. This parachute can droploads up to 300 pounds and may be usedfor both cargo and personnel. Formerlymade of cotton, this chute is now manu-factured chiefly of rayon with a resultantincrease in strength.

The 4R-foot chutes, the Army's largest,are utilized for dropping such equipmentas the heavy iron matting used for build-ing emergency runways, land-mines, dem-olition equipment, mortars and otherheavy war materiel. These chutes are re-leased by the Army's heavy bombers.

A 12-foot parachute for dropping sea.rescue kits is one of the latest types de-veloped by the Army. This chute is usedto drop supplies to crash survivors at seauntil such time as planes can be dis-patched to rescue the men.

To enable ground troops to identify theparachutes when they land, variously col-ored canopies are used, each color repre-senting a certain kind of cargo or equip-ment item. A parachute with J. redcanopy, for example, might indicate thatJ. machine gun will be found inside thedelivery container ; a green chute mightidentify its load J.S a piece of demolitionequipment, and so on. Just to keep the

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

Parachutes for evterything from a bottle ofmedicine to steel runway matting are providing(I big answer to the supply problem in this war

enemy guessing in case it discovers whatthe color combinations mean, the com-binations are changed from time to time.

Although cargo parachutes have onlyrecently been brought to wide public at-tention, their origin is not a developmentof the current war. They were first usedby the French in 1918 when French flyers(' 'opped supplies to troops along theBelgian border. Since this dcvclopmcnroccurred during the closing days of World\Xfar I, little more was done in the devel-opment until the rresent war when mili-tary experts again saw the possibilities ofusing parachutes for cargo purposes.

To the pararh ute research experts at'XTright Field, cargo chutes, from a tech-c:cal point of view, are no different than';1Lltes used for dropping personnel. Basic-.il lv, whether the parachute has attached,1 human being or a freight cargo is oflittle difference for the problem is simplyone of dropping a "dead load." Obvious-1v, safety factors arc v,lst1y more im por-t.mt in the one type of chute than in theother, but the theory lying behind para-chutes of definite sizes to carry definitewei (.';ht loads remains the same.

Aerial deliYery containers, in which thedropped supplies and equipment areracked, have been standardized as the re-sults of experiments conducted at WrightField. There are now two general types of

container. The first is a cardboard box,with fabric covering, which can be usedto drop anything from bulky metal objectsto delicate instruments. It is an all-purpose container. The second type is acotton blanket roll, eighteen inches indiameter and five feet in length. Packedin this roll are such items as guns, mor-tars. ammunition and other materiel.

The smallest chutes- those two andone-half feet in diameter-are of i.(reatvalue in dropping sustenance kits, 'mes-saaes and other small items not exceedingone pound in weight. -

So that ground forces may quicklyidentify parachutes dropped during nightoperations, special lamp assemblies re-sembling flashlights are attached to theaerial containers. These lamps, whichhave bulbs at both ends, are fitted withcolored plastic caps so that the nature ofcargo released can be identified easily bymeans of the colored lights.

Cargo parachutes have been used large-ly in low altitude operations to permitaccuracy in dropping the suppl ies. Acarao chute can be released from 100 to1 '5b feet above the ground since it willinflate in one and a half seconds.

Research experts are now tackling theproblem of high altitude dropping, but sofar no satisfactory timing device has heen

developed to assure the loads reachingtheir ground destinations with aCUILlcy.There is a vast difference in relcasinr ,1bomb at hi(.';h altitude and scndiru; ,1 ca~'i.(oparachute c~lrthward from a simiL~r heigl\t.To find a satisfactory solution, parachuteworkers are now experimentinp: with anumber of automatic timers and tliey he-Iievc that in the near future chutes nul'be released from hi(.';h altitudes with al-most the accu racy or' bombs.

"We're getting ideas every day from allover the country on parachute improve-ments," declares J. J. Maskey, chief of theparachute unit of the Equipment Lnbora-tory at Wright Field. "The idea of usingraper for parachutes is particularly popu-lar. We have been working with paperchutes for ten rears, but none of them de-veloped to date are entirely satisfactory,due chiefly to the f.u t that paper has ahahit of splintering."

Pneumatic parachutes are also wide-spread in the minds of the r ount rvsamateur scientists, br,i.(c1y because thcvinvolve the possihility of controlling therate of descent. As a parach ut e, however,,1 balloon is impracticaL for its bulk is ex.rcxsivc, to say nothing of the complica-tions involved in the design of a suitableinflation svstem.

As to the ultimate weii.';'ht loads tlutwill he released hy means 'of cargo para-chutes, the answer lies in the quest ion ofhow much weight the planes can carry.Parachutes can drop anything that '1 pl.mecan carry and unload in flight. It will beup to the aeronautical experts of the fu-ture to provide the final answer. 1::

The A.4 delivery container consists of two gen-eral purpose cases with cargo parachutl" "n top.

This is the type of container used to dropammunition by means of the cargo parachute.

FOR AIR WARB'f

PrivateD. J. INGELLS

WRIGHT

fIELD

SLVER/d, weeks ago a little group ofhuddled figures sat in a cold, tank-

like chamber at Wright held, alLlIyzlllga g,lLn:y of quivcr iru; dials and instru-menrs between short g,lSpS of oXYi_,:en,Grot evquc-iook inu behind their \;o,,\;les,oxygen masks '1I1~1helmets, they v.:er~ 'test-inp; the Army's latest electrically-heatedclothing for comhat pilots, who flp;ht inthe J!reat new b.utlcficld eight miles ahovethe earth where frost-bite is as dangerousas an enemy hul lct.

Inside the cham her the tern peLlt uredropped to sixty de,\;rees below zero, ascold as the coldest Arctic freezes. Themen moved about, changell chairs, scrib-bled hrief notes on Iittle paper pads .mdtal!,ed with each other as though theywere in a warm parlor. They playedpoker, dealing from the: deck with glovedlunds warmed by a maze of ti y wires.They ate from a tr.iy of sandwiches withquick, choppy bites not claring to exposetheir lips. They drank hot cups of coffeebecause water froze in their cups beforethe}' could pour it.

For eight long hours they sat insidethis huuc ice box which you rnivht com-pare w'~h the on~ in your kitch~~l exceptthat it can be: malic five times as cold.This was the Ion "est test of its kind onrecord and the new equipment proved soeffective that enp;ineers and designers noware: developing the garments in quant ity.

Today there are four general types offlying suits being adopted for our airmen;the electrically-heated Iight-weight flyingsuit, the multiple type suit consisting ofseveral layers of garments piled one uponanother, shearling or Alpaca lined two-piece suits, and feather-lined, quilted flo-

40

tation suits. The:se are the best latest typesand already thev arc proving satisf.u ioryunder tIying conditions.

L1Ch of these garments is the out-growth of a p'lrticular problem. Whenmach inc guns began to bristle from ourbi\; bomlx-rs, it was learned th.it a m.m ofn(;rl11al size clothed in a heavy, bulkyflying suit couldn't climb into the newball turrets. On long tIights pilots andco-pilots who had to sit in one positionfor long hours complained they sufferedfrom the extreme cold. More recently,the men who fly our planes in Africanskies have found themselves in a peculiarposition. On thc ground, tcrnpcr.iturcsarc reasonably moderate. yet when rhcvclimb rapidly into the sky thermornercrsdrop sharply to sub-zero. To remedythese demanding situations somethinghad to be done quirk ly, Engineers turnedto the electric suit.

IN "encraI terms the clccrrir.rl lv-he.ucdflyin,g suit is a reguLltion pilot'S' combatuni form of light weight material A seriesof little Hcxible wires inside its liningsupply it with artifirial heat. The prin-ciple is the same as that employed in theheated blanket which you use on coldnights. Instead of connecting into a wallsocket, the pilot plugs into a circuit thatgets its current from the main generatorunit on a bomber or fighter. Wires areconnected with a rheostat which regulatesthe heat as desired according to the vary-ing altitudes.

The suit is three-piece with jacket,trousers and roverails. The latter slipsover the other clothes. Also included areelcctric.rlly-hcated leather gloves and light-

weight fell shoes worn with .1 pair 01-

wool socks. Pilots say the shoes arc themost comfortahlc thev have ever worn.

Under actual test~, such as that con-ducted in the cold room at Wright Field,these new suits have proven they are ser-viceable in temperatures ;lS low as sixtydegrees below zero. Lulier types usin,,~the same principle arc worn hy our pilotseven now in the ,'omh,lt zones, Hut thenew types .ire now be:ing m.muf acturcdin ronsidcr.ible numbers and soon will heavailable. The chief achantage: of the elec-tric suit is that it retains w.rrrnt h 101\"crthan the: other typcs.

Til'S solved onl , one prol-km. Therewere many others, Our hemi,phcrc de-fense pI.U'1S, lon,,, hefore: December 7,1() i 1. includcd outlying hases whichstretched from icc-clpped Grccnl.uid to thew.irrn waters of thc Caribbean. Wherc itis coldest and the wind howls the loud-est, American fivers and thci I' groundcrews have made' their new hom~s. Formarc than two .ui.l a h.ilf years they havelived in the <uh-zcro world where theni:,:hts arc six months long and ,limos!,laily the snow whips up ;l blizzarll likethe one you see once ,l yur along Michi-gan Avenue in Chicago.

"We need a combin'ltion-type suit,"wrote one pilot from an advanced Arcticbase. "Give us something that we canwear on the ground in tcmpcr.uurcsaround zero and, at the same time, nukeit an outfit that we can put on with con-sidcr.iblc comfort up in the air when itgels minus fifty de,,,rees Fahrenheit."

Air Forces "t.iilors' were mornent.u ilystumped until they hit upon a simpleide:a that is proving to he just wh.u \\',IS

needed-two complete uniforms, one tofit over the other when the mercury be-gins to drop, Around this common-sense princi plc, much the s.unc as thatwhich tells you to wear your overcoat ona cold ,by, the Army has created itspresent day romhinarion suits for our air-men. Actually the: new uniform is twolayers of cloth in" carh of which can bew~rn separately :lS a full uni form.

Under actual cold conditions, experi-ments have revealed that this type of uni-form is warmer than the heavy wool-linedsuits which arc almost universallv st.md-ar d today. Experts point to the fact thatthe "dead air" between layers of clothinuacts as an efficient insulat~r in hel pinp; tokeep them warm. If you need proof tryout the old axiom that several lightblankets are warmer than one heavy quilt,

This multiple suit, as it is called, con-sists of an Alpaca fur-lined jacket, withan outer material of smooth, satin finish,which has been acclaimed for its windresistance. (The Alpaca is a small SouthAmerican animal, whose fur is beingshipped to this country in large quantitiesunder Lcnd-Lcase.) Some jackets arelined with shearling wool or pil~ng.

AIR FORCE,AU9ust, 1943

Combination multi-layer suit with two unl ..forms and vest fitting on top of one anothe]' ..Trousers are also lined with the samern.u er ial. Both jacket and trousers havelarge pockets, a feature deemed essentialafter long study. The reasoning is basedon the fact that airmen are constantlycomplaining they have no place to putsm.ill articles which they are required tocarry with them to and from their planes.

Wearing only this inner uniform, thepilar can be comfortable in temperaturesthat range from thirty above to zero. Itweighs only about eight or nine poundsand can be worn almost anywhere-inclub room or at the base theater. How-ever. when the temperatures run to ex-treme lows, another uniform is donnedover this base suit.

The outer garment, consisting of jacketand trousers. leaves plenty of room forthe ..dead air" to circulate between thehyers of clothes. Made of rough tacklecloth that is wind resistant the jacket hasa Luge Alpaca fur collar which can beconverted into a parka-type hood. Trous-ers held up by large suspenders serve ascoveralls and are worn over the baseuniform. An Alpaca fur-lined vest isalso worn between the base garment andthe t.lcklecloth outer gear where tempera-tures drop to extreme cold.

PRFSCRIBED with the multiple type suitarc rubber-soled canvas hoots with a de-sirn similar to the Mukluk, which forve.irs has been worn by the Eskimo. Ex-ruts have learned it is the warmest foot-wear to be worn in the Arctic. Now it isFraYing to be the most et1icient for re-taining warmth at high altitudes.

).;e~v improvements have also beenmade in the sheep sheading suit, worntocla,- by most of our Air Forces per-sonnel in the continental United Stateswhere temperatures seldom drop to ex-treme sub-zero levels. Briefly, the newshe:Hling suit, consisting of' jacket andtr ouscrx, is lighter and more flexible thanthose formerly in use. In addition, therrocess once used in trelting the skinAIR FORCE, August, 1943

chemically to give it longer wear has beeneliminated because it had a tendency tocrack the leather and make the suits stiff.

The new sheading-lined suits will with-stand temperatures down to forty or fiftydegrees below zero. Their principal short-coming is that they do not retain the heatas long as the multiple-type or electrically-heated suits. Then, too, they are ratherbulky, but engineers are 'developing newdesigns to remedy this.

Latest development in new suits forour aviators is the down and "chickenfeather" flotation suit. Although thedown feather suits have been in cuse foryears in Alaska, only recently have en-gineers turned to the chicken-feather suitnow in production. Chicken featherswere found to add bouyancy to the downsuit and, at the same time, preserve thewarmth characteristics which had made

Network of wiring shown in lining of thesuit. Note the electrically heated gloves.it so well suited for the Arctic regions.The new model has proved especially ef-fective for pilots who are forced to makelong over-water flights.

At Wright Field one day, Captain J.R. Schenck of the Equipment Laboratorydonned one of the suits and remained inwater for several hours without sinking.Finally, he was pushed under but thefloating qualities of the suit brought himback to the surface immediately.

The flotation suit is a two-piece gar-ment-trousers and jacket-with a parka-type hood. The outer material is a heavy,wind-breaker, waterproofed cloth. Thejacket and trousers resemble a piece ofquilting, lined with chicken feathers andwith a cover over it. The new types elimi-nate the bulky appearance of the originalsuits and give them flexibility.

Designing auxiliary equipment, suchas helmets, gloves and boots, has alwaysbeen a major problem and new develop-ments are continuously in the works. Thelatest pilot's helmet is a leather. chamois-lined headgear which has built into itearphones, clamps for holding the oxy-gen mask and a microphone. It is de-signed to fit with any mask including

those used by the British, Russians .indCanadians. Experiments also are beingmade on fur caps which may be worn byflyers in the Arctic regions. These newdesigns are based on the old coonskincaps worn by Daniel Boone and otherfamous American backwoodsmen. TIlefew which have been ordered are now be-ing worn by pilots in combat zones undersevere flying conditions. Reports indi-cate they may be adopted as part of apilot's cold weather equipment. Otherexperiments are being conducted on alarge bullet-proof combat helmet, a metalheadpiece which looks like the ordinaryfootball helmet.

GLOVES, too, have been a constant prob-lem. Already in use are the elcctr ically-heated gloves, the lamb-lined. one-fin-gered mittens of horsehide with fur lining,and the layer-type combination gloves de-sif.;ned on the same principle as the mul-tiple suit.

The combination glove is the answerto frequent complaints received frommechs working in the Arctic who havebeen leaving pieces of skin on metal air-craft parts when they attempted to puI!their fingers loose. This rayon glove. li,ghtand skin-fitt injr, has greatly increased theefficiency of the mechanics. Two pairs areworn for warmth.

These developments at the EquipmentLaboratory at Wright Field have pro-duced many innovations in commercialclothing as well-new type belts, zippers,parkas, scarfs, leggings, shoes and otherevery-day accessories which have addedweatly to the working efTrciency of com-mercial products. Many technicians inWright laboratories hold patents onproducts purchased daily in the depart-ment stores of the country.

Such is the story of the Army AirForces effort to combat the cold of thehigh-altitudes. It is a never ending storyfor tests f.;o on night and day, hour afterhour. But of more importance is the f.ictthat these advances in clothing for theairman are helping in no small way towin the war in the skies. "*

The canvas Mukluk and the five-palf"Arctic: sock assembly" worn under beot.

41

- ..

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSSCAPTAINS: Arthur F. Andres, Rohert I. Har-riger. LIEUTENANTS: \X/allace r.. Dinn, j., Irv-ing A. Erickson. TECHNICAL SERGEANT: DonaldL Snyder.

-...-A MONTHLY RECORD OF DECORATIONS AWARDEDTO PERSONNEL OF THE ARMY AIR FORCES

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TOSILVER STAR

COLONEL: Robert L. Scott, J r. MASTER SER-GEANT: Pete l\f. Vasalie. STAFF SERGEANT:Virgil I'. Dc Voss.

PURPLE HEARTLIEUTENANT COLONELS: Levi c:. Erdman, Jo K.\X' .t rnc-r. MAJORS: Jack S. Marks (Also Air]\fed"I), Ikrll'rd 'A. Scluic vcr. CAPTAINS:Ch.i rle« \X'. Duunin-r", \\(Iilliam B. Kyes,Robe-rt D. Spit!., .. (\\';t!: Oak l.cai Cluster and

SILVER STARBRIGADIER GENERAL: James Pratt Hodges.COLONEL: Curtis I.e May. MAJORS: Levi R.Chase, [r., Donald P. H,d!, John B. Holst.CAPTAINS: Wilhur B. llL-uky, john W. Chiles,Charles l-I. Giddings (With Oak Leaf Cluster),Cok-man Hiutou", Gore Huggins, Philip J.Kuhl. "lIlles c:. Latham. LIEUTENANTS: RichardP. lkl'nnon (Also Distinguished Flying Crossand Air Medal), Arthur L Burger, Thomas P,Carter (\X/ith Oak Leaf Cluster and Air Medalwith three Oak Leaf Clusters), Garth B. Cot.t.un, Joseph F. Dockweikr, j r., Ruhcrt W.Fllio(;. Rohcrt I.. Faurot, John H. Gccr, \Vil.Son B. Glover, Ruhcrt \Xl ilclms, John E. Hcs-sclh.urh, Gilmer H. Hol ton", Sidney \X/. J;lcoh-son. Jllhn B. Johnson, Melvin H. Kimball, Wil.l i.un R. Lett, Leon G. Lewis, John \XI. Lyl«, .Jr.MASTER SERGEANT: Elmer H. Johnson. TECH-NICAL SERGEANT: l\licl",e1 J. llaum'lIJ, j.., B.Hunrock (Also Distinguished Flying Cross ,wdAi r l\ledal). STAFF SERGEANTS: Donald S. Alkn,TheodoreJ. Bokoks. John Hrccn, Gkn F.Iit-ulls (AI;o Purple Hcarr ) , Joseph J. Byrne,Richar,! K. Ferrill. Norm.in S. Goldstein, R"y'nH>Jll! F. Jcsek, Morris O. Kolling (Also Airj\l",lal). SERGEANTS: hlward D. Connor. Jr.,Ern rco I'. Del Vecchio, hlward \Xl. Drisc;,II,Bernard V. Duclos, .Jo,seph I'. Hartman, George1'. Kelloe. CORPORALS: Hubert W. Cnl\\lll"',George W. Dustin, Jack \Xl. Fox'", PRIVATE:Ad.un F, Gross.

42 * PO: ..a1JIIIll.Oll:-5

two Oak leaf Clusters to Air Medal), ThomasB. Storey. LIEUTENANTS: Ch.ulcs L lkrgdull,Robert B. Bowcock, Nathan H. Corman, NelsonP. Davis, D"vid N. l'!irsch, \\',liter HO!1l1es,Jr., Robert F. Mcl\LdlOll, Harold E. Mitts, ScottH. 1\eal, Carl T. Rallch, Robert M. Richey*,Mecch Tahsequah, Spencer Treharne. MASTERSERGEANT: .James R. \X/alter. FIRST SERGEANTS:James W. Carr, Herbert B. Martin'''. WallaeR. Mnrtin". TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: MonroeM. Clark, Raymond F. Powcl l ", Charles C.Schierholz. STAFF SERGEANTS: Ralph Alo;s'''.Billy O. Br.indt", John E. Cane, Edw,,,'d H.C"tOIl, Charks N. Doty, Herbert E. Fisher,George K. Gallnam*, Carl R. Cross, HCIlf)' j.Hurnphrcv", Donui s \\(1. Lawrcno-. JO!'ll H.Maun". Allen Mieldleton, Colon E. Neeley(Also Air ]\jelLd), Hcrlx-rt J\:ewell, ]r., LouisF. Putriqu in, Curtis Q. Pyr,'h, \X/arner E. Ren.ncr. SERGEANTS: DlJm"s F. Bi,e, \X/illiam C.Boggs. Vincellt II. Boninu, Bill V. Die.hl, \X'i!.l i.uu \)('. Dunn.rv.uu, lamc-x H. Ellick, Fred .M.Gov.tn, Sidney V. H,di, Nc.l R. Hcrzst.uu (AlsoAir Mcd,d), .Jearld H. Joncs, J;u1ll's A. Mac.Camruou.], Jr., Paul V. Morcno . .Jacob T. S"b'l.TECHNICIAN FOURTH GRADE: Joseph A. Vallie.CORPORALS: \X/ddon c:. Bu 1'1i~oll -. Rich" rei X.Ch"baIO\\'ski, lIaruld F. Craf, John J Kohl''',Huhcrt D. Smith (Also Air 1\lel1al), ~'illi,lInC. \)(lesthrook. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: hirl D.Ashl cy, JlIllll 1'. Cruthirdsv, James ]. McClin-tock", R'ohut H. Mayer, Ho,:ace A. M'ss.un",joseph E. Nel lcs", Lcrov J. TUr!lcs. PRIVATES:Jur), l\1. Anccl ich", Robert G. Brown (tdsoAir Medal), loscph H. Guttrn.m ", l.dwar.] R.Hughes, Llwl:cllce P. Lyons*, JlIseph G. Moser,Willi,tm M. J\:orthwa)'*, l\Lrurice J. St. Ger-main", Marvin V. Wingrove.

DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSSCOLONEL: Gcorge ]. Eppright. LIEUTENANTCOLONEL: Austill A. St r.iu.:c.l ". MAJORS: PhilipT. Durfee, Leland G. Fie";d. CAPTAINS: Bennie

lombard (Also Air Mcdal). Alhert Nowak,Rams,t)' D. Potts, j r., HelHY S. Taylor, HamidR. \X1arren, Jor. (Alsll Air MClLd with three OakLeaf Clusters). LIEUTENANTS: Bruce B. S.Barker, Vance L. Bedlllut, Fr.uicis R. Cappel.Ictti (With Oak I.c.tf Cluster), Phillip I'. Cart-wright, Leroy E. Elli-. Allcn \Xr. Gardcrcr. .Jr.,Ritcllic B. Gooch (With Oak Leaf Cluster).Preston Holdell, NlIrman r.. l\IcDonald. BleschMa lrnsrouc, Russcll 1. Ma ure, Charles E. Nor-ton, William A, Pe-te-rson, \X/illiam M. Railing,Paul R. Ridlc-y, Robert L Rose, Geurge A.Schnieders, Verrier 1.. Shea, Bryce V. Smith,Gellrge \XI. Wamslcy, Jr., Ralph K. \X/atts,Robert R. \Xrilson. MASTER SERGEANT: Anthon)'A. Kuz.Iru ll. TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: GlcnBeard, Donald T. Oslll,,,,1 (Also O'ik LeafCluster to Air l\1",LtI), Frank Sayk«, Jack R.Trihhlc. STAFF SERGEANTS: Ira A. Adams. Har-old R. Conner, George II. Crawford, Irwin \Xr•Di.il. \X/illiam l.. Hot.u.l, Corlez F. Houxtou,Vidor Lorhcr (With Oak I.e"f Clusn-r}. FrankW. Lytic"', Claude XV. P,llterson, Leo Wheatley,Francis W. \)('ulf, John \X'ycheck, Ge'orge E,Zorh"ch. SERGEANTS: \\(1 ilbc-rt H. Grogan"',\X'allie J. Hewslon, Rwscll r. Huffman, Ray-nwnd R'. Joslill, Mi. h.ul I.. Kenny (Also AirMed,,1 with two O"k I.c.rf Cl uxtc-rs }, Irving \\/.McMich"el, Cuy E. Re'ynolds, jr., Tholll,1S J.Stewart, Allen B. \Xlhitehead*. CORPORALS:Robert F. Borchert, \X/illi,lm B. Hrad lcy, P.llllP. La Vall«. Benjamin C. 1\ av".,-:e, John Thomp-sun, Jr. PRIVATE FIRST CLASS: Ed w.rrc] A. Carrol.

SOLDIER'S MEDALCAPTAIN: Gerald ]. Crosson. LIEUTENANT, J"mcsH. Horn. STAFF SERGEANTS: Ch.uks \X'.Michaelis, Louis Rabesa Jr. SERGEANTS: losepl,J. Lapcnt, FLInk P. Pic-r'-,g, Fdward T. -j'",I",.CORPORAL: Ernest 1'. Haack. TECHNICIAN FIFTHGRADE: Hruce Stone. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS,Jesse E. Sailors, Harry S. \X1heclc-r.

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

AIR MEDALBRIGADIER GENERAL: Russell E. Ramlal1.COLONelS: Charles ,M. McCorkle, Phineas K.'d(,rrill, Jr. LIEUTENANT COLONel: Hiette Wil-ll,Cllh, MAJORS: John C. Bowen, Robert E.C",tlter, Ryder W. Finn, Maurice J. Fitzgerald(\\;th Oak Leaf Cluster), Charles A. Gayle,Robert B. Keck, Harmon J. Lampley, FrancisH, Matthews, Gordon E. Menzies, hlwin B.2\Jillt:r, jr., John A. Rouse, j-Lirold J. Skelly':',R"hert 1i. Smith. CAPTAINS: Charles E, I L\Il-sen, Claude W. Allen, Ralph A. Blah-lock,R"hert W. Bunhard, Richard H. Cole, \Vtlli,1I11C. Collins, Ralph F. Dawson. John \V, Flt:t-chcr. Raymond A. Fortin, Cha rk-, \Villi,lInGettler, L. R. ,Moore, G. \V. ]\, ','~lTS,

Frallk G. Ware!. LIEUTENANTS: John ArthurAhlm, John Joseph Alder, Fredric G. Altm.ui,Frank R. Amcnd , Arthur C. Anders,'n, Eeh\",!r'[1. Anderson, John Thomas Ashford, Jr., Rich-ard Foster Atchison, Jr., Robert F. Ballash, JohnR. Bannon, Jack C. Raul', Frank R. Hudle,John T. Bent (With O;lk Leaf Cluster),]. 1.. Pitts, Jr., Billy W. Wheelt:r, Da,e \V.\\!illiams, Paul Williams, Albert J. \X'ibey,Jr .. Joseph M, Wunderl, William P. Wyllie,Jr. (With Oak Leaf Cluster), \Villiam F.Xa,ier, Alexander Yonych (With two OakLeaf Clusters), Walter Zoppi (With two O.lkLeaf Cl ustcrs }. MASTER SERGEANTS: Wilson P.Currie, Lloyd D. Killam, Chester Milia. TECH-NICAL SERGEANTS: Roy J. Anesi, James R.Currie, William J. Devine, William 1.. Enp:ler,CI iff",d Hur rv Fleming, Erwin K. Freytag,Lester O. Gardner, Frederick A. Hartung, J r,Fr.mcis G. Hinds (With Oak Lt'af Cluster),Glenn E. Lathom, Will)llrt A. McC It: IIan, AlvyG. l\Llsters, Merle L. Oakley, Allen W. Ram-

e Pus thu moua ..

SU', Leon L. Ranforth ::-;-ormJn c. Thrcew;tt,D~lhert Vill.mucva. STAFF SERGEANTS: JosephR. Alvey, Carl J. Anderson, Carl 1.. Appling,Kenneth T. Bagnell, Gordon N. Bennett (WithOak Leaf Cluster), Fred]. Bewak, Joseph W.Bunn, Arthur H. Burrow, Ricliard C. Carignan,James J. Clfpenter, Frederick E. Davenport,Jr., Edward F. Drake, Henry R. Eaton, HarvellH. Ellzey, James L. Elrod, Stanley F. Fortuna,Douglas H. Smith, Arthur P. Symons, StanleyF. Szczepanski, Robert]. Verlanic (With OakLeaf Cluster), Charles H. Wall, Robert H.\X'estrom, Llfl T. Wright, Layton E. Yarbor-ou).:h, Fr.ink J. Z:dmrsky. SERGEANTS: Elmer O.Almy, Roland V. Anderson, Robert W. An-t houv, Drc\\'cy D. Bames (\Vith Oak LeafC.llIstn), !\orman L Biehn, Richard A. Bieniek,l\lac S. Groesheck, R. R. Gwaltney, TheodoreHa.is, 1\Ltrtin J. !-Jill, Lawrence B. Hillard,\\'illiam D. Hive, Alovsiu« B. Hor stm.uin. Wil-liam E. Huw.i rcl, Jol;n D. Hyman, R"herl J.Jackman, Andrew 1.. Jackson, John Jacobs,.Jerome .Jamcs, Howard K. Jaycox, Bernardj urosck , Jolin E. Kak.uud.i, Donak! W. Kemble,Elmer W. H. Kersten, Thomas M. Kl im.izepsk i,\Vililam 1.. Klint', Jr., Charles Thomas Krcst,J::son C. LtilCaster, Joseph W. E. Lapham,John W. Leuning, Che-ster C. Love (With OakJ.e'lf Cluster), \\'illiam 1'. Lynch (With O,lkLeaf Cluster), SLlfdcy 1.. McCorkle, WilliamA. 1\fcKinlev, Ralph B. 1\fcMillen, Cecil J.i\Jc;\.'eer, Allen A, McRae, David N. Mc\Xfil-li.uus, Alton F. :Mahan, Samuel Mazzeo, Vin-cent C. Mullane, William J. Murphy, GeorgeW. Oakes, J"hn 1\1. O'Rourke, James E. Otott,j.uncs R. Parkinson, Frallk ]. Pawl irk, Gildo J.Ponti, Pasquale Pr.ua, Joseph F. Prokop, Wal-tt'r C. Race, Milton Rayberg, James W. Rob-erts, Duane W. Rumph, Robert H. Sangster,

Tr. (\\'ilh O"k Le,r[ Cluster). 5,lf11\,<1 ~,-, ",')<'hn H. Shcarer, Francis J. Simolle, D.Sm.dl, I-Lrrold Snvdcr, E'lwood 1'. Spe:im.i:l,Bill M. Stol zer, Norman 1.. Stuhce, I'dw'lfd \X'.Swcdo, Harry 2\1. Teufel, Howard R. Thomp-son, .Jollfl A. Thornpson, Johll G. Tittsw.urh,PilTce B. T)'ler, Dick Tvron, Alo\'sius S. L'n.ic r-wood, )ohn F. Vlad, L~'e O. XX'alker, Frank ~LWall, 'Kent R. West (\Xlith two Oak LlAClusters), Edward J. \Xlhite. Thuru..» 1..Wolfe, LeR"y W. Wright, Fran]; G. ferr!.CORPORALS: Oliver D. Cle-ments, R,lll'h xr.Colilesh, Edwin W. Connn ll y, Trurn.m H. Cor.ley, West M. Coss, Herhert E. Cummins. Hur-old Denson, Chai'lcs E. Franklin. DOllal,1 A.Fromme, \Vesley V. C;olcher, (inald I. (;rllhh,Henry S. Herr, William H. Hlckc')', Sahol'<,i'lnV. Hudson, Tames R. Lassiter. \\',"I"n R.McWhorter, ()rville C. Macklin, james A. Ritz,Michael J. Whalen, Rohert \X'. \\'i,c:htm,ln.PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: \Villi,l111 R. C:"ls"n,Tames Geanious, Cling I.. Hulchr-r. \\'ilhur A..Lewis. Franklin A. McKnight, De.lm<lr R, (),c:kPRIVATES: George T. Brouilktte, Jess, C F.IS-terling, David J. Fcklwlt, Henry i-Inghes. H'n-j.unin Kleinburd, BemHd D. Lane, \Villj,unR. McCormick.

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TOAIR MEDAL

MAJOR: Richard D. Stepp. CAPTAIN: KcnnuhD. Vandayhurg. LIEUTENANTS: john j. (h"r-tel's. \1(filliam B. Drvsd.ile, \\'illiam k. L"nc:(Three Oak Leaf Clu~tl'!'s). MASTER SERGEANT:h!win F. Rhodes. STAFF SERGEANTS: Arl.« F.Arcn, Lawrcnrt- Holgate'. SERGEANTS: Hu,c:L A.Jones, Jr., Ahraham T"dr"s. PRIVATES: XX'jnx,tH . .Elliott, Vincent O. 2\lcM,dlUll, Jr. -tl.

Copt. G. W. Rogers

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

Copt. P. J. Kuhl Lt. S. H. Neal Capt. W. B. Kyes T/59t. O.T. Ostlund

bursling shells and shLl\1I1el hilting theplane remindcd me of a xu.Iclcn t lruu.lcrand hail storm hc.ud from t h« illside of :1

tin shc.]. I malLlgcd to get tlu- Jire out ofnumher four but number threc w.i-; sluh.born aIll! burned more liercely, I lin,dlytc.u hcrcd it. Numbe-r four still was run.nine; hut it W'l:i IIOt mu.h usc, Ti,e vihra-tiOl; shook the whole shlJ'. The l.l.t:«. com.ing out of tIle tLliling edgl' of the winge;rew l.uacr and lare;er. I kncw it W.tSburning \round the 'gas l.uik 'Ind wouldsoon cause an explosion,

Ahout t h.i! lime .tli hell poppe,1 loose.All our e;uns wen: b!'tl.ine; ,tt scvcuFW-I 'JUs 'thetl had just all~llkl'll ri,!.;hlthrough the thk. Suddenly .t hole ahou!two fed "I"are :lppc.arnl ill the wIngwhere number lhree !.;as t.m], is locatl'dand Hames shot out, it must h.i vc lx-cn ahit from tIle hot t oiu heccluse the lire' illnumber three gradually ,!willdled to theburning of oil. We called for the p-)s,to come up and hell' us but the messa,!.;eproh,thly ne-ver went through, Enemylighters kept hilling us in the n.t r.

lLury h.uln! sai,! a word so I told tliccrew to put 011 ll.cir chutes and then gob.uk to their ,e;lIlIS. Just then one lightergot our instrument panel and windshieldswith a ..'0 mill. sh.ll. It exploded ri,!.;htin front 01 Hurrv ,llld tor a seulI,,1 Ithought his face' was blel'din,!.; ,tS he100ke,1 tow.rr.] nu-. I kncw I was h i: toobecause bloud 11',,, rUllnill!.; into 1111' eyesand oxygen m.rxk , I jerkui oIl' my ,~I.l:i'sCSand threw t lu.m to the HOOI', I thoughtmy righl eye Jud I'een knocked out.

The s,une shot had shorll'd t hL' 1"tLt-chute bell so h)zzy hli led out

Someune call1'd up and said we wvrcafire In the bomb bay, r.r.Iio (Omp.lrlillelltand In the w.uxl , I told them to li!.;ht thl'lire but keel' .rn eye 011 the I ')Os'. Sud.denly our aill'l'on cout rols went lilll!' .uulthe t.u] dru!'!'ed abruptly, 1 knew Ill' h.r.]

He was in hed with a bad cold, run-ning J tCllll'euturl', the day bl'forl' ther.u.l. But .ift.cr orders cu nc tlll'Ou!.;h th.itcvcn inv lu- we-n! down to the op~r.ltionsroom '7helkl',1 the cour'e, llu: nal'i,-."ttion,, . ,the target, the "PI'I'O.lch, the 'Iimin,!.; I'ointand ot hvr prohk'll.s in pLlnlling t l«. m ix-sion with his assistants. He had littleslccp tJut night. bul Ill' le-d his (;roupover Wilhellllsl"II'L'n thl' followin,~ ,Lly'.

By IH)W, of .oursc, t l«: irn!'ITSsion themen h.rvc of thei I' (OlllnLllhl ing utliceris tot.il ly differl'llt tlun it was sl'lTralmonths .u;o. Ask Jily 01 them wh.r! lheythink of h im and the .mxwcr illl'ariablyis the x.un« an iILl,k'lu.llL' JltL-m!,t to ,Ic:.scribe their wlllllt'-he'trlc'! .i.lu ur.u iou andrl'spnl for ,t m.m they ,til s.IY they',l 1'01.1,)11'10 llell .uul hack, if nnl'S:;,I!'\,.

] lis lL'rsc'lll'SS, CItfirst misLtkcn 'for sour-ne-ss. is now legend.

()nCL' when he was bl'idill,!.; lh" I,ilolshe t,)\,l t hcm th,'y \I'lHtI, I rC'n,lollHIS with

44

HELL OVER BIZERTE(Cuntinued from Page 1 t)

an elevator knocked off. Harry and Iwere slwving forward with all our mightrn.ik ing for the douds still below us.Thnugh our guns were going constantly,We were almost hel pless. The fighters keptcoming in LIking the ship from one end tothe other, But the flak had stopped. AtLlsl the toggy mist of the douds closedaroun.l u- and the men were happy.

But inxt rumcnt flying without instru-ments is no fun when you have only twoen,!.;ines and :t rudder to hcl p you. Some-how wc' r.unc out below the douds andwert' In a valley, limping on and ontow.ud the sun.

FIN/II.I.Y she quit flying. A mountainwas lUllling up in front, we were losingaltitude and we didn't know our speed.Suddenly ,t little patch of plowed groundc.unc into view. I grabbed for throttlesand switches and let her hit. We made it.

We :t11 got out by various means andbeg'ln looking for wounds. Most every-one h:«] a few scratches and bruises.Harrv and I were shot in the legs, armsand Ltce. Vandergriff had a couple ofholes in his arms. Everything was prettyILl!..\' fur,\while. We dressed our woundsan,! went to an Arab's house nearby torest while- some of the boys went forhell" We didn't have to wait, however.The Ar.il», took us to a British Station.

l.at cr we were able to chuckle overscvcr.rl incidents,

Afler Fozzybailed out, Buck was goingto follow, but with his broad beam andxc.u -p.uk chute he couldn't quite squeezet Imlll,e;h the escape hatch, He tried sodt'Spl'utely, however, that he almost((J1I1,lld ~d back in. I chuckled whenllulk «.unc crawling out of the nose withthe sc.u of his breeches torn nearly out.

(Cul)finued from Page 29)

.m escort of Allied fighters after attackingthe primary target, When someone askedif they would get an escort if they at-t.ukc.l rlu- secondary, he remarked with-out lu-xil.uion, "You won't," and wentusually Oil with the briefing.

()Ill: of his officers, who apparentlyplayed football before tackling Fortresses,COll1p.lres him to a football coach.

"He's just like Bierman at Minnesota,"the otlicer explains. "He trains us infundamentals. Keeps us going in the air,or in school, all the time, He knows hisbusiness, .uul we all know he knows it."

\Vith the Group now taking part onne.ulv clery raid on enemy-occupiedEurope, the CO. is lenient with passes toIlu- comb:tt news. But when he givesthl'ml~ hours, he doesn't mean 'JR, asIhey t!tllught. Anyone who returns too

Tapping me on the shoulder, he shouted,"You've got to land this damn thing be-cause I'm too goddetm big to get out."

Incidentally when Fozzy landed in hischute three Arabs came forward. Twowanted to take him to the Germans andone to the English. The one fortunatelyprevailed after Fozzy had given him hisknife as a present. Fozzy learned fromthe British that he had landed in a "No.Man's valley-the Allies were on oneridge and the Axis on the other.

At one point Whimpy decided thingswere getting so hot he had better comeout of the tail and put on his rhute.When he got back one of his guns hadbeen blown off and there was a gapinghole where a seat was supposed to be.Then a FW-190 carne in for a tail shot.Whimpy leaned across the opening andsprayed lead from his one gun withoutaiming. The 190 peeled off hurriedly.

When Gowan was trying to put outthe flares which had caught fire, he ex-hausted his five extinguishers with noapparent results. So he tossed burningflares into the empty ball turret andpoured water on them, That did the trick.

When they were ordered to put ontheir chutes and return to gun positionsthe whole crew complied except Francis,who was firing so many rounds he figuredif he left the gun to get the chute theywould get him before he got back. Onedeath looked as good as the other to himso he stayed and kept his turret goingeven after one gun had been shot aw,ty.

Vendy ran out of ammunition so hewent to the backdoor and thumbed hisnose at the attacking 190s. He figuredthis was the least he could do.

Out of the seven fighters that attackedus we know that three will never attackag'lin, We got one, maybe two, whileFay in another ship got two.

I guess we cheated death. 1:

late, without a good excuse, can be ccr-tain of going before a Summary Court,which usually does nothing more .ir.isticthan take away some of the offender's pay.

All the men recall their discovery thattheir CO. understands men as well asmachines. Back in the States, just beforethe Group departed for England, he gavethem a brief lecture on their responsibili-ties as Americans, as visitors, and warnedsome of his chronic belligerents againstparticipating in tavern brawls.

"But jf you do," he added, "don't getlicked."

You probably know other e.O.s likethis, You might he serving under one ofthem right now, The CO. you just readabout is Colonel Curtis E, Le May. a3(j.ve:1I-0Id veteran who, among otherachievements. participated in the first"Good Will" flight to South Americaand pioneered th~ North Atlantic ferryroute. *

AIR FORCE, August. 1943

(CO'II inued ir0l11 Poge 15)

UP WHERE THE SOUP BEGINS

A Jap transport burns in Kiska harbor and three other Japships are marked for destruction by aerial bombardment.

45

'Most of the flyine was on inxt rumr nts,but we found O\;t th.if the only usc for ,1

drift meter was to hang our 'luts on it.All the wind judging up there is Llone lwthe visible observation of the white Cll'S

-and that can be surprisingly accurateafter a little practice. The oce:lll'\Ve!lcomes in and moves out ag,tin from U11Llerthe white caps, nuking the caps mov e intothe wind. Accurate wind vclocitv Jnddirection could be determined .rathcrcasi lv that way.

The Aleutian theatre is probahlv theonly place where yOLI should not tho atight formation. In that kind of wc.u hcr,you have to split up or you'll be runninginto your own shi ps.

We happened to be flying the bigships, but our fighter sCluadrons--)Cls,39s, and -iOs--reallv did a lerriilic job.At first the Japs relied upon their tloattype Zeros, but our fighters pol ished themoff so neatly that the Nips had to def,endalmost cxclusivclv on ark-ark. But thatdidn't stop the 'peashooters. Those ,,')S

used to go in and actually drive the ack-ack guns right out of their mounts---andwe don't think they did the Jap !,CUl1crews much good either.

The Japs built hangars for their planesbut the 3Hs with bombs on their wingsknocked off the hangars as fast as theJaps built them. They also constructed asubmarine base and Captain Brickeet musthave considered that a persona! affront.He came buzzing along with a couple ofbombs and bingo!-no sub base. It got sobad for the N-ips that they began 'usingbeached boats as supply depots. Thatfooled us for a while until one of the boysgot curious. He dropped a few on one ofthe boats and it burned for six hours.

One d,ly over Adak two p- 3Hs jumpedon a big Jap pl.rne. He got smart andducked into the clouds. So one 3H wentabove the cloud and one dropped beneathit. They just hung around waiting for theJap to come out, and two seconds laterhe joined his honorable ancestors.

Everybody up there did a bang-up jobbut our mechanics had the toul2:hest dealarid the stuff they did is unbelievable.Despite the weather. they worked ri;"htout in the open. One time they dis-mantled a complete 13-21 engine lookingfor a good piston to put on another sh ip.Try that when the mercury is dror:':Il!'out of the bottom of the therrnornc:t.r.Another time, a 38 came in for ,1 LlnL!:'l"_ground looped, and cut the tail right nof a 24 from just behind the w.i.:

gunner's window. The mechs took a L:i!off another wrecked 2-1 and attached it tothis ship. The job took a month but th"tplane got back into the air.

That's how it goes.It takes longer and it's harder work,

but we get things done up there. And itmeans more that way. Just the same. ifyou get the Aleutian assi!,Cnment spit intothe wind once for us. *

ON THOSE missions we used to have alot of fun listening to the Japs on theradio. They talked pretty good Englishand they tried to scare us away. Most ofthe time they hissed, "Men of Umnak,you are doomed. Lay down your arms-surrender." Sometimes they would offermisleading remarks, such as "Ret's gethome" a~d "That ship went dow~."They screamed and bellowed bloodcurdling yells but we used to hand it righth.llk to them. We found out that theydidn't like to be called little men. So w~ctlbl them little bastards and little sons-of-bitches. Our Colonel, W. O. Earick-son-there was a man-holds the Aleu-tian title for plain and fancy cussing atthe Japs. He didn't understand fear andhe used to go right over the strongest Japinstallations swearing a jagged blue streakand dropping a few bombs just to letthem know he wasn't kidding.

In the kind of weather we were flying,the navigator was the boss. Pilotage wasextremely difficult even when the visibilitywas decent. One day you would see amountain right close by and the next dayyou wouldn't be able to find it.

Holt Bay to inspect enemy activity there.He went directly into the harbor at ()()O

feet and found no opposition at all. Whenhe turned to leave the bay after decidingthat the enemy obviously was not pre-pared to defend it, all hell broke loose.Ack-ack bursts were all over the place.The Japs ind waited patiently until hewas within 500 yards before they openedfire. Nobody knows how, but he got hisshi I' back safely.

Some of the boys had some interestingexperiences. Like what happened to Lieu-ren.rnt David Stevens, co-pilot in a B-24.

He was on the weather run near Kiska,Instructions were to get weather reportsand stay away from the big guns defend-ing the main Jap base. The crew had tochange shi ps just before the take-off andthe plane they got out in didn't have anybombs. Lieutenant Brown, the pilot,brought the ship to within a half mile ofKisk a, and Stevens, thinking he was justa little too close for comfort, sarcasticallyremarked, "Why the hell don't you flyright over the place?" Brown didn't need:lny coaxing. He made a 270 degree turnto the right and came directly over South-head, the south point of Kiska harbor.Then he circled right back over LittleKiska at 1,800 feet. The Japs threw upeverything but Tojo's false teeth butnothing happened.

During good flying weather the Japshad plenty of practice with those ack-uckguns. When the soup cleared we had tomake up for lost time. Often enough itmeant pushing those heavy ships along20 feet over the water. That's almost closeenough to get your feet wet. One crewran into some fog about twenty minutesout and stayed at 20 feet for three and ahalf hours. They climbed to 4,000 feet tofeather a prop 700 miles from their baseand then flew back again at 20 feet.

Sometimes the Japs playa pretty smart,~ame with their ack-ack guns. Lieutenant.\Lldison went up to Attu one day andfound the weather overcast at 1,200 feet.He observed the island from an offshorepoint of about two miles and then entered

AIR FORCE. August. 1943

/!

;,}••IIA MONTHLY REPORT ON FILMS, LITERATURE AND SYNTHETIC DEVICES IN AAF TRAINING

SYNTHETIC DEVICES

Fixed Gunnery Deflection Trainer, 3-B-6.

AIR FORCE. August. 1943

The student aims, allows for radii leadand fires. The spotlight shows where hisbullets would have gone if it had beenthe real thing. If his aim is correct, thelight registers a hit. Bursts fired and hitsscored are registered autorn.itic.rl ly on a.scoring device.

Visual QuizzerTHE spirit of competition is injected

into training with the visual quizzer,a gadget which shoots rapid-fire questionson everything from naval vessel identi-fication to celestial navigation.

It is a compact portable unit. completewith projector, screen, scoring pads andfilms.

Film frames with illustrations and mul-tiple-choice questions arc flashed on thescreen at autornatica lly-tirncd intervals.The student inserts the number of hischoice on the score pad. After a seriesof about eighteen questions, J. frame ap-pears with the correct answers.

Student interest is maintained becauseit is a race against time. The framechanges every few seconds. There is nobacking up, no second guesses.

THIS device is composed of a longstand with the target at one end and

a reflector sight and spotlight at the other.The target is a standard airplane model

supported in front of a background ofclouds. The plane may be adjusted to anyaltitude and the control operated to in-dicate any desired speed.

The cockpit is entirely closed and thepilot flies blind. The stick and ruddercontrols simulate those of an airplane.

are typical of the many included in thesynthetic training devices catalog distrib-uted by the AAF Training Aids Divi-sian to the headquarters of Commandsand training Air Forces. In addition,AFT AD maintains a display room of thesedevices at its headquarters, Park Avenueand 32nd Street, New York City. Briefdescriptions of selected devices will ap-pear from time to time in the TrainingAids section of AIR FORCE.

Directional GyroMock-up

Bendix NavigationTrainer, Type E-1THE illustration shows the Bendix

Navigation Trainer, Type E-l, withthe cowling removed.

Actually, it is a mock-up cockpit withall necessary instruments, mounted in acart which moves slowly over the floor.Equipment is provided to permit prac-tice and instruction in dead-reckoning,radio direction-finding and homing. Achalk mark on the floor indicates thepath to be taken by the cart.

46

WITH the introduction of the giantdirectional gyro mock-up, one of

the most troublesome problems of class-room instruction has been solved. Largegroups of students can see the workingsof the mechanism without difficulty asthe instructor proceeds with his explana-tion.

The gyro mock-ups range in size up to24-inch cubes. Many of them are builtin cutawavs so the internal mechanismcan be sh~own. They are of commercialmanufacture.

Most of the other airplane instrumentsarc being similarly duplicated.

THE number and scope of syntheticdevices in use by Army Air Forces

training activities are continually increas-in$!;. Commercial manufacturers, as wellas' experimental engineers in Allied mili-tary services, are working overtime todevelop these gadgets which result invaluable short cuts and in the saving ofcritical materials and equipment in war-time air training.

The four devices shown on this page

Revisions and Changes

IN accordance with the radiotelephoneprocedure as approved by the Com-

bined Communications Board, the fol-lowing War Department Field and Tech-nical Manuals have been revised orchanged and are being distributed (datesshown indicate latest editions) :

fM 24-5, Signal Communication. Chonges havebeen prepared to revise those portions of themanual that have been affected by new pro-cedures.

fM 24-6, printed as Radio Operators Manual,Army Ground Forces. April 12, 1943.

fM 24-8, Combined Teletypewriter (Teleprinter)Procedure. New manual.

fM 24.10, printed as Combined Radiotelegraph(w/n Procedure. January 20, 1943.

fM 24-11, Combined Operating Signals. Janu-ary 17, 1943.

ftTake-Offs"Released for AAF distribution last

month, "Take-Offs" (TF 13305) serves asa basic instructional film for flying stu-dents and provides an effective re-fresher lesson for advanced pilots. Thisnew film on flying techniques covers themain points involved in executing take-offs, stressing safety factors and co-ordination of flight controls. Other titlesin the same series to be released at anearly date include "Landings" and"Elementary and Pylon Eights."AIR FORCE, AuglJlst. 1943

FM 24-12, Army Extract of Combined OperatingSignals. April 5, 1943.

1M 1-460, revised as Radiotelephone Procedurefor AAF.

1M 11-454, printed as The Radio Operator. Dis-cusses procedure only.

1M 11.459, printed as Instructions for LearningInternational Morse Characters. This manualcovers the instruction in International Morsecharacters, which previously was included in1M 11-454. April 21,1942.

Want to Stay Alive?IF YOU are going overseas, you would

. do well to study carefully, and if pos.sible carry with you, copies of thesepocket.size publ icarions:

5lt1lilal, by the Airlines War TrainingInstitute.

Arctic clilergellcieJ, by the flight Con-trol Command.

JlIngle alii! Desert Enrergencics, also bythe FCC.

These handy booklets contain val uableinformation on what to do and what notto do, what to wear, what to cat, andother details well worth knowing in caseof a sea, desert, jungle or arctic cmcr-gency.

Equally informative on the same sub-jects are publications of the Arctic, Desert& Tropic Information Center, Eglin Field,Fla. Here are the titles of some of thebulletins: Forced Lwd in g.r rlJld Desert5111Til"ll!, Aircrc1ft ;\I'lilllenilllce in tbcDe.rerl, J)eJ(;TI () peral ro ns, f IlIIglr: r: 01e.r,Notes Oil Arct ic Lilillg and Occ.m 511r-iitra],

"The SquadronCommunications Officer"

The specific technical duties of thesquadron communications officer aredescribed in this film (TF 1-717), whichis intended principally to orient squad-ron communications officers who arenew at their jobs. The film also pointsout many of the general administrativeduties the communications officers maybe called upon to perform.

"Pre-Flight RadioInspection For Fighter Aircraft"

This film (TF 1-771) illustrates visualand operational checks made in thepre-flight inspection of the SCR-522 asinstalled in the P-47. It also points outthe similarity of this procedure to in-spection of the SCR-274 installed onother types of fighter aircraft.

"Airplane EngineCooling Systems - For Pilots"

The third film of a series on airplaneengine cooling systems (TF 1-758) de-scribes for pilots the correct proceduresfor operating engine controls on liquid-cooled and air-cooled aircraft engines

Some of these pubillatiuns iJ.\\ l >u.:11

widely distributed in the AAV Thl im-portunc:« of the subject matter cannot iceemphasived too strongly.

Instrument FlyingTtI' field of instrument fJyin!-, is CUY-

ered hy four new. fully illustrate,!Technical Orders. They .rre:

T.O. No."O-looA-I, Instrument 1'1\'-ing, Basic Theory and Practice.

T.O. No .. "O-lOOB-I, Instrument Fly-ing, Adv.inred Theory and Pr.nr irc.

T.O. No. 30-100(.1, Instrument Fly-ing, In st rument Fl yin)! Trainer. Instru~c-tor's Guide.

TO. No. 30-IOoD-I, Instrument fly-ing, Technique in Weather.

For Supply OfficersA !R};()]{N E radio equi pmcut is treatedn comprehensIvely In a handbook reocently prepared by the Signal Section.Air Service Command, Patterson Field,Ohio. This publication is approved fordistribution in the Air Service Command,but copies may be obtained from the ASCby interested personnel of other com-mands. The prime purpose of this manualis to "speed up" the training of inex-perienced supply ottlcers and help thembecome more familiar with the differenttypes of equipment in the shortest periodof time.

in order to insure effective cooling.Although the first part of the film is de-voted to an explanation of the princi-ples of cooling systems, the major por-tion deals with the various controlswhich affect engine temperatures andthe optimum operating conditions. Twoother films previously released in thisseries are for the engine mechanic anddeal with maintenance and service ofthe cooling system: TF 1-756 "AirplaneEngine Liquid-Cooled Systems-For theMechanic," and TF 1-757 "AirplaneEngine .A!~-Cooled Systems-For theMechonic.

"Oxygen Equipment - ServicingHigh-Pressure Removable Cylinders"

This reel (TF 1-489) shows the pro-cedures that must be followed in re-filling high-pressure removable oxygencylinders on aircraft. It emphasizes thecare that must be observed in such op-erations, particularly stressing safetyprecautions for personnel servicing high-rressure oxygen equipment. Previouslyreleased in this same series are TF 1-488"Oxygen Equipment-Types and Useat High Altitudes," and TF 1-487 "Oxy-gen Equipment-Servicing Equipment inthe Airp.one." *

47

(c) Dorn icr.(J J Heinkel.

considerations in their construction. More-over, they are always located so that ex-pansion can take place; in fact, our largest"Strips" already exceed anything existingairports can produce in runway length.From a cost standpoint, you can buildover 15 adequate "Flight Strips" for thecost of a single suitable airport. The dif-ference in maintenance costs is even moreimpressive. In fact, an entirely new"Flight Stri 1'," with all necessary require-ments as to width and length of runway,can be built more reasonably than anexisting runway on an airport can bechanged over into a makeshi ft landing areato accommodate modern cargo aircraft.Thus, it doesn't take too much imagina-tion to foresee "Flight Strips," locatedoutside cities away from fog and smokebelts, where car;,;o (and even passengers)can be unloaded and transported by truckand car to the centers of population.

Aloru; established air routes "Fl izhtStrips" 'would be the stepping stones orsLlgin;... fIelds, not only as auxiliary land-ing areas for emergency use, but as airClrgo or passenger "y.mls" for local de-liveries. Add the possibility of glider-train transportation and you visual ize anot unlikely air service of the future.Off civil air' routes, "Flight Strips" couldbe utilized for feeder airline service.

Our third major consideration concerns"Flight Strips" and international air trallic- present and future. For while thecatchword has become "freedom of theair," we might well substitute "freedomof the ai rporrs" as the key to the prob-lem. You can have ,til the free air youwish, but aircraft must land and take offand for that vou need land in" areas.

Again, I will not attempt a~ overall dis-cussion of the subject, with so much think-ing left to be done about the job at hand,excc:pt to s'ly that development of the

which you will operatc:. Learn at le.ist afew words of thei r lan!.';ua"e, words thatwill help you commlll~icate your wants.Learn something about native customs.

b. Approach the natives with a friend.ly attitude. Don't display .irrns. Don'tshow fright. Assume that they will hel I'you. Be patient. Get them to do thingsby indirect hints, such as a display ofrestlessness on your part. But never showanger-they won't he d rivcn. And playfair with the natives; if you make apromise, keep it.

c. Carry things on your person thatthe natives will want :md usc them forrewards. They are .t vital help. Carrytrinkets. tobacco twists and razor blades.Strips of silk from your parachute will behighly prized. But don't give all yourwampum away at once. Ration it care-fully you may need some later on. Innun}' .Ireas you can write out a chit whichwill bring a reward to the bearer on pres-entation at a missionary station or mili-

48

'FLIGHT STRIPS'(Continued (rom Page 10)

"Flight Strip" program in this countryunder federal supervision is in direct con-trast to the development of airports underlocal ownership. Many applications ofthis plan have a direct relationship tointernational affairs, since you may sub-stitute international agreement for federalsupervision and national ownership forlocal ownership.

Although the Army Air Forces assisted

ANSWERS TO QUIZ ON 'AGE 261. All fOll!" colors.2. (c) A lighter plane.3. Zootlling to meet our thunder.'\. (a) Navigator.5. (d ) Acrial C;unnery6. (d J A maneuver ir, flight.7. Left side.R. (a) rocke-WlIlt.

(0) j unkcrx.9. (a) Elevators.

10. (d) C;OV(TlHllent Issue.1 1. (c) !\latcri<-!.12. (c) The command HALT is given

as e ithc r foot sr rikcx the gWlInJ.13. (d) Drag.It (d) All membe-rs of the Army and

thci r d cpcnden ts.15. Away trorn his neck.16. 1530.17. 1"'47.1R, Distinuuishe.] Flying Cross.19. Purple: Heart.~O. Communic.uious.

the Cunad ians in every way possible todevelop the airports along the Highw'IY,the Canadians naturally consider themCuudian airports. The Highway's "FlightStrips," on the other hand, were devel-oped entirely under the supervision of theArmy Air Forces, which selected the:sitc:s with the approval of the Canadian!.';overnment and asked the U. S. PublicRO'lds Admin istrarion to make plans and

BAilOUT OVER BUNA(Conii.lUed from Page 13)

tarv outpost. Most natives understand theuse of the chi t.

2. Before you set out on a mission,make sure yOll have with you all theemergency equipmc:nt vou might need.Alw'lys carry your jun:~1e kit. Be sure to11:[\(': fill lflll!' !'enoll .u least the follow-in.<.:: matches in a w.ucrproof container, a(om ["ISS. a sturdy ku i.c, maps of thearea, <ulr.m il irn idt- (p"cfe:'ahly in powdcrform. for wounds t:::lt infect r.u-dlv inthe tropics). lluinine (Tor maLl:'i,;. a «on-stint tropical Iuz'lrd) _ halazone tabletsfor purifvin!.'; water. Youl l n cci! theseessentials.' Wear C.1. boots or a sturdyequivalent that won't snap off if you haveto bail out. Keep your shirt on, figura-tively as well as literally. If you cansalvage your pistol. so much the better.

3. Above all else stay c.tlm when youare face to face with an emergency. When

PRINTED l.:"l" v. S.A.

surveys in accordance with stnnda rd"Flight Strip" specifications.

Although both Americans and Canad-ians arc stationed at the airports, eachairport is under a Canadian manager.The "Flight Strips" are under the juris-diction of the road officials who are re-sponsible for huilding and maintainingthe Highway.

The significant point is this: The air-ports, like all airports, are locally owned,and after the war can be expected to belocally controlled, in this case by theCanadian government.

"Flight Strips." by their very defini-tion, arc a part of a highway right-of,w'IY,,1l1d arc always ad jaccnt to a puhl ic high-way. Their status is thc: status of theAlun Highw'IY: Title rests with Canadabecause it is their land; conslruction,maintenance and lIJc Me covered by aninternational a!.';reement between the "ov-ernrncnts of' the United States 'andCanada. Thus, the "Flight Strips" ad-pcent to the Akan Highway form thefirst chain of illlcm,lfioll,1! land iru; Me~IS.

After the w.ir , '"Flight Strips" 'in Can-ada, in this country, or in any part ofthe world, should ,tlways he a part of thesame LIWS which govc:rn the construc-tion, maintenance and use of highways.If it is an intern.uion.rl hi!.';hw,IY. as isthe Alcan Highw'IY, then "(light'StrtpS"become intcrn.rtioua l "Flight Strips" tobe utilized by mutual agreement betweennations.

In this country we h.iv« developed theselanding areas for aircraft through thejoint clfort-, of Congrc:ss and the W'lf De-partment, the Unitc:d Stites Public RoadsAdministration of the Federal WorksAgency, State legislatures and St.ite roada.lministrut ion-, private industry and pri-vate organizations. and a host of individ-luis, principally those in the rural areas. 1;(

you get down. sit for awhile and thinkthings through. Prior knowledge of theterrain, the natives, and the conditionsunder which you arc operating will pre-vent panic. In hai l-out s, LIke extremecaution if you land in a tree. i\fany rncuhave sustained injury coming down Irorrtrees. Of course, you're an x ious to hu,!.';the earth. But play safe and come downslowly .ind del iheLltcly. The ground willstill be there when you gc:t down an d willfeel a lot better than if vou come downin ,I hurry on your head or back. '/:.{

PICTURE CREDITS5: RO\"a1 Can.nli.rn Air Force. 7: AcmeNcwsrictures. 11-15: Sign," Cmps. 16:Acme Ncwxpirr urv». 26: Signal Corps..l2-~.l: PuL!r()id Corporation. ~,i: ASC,Patterson Field. Ohio. ,1H: Signed Corr«.45: \1(lide World. 16: J. H. Keeney & iCo. Back Cover: ~ew Y ork 11uscun: of1[0('( ru Art. All other photographs se-cured through otlici,d Army Air Forc,'ssources.

AIR FORCE, August, 1943

Officers' hats on the shelf have about as much individualityas a helt of 50-caliher machine-gun bullets. Here's whathappened when the Unit Personnel Officer and the SpecialService Officer left the cloak room during a heated discus-sion of last night's G.I. stage show.

In this comer we have a few of the flyingofficers (witness the functional headgear).hopelessly trying to beat the one-arm bandit.The Operations Officer has been stalking themachine for half an hour and now he figuresit is just about ripe. He'll probably hit thejackpot with his fourth nickel hut will putit all back in.

Lieutenant Lardoon, Mess Officer, is taking a busman'sholiday dining at the Club. He'll wind up in the kitchenleaving a new calorie chart for an indignant chef. That'sthe Post Surgeon, on the left, with a carnivorous appetiteand case-hardened stomach.

Colonel Bustle, Post Commandant, andhis partner, Major Plato, S-3, are sweat-ing out a spade finesse through theSupply Officer. Cautious Captain Tittle,Post Adjutant. holds the King but willprobably save it, along with the C.Oo'stemper.

Major Galley, combination Public Rela-tions Officer, S.2 Officer, Photo Officerand Group Commander, has just beencalled to the phone between bites of ham-burger to answer the query of the localnewspaper editor concerning the forth.coming visit of the Paraguayan President.The Major will return to his cold coffeelind then dash madly off to the OCS boardmeeting.

ARE YOUGUIDINGIHIS U.BOAIWIIH

TALK?

- -

1 -, ... ••. '

-y

OF THE U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

"RIDING the Messerschmitt May tag,"on Page <18, is a straight-forward account bya former cadet of how he felt about wash-ing out in primary. The author is PrivateCharles M. Macko, who has been reclassifiedat a basic training center at Fresno, Calif.,to become a student under the Army Spe-cialist Training Program. He flunked hisfinal check ride at Thunderbird Field. Ariz.,early this year. But, he writes, "disappointedas I am, I can appreciate the Army's aim.It wants the cream of the crop to make thebest pilots in the world."

To A PILOT in the ATCs "specialmission" group, Chungking is just a spoton the map where the weather officer oweshim six bucks; Cai ro, where the Britishnurse has promised him a date on his nextvisit; Melbourne, where he has to pick uplast week's laundry. It's tough. seriouswork getting cargo to all points of the earthin record time, but these pilots laugh offtheir assignments as strictly routine. Anarticle on this group appears on Page 30.

SEVERAL months ago, the Civil AirPatrol became an 'lllxiliary of the Army AirForces. In addition to carrying on its coastaland border patrol duties. CAP has now beenassigned to the important nation-wide AAFrecruiting drive. Its (iO.OOO members arccharged with investigating, examining andqualifying candidates to eliminate the unfitbefore they are certified to the cadet examin-ing boards. The work of the CAP and itsfuture possibilities arc described in anarticle on Page 46 by Lieut. Col. Earle L.Johnson, the CAP's national commander.

THE EMPLOYMENT of air power in theBattle of Attu is described on Page 22 byBrig. Gen. William E. Lynd , Army AirOfficer on the Staff of the Commander inChief of the Pacific Fleet. Gcnc-r.i l Lynd,who has seen extensive action in the Paci fie,participating personally in many importantbombing missions against the enemy, tookan active part in the Attu operation.

management than of military operation."How the ASC functions umkr this reorgan-ization-which meant principally a decen-tralization of authority at the same ec]wlon-'-is described on Page -ro by Maj. Gen.Walter H. Frank, its commanding general.

AlR FORCE (formerly the Air Forces News Letter) 1S printed monthly by authority ofArmy Air Forces Regulation No. 5-6, Sept. 6, 1942, and with the approval of theBureau of the Budget, Executive Office of the President. AIR FORCE is published bythe U. S. Army Air Forces at the AIR FORCE Editorial Office, 101 Park Avenue,New York, 17, N. Y., U.S.A., for use of personnel of the Army Air Forces andallied activities, and is not to be republished in whole or in part, except by Armyfield publications, without express permission. Direct communication with this officehas been authorized on matters of editorial content, circulation and distribution. Tel.,MUrray Hill 5-1951; Teletype No. NY 1-2530; Director, Major James H. Straubel, A.C.

September Oriel

BEFORE planes can be employed againstthe enemy, they must have bases from whichto operate. Providing forw.rrd airdromesfor AAF aircraft in the North African cam-paign was the job of our .iviution engineers.An article which Brig. Gen. S. C. Godfrey,the Air Engineer, terms "the best evidenceyet presented on rapid airdrome construc-tion for a large air force in a new thea-tre," has been written for AIR FORCE byBrig. Gen. D. A. Davison, Chief Engineerfor the Northwest African Air Forces. Itappears on Page 14.

MAYBE you won't believe it but it'strue: Women are flying our combat planes.Yes, the gal pilots in the Women's Auxil-iary Ferrying Squadron are now breezingfrom factory to airfield at the controls offighters, medium bombers and transports, aswell as trainers and liaison ships. Of course,they stick to straight flying-no didos orhigh altitude stuff-but they're flying themjust the same. An article on the first yearof the WAFS, and the women pilots' transi-tion from the lighter planes to the combatships appears on Page 10. Incidentally. the"Flying Jenny" on the cover is Miss NancyE. Batson, 23-year-old Alabama ferry pilot,who joined the WAFS last October. Heraviation background: CPT at University ofAlabama; pilot rating in 1940; controltower operator for Pan American in summerof 1942; instructor at Ernhrv-Ridd le Schoolof Aviation. Personal: blonde; 5 feet, 7inches tall; not married; not engaged. Ac-cent: decidedly southern.

lAST DECEMBER the Air Service Com-mand was reorganized on a business basisbecause the Command's activities were"more closely related to those of business

"INSPECTION concerns every man inthe Army Air Forces, from the private whopours gasoline into a plane to the generalwho ordered its flight." In this mannerBrig. Gen. J unius W. Jones, the Air Inspec-tor, explains the need for a mcd iurn to dis-seminate AAF inspection information to thefield. To fill this need Am FORCE thismonth inauuurn tos a new department. pre-pared by the Air Inspector's office, to bringtimely tips to inspectors and inspectees.Read "Prepare for Inspection" on Page 18.It should be of interest to all personnel.

~FOBCB is primari1Yi\t;m~iuwforthe

e~. lUl-.II..e......•..O..f i4e88.a.n 4......•....i..nlo.'..r. m" ti.OD..•....•.•......a..•..m.. 0.,0•.....11.Army Air Forcespersonnel.Op:lnlom' ~ioi

pressed by> indi:vjdu~ cootrjljljl!Qrs dC;.oliJneces8Qritr~~press th~'.j)1i(l'illl~~H:ude9ftheArmy.AitJ:l'\)I.t'esc:l)(the:W.l!.D~p", . .

,>.' _' -"'.-' ' .. t. .,-. ,,- "-'>'. ';, ;,;<""" r, ',,',',-",',X,-,,"-,,>':,-

CROSS COUNTRYOlTR score against enemy planes for the

first six months of the year stood at3,515 of the enemy destroyed, with anadditional 1,127 probably destroyed and1,280 damaged, ao.or dinj: to an an-nouncement by the Commanding Gen-eral. During this period 8i() of our air-craft were lost in aerial combat.

Bombardment planes, meanwhile, car-ried out their primary mission in everytheatre, dropping millions of pounds ofbombs on enemy industria! plants, linesof supply and communication, and mili-tary and naval installations. Our scoreagainst enemy shi pping was reported as121 surface craft sunk, 7,1 probably sunknd 315 damaged.

All in all, our aircraft flew 89,691 com-Jat sorties in the six-month period. (Amonth-by-month box score of our aerialcombat operations, by theatres, for thefirst half of 1943 is on the next page.)

RETURN FROM COMBATThe Commanding General also an-

nounced that more than 9,000 officers andenlisted men of the Air Forces with com-bat experience had been brought back tothe States to train our personnel in theactual details they will encounter overseas.General Arnold reported:

"No faculty more thoroughly equippedby long, direct, personal experience couldbe assembled than this group of fightingmen now communicating their hard-wonknowledge to their brothers in arms.

"All sick and wounded Army AirForces personnel evacuated from thetheatres of operations are sent to ArmyA.ir Forces hospitals not only for medicallnd surgical care but also for a full studyof their cases as relating to aviation medi-cine. The patient is evaluated both medi-cally and aeronautically to determine forwhat type of aeronautical duty he isqualified.

"These qualifications are weighedagainst his physical defects. Reassignmentof duties may be indicated. While thephysical defects are being corrected, hereceives instruction in the new dutieswhich he will undertake. Thus, no part

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

A report on our combat rec-ord. and other developmentsof the month within the Army

Air Forces.

of his training and experience is lost tothe Army Air Forces."

The largest single group of our per-sonnel returned from foreign theatres---1,021 officers and 1,()54 enlisted men--has been assigned to the Second AirForce. Distribution of returned personnelto other commands was reported as fol-lows:

First Air Force, 2()7 officers and 3()1enlisted men; Third Air Force, ()83officers and 527 enlisted men: Fourth AirForce, 2()8 officers and 552 enlisted men;Air Service Command, 310 officers and351 enlisted men; Air Transport Com-mand, 10 officers and no enlisted men;Materiel Command, 12 officers and 10enlisted men; Flight Control Command.57 officers and 87 enlisted men; Proving

." .. $!... ~

Bail-out

Ground Command, 35 officers and 3 en-listed men; Antisubmarine Command, 48officers and 109 enlisted mcn : TechnicalTraining Command, 152 officers and 97enlisted men: Troop Carrier Command,118 officers and 55 enlisted men.

STRICTLY PLATONICThere is no denying the value of the

work being done at the various rest cen-ters, but we can't help passing on thestory about the fellow who had been ap-pointed a club director by one of thewelfare agencies and was heing coachedin his duties preparatory to being sentoverseas. During one of the lectures thewoman in charge held forth at somelength on the ~eeds of flyers returningfrom combat.

"Some of these men," she said, "willbe sent back to your club for extendedrest periods after having 100 or 150grueling hours of combat duty. They willcome to you in need of relaxation andrecreation ."

The good lady paused to let the thoughtsink in. "Now," she continued, "whenthese combat flyers come in what arc yougoing to give them? Are you going togive them coffee and doughnuts? No,certainly not! Not when there are plentyof good de-hydrated soups."

GLOBAL WARAmong the prisoners taken in North

Africa was a Polish soldier who had 'beencaptured by the Russians in 1939, re-leased by them after the German invasionof Russia to serve in the Russian army in1940, taken prisoner hy the Germans in1941, drafted into the German army in1942, transferred to North African dutyand finally captured by American troopsin Tunisia in 1943.

THE AAF TRAINING COMMANDThe new AAF Training Command was

activated July 7 to replace and combinethe functions of the Technical TrainingCommand and the Flying Training Com-mand. Maj. Gen. Barton K. Yount,former head of the FTC, was named com-

1

COMBAT BOX SCORE r

MONSTER JEEPIn the way of compliments, we thought

they had thrown the book at the vehiclecalled. the Jeep, and figured the matterwould have to rest until some fresh adjec-tives turned up. But we feel bound to re-port that the enemy has outdone us.

For evidence we are going to quote youthe text of an Italian order captured byour forces in North Africa. It was signedby the commanding officer of an Italiananti-tank regiment. And believe us, thisis the real thing (the italics are ours).

"Subject: Enemy Jeeps."To: Commanders, 1,2,3 Bns."It IS time to debunk the legend ac-

cording to which 'Jeeps~ seem to he con-sidered nncat cb abl e nro nst ers,

"Some anti-Jeep actions which I haveinstituted recently, even with small groupsof riflemen. have led to the capture ofthree of the vehicles 111 question andsome prisoners.

"By these actions, I have been able to

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

a wider white cross on Nazi aircraft, andthe .laps' red dot, all appeared 111 theform of a dot because all angular featurestake this form at great distances. In Julythe AAF took the lead in rcmovmjr thislack of distinction by adopting a newinsignia consisting of the white star on acircular iield of blue, a white rectangleattached horizontally at the right and leftof the circle, and a red border enclosingthe entire device. Result of tests: visi-bility at a sixty percent greater range thanthe old device and the German and .lapinsignia, with a distance effect of a long.narrow bar rather than a dot.

manding general of the new Cornrnan«with headquarters in Forth Worth, Texas."The reorganization was effected," accord-mg to the announcement from AAFHeadquarters, "to achieve maximumeconomy of operations, the most efficientutilization of personnel, and maxnnumroordinarion of training schedules andutilization of training facil ities." Infuture issues, AIR FORCE will publish de-tails of the Command's activities.

NEW PLANE INSIGNIANot long after the conrl ic! opened ll1

the Pacific, the red dot was removed fromthe star ll1 the 111slgl1la of A A F planesbecause it was being confused with therising run painted on .lap aircraft. As thewar against the Axis moved on, it becameapparent that at certain distances the whitestar against a blue background on ourplanes, the black cross superimposed on

8370

219

614

3060201712

1

187837

17

1586597

1746

711

4

1

86

185

706228879

5

189

140

123

846

37

51

37103

1066

56

10 123

'28

u. S.AircraftLosses

Dam- in Aerialaged Combat

2

2

4

6

7

3

1

7

6

10

60

24

464

10635

13

110

Prob-able

22

1183

On GroundEnemy Losses

7694

35

6

5

618

37

316

141

104

Lost

125

348

5686 24121517

12731612

4

99

279

2

221

1575282

220

172691410

111

2

186 25

1

147

31126 11848 18 67

1152

28377

211

14

43842816

213

964223

41

8

174

1275110101

1023

7

239

186

4350

4394

2

142

108

168

1017

687

57 34 22144 63 75

11 8 7151 55 4134 3 1

8 5

Prob- Dam-Lost able aged

Total

Total 722

Following IS a month-by-month box score of United States Army AirForces combat operations in theatres of operations for the first half of 1943:

Aerial CombatEnemy Losses In

Grand Total. 3167

Total 649

JUlle8th AF United Kingdom 325

U. S. Units, N.W. African AI' .. 1719th AF Middle East. . . . . . . 405th AF Australia 41

13th AF So. Pacific . . . . . 63lOth AF India .1.1th AF China . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9II th AF Alaska .

MaySt h AF United Kingdom 348

U. S. Units, N.W. African AI' .. 2159th AI' Middle East. . . . . . . . . . 205th AF Australia 29

1~th AF So. Pacific . . 310th AF India 91.1th AI' China. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5811th AI' Alaska.............. 5

Total 406April

xth AF United Kingdom 148U. S. Units, N.W. African AF .. 318

9th AF Middle East. . . . . . . . .. 1525th AF Australia 70

Hth AF So. Pacific 1710th AF India............... 114th AI' China............... 16II th AF Alaska .

JanuaryRth AI' United Kingdom.

U. S. Units, N.W. African AF ..'Jih AF Middle East .5th AF Australia .

Hth AF So. Pacific .IOtI, AF India .lf th AI' China .......••••.•..II th AF Alaska ...•..•••••..•

Total 405february

Stl: AI' United Kingdom...... 72U. S. Units, N.W. African AF .. 1289th AF Middle East. . . . . . . . . . 85th AF Australia .........•.. 41

Hth AF So. Pacific........... 2610th AI' India............... 1614th AI:' China ......•••••••..l l th AI' Alaska 7

Total 298March

Sth AF United Kingdom 141U. S. Units, N.W. African AI' .. 1439th AI' Middle East. . . . . . . . . . 175th AI:' Australia 91

I ~th AF So. Pacific .......•.•. 410th AF India............... 8JIlth AI' China ......•••••••..II th AF Alaska ......•.•••••• 2

2

establish tint the crews of these Jeeps,when met by decisive action, make theirescape or surrender without opening firebut. when not so met, open fire, inflictlosses on us and make their getaway.

"You are requested to draw from theabove, arguments designed to raise themorale of your units, so as to secure that,by the cooperation of everyone, we suc-ceed in freeing the Iines of communica-tion from this illJidio/lJ uea p on of enemyattack. Every commander should givestrict orders to this effect."

"EXPRESSING OUR ApPROVAL"Back in the March issue we pub] ished

an article by Maj. Wade R. Cunningham,Jr., Commandant of Cadets 'It FosterField, Texas, entitled "What Kind of Of-ficers Will They Make?" It was one ofthe best expressions we had seen of therelationship between cadets and supervis-ing officers during advanced traininjr.

This month we received a note fromFoster Field enclosing the photostaticcopy of a V-mail letter from "somewherein North Africa." The letter was ad-dressed to Major Cunningham and borethe signatures of nineteen officers whohad received their advanced fighter pilottraining at Foster before going on foreignduty. With the approval of the FosterField CO, we're happy to reprint thatletter, as follows:"Dear Sir:

In reading the AIR FORCE m{lgazine ofi'vlarcb /943. uc me l'erv ball/Jy to noteYOllr article entitled. 'W.rlhlt Khzd of Of-ficen lf7ill Tbey !\1tlke?' We o{ tbe cl.is:of 42' ubo by cbnnce btlp pell to be st a-tioned here at present tabe tbi: means ofexpre.r.ring 0111'approl',J! of the id e.rs clIulid eals set [ortb ill YOllr article, Since 0111'

gradlltltion, No renrber /0, we b.ue beenseteral pl aces, [earned considerable, andbat-e seen 10/.1. It is 0111' im pressio» thata closer rel at ionsbi]: between cadets emdtbeir .rtlpeJ"1'i.rhlg 0!ficers in advancedtraining will ptly big dil'idendr in theflltllre. By lI'tly of an exam pie, the periodbetween cad e! trtlining ,md the stelge offligbt lendersbi p at present is so shorttliat experience alone is 1101 com p et ent .Tben agtlin tbe talr:« of air di.rciplille tllld,at the same time, teanttoorl: and (00 peru-tion is bert obtained throllgb a completetl1ldentandillK of all concerned. Natu-rally tbis 1II11JI be jir.rt learned dllrill!!,cadet trtli/liJlg for tbe earlier this isgrasped , the better type of jlyinf{ officerwill be produced,

"lf7e sincerelv bope tbelt all is uell atFoster Field; for eacb of ttJ ha.r fondmemories of ubat ue CO/Hider the bert.and u.itbont rcsertat ion, the most enjoy-able period of 0111' cadet training. lY7eaim uisb yOIl to convey to ,111 that sh.ue.!in 0111'training at Foster Field the bertoj luck and good uisbes, Then. of C01l1'.re.any neus, items of interest 01' letters willbe gladly rcceiied bere ill North Africtl."

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

1.t

THAT FIRST MISSIONFlyers who are wondering about their

first taste of combat may be interested toknow that Lieut. Walter Schol, on his firstcombat mission, shot down a 3'i-year-oldGerman veteran who had heen decoratedseven times. The action took place inNorth Africa. The German flew a MElO')G, Schol a P-iO.

HOW'RE You VOTING?It is one of those arguments which

probably never will be settled, but thesubject is inviting and we are anxious todo our part. We refer to the question ofwho is the better combat fighter pilot-the Jap or the German.

Lieut. Daniel Kennedy is a P- 3H pilotwith a few thoughts on the subject. Ken-nedy has been slugging it out with theGermans for the last eight months or so,which makes him a veteran in that theatre,and has shot down five enemy planes.According to Pvt. Wade Jones, who sentin this report from North Africa, Ken-nedy has more than 'i0 missions and 190hours combat time to his credit. This ishow Kennedy feels about the Jap-Germanpilot question:

"I rea,1 the other day," he is quoted,"that one of our fighter pilots out in thePacific said the [ap pilots were betterthan the Germans. Now I haven't beenout in that rheatrc-iyct. But it justdoesn't add up with the known figures.Some of our pilots out there have twentyor so planes to their credit, I hear. I'vegot [ivc .ind the most any man in ourGroup h,ls is eight. Of course they'vebeen at it longer, but then I'll bet we'vehad more encounters than they have. So

Out in India. where a group of theboys are camping on the grounds ofa Maharajah's lavish estate, the ser-vices of one of the Maharajah's ele-phants has been enlisted. From timeto time the elephant obliges theboys with a shower bath.

if the Jap pilot is better than the German,how come so many more of them getshot down?

"Of course, I'd ]ike to go back to theStates if I can. But after that I want togo to the Pacific. Maybe I'm wrong butI bet I'd have more than five Zeros at theend of six months out there."

We were glad to get Lieutenant Ken-nedy's remarks and hope they will promptfurther discussion. What about a line ortwo from the boys who have fought boththe Jap and the German?

OUR ApOLOGIESOn page 3 of the July issue, we stated

that the Order of Daedal ians was pio-neered "under the leadership of the lateBrig. Gen. Harold L. George," meaningthe late Brig. Gen. Harold H. George,fighter commander who was killed in theSouthwest Pacific in the early months ofthe war. Maj. Gen. Harold L George isthe commanding genera] of the Air Trans-port Command.

THE "MILITARY REVIEW"We've been asked to inform you that

the Afilitary Reiieu-, quarterly publicationof the Command and General StaffSchool, is now a monthly magazine. TheRei-leu- publ ishes up-to-date professionalmilitary information, thought and doc-trine, including translations and digests ofimportant foreign military literature. Thesubscription price, $3 per year, should beremitted by check or money order witheach subscri ption to the Book Depart-ment' Command and General Staff School,Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

-THE EDITOR.

As .Allied invasion forces moved in onthe European fortress last month,

round-the-clock bombing of continentaltargets by American and British aircraftbased on the British Isles continued withincreasing tempo.

Major responsibility for daylight bomb-ing missions remained the every-day jobof AAF four-engine bombers manned bycrews of the Eighth Air Force. As the

A waist gunner can watch his tracersplow into an enemy fighter. This gun-ner already has chalked up a swastika.

4

bombings increased-and more and moreindustrial centers and shipping points feltthe blows-so increased Axis opposition.Fighter planes, the best the Nazis had tooffer, and flak, often as thick as a blanket,tested the mettle of our airmen.

The Germans were trying every trickin the book-new tactical maneuvers withtheir fighters, air-to-air bombing, varia-tions in flak concentrations and patterns.

The belly turret gunner thinks he has thebest spot on the ship-mainly becausehe gets a crack at plenty of them.

Bombs away - andthe bombardierkeeps his mind onhis business despiteflak and other dis-tracting elements.

Our formations and tactics were con-stantly being changed to meet the enemy'snew techniques.

Despite sterner opposition our crewsand our planes are more than holding up.In a report to Headquarters, Maj. Gen.Ira C. Eaker, the Eighth's commandinggeneral, commented:

"None of the crews has a feeling thatthey are overmatched. The bomber crews

From the top turret the gunner fre-quently gets an eyefull, tao. He takeson attacking planes from many angles.

EUROPEOYERnave a complete confidence in their abilityto take a heavy toll of German fighters.It is not necessary to drive the men totheir tasks, as they are enthusiastic aboutit.

"We employ all possible deception toavoid fighter concentration and radar de-tection. This is done in order to preventinterference with the bombing by enemyfighters. However, when a hot air battleresults, we do not count the mission lostbut consider it a victory when we destroya large number of enemy aircraft."

As always, the primary job was the de-struction of production facilities of theAxis war machine, with shooting downenemy fighters a defensive sidelight of themain task.

Coinciding with the accclcr.uion ofAlbee! air operations over the Continent

was War Department recogrntron of thefirst anniversary of American aerial par-ticipation in the Battle of Europe. OnJuly 4, 1942, AAF crews, manning sixA-20s, got their first taste of war over theoccupied Lowlands. One year later, ourairmen celebrated by taking over severalhundred heavy bombers to paste targetsat Le Mans, Nantes and La Pall ice with544 tons of bombs. They shot down 46German planes, scored 36 probables anddamaged seven more. Eight bomberswere lost.

DURING that first year, the War De-partment reports, B-l7s and B-24s of theEighth Air Force destroyed or damaged102 industrial targets, naval bases and railcenters with 11,4i3 tons of bombs on 68daylight precision bombing missions.

They shot down 1,199 enemy planes,probably destroyed 525 more and dam-aged SOL We lost 276 heavy bombers .

. Eighth Air Force 17s and 21s flew7,067 sorties against Axis targets duringthe year and averaged only 3.91 percentlosses. Enemy planes. destroyed by theselost American aircraft in fighting beforethey were shot down are not included inthe tabulation of enemy planes shot down,probably destroyed and damage. '.

The accompanying drawings represen:an artist's conception of a typical bornbin ",raid over Europe. Key positions in thecrew of a B-17 are played up in the in-dividual sketches, which were done byPhil Santry of the AAF Training AidsDivision on the basis of reports obtainedin Washington.

Action as portrayed in these drawingsis the type of anion that has become al-most routine for our airmen engaged indaylight runs over enemy target areas onthe European continent. *

Navigators have to train themselves takeep at their navigation; a tough as-signment when the fighting is heaviest.

In some tight spots. it takes the combinedstrength of pilot and co-pilot to kick the 8-17around in a vitally necessary evasive manner.

AIR FORCE, September, 1943 5

Maj. John Mitchell (left) and Capt. Thomas Lanphier. Jr. Attop. a P.38 takes off from an airfield in the Southwest Pacific.

"you can't be too good a gunner,"said the Major. "When you jump 2.

Zero up there at 30,000 feet, you havehim in range for just a few seconds. Hithim squarely and he'll go down. Misshim and you may get your tail shot off.

"I know a pilot who has f\Qwn 200hours as a wing man and has saved hisleader's life many times. But he stillhasn't a confirmed victory of his own. Allbecause of poor marksmanship.

"T'd have knocked down at least fouror five more Japs myself had I been ableto shoot a little better."

And coming from the Major, thisreally means something, for Maj. JohnMitchell is one of the best. He is creditedwith eight Jap planes, has flown 100 op-erational missions involving 200 hours incombat, and commanded a P-38 squadronin the South Pacific which has a record ofsixty Jap planes destroyed and twelveprobables.

Capt. Thomas Lanphier, Jr., was aflight leader in this squadron. Sevenplanes, seventy missions, 175 hours incombat --that's his score.

Mitchell is soft-spoken, serious,thoughtful. Lanphier is nervy, quick-witted, inclined to tell a story with dra-matic gestures. Both were in the SouthPacific from January, 1942, until June ofthis year-first in the Fijis, then theSolomons-and both know what it takesto be a front-line fighter pilot.

6

"Out there," said Mitchell, "a pilotmust be ready for anything. You fly nightand day, in rain, fog and every kind ofsoup imaginahle. You fly in and out ofshort, bumpy fields that have been justchopped out of the jungle.

"The physical strain is enormous. Onthe ground the atmosphere is hot andhumid and enervating, and you arc likelyto be waiting around in this heat when araid starts arid the fighters have to get upfast. There's a tremendous change intemperature, the cockpit cools off quickly,and you have pains all over.

"To an experienced combat pilot, thesethings are part of the game. But to thenew flyer they are new problems. Andthere is only one answer-prepare your-self as thoroughly as possible before youever reach the front."

LANPHIER nodded his head rapidly.'That's a good point, Mitch. Too

many kids came out there trusting toluck. Well, you can't do that becausethere are two kinds of luck.

"For example, a lot of men seem tothink they will have little or no occasionto fly on instruments. But they will, be-lieve me. And it's absolutely essentialthat they know how.

"Others don't know enough about theequipment and how it works. Oxygenequipment, especially. We knew a fellowwho bailed out of his airplane at about

30,000 feet when there was apparentlynothing wrong. The only conclusion wasthat he lost his head from lack of oxygen.

"Then there is all the emergency eCluip-merit. We have seen priceless airplanesruined just because some guy didn't knowhow to use the emergency landing gearhandle."

"Keep in mind," said Mitchell, "thatthese mistakes are mainly a matter ofneglect. During his training a pilot isgiven instruction in every phase of thejob. But there are some things to whichmen in training don't pay enough at-tention.

"I can sum these up briefly. Gunnery,as I have said, can't be over-emphasized.We have daily gun practice out at thefront but that can't make up for insuffi-cient practice at home.

'Then there is formation flying andescort flying and night flying and instru-ment flying and practice in landing onshort fields and a thorough knowledge ofengines and dynamics. A man should putin every minute possible on those phases.

"Formation flying is vital. We foughtthe Japs all over the Guadalcanal andSolomons area for months and I can'tremember a time when we weren't badlyoutnumbered.

"You can meet that kind of oppositionin one way only-by sticking together.You must stay together, at least in pairs.

"This is probably the hardest idea to

AIR FORCE. September, 1943

bet across to a new pilot. He arrivesrarin' to go. The squadron commanderkeeps him out of combat for a while, seesthat he 'brushes up on the phases of train-ing I mentioned, and lets him watch theTokyo Express go over a few times.

"At last he is sent on a combat mission.After all, that's the only way he can be-come a combat flyer. You can't practicea man into perfection,

"Well, those first two or three flightsare tough for anybody. You're keyed upand excited and there's a hell of a lot ofshooting going on and, first thing youknow, this new kid breaks away from hisleader. Perhaps he dives down and awayafter what he thinks is a straggler.

"If he gets home after leaving a forma-'ion like that, he is very lucky indeed. Itwon't happen often.

"A new pilot simply must accept thefact that his leader is experienced andmust be trusted to get them through thebrawl."

Mitchell and Lanphier concede that theconditions they faced in the Pacific, es-pecially on Guadalcanal, were far worsethan they are today.

Mitchell arrived at Guadalcanal in Oc-tober, when the front lines were only halta mile from his tent, when machine gunfire and continuous bombing by Japplanes made sleep as unlikely as a visit

AIR FORCE, September. 1943

Two Army fighter pilotstell why it pays to be well-prepared for combat flying-from a pin-up girl. Conditions had im-proved only slightly in December, whenLanphier reached Henderson Field. Foodconsisted of Spam three times a day, whenit was available. If you wanted a floor foryour tent, you watched carefully andgrabbed the crate from a new airplane.

Flyers were in "combat" on the groundas well as in the air. Jap snipers werebold and frequently slipped through thelines, one getting so close he fired a bulletinto the pilots' mess table. Blackouts atnight were complete, of course. You sataround a while talking over operations,but the flies and insects drove you underthe mosquito nets early,

AERIAL combat was touch-and-go formany months. Major Mitchell bagged hisfirst Jap on October 9, two days afterarriving at Henderson Field, got anotheron October 23 while on patrol overGuadalcanal and a third on November 7while attacking an enemy naval force.

January was very active. Typical of theoperations was a bomber escort missionon January 5, when Mitchell's flight ofsix P-38s was attacked by 25 Japs. The

Changing propblade of P.38which nosed over.

flight destroyed three planes and prob.ably three more. Later on, Mitchell ledsix P-38s against thirty Zeros over Guadal-canal, getting two himself, and on Janu-ary 29 he took off alone before dawn andshot down a "Washing Machine Charlie"-a Jap bomber Type 97 that was makinga low-level bombing and strafing attackon the field.

Mitchell flew thirteen missions to theKahili-Shortland Island area, 315 milesfrom Henderson Field, and one day madethe trip twice.

Lanphier's record is no less brilliant.On December 23, the first day he flewcombat from Henderson Field, he broughtdown a Zero over Munch while escortinga bomber sweep. Lanphier flew 24 escortmissions to Munda in a single month; a400-miJe round trip, frequently on a two-a-day schedule.

On March 29 Lanphier led a flight ofP-38s, accompanied by a Marine pilot,against float Zeros at Poporang Island.They destroyed eight Jap planes, thensank a Jap destroyer with machine gunand cannon fire on the way home.

When, on April 7, the Japanese at-tempted to raid the Tulagi-Savo Islandarea with 98 planes, Lanphier got threeZeros. His flight of four P-38s overtookeleven raiders at 30,000 feet, first shotdown three planes, then finished off theremaining eight.

Lanphier racked up two more on April18 while taking part in a sweep lead byMajor Mitchell. While Mitchell climbedwith twelve P-38s to furnish high cover,Lanphier and three others started the at-tack and brought down a total of sixJ ap aircraft.

P.38s were not the only planes theyflew. On several occasions Mitchell andLanphier flew P- 39s as dive-bombersagainst Jap shipping or ground installa-tions.

Frequently, when Jap units hemmed inon the island offered stubborn resistance,the pilots would dive-bomb the enemywith depth charges.

These charges left many Jap;mese deadwithout a mark on (Continued on page 44)

Towing a fighter plane at a Pacific base.

7

o"The terrific explosion killed three ofthe mechs and wounded the others ... "

THIS IS YOUR ENEMY-Zt; '111W1Rf.6e; n I-,~f

8

Twenty-two months of war have taughtus many things.

We have learned that the enemy is nota superman-that he makes mistakes andmiscalculations common to all men. Wealso know him to be a tough, smort fighter.

Reports from the combat zones tell ofnew techniques-and old ones appliedmore cleverly-with which the enemy isdetermined to outsmart us and outfightus. It is ample proof that we must knowhis methods as thoroughly as we know ourown.

We must keep up with his tricks andhis tactics, his propaganda, his nationalpsychology, his strength and his weak-nesses. We must be alert at all times-must take nothing for granted.

IF you are inclined to be more curiousthan cautious, the enemy has special plans-and explosives-already laid for you.

Consider the ME-l09 that sat there ona captured German airfield one springday in North Africa. It looked harmlessenough to the five mechs who jumpedout of the jeep and ran to the plane. Theycrowded around the ship, comparing itwith our own fighters. Then one of themore curious opened the cowling to in-vestigate the instrument panel. The ter-rific explosion that followed killed threeof the mechs and wounded the others.

More and more booty will fall into ourhands as the Allied offensive rolls on.Often enough, as in this case, an aban-

doned piece of enemy equipment sud-denly becomes a deadly weapon. The ex-plosive charge hidden in the cockpit ofthe Messer schmitt did the work of a handgrenade or a bomb. The enemy hadcounted on our curiosity-and won!

Whenever possible, members of theEngineer Corps should inspect all cap-tured enemy materiel. Engineers aretrained to locate such traps and removetheir explosive harmlessly. If the engi-neers don't happen to be around, onlytrained personnel should do the job. Re-gard elWY object left by the enemy as apotential booby trap. And if you discoverpossible traps, mark them well for theprotection of others.

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

FAKE FOR BOMBARDIERS. The Ge;'manshave been known to flash on strings ofphosphorous lights a few miles from thetarget to mislead our bombardiers. Fromthe air the lights resemble incendiariesdropped by our own planes to light up thetarget. It is a ruse to trick bornbardicr sinto dumping their bombs harmlessly In

the phosphorous-light area.

i;{ * *SNIPER PLAYS DEAD. One of the enemycan hold up a whole parrolv-nnd inflictsevere damage -- when he plays it thesmart way.

The smart guy in this case was a Japsniper. He operated from a treetop andfired on an American patrol advancing upthe New Guinea coast. The troops halted,located the sniper and fired. A body fellfrom a tree. The ,troops advanced andwere fired on a second time. They stopped,fired, and scored another "kill." Then ithappened all over again.

In vestigation revealed that a singlesniper had been holding up the patrol.The enemy had placed dummies in othertrees and these dummies had been droppedby a pulley arrangement to make ourtroops think they had cleared the 01'1'0'sit ion.

The same terh nique was used elsewherein the hattie area. On one occasion thesniper's dummy was so regulated that itcould be hoisted back inlo place. But thesniper wasn't invulnerable. He made themistake of pulling the dummy back uptoo soon, giving away his ruse.

* * *ARMED PRISONERS. Walking toward youwith hands held high overhead in the ges-ture of surrender, prisoners look verymuch alike. You're feeling pretty goodabout your position. Maybe you get ,t

little careless. The prisoners have beendisarmed, haven't they' Or have they'

Certain German officers and men arereported to have been issued a specialtype revolver for use when taken prisoner.Th is weapon, hui It to fi re 25 rounds, canbe attached to a waist belt under the coator tunic, with the barr el pointing out-ward. A wire connecting with the triggerruns inside the sleeve to the cuff. Soarmed, a German prisoner can hold hishands high over his head in surrenderand still fire the gun at his captor. Feelgood, if you like, about taking prisoners;just be sure they are not carrying hiddenweapons. * 1:[ fJ:JAP PEP TALK. A Jap commander in theSouth Pacific felt called upon to addresshis troops in this manner;

"Endeavor to forget un pleasant inci-dents and to remember only the good. Itis useless to brood over matters as anhysterical woman does. We are all thinf rom lack of food, hut we must not showa haggard countenance when we get onthe vessels. There is a saying that 'theSamurai displays a toothpick even when

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

he hasn't eaten.' This is an exampleworth emulating at the present time. Sincewe have been here, there have been thoseamong us who have worked well andalso those who have been lazy. The menof the .suicide squad-.' and those withsimilar aspirations are among the bravestof the brave : on the other hand, thosewho have neglected their duty cal]. qulY'be considered despicable. Every"ual must aspire to be a hero."

PLAYING DEAD. Enemy pilots have beenknown to simulate loss of control whenour attacking fighters come within rangeand release long plumes of black smoketo give the impression that they have beenhit and are out of action. At times theruse has been employed to allay our attackand lure our aircraft into the range ofother enemy planes.

* U *A DREAM COME TRUE. Nine weeks be-fore Pearl Harbor, a Japanese soldierscribbled this note in his diary:

"September 29, 1941. Received a redletter (summons to the colors) .... Theinspiring dream of the coming war be-tween Japan and America during my boy-hood days is now a reality."

i;{ {;:r *THE GERMANS LIKE STRAGGLERS. "Ger-man airmen plan well and figbt hard,"reports Capt. Robert K. Morgan, bomberpilot veteran of 25 missions over Europe."They don't go in much for heroics hutthey're cold-blooded in their estimates ofresults. They don't take unnecessarydunces or over-match themselves if thevcan help it. But the Germans go afte'r

. they get and arenew tactics andstraggling.' .

*Hr. In the air, asgs aren't always what

American fighter pilott not long ago during an air

the Soutbwest Pacific. This pilotwas without an opponent for the moment,and the other men in his squadron ap-peared to be taking care of the situation.Squinting into the sun, he spotted a dog-fight in progress about 2,000 feet above

. him. The pilot decided to climb up andhelp his buddy. He discovered, just inthe nick of time, that the dogfight was asham battle being staged by two Jappilots. They were hoping to lure up aJane American plane-and almost did.

* 1:r U"A TYPICAL NAZI BULLY." A Germanfighter pilot shot down in North Africawas interviewed hy an AAF Intelligenceofficer who closed his report with theseremarks:

--- is a typical Nazi bully. He isfull of Nazi slogans without knowingwhat they mean. He has a guilty con-science about his activities in France andis afraid of what the French authoritieswill do to him. His morale is conse-quently low. He appears to be a hahitualand not very clever liar and his statementsshould be treated with reserve."

* * UMAKE-BELIEVE ISLAND. The enemy goesall the way to achieve deception. Recallthe "floating island" that turned up 111

the waters south of the Bismarck Archi-pelago near New Britain.

Our airmen became suspicious and wentdown to investigate. They found, not anisland at all, but a large transport whichthe Japs had cleverly covered with palmtrees and other tropical foliage in an ef-fort to escape detection in the island-studded area.

Alertness paid dividends, however. andthe transport was knocked out with directhits. The inflammable camouflage quick-ened the end of the Jap vessel. i;{

9

I OUR'" WOMEN

PILOTSBy CHARLOTTE KNIGHT

Mrs. Betty Gillies was the first woman to fly a P.47 to an Army airfield.

AT an east coast airfield a P--i7 roars inn for a perfect landing. The pilot stepsout of the cockpit of the Army's mostpowerful single-engine fighter and callsa greeting to the crew chief.

A few yards away an Air Force captainwho had casually watched the ship comein does a hasty double-take. He turns to.L fellow officer: "Good Lord, do you seewhat I see) The pilot! It's a girl-andtliat's a P.:!7!"

A Ci7 in full war paint sits at a Cali-fornia base, warmed up arid ready forferrying to the middle west. Two girls inflying gear step up to the crew chief. "Allset? Let's get going."

"OK," he replies good naturedly, giv-ing them the once-over and wondering ifsomeone has kidded them into thinkingthey could go along for the ride. "I'mjust waiting for the pilots."

"We are the pilots."In a few minutes the stupified crew

chief is watching the big twin-enginedtransport gain the skies in a smooth take-off with the girls at the l. ',11tr01s.

IN the control rower of an Army air-field in Texas there's a puzzled frown onthe bee of the operator. He'd swear that

10

was a woman's voice asking for landinginstructions. He checks the pilot's name-N. H. Love~~but that's no help. Itsimply couldn't be a woman pilot for theplane is a B-25. He turns to the opera-tions officer. Together they watch thebomber roll in at 110 mph and come to astop. They look carefully as the pilot stepsout.

"Well, I'll be damned," says the con-trol tower operator. "I was right."

Elsewhere, P-51 s, P- 39s, COOs, C-78s.A-2is and seventeen diffcrcnt types ofsmaller ships are being ferried around thecountry by a handful of women pilots, allmembers of the Women's Auxiliary Ferry-ing Squadron and all working 'for theFerrying Division of the Air TransportCommand.

The WAfS were expected to be flyingA-20s, P-3Ss and P-40s by September.

The reception at no two fields is alike.Sometimes the girls are accepted withoutquestion into a fraternity that respects agood pilot regardless of sex, but oftenenough the atmosphere is considerablymore chilly than it is upstairs. These re-buffs the girls have come to accept as partof the game. More often the reception isof the plain "I'Il-be-darnried" variety.

Whatever the reaction, the only thing

that matters is that the WAFS' appren-ticeship is over. Originally slated to ferryonly training and liaison craft, they havenow graduated to the big-league shipsand can hold their own with the best ofthem.

The girls have been on the spot sincethe WAFS was organized in SeptemberJ 942. Their smooth, white necks havebeen stuck way out and they know it.They've had to' work hard ;LIll! quietly toprove to a Jot of doubting Air CorpsThomases that they could Llo a man's job.They've endured everything from patron-izingly raised eyebrows to forthright re-scntrncnt, and they've held their silence.And now they're' s.lying it with combatships and saying it with the blessinss ofthe Army Air Fo'rces. ,~

This is no sensation-begging affair, norare these girls interested in usurpingman's prior' rights in the skies. They ;H'enot out to compete with men, but theyarc concerned with doing a man-sized joband doing it well. Today, woman's place iswhere she is needed. And until this waris won, that place is in the cockpit ofships women can fly from factory to fieldand, by doing so, release men pilots forcombat duty.

At the moment their numbers in the

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

WAFS may be small, but many more willcome, and soon,

All these women pilots, with the excep-tion of the first WAF squadron of 2'),have been, and are now being trained bythe AAF Training Command. When theygraduate they are eligible for membershipin the WAFS.

The two organizations, although work-ing in close liaison, are independent set-ups. There has been some public con-fusion about the two groups and in somecluarters it is not yet entirely clear justwho does which jobs. Here it is: TheWomen's Flying Training Detachment,organized by Jacqueline Cochran, nowDirector of Women' Pilots, AAF, is apart of the Training Command; it trainsthe girls at Avenger Field, Sweetwater,Texas, The Women's Auxiliary FerryingSquadron, on the other hand, is an op-erating unit which takes these pilots andputs them to work. A part of the AirTr.msport Command, it is headed byN.LnCY Harkness Love, now executive fortht: \Xi AFS on the staff of the command-inc: general, Ferrying Division, ATeHe.ulquartcrs of the unit is in Cincinnati,l)hio,

To date, four classes of AAF-trained,\.';uduates have joined the WAFS. Theylcndergo a short period of Ferrying Divi-';DO transitional training and then beginju.:cking out on the different types of;11ips they will be called on to ferry. Asit now stands, a girl will be allowed tocheck out on allY plane she is capable ofAying-. Chances are this won't mean the.nulti-cngined class, for there are many

ips just too difficult physically for the'l\/erage woman to handle, Besides, they"'.ill be kept plenty busy with one andt wo-cnuincd aircraft.

A pilot must make five deliveries of aparticular plane before she can go on tothe next shi pin a graduated scale based,presumably, on the complexity of the air-

The domestic ferrying ofcombat planes has becomean everyday job for the fair

sex in the AAF.

craft. In the Long Beach sector, for in-stance, this scale begins with the PTs andBTs, then graduates to A-24s, P-51s,C-47s, C-60s, B-2')s, A-20s and finallyP-3Hs. This particular range may vary indifferent ferrying sectors,

The WAFS is split up at present intofour ferrying squadrons, located at Wil-mington, Dallas, Detroit and Long Beach.Members of the original group of 25 arestationed at each spot.

Neither the WAFS nor the WFTD isas yet a military organization, so bothpilots and trainees arc on civil servicestatus. Pilots receive $250 a month plus$6 per diem on ferrying missions. Theylive in regular officers' barracks turnedover to them for that purpose and enjoyall the privileges of officers.

THEY wear a standardized "attire" oftheir own consisting of a grey-greenjacket, slacks or skirt, tan shirt and anoverseas cap. On ferrying trips they maywear just shirt and slacks or GJ coldweather flying suits, leather jackets and,of course, parachutes and head-sets.

They take no oxygen equipment since,like domestic ferry pilots of the oppositesex, they seldom fly above 12,000 feet onferrying missions. Proud as they are offlying combat ships, they know quite wellthat merely ferrying a ship is one thingand putting it through its tactical paces isquite another. They are content to leavethe acrobatics and the combat tactics tothe men in the Air Force they serve. Thegirls merely "pick up a ship, fly her, sether down."

On return trips to their bases after de-livering aircraft, the WAFS usually wear

their reguLttion jackets and skirts, and areforever being taken for airline steward-esses. They are a little tired of being askedin airports, waiting for commercial linersto leave, whether "lunch is served onFlight 2" or "How long do we stay inAlbuquerque?" or "Can I get a plane outof Kansas City tonight?" If the answeris merely "J don't know," the passengeroften goes away muttering under hisbreath about ineHiciently run organiza-tions and letters of complaint to thepresident.

Nearly all of the WAFS' waking hoursare spent in uniform. Since they arealways on call, they tigure there is littlepercentage in wearing their civilianclothes. When one squadron first went toDallas, they were there three weeks beforeanyone saw a single woman pilot out ofuniform. One night there was a dance atthe Officers' Club. The girls went all-outfor the occasion and donned long, flowingevening dresses, fixed their hair into eve-ning coiffures, pinned flowers on theirshoulders and arrived at the party. It wasten minutes before anyone recognizedthem.

Women ferry pilots have little or noprivate life. They work between fifty andsixty hours a week, often longer, Onegirl spent only four nights on her homebase in six weeks. B-4 bags packed at alltimes, they must be rcady to go on amission on an hour's notice-even less.When they'll get back to base is anybody'sguess. In winter flights the chances ofbeing grounded somewhere along the wayare high. Last December one pilot, ferry-ing a PT-13, was weathered in for 21 daysin a small mid-western town.

At other times the in-between stopsprovide their own drama. Last winter,four WAFS grounded III an l l l mor-, townnarrowly escaped injury when a violentexplosion blew up a garage directly op-posite their dining place. The same group

Last minute map check in the WAFS comfortable"alert room." Left to right: Gertrude Meserve, NancyBatson, Terese James, Esther Nelson, Dorothy Fulton

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

and (kneeling) Betty Gillies, commander of theWAFS for the 2nd Ferrying Group, Wilmington,Delaware. Below, Evelyn Sharp brings in a C-47.

11

w.i-, trapped the following night in ahotel fire in Springfield, Mo. and es-carted down ladders in the middle of thenight. But the bad luck for the week wasnot over. The flight leader arrived at thefield next morning to pick up her planeand was greeted with the announcement,"Oh, we're so sorry, miss, Somebody raninto your plane last night. It will takesome time to get it repaired," And it did,

On base, you'll find the girls either inschool or in the ready room, School is inconti nuous session at ferry bases, Pilots,when not flying, are expected to attend,It keeps their minds fresh on such sub-jerts as meteorology, navigation, r.ulioand new techniques in tlying, They like it.

Wherever they are, their cars arc al-ways subconsciously listening for theirown names to be rc,id over the loudspeaker system, Maybe it's 0(,00 o'clock,1400, or perhaps they're in the middle ofa coke in the Pilot's Loft.

"Clark , .. Richards ... McGilvery... Mi ller ... Scharr."

Names arc up. They report to Opera-tions, collect maps and orders, return totheir quarters. pick up the B-4s. drawtheir chutes, and they arc on their W,lV.

Perhaps they go to a nearby aircraft planthv car or if it's a base some d istanccaway, they may fly by Army transport.They arrive, pick up the aircraft to beferried and take off. They fly no nightmissions, so unless thcv can complete themission an hour before suridovn , thevland at a previously designated airport.check in at Operations, send an RON(remain overnight) to their headquarters,find a hotel and fall into bed.

Up at 0600 the following morning,they resume the flight. After their mis-sion IS accomplished, they collect theirreceipt forms, order ,1 car to the com-mercial airport, present their Priority BBcredentials for a reservation on the nextplnnc-v-and wait. This is the worst part.They read, play solitaire, kill time in the.i ir port restaurant, wander around rest-lessly, Finally they are on the plane andheaded for home. Maybe they get backto base at midnight. hut "woman's workis never done." There arc shirts to washand iron. There are clothes to clean andp~ess, for clothes must be kept spotless.This may take until 0300 o'clock. Bcd,breakfast, school. Bv noon, perhaps theyhave new orders and are off a "ain,

Sometimes ",etting back is ;~ot so easy,Once thev'vc del ivcrcd their ai rcraft thepilots arc' at the mercy of the public car-riers. And many fields are hundreds ofmiles from the ~ommercial airways. Notin trequent lv that means trains, or worse,buses - buses jammed with war-timetravelers. Often tlrev have to stand for200 miles or more to get to a commercialairline.

There are times when sleeping quarterspresent their own problems. Several

12

WAFS, ferrying Cubs, once had to landat the Marine Base at Quantico, Va.Anxious to provide true Virginia hos-pitality, the Marines took part of theVOQ, partitioned it off with a sort of"wall of Jericho," and posted a sign"Keep Out: Ladies Present." This time,the ladies had the situation well in hand.

Nor arc these women pilots immunefrom the flying episodes that keep ferry-ing from being humdrum. You'll hearabout the time six WAFS Hew some PTsfrom Great Falls to Billings, Mont.Twenty minutes out, the flight leadernoticed all five of the flyers below circlingwithout apparent reason. There were noradios in the ships by which she could askthe score. She flew down, straightenedthem out. Within a few minutes the fiveplanes started circling again.

AGAIN the flight leader came down.Again they straightened their course. Andagain they circled. This routine kept upuntil a distr.iuaht fiight leader located thcfirst alternate airfield she could find onthe course and signalled for the girls toland-a tricky business because of icyrunways, hi",h snowbanks and too littleroom. The leader landed, crossed herfingers and prayed, The girls came downsafely, rushed up to one another and allstarted shouting 'It once.

"Look," said the girl who had beendesignated navigator of the flight, "I lostmy maps, all of them, twenty minutes out.I kept circling to let you know somethingwas wrong and to let someone else takethe lead. L And of course cvcrytime Icircled, all the other planes followed in-

Nancy Harkness Love, head of the WAFS.

structions and circled after me. Couldn'tyou tell I must he off course?"

But it developed she had been Oil

conrse all the way, which is the reasonthe flight leader couldn't imagine whatwas wrong. With nothing but a watchand a compass, the girl had done quite .rjob of navigating.

There arc no Jays off in the ferryinj:business. The girls would not take themif there were. LTher would much ratherstay on base than take '1 chance of missinj;a flying assignment. Like the men, thevwould rather fly than cat.

Although many of the original groupof WAFS arc young in years, all of themwere seasoned pilots long before theytook these johs. Original requircmeruscalled for ')00 hours flying time, but theaverage for each of the girls in the firstgroup of 2') members was 1,162 hours.

Mrs, Love has spent the last thirteenyears flying. Before the war she was thefirst woman to ferry planes to the Cana-dian border, where they were towedacross the line in compliance with theNeutrality Act. With her husband-- nowColonel Robert Love, deputy chief of stafffor the Air Transport Command-s-sheinitiated many flying clubs in colleges. Ayear before the organization of theWAFS, Mrs. Love worked with the ATe.She mapped ferry flights and learnedcommand procedures and routes.

The first pilot to qua lifv for the WAFSwas Mrs. Betty Gillies of Syosset, LongIsland. She had 1,100 flying hours whenshe joined the organization, holds almostevery kind of rating, was for two yearspresident of the "99," an internationalclub of women flyers formed by AmeliaEarhart. At present she is squadronleader of the WAFS in the 2nd FerryingGroup, Wilmington, Del.

ALMOST without exception, the girlscomposing the original WAF squadronwere professional flyers before the war.Some were instructors; several ran air-ports. Mrs. Lenore McElroy, executiveofficer of the Romulus (Mich.) group, had2,500 flying hours and eight years as aninstructor when she came into the \'V' A FS.Evelyn Sharp, with 2,950 hours, taughtflying in California. Nancy Batson .amcto the WAFS direct from Embry-RiddleFlying School in Miami where she wasan instructor, Mrs. Esther Nelson orx-rated '1 flying school in Ontario, CalifDorothy Fulton, who had flown 2.')00hours, ran her own airport in New Jersey.

Bound together by mutual interest inflying arid in releasing male flyers forcombat, these girls, all of them under)~.have put homes and families behind themuntil the war is won. Many are marriedand several have children. Almost allhave relatives or sweethearts in the AirForces who, they would like to think, arcas proud of the job the girls arc doing asthe WAFS are of their fighting brothers. 'i':c

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

VOCABULARY

(Combined C:. S.-British Radiotelephone (R/T) Procedure Basic Field Manual 24-9)

AIR FORCE,September, 1943

Approved WordsOVER

OUT

ACKNOWLEDGE

WAIT

SAY AGAINJ SAY AGAINHOW DO YOU HEAR

ME?

MeaningMy transmission is ended and I expect aresponse from you.This conversation is ended and no re...sponse is expected.Let me know that you have received andunderstood this message.I must pause for a few seconds. If thepause is to be longer than a few seconds,"Wait out" should be used.Repeat.I will repeat.

Can you hear me?

Approved WordsCORRECT/ON

WRONG

THIS 1$

ROGER

WILCO

MeaningAn error has been made in this trans-mission. The correct version is ...

What you have just said is incorrect. Thecorrect version is ...

Instead of the term "from." Example:"Central Tower-this is Army 1234" or"Army 1234-this is Central Tower.'.

I have received all of your last transmis-sion.

Your last message (or message indicated}received, understood and (where appli-cable) will be complied with.

Flight Control Command

13

North African airfield.

J31f BIJ-ilj. qen. ~. I:J. ~ao.U(J.nCHIEF ENGINEER, NORTHWEST AFRICAN AIR FORCES.

PROGRESS of aerial operations on anyfront depends to a great extent on the

speed and efficiency of airdrome construc-tion. This is an obvious fact not generallyappreciated. As Maj. Gen. Eugene Rcy-bold, Chief of Army Engineers, haspointed out:

"A key to air power, the engineers nowlay down in a few days airfields whicha few years ago would have taken months.Engineers are still the Army pioneers."

Nowhere has this been better demon-strated than in North Africa.

When U. S. forces first landed on thatcoast, there were only nine airdromes incondition for usc by our bombers, fighterplanes and transports. There are nowmore than a hundred fields in the sameterritory. Had it not been for amplesupplies of heavy cquiprncnr and the skillof our aviation engineers, the victory inTunisia might have been long delayed.

From the beginning, manpower rep-resented one of our major problems inNorth Africa. We had several battalionsof aviation engineers. In view of the sizeof the job to' be done and the elementsconfronting us, this was not enough, andthe strength was later doubled.

We were well equipped. however. Eachunit of aviation engineers had heavyearth-moving equipment, rock crushersand a fairly good supply of dump trucks,so we were prepared for constructionjobs requiring the movement of a con-siderable quantity of earth.

This equipment is no different, piecefor piece, than that which you would seeon any large road-building job or othersizeable construction project in the UnitedStates. But it is vastly superior to anythingpossessed by the British units and prob-ably by the enemy.

For some time after we landed, theshortage of such equipment created a

14

bottleneck, but this was eventually recti-fied. Today in North Africa there'senough heavy-duty equipment to handlealmost any demand placed on our units.

Mud was our chief antagonist inAfrica. Our airdromes were bl;ilt duringan unusually long winter and a very wetspring. We overcame the mud in the onlyway possible-by prodigious labor.

Our battle with African mud began assoon as we landed, when an effort wasbeing made to pull our units forwardfrom the bases on the west coast.

Initially, we were able to concentrateour air strength around Casablanca andas far forward as the Oran area, occupy-ing principally the airdrome named Tafa-raoui. But to any engineer from NorthAfrica the word "Taf araoui" doesn'tmean an airport. It means a. malignant

The role played by evlerionengineers in the North Afr;~can victory is a pattern forfuture offensive operations.

quality of mud - something like liquidreinforced concrete of bottomless depth,We still speak of any particularly badtype of mud as "Tafaraoui." At Tafaraouithere were two partially completed hard-surfaced runways when we took it onNovember 10, 1942.

La Senya, now used as a depot, wasn'tavailable to us at first because it had norunways, and they were quite essentialas we were just getting into the wetseason. When the fighting ships num-bered several squadrons, we still had onlyTafaraoui from which to operate them.

I remember a night in November whenmany fighting ships were on this airfieldand most of them were mud-bound be-cause they couldn't reach the hard-

surfaced runways from the dispersalpoints. Something had to be done quicklyso we could get out of there. Some ofthe ships were flown forward to MaisonBlanche, at Algiers, which was hardlybetter from the mud point of view, butthis move gave us two fields from whichto operate. Maison Blanche had part ofone hard-surfaced runway at the time.

Congestion was equally shared be-tween Tafaraoui and Maison Blanche, theonly difference beinc that we tried tooperate the B-25s, }3'26s and p- 38s fromMaison Blanche, holding the B-17s andtheir fighter cover back at Tafaraoui. Itwas necessary to fly an additional 160miles from Tafaraoui, but there were noother airdromes. At Maison Blanche,also, we suffered from congestion becauseof lack of any opportunity to disperse.It was clear that we had to expand again.

Our problem seemed to be a simpleone. That is, it could be analyzed simply.We needed more airdromes, dry air-dromes, and some place we could dis-perse the planes. \X!e knew that a drierterrain could be found in the centralplateau than along the coast. So we wentup into the Telergma area. There wefound a small postage stamp field, butnothing from which we could operateB-26s. And it was the B-26s that Gen-eral Doolittle wanted to get up forwardto take advantage of the shorter range.Telergma was considered quite well for-ward in those days.

From December 2 until December 7a group of aviation engineers, with someFrench troops and Arabs, made a fieldout of Telergma from which we couldoperate the mediums, and that field hashardly lost a day's operations since weopened it on December 7, 1942. Today,the Telergma area has been expandeduntil it contains ten airdromes - all of

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

them suitable for the operation of heavybombardment planes. Most of the fieldsshare some of their hard standings withtheir fighter cover. Two pairs of fields areso situated that they give P- 38 escorts asatellite field to themselves.

The Telergma fields served to bring themediums quite far forward and helpedsolve the problem of dispersal.

Next, we heard about an extensiveplateau which had been used as an air-port at the desert oasis of Biskra, whichis well through the Sahara Atlas rangeand down into the Sahara Desert, whereit is really dry. We flew down to Biskraand discovered that there was a fieldwhich could be expanded. General Doo-little was so anxious to open up Biskra asa new base for his B-l7s, and thus getsome of them out of Tafaraoui, that wemade our first use of airborne companiesof aviation engineers, two of which wehad landed and were holding back at PortLyautey, nearly J ,000 miles away.

We sent troop carrier C-47s back afterthem and their equipment and flew themto Biskra, Twenty-four hours after theirarrival we had the first B-!7s come infrom Tafaraoui. After the shift of thebase up to Biskra, it was never necessaryto go back to Tafaraoui with the B-17sbecause before the dry season broke forthe Sahara, as it did about March! 5, wehad already converted the Telergma areafor heavies. We pushed the mediums onforward, and the heavies went fromBiskra into the Tclerprna area. Thatabout summarizes the struggle we had inthe early part of the campaign.

Then came the task of kicking theAxis forces entirely out of Tunisia. Webegan to prepare our airdrome programfor this second phase of operations.

From an engineering point of view, theproblem presented by the needs of theTactical Air Force was most interesting.Its airdrome story can be told in termsof two specific units-the British RAF242 Group, under Air Commodore Cross,and the 12th Air Support Command,under Brig. Gen. P. L. Williams.

The 242 Group started out with asingle airdrome at Souk 1:1 Khemis andfinally developed this into a group ofeleven airdromes. All arc built for fight-

A surveyor and grading machines worksimultaneously on a new airbase site.

ers. That is, the airdromes are approxi-mately 4,500 feet long and from 200 to600 feet wide. They arc distinctivelynamed after London's railway stations;Euston, Victoria, Charing Cross and so on.

General Williams' Air Support Com-mand came into the picture when theAmerican Second Corps first fought withthe British under General Lloyd Freden-dall in the Tebcssa, Thelepte, Kasscrineand Sbeitla areas.

THE initial successes of the SecondCorps permitted us to put an airdromeat Gafsa. It became General Williams'job to cover the south flank of the fight-ing forces right up until the time theywere pinched out. or pushed forward, bythe Desert Air Force. For instance, whenthe Second Corps was withdrawn fromsouth of the First Army it was movedaround to the north where, under thecommand of General Bradley, it laterdistinguished itself so magnificently in

"THE BEST EVIDENCE"This story of the aviation engineers

in Northwest Africa. is the best evi.dence yet presented on rapid airdromeconstruction for a large air force in anew theatre. When I visted this thea-tre last December, the obstacles ofmud, rainy weat"er, shortage of equip-ment and difficulty of supply werehandicapping the untiring efforts ofour engineer troops. But more menand especially more heavy equipmentkept coming, and the difficulties wereovercome. As General SpaatJ: said incommending his aviation engineers,they "never failed to accomplish theirobjectives in till)e."

The aviation engineer component ofthe Army Air Forces now numbersover 100 battalions. many of whichare overseas. This story of achieve-ment will be a particularly helpful andstimulating one to the units still intraining at home. It also presentsstrong justification for the specialtype of engineer unit and training thathas been developed for the Army AirForces. General Davison had assistedin this development as commandingofficer of the 21st Engineer AviationRegiment in 1940 and later as Engi-neer of the G.H.Q. Air Force. He thusbrought to his tosk with the North.west African Air Force an understand-ing .of their needs that helped buildthe fine teamwork described herein.

S. C. GODFREYBrigadier General, U.S.A.,Air Engineer

the Battle of Tunisia. We increased thenumber of fields for the 242 Group, par-ticularly up along the coast.

Some of the fields we made never hadan airplane land on them for the simplereason that the final break-through cameso quickly that additional fields in this reararea were no longer necessary. We wereable to make use of fields in Tunisiawhich had been held by the enemy.

From an engineer's point of view, thekey word for the Tactical Air Force was"speed." They needed their fields in ahurry. In the case of the Air SupportCommand, we found that General Wil-liams' minimum requirements called forthe construction of several fighter fields.These we built in a succession of groupsas his command moved forward.

At the beginning of the campaign, longbefore the February reverses in the vicin-ity of the Kasserine Pass, we had con-structed several fields in the Theleptearea. All of those fields had to be aban-doned at the time the Germans pushedin through the Kasserine Pass andreached the ridge east of Tebessa. We didabandon Tebessa and Youks Le Bain,pulling back into a group of fields to thewest, hut, actually, we didn't have tosacrifice even the supplies left behind.The Germans never got through to thesefields for we were back again in theThelepte area almost as soon as theGermans were out of the pass.

While in the Thelepte area we receivedword that General Williams wanted fieldsbuilt in the Sbeitla sector. Seventy-twohours after he made his request we hadcompleted the reconnaissance and con-structed all of them. This reflects muchcredit on the officers and men who actu-ally did the work. It is a fact worthrepeating that in three days GeneralWilliams actually moved into these fields,none of which existed 72 hours before.

In building this group of fields I recallthat one company which constructed themost easterly of them moved out in frontof the outpost of the First ArmoredDivision. The first night, when in check-ing up on the location of the companiesI went through the lines of this Division,they stopped me and asked if I knew rwas going out in front of their patrols.

The same field three days later is com.pleted and ready for aircraft operations.

AIR FORCE. September. 1943 15

Unloading a bulldozer from a transport.

I said I was lookingIor a certain engineercompany and asked if it were out in front.They replied, "Yes, if you mean thosedamn fools who didn't pay any attentionto us and took those big machines out.We think they are about ten or fifteenmiles down the road." I found this com-pany dug in with its defense weapons inplace, already at work, and fully awarethat they were in no-man's land.

General Williams told me he wouldtrust that group of engineers to go any-where for him and build any set of fields.He said that just as soon as he was toldthose fields were ready for occupation hewould move his units up without evenmaking an inspection because he was con-fident this engineer unit knew his needsand would supply them.

From Sbeitla we made a considerablejump forward. General Williams stayedin the Sbeitla group until the EighthArmy Desert Air Force was pretty wellalong. The Eighth Army had broken theMareth Line by this time and moved innorth and west of Gabes. General Wil-liams' next jump was to the LeSers area.

Here we built six fields. The Britishairdrome construction units came downand helped us, so it was a combination .01American and British manpower WithArne. ican heavy equipment which finallyfinished the six fields in the LeSers sec-tor. I remember being at one of thefields (called LeSers .') about 1930 or2000 o'clock one Sunday night. Therewere four blade graders working in tan-dem, slowly trimming the field into finalshape. A convoy of two-and-a-half-tontrucks, driven by big, husky coloredtroops, was bringing in gasoline - tonsand tons of gasoline. General Williams'scouts, using jeeps by the scores, werecoming in, and the signal trucks werearriving. We finished the field that night.At dawn one of his groups of P-40smoved in and settled down.

The 242 Group and General Williamscontinued to fight here until after wewere able to move forward to formerGerman fields in the vicinity of Tunis andBizerte. We had anticipated a great dealof difficulty with those Tunisian fieldsbecause of the thoroughness with whichthe Germans mined certain areas. Therewas very little to worry about, however,because the break came so rapidly that theGermans had no time to mine them.

However, in one runway of the groupof fields between Bou Arada and Pontdu Fahs we took out 1,788 anti-tankmines. That sounds as if it were a hazard-ous undertaking, hut it was D .t. We useda technique for de-mining an area whichthe aviation cn ainec-s had developed intheir schoo!. When we discovered therewere mines in a locality - which wecould do by puttirur men out at intervalsof fifty feet and moving forward eachwith one of our excellent mine detectors-we would close into that area. Having

16

determined the pattern, if one existed,and where the individual mines were, wewould then send two men forward. Onewould creep on his hands and knees andvery gingerly scrape away the earth-usually eight to nine inches.

This first man would uncover the mineand neutralize it. That, however, didn'tnecessarily make the mine safe for itmight have heen booby-trr.pped with an-other exploder screwed in on the side orthe bottom. If such were the case, themine would be anchored into the ground.If you lift or try to move a booby-trappedmine you set it off-even though the cen-tral fuse has been taken out. So the taskof the first two men was simply to un-cover the mine and carefully feel aroundit to see whether it was booby-trapped.

Next, two more men would come upand explode the mine. By lying flat onthe ground we were in little danger atbeing hit. In fact, we never had a casu-alty 'while de-mining a field. It took usabout eight hours to take up these 1,788mines - not a particularly hazardous orlong, drawn-out task.

IF we had beer forced to apply thattechnique to each one of the fields inTunisia, however, it would have beenquicker to build new fields. As a matterof fact, we had selected the sites andwere prepared for the construction job.

The 242 Group later moved forwardfrom its fighting positions and GeneralWilliams' Air Support Command movedout from the LeSers group. We builtseven or eight airdromes at the new posi-tions, including one on the beach of adry lake. Those were not captured Ger-man bases. They were all new.

The problem of General Doolittle'sStrategic Air Force was very much differ-ent from that of the Tactical Air Forceand, from an engineer's point of view,much simpler. He wanted airdromes fromwhich mediums, as well as heavies, could

carry offensive blows to the enemy. Histargets were Sicily, Sardinia, Italy andTunisian ports of Sousse, Sfax and Gabes.

The principal bottleneck of the Stra-tegic Air Force was not so much air-dromes as supply. I have described howthey finally worked from Tafaraoui up toMaison Blanche and then to Biskra.

We knew from the meteorological re-ports that weather was good at Biskrauntil March 15 -the beginning of thehigh southerly wind coming up across theSahara, which literally covers everythingwith sand. We planned to get out ofBiskra about March 10. We did it bymoving the heavies into the Telergmagroup where we already had ten air-dromes. There was very little work to do,since a field that will accommodate a B-25or B-26 will very easily take a B-l7.

The problem was to get new groundsfor the mediums which had been occupy-ing this Telergma group. We moved themediums forward to the Montcsquieuarea where there were five fields -- twonear Sedrata in the v;est and two atOuenza in the eaxt-v-a group of fields thatnicely accommodated these planes. Oneof the Ouenza fields is as nearly an un-limited field as I have ever seen. We justarbitrarily decided where to stop. It wasthree miles long, all as flat as a hilliardtable. That flatness is characteristic of theplateau land between the Maritime Atlasand the Sahara Atlas ranges.

The heavies, having once moved to theTelergma area, remained in operationthere continuously throughout the cam-paign and are still using those bases.

Just as "speed" represented the keyword for the Tactical Air Force, and"supply" the key word for the StrategicAir Force, the term "permanent construc-tion" is characteristic of the problems wehad with the Coastal Command. Thiscommand was charged with convoy coverand antisubmarine activities.

Coastal airdromes (Confinued on page 21)

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

odfrey Stuyvesant Gilte.Jg.~ TIl has just beenade a corporal and is bent on overwhelming tilecal smart set during off-duty hours in a suit ofopicals with shoulder slraps and oversize chev-ins. It's "no sale" for the clerk, however, whototes Godfrey excerpts from AR 600.35.

re mooch. Three dollarsI bring you five on pay.

y. He must get his uui-rms from the cleaners forlurday's personnel inspec-m. He'll probably repay~three and forgel the lwopayday, but borrow len

~next day. Whal a system.

PX-ograms are almost as pernicious asIatrine-ograms am! certainly no more reli-able. Staff Sergeant Bellows has it straiahtfrom the surgeon's office that all pen~ia-nent party men soon will be given staph-ylococcus inoculations preparatory toshipping to Zanzibar.

INSPECTORAIRTHE

manders and supervision by their next highercommanders. Inspection is not primarily a"dress parade" affair, but a work-day propo-sition.

In the job of getting ready for battle, organ-izations and individuals are inspected olongthe line by representatives of their own andhigher commands. Then, when they reoch the>staging area, they are met by a "POM" (Pre-paration for Overseas Movement) team of in-spectors from the Office of The Air Inspector,Headquarters AAF. This team is composed 01technical, tactical, administrative and commu-nication experts. They want the answer, fromfirst hand observation, to the question, "Areyou ready?"

To help answer that question with a strongaffirmative, The Air Inspector will provide onthese pages tips to inspectors and inspectees,activities requiring inspection emphasis, andpertinent chonqes in regulations and directives.with a question and answer section. Ideas andinformation from the field are welcome. AAFMemorandum 120-6 authorizes direct communi-cation between statian, group, and higher cam-manders and The Air Inspector on matterspertaining to inspection.

JUNIUS W. JONES.Brig. General. U. S. Army.The Air Inspector.

FRO MMdtteJ'S presented here are itZJ01'tlldtiz'e only! and are not to be consid crcd ({J directives.

T HE need has been felt for a medium to dis-seminate Army Air Forces inspection informo-tion to the field, and a section of this publica-tior. will be devoted monthly to serving thatpurpose. Helpful suggestions and improvedmethods of doing the job will be included. Itis intended that the information will be bene-ficial not only to the inspector, but also to theman being inspected.

Inspection concerns every man in the ArmyAir Forces, from the private who pours gaso-line inta a plane to the general who orderedits flight. The man in uniform is either an in-spe ct or or an inspectee. The inspector is notimmune to inspectian, for on occasian he him-self becomes the inspecte e,

The purpose of inspection, as stated in AAFMemorandum 120-6, "is to insure the highestpossible efficiency of all companents of theArmy Air Forces and to determine the degreeof their efficiency at frequent intervals ....It must cover every individual, every activity,and every item af supply and equipment."

Inspection reaches down to check whethercorrections in the sick book have been initialedor whether technical orders have been properlyfiled, but the main mission-fitness for battle-should, like Pearl Harbor, always be remembered.

The underlying principle af the AAF inspec-tion system is decentralization to lower com-

TIMELY ADVICE

-

Get Him Paid

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PREPARE FOR

Seeing that you are paid promptly, soldier,and avoiding ernbarrassinj; moments is amajor interest of many persons in theArmy Air Forrr-s, including the Com-manding General himself. Payment oftroops is a function of command whichreceives the personal attention of all com-manding ofTicers. They are responsible forsubmitting to disbursing officers regularor supplemental pay rolls or individualpa.y vouchers. These should cover ,111 en-listed men either permanently or tempo-rarily under their command who are en-titled to pay. so that payment may bemade at least once a month (WD Cire.114, 1943). Inspectors check frequentlyto see that pay is not delayed. Your job,soldier, is to have your Form 2R (In-dividual Pay Record) with you at alltimes. You are not in uniform without it.You should know when entries are to bemade in it and how you can get paid onit. If you don't know, look up a letteraddressed to you on the subject fromAAF Headquarters (February 13, 1943).It should be on your bulletin board.

18

Service Record TroubleOverseasAn inspector general in the Africa-MiddleEast Wing points out in an action letterthat many service records had not beenindorsed before they left the UnitedStates. Was your station one of thosewhich overlooked this?

Plane FactsWorth NotingNotes from the scratch pad of a technicalfield inspector after making his roundsinspecting aircraft:

Fuel line clamp loose on line fromwobble pump to carburetor Oil sepa-rator screen plug clogged up Smallquantity of kerosene in magneto breakerassembly ... Bad hose on fuel line be-tween wobble pump and carburetor ...Hose in need of replacement at C-2Astrainer . . . Disconnected oil breatherline at engl11e . . . Dirty filter in fuel

analysis cell ... Rubber battery overflowline in need of replacement ... Indica-tion of oil leak at oil drain fitting ...Wheel cowling top bolt loose ... Land-ing light reflectors in need of cleaning... Hydraulic reservoir filler cap frozentight ... Flap universal joints in need ofcleaning and oiling. . Bolt missingfrom throttle quadrant ... Airspeed in-dicator light out . Front cockpitemergency exit handle not safetied .Fire extinguisher in need of refilling .Sheared unit on spark plug cooler, No.1cylinder Upper rear engine plug notsafetied Baffle plate nuts loose. NO.2and 3 cylinders . . . Left wing sparcracked at inboard end Control cablesin tail section dirty Left wing walkneeds replacing . . . Cracked braces onwheel wells ... Bolts loose and rubberworn on baggage compartment door ...Mooring kit incomplete ... Engine gaugelight inoperative ... Cockpit light re-flector missing. How many of thesepoints apply to your plane?

AIR FORCE, September. 1943

u HERE ARE THE ANSWERS

Efficiency Ratings forOfficersAre you commanding officers evaluatingthe efficiency of officers if' comparisonwith that of other officers of similargrade) In a tactical group inspected, allofficers of one squadron were rated "supe-rior" on their Forms 66-1, and all officersof another squadron "satisfactory." Theratings were obviously worthless. Wewould like to think--and have the Axisth ink-Lthat all the officers of a squadronare superior, but this IS not the case.Likewise, all the officers do not normallyfall into the satisfactory class. Ratingsare particularly important overseas wherethere is frequent shifting of personnel.

Radio C40defor Victory"Yes, I could take code at about twentywords a minute when I finished radioschool, but now I'm pretty rusty. I'veeven forgotten the alphabet."

Hamlet's soliloquy has no sadder wordsthan these. Yet squadron commandersoverseas, desperately in need of a radioman for a bombing mission, are familiarwith them.

Unit commanders should see thatclassification cards are checked frequentlyto be sure that all their radio men are re-ceiving code practice, whether on real orsimulated equipment. (A newly activatedsquadron at a Nebraska base used oscil-lator tubes and speakers from old radiosets for code practice before receiving itsregular equipment.) In training flights,numerous special messages should betransmi tted between ground and flightoperators to augment routine reporting ofposition. You yourself, soldier, shouldhave the initiative to keep off that rustylist.

Right Tube at Right TimeMost airborne radio operators know thatthere is a kit of spare radio parts, suchas fuses, tubes and dynamotor brushes,stowed in the airplane. But how manycheck the contents of this kit periodicallyto be sure that all necessary parts arepresent, and how many do enough "tink-ering" to be able to spot trouble andmake necessary replacements) The abilityto replace the right tube at the right timemay some day mean the difference betweengetting home for supper and eatingemergency rations in a dinghy.

Plenty of MarksmanshipBadgesAn enlisted man wants all that is comingto him, and that includes his marksman-ship badge. Many men have not had theopportunity to see how their badges wouldshow up under a South Sea sun because

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

the United States base at which they firedtheir course had no badges. Word fromthe Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot isthat there are plenty of badges and barsthere, and base quartermasters and supplyofficers are advised to forward requisitionsto the depot. (AGO Memo. 5600-11-43).Prepare for inspection with a supply ofbadges.

Wastage of FoodConserving food doesn't mean we mustlose our reputation for being the "bestfed army in the world." It means thatyou mess officers and sergeants in theficld-i--in Tunisia or Texas--must checkthe waste going into garbage cans.

Wastage can often be traced to the factthat mess officers are not getting accuratereports on the number of men to beserved. Men are transferred out, and themess officer is sometimes the last one tobe informed. This is particularly true inlarge consolidated messes.

Also to be checked is whether there is

O. Where can details be found onthe requirements for service and liaisonpilots?

A. Detailed requirements arc outlinedin AAF Regulation 50-7. February 5,1943.

O. WD Circ. 303, 7942. directs thatcommanding officers will not requirespecial creasing of shirts by laundriesand cleaners. Can a man's wife creasehis shirts at home?

A. No. Wearing shirts, the fronts orbacks of which have been speciallycreased, is forbidden. (WD Cire. 122,1943)

O. Does an officer on limited ser-vice have a chance to go overseas?

A. Yes. Provisions are outlined in WDCire. 86, 1943.

O. Can an enlisted man in an at-tached service apply for transfer toanother unit in the Army Air Forcesfor which he is especially qualified bycivilian training?

A. Yes. Under no circumstances willa man possessing scientific, professional 01

technical skills of which there is an acuteshortage in the Army be continued in anassignment which docs not make full useof these abilities. (Change 3, AR 615-28)_However an enlisted man will be trans-ferred only for the convenience of thegovernment. Transfers will not be madesolely for the convenience of the enlistedman or his family (War Dept. Cir. 308,1942) .

prompt delivery of perishables to bases.At one midwestern base, meats were de-livered in a spoiled condition. An inspec-tion revealed that the meats were sittingout on a depot platform for long periodsbecause a local trucking concern whichhad the delivery contract did not haveenough trucks to handle the shipmentspromptly. The quartermaster then madearrangements to pick up the meats ingovernment vehicles.

Mail Must Go ThroughMail clerks, where do you deliver theletters for the men of your squadron?If you are delivering them on bunks youare doing an injustice to your buddies.Letters (some with money from home.and you know how important theseare) become lost through delivery onbunks.

Note to mail clerks in tactical units:Have you seen a copy of FM 12-105? Ittells you how to prepare for insp ection inthe handling of mail overseas.

O. Can an enlisted man be sentback to the United States from over-seas for aviation cadet training?

A. Yes. He may apply for such train-ing through normal channels if he is be-tween the ages of 18 and 26 inclusive andis physically qualified. (Note: Men over-seas can also apply for officer candidatetraining.)

O. Is there a standard WD form formaintaining a record of an officer's ac-crued leave?

A. No. WD Cire. 55, 1913, providesthat "for the duration of the present warand six months immediately thereafter,personal certificates of officers attesting tothe amnunt of their accrued leave will beaccepted for all purposes withnut othersupporting evidence." However, to haveavailable the necessary information, offi-cers should keep copies of their ordersgranting leave.

O. Can the produce from victorygardens on bases be sold in town?

A. No. Food so produced will be forthe consumption of military personnelonly and not for sale to civilians. (WDCire. 83, 1943.)

O. Can an enlisted nUJIl 5t/ll de-posit surplus funds with any disburs-ing officer?

A. Yes. He will receive four percentinterest on all deposits. AR 35-2600.

19

'tt INSPECTING THE INSPECTORHow much of your time are you de-

voting to actual inspections in thefield? Ninety percent is not too much.•.. Command activities function on a24-hour basis. which means all checkscannot be made between 8 a.m. and5 p.m.

Have you rechecked recently stepstaken to conserve gasoline and rub-ber?

Are you contacting enlisted men?Many activities requiring correctioncan be discovered by doing so.

Do combat crews understandthoroughly the use and operation of

Extra SpectaclesMany men arc preparing for overseasmovement without extra glasses. Actionto obtain these spectacles should be takenlong before the men reach their finalphase of training.

WD Pamphlet No. 8-5. May 11, 1943,consolidates all previous directives on theissuance of spectacles, and provides, sub-stantially, that enlisted men will be issuedtwo pair of glasses if authorized, as soonas possible after date of induction. Thisissuance will be made at the home stationwithout regard to movement overseas.

Due to a temporary shortage of spec-tacles, WD Cire. 131, 1943, sets up apriority system for obtaining glasses.Numbers 1 and 2 represent the caseswhere glasses are more urgently needed.Number 3 may be used, for instance, forpersonnel in the earlier periods of theirbasic training, and Number 4 for limitedservice men or other personnel more orless permanently assigned to stations inthis country.

The most important consideration is tosubmit requisitions now. Don't wait untilthose last busy weeks before the boatsails or the plane takes off for partsunknown.

Good Shooting TakesPracticeWhen we talk about the need for goodshooting, remember we are not only dis-cussing the men behind the guns in planes,but also the thousands of AAF groundsoldiers (officers and enlisted men) whoare armed. POM inspectors call particularattention to an AAF directive which statesthat all men will fire the prescribed coursefor the weapon they carry before beingtransferred to a staging area or port ofembarkation for movement overseas. Re-sponsibility rests on the unit commander.

20

Iif. saving equipment and procedureto be followed when forced down atsea?

When an inspection reveals lack ofequipment. are you accepting the an-swer "a requisition was submittedway back when"? You should check tosee whether follow-ups have beenmade.

Has compliance been made with WDeirc. 118, 1943. pertaining to the dis-position of ration savings funds?

Are you being instructive? Helpful?Or just criticClI?

(Note to base administrative inspectors:If the completion of the range on a newbase has been unduly delayed, is anyonetraining his sights on the bottlenecks?)

Think Before You PrintThose overworked mimeograph machinesin field headquarters arc due for a littletime off. An effort is being made through-out the Army Air Forces to reduce fieldprinting and reproduction of forms,manuals, pamphlets, charts, orders andinstructions, unless they are directly essen-tial-not merely supplementary-to theprosecution of the war or the conduct ofofficial business.

Inspectors too often forget to look intothat room where the Army's version of a"printer's devil" works and see what heis grinding out. Is it important? Is itessential?

This is not intended to lessen orhamper the efficiency of any AAF installa-tion or activity to any degree, but it isdesirable for each commanding officer tocheck on reproduction work and makecertain that it is really needed.

Portable LightsWorking?Take a tip from technical field inspectorsand check your portable field lightingequipment. It may - or may not - beready for emergency use. Get requisitionsin for shortages now.

Obligation to OfficerCandidatesIt is a bright day for the officer candidatewhen he receives his acceptance to aschool, but a low ceiling forms when henotices that his organization is treatinghim like an old fire horse that has beenput out to pasture. If you are his CO,your obligations to him do not cease until

the day the morning report shows histransfer. If he is going to a school atanother arm or service, he needs your helpmore than ever.

Many AAF enlisted men are beingeliminated from these schools becausethey have not had sufficient basic train-ing of the type given hy the other armsand services. Air Corps enlisted mennormally receive less basic training thanthe men with whom they will be compet-ing. All candidates from the AAF shouldbe given an opportunity to take hasictraining which will help them prepare forrnsp ect ran in their school. (Letter, Head-quarters AAF, June 2, 1943.)

About That MorningReportYou don't know how to keep a morningreport, sergeant, unless you know how toreconcile the entries. And how about yousquadron commanders-do you know howto verify the entries?

Prepare for CombatIn actual combat, a Nazi or Jap will bechecking up to find out how well youhave heeded the advice of your tacticalinspector during training days. Beloware some of the points, bearing the sealof approval of overseas combatants, whichyour inspector will emphasize to get youin the best possible fighting shape tomeet the enemy:

Pilot and co-pilot, are you getting insufficient hours of blind instrument flying)

Navigator, do you know how to checkdrift reading?

Bombardier, can you run through agood flight pre-check of your bombsight?

Radio operators, can you performemergency maintenance in flight? Is theinterphone system working - have youchecked it immediately after getting intothe air as well as before?

Aerial engineer, has your ship beencorrectly serviced? Is the oxygen equip-ment in shape? Have you checked allengines?

Gunners, how's your marksmanship? "*AIR FORCE. September. 1943

21

A bulldozer and "sheep's-Ieer" roller ready for double duty.

begin with a permanent, all-weather pavedfield at Agadir, some 250 miles down thecoast from Casablanca, below the highAtlas mountains. We have a paved fieldat Sale, just north of Rabat, which is thecapital of French Morocco. We have apaved field at Port Lyautey. The onlyother field with concrete runways inNorth Africa is the permanent airdromeat Bizerte which the Gennans didn't havetime to destroy.

Probably of greatest interest is the storyof the airdrome at Bone because it istypical of the Coastal problem and alsobecause it is particularly interesting froman engineer's standpoint.

Bone airdrome is built on thc silt whichhas been dumped there through the cen-turies by the Seybouse River. This riverempties into the Mediterranean in thesmall gulf where Bone is located. Weknew the earth there was nothing but puregray silt mud because we had seen thecraters of several 1,(lOO-pound bombsshow in;.; pure clay down some ei;.;hteenfeet. As a result, cvcrv time it rained,Bone became unserviceahle. thereby rnak -in;.; it very difficult to furnish air coverfor the port of Bone-the most impor-tant forward port east of Algiers. For along while Algiers was the most easterlyport at which lar;.;e ships would put in.The British Navy finally consented tocarrying on as far as Bone, provided wewould furnish adcqu.u e cover.

In five days we built an crncrjrcnry fieldten miles west of Bone, known as Ting-ley, by using a steel runway mat on asmall bit of sand we were fortunateenough to find. We knew it wouldn't fillthe l;ill permanently since it was in themountains and unsuitable for night fighters.

We were asked to finish a suitable air-drome for all-weather opcrat ion-, withintwo weeks. The only way we could makeit operative was to use sand, which wasamply available in huge coast dunes.These dunes, however, were on the farside of the Seybouse River. thus posing amajor ri\'er-c~ossing problem. In addi-tion, it W;IS raining and we couldn't sendany transports out on this mud l1at.

We dispatched a battal ion of aviationengineers to the site and gave them allthe heavy earth-mm'in,'.; equipment inNorth Africa -- turnapulls, twelve- andsixteen-yard pan scrapers with tractors,and all the one-and-a-half-ton dumptrucks Vie could lay our hands on. Thenwe had the job of 'gelling across the Sey-bouse River. We accomplished this bystartin,'2: with the sand from the dunesand building a road ahead to carry us tothe Sevbouse River. We then bulldozeda causcw.rv across the river and carriedour sand I~y road a mile and a half to thesite of the runway.

We fi "ured it would take five days tocross the Seybouse and finish the road,and that we could lay the sand for therunway in the remaining nine days--pro-

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

AIRDROME CONSTRUCTIONIN NORTH AFRICA

(Continued from page 16)

vided we didn't get rain, which wouldwash away the small amount of sand wecould afford to put on the road. Orworse, it might raise the Seybouse andwash out our causeway.

Luckily, we didn't have a drop of rainfor two weeks. We built the road andcauseway, moved 66,000 yards of sand tothe Bone site and built the runway. Thesand mat varied from 36 to 4~ inchesin thickness over a width of approximately150 feet. As we got the sand in, we fol-lowed with the steel plank. On the after-noon of the fourteenth day, we put in thelast load of sand and laid the last fewpieces of plank to finish the runway. Thatevening we had a cloudburst. The rainraised the river and later we had majorrepairs to make to the causeway, but therunway was in and it stayed put.

D [:RING construction <the airdrome wasbombed by the Germans two or threetimes with 1,nOo-pound bombs. Twicethey missed the runway by approximatelyfifty feet. All we had to do was to scrapethe mud off the strip. The battalion alsohad its camp site bombed. They felt theywere veterans. But, to mv mind, thething that pleased them most was whatthis particular runway meant to a certaincrew that carne in one afternoon shortlyafter we had finished it. A mediw;lbomber had been out on a strike andcame back over the mountains in athunderstorm. The pilot had pr;lcticallyno gas left, nor did he know where hewas. He didn't know where there was anairdrome in the vir.initv either. so he de-cided the best thing to do was flystraiuht north until he reached the seawhere he knew, because he had done itonce before, that he could crash-land hisship and save his crew.

He fle\\ north, reached the Mediter-ranean and then turned west. He 'wasjust sitting upstairs waiting for his gas torun out when a member of his crew shookhim and told him to look down. Therewas the longest runway he had seen inNorth Africa. He made one sharp circleand landed on it. The plane didn't haveenough gas left to t.ixi off the runway.

A 'feV:-days before 1 started back l~ the

States, I went up to Bone and found ithad become the refuge for every type atcraft which had to have a place to landin a hurry. I don't think there is a typeof Allied ship which was not representedthere. In order to help save the runwayand also because it was easier on theships, we built a "belly-landing" stripalongside the runway and invited every-body who came in with his landing gearknocked out to use it.

Our airdrome construction program inNorth Africa consisted principally in thebuilding of runways and dispersal areas.We built very few revetments. In thefirst place, we did not have the materialsor manpower with which to do the job,had we wanted to. Moreover, the Ger-man bombing was not sufJicient to requirerevetments. It is my opinion that theGermans themselves put more effort intothis work than it was worth, for in vir.tually every reverted pen of the enemy'sairdromes you could find planes that hadbeen successfully strafed and burned.

We believed that the most efficientmethod of protecting ai rcraft was to buildindividual hard standings for dispersalon the fields or to construct one verylarge surfaced area on which planes couldbe dispersed according to a squadroncommander's own desires. This workedout very well in practice and saved a vastamount of time and effort.

As it was, plenty of effort was neededon the forward fields for defensive works.of which the wel l-k nown slit trench, ;1

ready refuge when enemy planes cameover, was the most common va r ietv. Atfirst, some of these fields relied ent irclvfor ground defenses on the .50-calibe'rmachine guns and anti-tank ,guns of ouraviation engineer batt.il ions

This story of the aviation engineerswith the Northwest African Air Forceis not complete without mention of theheadquarters and topo,!!"aphic companieswhich formed an essential part of theteam. The hca.Iquartcrs companies under-took airfield reconnaissance and survev,and general air force camouflage work. '

The topopaphic <.-ompanies compiledand reproduced tar,get .md flak chartsessential to .iir force operations. Theseunits dcrnonstr.ited in their work the un-flagging zeal and dcvor ion to duty whichcharacterized all of the aviation engineersin Northwest Africa. it

AIR FORCE OPERATIONSIN THE BATTLE OF

P.38 makes a wet landing after raid on Attu.

B'f BI/;ir;. qen. 'Wdti,a,mt. .PlfH'riARMY AIR OFFICER ON THE STAFF OF THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF

THE PACIFIC FLEET

ONE of the principal challenges facingAmerican forces in the Battle of

Attu-v-alrnost as great as the challengcoffered by the enemy itself~was the effec-tive coordination of air, sea and groundelements in the face of severe handicapsencountered in the weather and terrain.

The Army and Navy air forces had atask to perform in complete cooperationwith the attacking ground troops, and thesuccess with which their missions werecarried out is a tribute not only to thoseresponsible for the card ully laid plans ofthe Attu operation but to the men whokept the planes in the air under almostimpossible Hying conditions.

Army Air Force operations in the en-gagement were carried out by the Bomberand Fighter Commands of the 11 th AirForce from the recently constructed airbase on Amchitka under the direct con-trol of the Task Force Commander. Armyand Navy aircraft operated in close con-junction during the entire engagement.

AAF planes participating over Attuincluded B-24s, B-25s and P-3Hs. Theclose, low-level support of ground troopswas primarily the function of P-38s em-ploying dive-bombing and strafing tactics.

22

The B-24s and B-25s were used to bombspecific enemy concentrations and, insome cases, to drop supplies to groundtroops from the air. P-40s based onAmchitka were used primarily in localdefense and to destroy enemy aircraft onKiska, which lies almost astride the Am-chitka-Attu run. The type of Navy aircraftemployed was that best suited for an op-eration of this nature.

When the attacking ground forcesstormed Attu from Navy-launched bargeson the morning of May 11, they advancedunder cover of a fog so thick that menhad to be lowered by their heels over thesides of the barges to guide them throughthe rocky waters approaching some of thelanding beaches. But while the groundtroops were aided, air operations wereseverely hampered by this thick overcast.

The fog on the first day was merely asample of the weather which made airoperations extremely difficult during theentire action. Even the distance of 30nmiles between the air base at Amchitkaand the targets on Attu made everydifference in the world. Time and again,bombers and fighters left Amchitka under

clear skies only to find Attu completelyfog-bound. On other occasions. groundcommanders saw clear weather under theovercast at Attu and watched in vain forsupporting aircraft which were groundedby impossible weather at Amchitka.

Nevertheless our bombers and fightersdid get through to deal severe blows toenemy positions. Missions were under-taken whenever there was the slightestchance of their successful completion.Frequently, when AAF bombers were un-able to get through to Attu, they wouldreturn over Kisk.i and release their bomb"on enemy installations on that island.

Seldom did the bombers find a hole inthe Attu overcast through which theirtarget could be si,~hted and their bombs;dropped. In most inst.inr es they had theopportunity to make bornbinu runs onlywhen the fog lifted sufYiciently to permitthem to get under it safely.

It might well be pointed out thatdespite these handicaps to air operations.there is no known instance of Americanaircraft hitting our own troops from theair or our troops firing on our own planesfrom the ground.

Perhaps the most disappointed of thc'

AIR FORCE, September. 1943:

GeneralLynd

mand pilot of one of the two l.iber.uorsassigned to bomb two anti-aircraft hat-tcr ies in the harbor. As we approachedthe objective and went in for our homb-ing run, the Jap batteries opened up.Although their fire was accurate and somehits were scored, the damage was negligi-ble. They continued to concentrate on ll';

after we had completed our run, permit-ting the second 8-21 to come in for anaccurate crack at the target unmolested.

Despite the adverse weather conditions,one command plane flew from Amchitkato Attu every day while the battle was It1

progress. Its pilot was Colonel Willian:O. Eareckson, deputy chief of the AirStalf in Alaska and air orlu er for theAttu Task Force Commander. I rode 10

his plane for the first live days of ther.un p.i ijm , and no t:'ibute I could pay tothis ofTicer would measure up (0 the skilland eniciency he displayed in carrying outone hazardous aerial mission after an-other. His 8-24 W,lS in the air over Attufrom ei';ht to ten bours out of everytwenty-four. Direct contact was main-tained hetween his ship and the TaskForce Commander, enabling groundtroops to take advantage almost immediately of battle trends noted from the airby Colonel Earcck son and members ofhis crew.

(Continued on Page 55)

Despite the "worst weatherin the world," the air arms ofthe Army and Navy played aprominent role in this first

Aleutians offensive.

Here is a typical cloud blanket, almost covering 3,500-foot peaks, with which our airmen had to contend.

in the Attn operation Degan days beforethe assault troops established beachheadson the island. It was the air job to softenthe J ap shore installations by bombingand low-level strafing, and to determineby thorough reconnaissance the most ad-vantageous points at which to land anadequate striking force.

Although the Japs on Attu had nofighte;s for bomber interception, theirant i-a irrr.rfr fire was relatively heavy andexcept ional ly arrur.ite. As a result, forma-tion flying vvas not needed from a protective standpoint, and by flying individu-ally AAF planes were able to divert andscatter e,nemy ground fire. In this sameconnection, area bombing was undesirableand point hombinI; proved to he the onlvmethod of accomplishing the job.

An opportunity for me to observe thispluse of i\i\ F operations at first handcame six days before Ame'i,;cn troop',landed on Attu. Six B-2 is took off fromAmchitb to bomh enemy installations inChichagof Harbor and in the east andwest arms of Holtz Bay. I was the com-

On the following day, sixteen planes ofthe same type attempted to homb Ameri-cin troops on Attu hut they were inter-cepted by five p- .'>~s at ahout 11,000 feet,well above the overcast. The enemy planesjettisoned their homhs and attempted toesupe our fighters. Four of the hom herswere shot down in flames, anotherdropped into the overcast definitely out ofcontrol aud seven others were seen to godown smoking heavily. Only four of thcoriginal sixteen were observed headingwest after the engagement. One P-.'>Hwas missing and another was shot downhut the pilot was rescued.

As of May 2i, AAF losses in the Battleof Attu totaled two B-2.1s, one B-25 andfour p-.)~s. The p-)~ Lightnings haddefinitely proved themselves (0 be themost effective type of fi,ghter aircraft avail-.ible to use under such operating condi-t ions and at such dist.mces. The feat ofthe p. .'>~s in intercepting the enemybombers .'>00 miles from their hase onAmchitka was significant in this regard.

Actually, the role plaved j,y the AAF

Our 8-24s banked into steep-walled ravinessuch as this to strafe Jap ground troops.This and photo at right taken by Gen. Lynd.

arrrnen partlClpatll1g in the Attn opera-tion were the gunners aboard the bomb-ers. Except for (he very Lire occasionswhen they had a chance to warm up theirguns against enemy ground troops, allthey did was wish for enemy fighters thatnever appeared.

Jap aircraft finally attempted to relievetheir besieged forces on the eleventh andtwelfth da'ys of the American operationsbut both attacks failed completely. OnMay 22, twelve or fifteen twin-enginebombers attacked a destroyer and a gun-boat patrolling in the vicinity of HoltzBay on the north side of Attu but no dam-age or casualties resulted. One bomberwas shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

AIR FORCE, September. 1943 23

TECHNIQUE A MONTHLY REVIEW OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AIR FORCES

The pictures below show the comparative size of the C-47's floats.

The amphibious C-47 in flight.

the same manner as in a ship with tricyclelanding gear. The load limit is not appre-ciably affected but the speed has been re-duced by the extra weight and drag.

A few modifications in the fuselagewere necessary in order to attach thefloats. The wheels on the floats retractin the same manner as the wheels onthe ordinary C-47. Small water rudders,located on the rear of each of the pon-toons, arc lowered when the plane islanded on water. They are operated fromthe 'brake pedal and are retracted by adevice which is attached to the tail wheellock.

More recent designs of the amphibiousC-47 have utilized the center bulkhead ofeach pontoon as an auxiliary fuel tankcapable of carrying 300 gallons. With the600 gallons of extra fuel, the range ofthe airplane is greatly extended.

A limited number of these amphibiansare expected to be put into service withinthe next few months.

may prove to be the landing of this typeof plane on snow and ice in Arctic climes.Such landings on amphibious floats havebeen made successfully, and further ex-periments next winter may show theamphibious C-47 to be suitable for thispurpose.

According to Wright Field engineers,the floats attached to the C-47 are amongthe largest of their kind ever built. Theyare over 41 feet long, five feet high andhave a maximum width of five feet. TheGerman Blohm and Vase 139 had largerfloats but they were not amphibious.

The difference in the handling of theC-If7 as a result of the modification isrelatively minor. The plane's center ofgravity has been moved forward slightly,and landings arc accomplished in much

By LIEUT. HENRY G. PEARSON

WRI~HT FIELD

A DUCKFor OurAir Fleet

LARGE amphibious floats have been at-tached to the Army Air Forces' C-47,

thereby opening the way to new and im-portant uses for this workhorse of the airtransport system.

By adding this flotation equipment,Materiel Command engineers have con-verted the C-:17-military version of thefamiliar commercial DC-3-into a planewhich can land on water, taxi to the shoreand climb out on dry land under its ownpower. Successful tests already have beenmade on Long Island Sound, and addi-tional testing is being continued at WrightField.

The need for such a ship has becomemore and more apparent as a result of thedifficulties encountered in rescuing AAFpilots forced down at sea in the SouthPacific and washed up on tiny coral reefsand islands. The amphibious plane willbe able to take off from a land base, setdown on the water nearby the island andthen, by lowering its wheels, climb ontoa beach to load passengers and equipment.Engineers foresee in the amphibious C-47the ideal answer to the rescue problem.

Another function of the new amphibian

24 AIR FORCE, September, 1943

By LIEUT. ROBERT v. GUELICH

flak Suits - Bullet-Prool Vests of the Air

Flak suits for combat crews today areprotecting the lives of hundreds of AAFmen who have been flying through cloudsof bursting anti-aircraft shells over heavilydefended enemy positions.

Because fragmelJts of exploding ark-ack shells too often have made it neces-sary to hospitalize much-needed crewmembers, special armored vests were de-veloped in England. Now, many of ourcrew members are wearing infantry hel-mets and flexible armor suits from theneck to the hips, with a sporran (apron)protecting the thighs. This armor hasproved effective in repelling ark-ark and20 mm shell fragments-protection thathas greatly reduced the number of casual-ties in bombing missions.

Through the work of Col. M. C. Grow,8th Air Force Flight Surgeon, sixteen-

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

pound flak suits were developed becausethey could be carried around at high alti-tudes without exhausting the crew mem-bers. These suits proved their worth onten heavy bomber crews who first triedout the suits of mail. Scores of injuriesand many deaths definitely were pre-vented.

For example, Lieut. Jack Fischer, 13-17bombardier, was on a mission overEurope on May 21 when a 20 mm cannonshell exploded 18 to 21 inches from hischest. Although numerous small woundsin the right arm made hospitalizationnecessary, several large fragments thatmight have caused fatal injuries werestopped by the armored vest. LieutenantFischer suffered no wounds on the partof his body covered by the vest.

The suits have proved so successfu I

Maj. Robert J. Reed !left I of theEighth Bomber Command dons theprotective flak vest and taperedsporran, plus a steel helmet.

*Tech. Sgt. Wilbur E. Kloth Iright be-low I, Major Reed's crew chief, iswearing the full vest and apron usedin some positions. Lieut. J. B. Wilkin-son of the Flight Section at WrightField has on the more abbreviatedtype which permits necessary free-dom of action in the cockpit.

and acceptable to combat crews thatBritish establishments are swamped withorders for them and American manufac-turers have been called 111 on productioncontracts.

At the Armament and EquipmentLaboratories of Wright Field, special steeland plastic suits of armor have beentested to determine what materials wiI!offer maximum protection at a minimumweight.

Types under study include riveted andcemented overlapping steel strips (ap-proximately 2V2 by 18 inches), overlapping two-inch sCluares of 20 gauge man-ganese steel, and solid breastplates. Can-vas is sewed on both front and back ofeach section. The complete vest is hungon the shoulders and can be dropped ottin an emergency by pulling one string.

In the North African campaign manypilots and crew members salvaged armorplate from wrecked planes which theywired around the vulnerable spots oftheir positions. This makeshift protectionoften stopped fragments that could haveresulted in injuries.

The new armored vests are adapted tocrew members according to the vulner-ability of the positions which they oc-cupy and according to location of armor-plate protection in the airplane. Becausetheir backs arc protected by the plane'sarmor, pilots and co-pilots need addi-tional protection mostly in front. Othercrew members wear complete armoredsuits that give them full protection.

(Techoique Continued)

25

TECHNIQUE

Over a Utah highway en route to an air-base goes a B-17 mobile training unit ofthe Fourth District, AAF Technical TrainingCommand.

Mechanical Training by TrailersAn innovation feature of the Army AirForces Technical Training Command 15 amobile training unit for visual an.] prac-tical mechanical instruction. Big, van-Iike vehicles bring the vital inn~r-work-ings of fighting planes to aircraft me-chanics on the line. The plan originatedin the Fourth District of the T1'C andnow all Districts have similar units onthe road.

To liken it to a travelling classroom isto underestimate its work. Open its stage-like doors, scan its interior and you find acomplete mock-up panel system of themechanisms of a combat plane. Everytype used in the AAF is represented bya mobile unit that keeps its instructional:;etup in equipment and modification can-stantly up-to-the-minute.

Successful from the outset, the systemhas mushroomed considerably. Last sum-mer the first unit was established for thep. 38. Today mobile units are touring theentire country to service the tactical airforces.

For example, in ,1 B-17 trailer unit,there is a complete cockpit assembly upfront with controls and instruments thatactually work and can be observed in anyuperation. A cut-away B-17 engine baresevery essential part to close scrutiny, anda cross-sectioned propeller is exhibited ina conspicuous corner.

Nearby, mock-up panels show the con-struction of the plane's airframe and till'operation of its hydraulic and cool in',<vsterns, Another panel illustrates thestrategic arrangement for fire control ap-paratus that prevents the spread of ,I

blaze set by enemy shells. Still anotherpanel traces the entire wiring system ofthe ship enabling the mechanic to followeach minute wire in the circuit.

Technical construction of the aircraftsupercharger and other engine accessoriesis revealed by actual cut-away equipmentparts and even a life-sized oxygen systemis carried along for instruction purposes.

26

A motion picture projector brings theTechnical Trainin» Command's latesttraining films to 'the attention of theground crews.

Most of the instructional material isangled towards the .urcr.ift mechanic, butother AAF technicians, particularly ar-morers, are also kept abreast of the latestdevelopments in their specialties. Modi-fications on aerial machine guns and can-non are brought to the attention of themen who service them ,It their tacticalstations.

The compact interior of the mobile unitcontains all the intricate mechanisms ofthe battle plane it serves,

Co-founders of the system were Maj.

Arriving at its destination it drives rightonto the line to display in panel form the"works" of a B-17 to the mechanics whoservice the planes.

Gen. Walter R. Weaver, CommandingGeneral of the TTC and Maj. Gen. JohnF. Curry, head of the command's FourthDistrict. Both were not satisfied withmere classroom and factory instruction.Once out on the line, they held that themen must be further schooled in the prac-tical application of what they had learnedand kept conscious of the latest develop-ments.

Then, too, they knew that the planesused in tactical units were not readilyavailable for instruction purposes. These

Inside the trailer a cut-away B-17 Cycloneengine reveals its working mechanism toan onlooking mechanic.

planes might he kept from the lungar furdays, perhaps longer, .md when they didreturn to their hangars the fast main-tenance necessary to put them hack in theair as soon as possible eliminated the pos-sibility of any further mechanical training.

Th~ answer w.is the development Ot":lmobile unit designed to bring to the air-craft technician on the Iine all the Lctsabout the plane he was servicing. It waspractical application of the knowledge hehad learned in .l technical school and bvmeans of .utu.i! visual instruction h~'would he hctter eL]uippcd to diagnose theills of an ailing CLift .in.] cure thClll withspeed and 'LiSL;r,lIlCc.

Each truck trailer unit is st.rtEed by anonlcer in char,gc, six non-commissioncdinstructors, 'In Army driver ,md one 0:-

two civilian specialists_ The soldier-in-structors are usually l,rachutes of .i 1'1'(school and experier;c~d hands in machin-ery. Civilian sl'eci,r1ists arc from the air-craft factories whose pbnes arc repre-scnted by mobile units.

"The Mohile Training Unit is a gooddeal more valuable for 'its purpose 'thanthe technical classroom," savs Lieut. Col.Thomas E. O'Connell, in (-harge of thefourth District Mobile Traininr; Units"When line mechanics can ~ee andfamiliarize themselves with the vitalmechanisms for the plane's maintenancethey will grasp the fundamental idea ofwhat to do and how to do it faster andmore thoroughly." - Staff Sergeant JackAngell, Public Relations Office. Head-quarters Fourth District, AAFTTC. Denver.

Cable TightenerStaff Sgt. Norman Wolfley of Allans-ville, Pa., has simplified the work on theengines of AT-I 1 bombardier trainingplanes at the Victorville (Calif.) ArmyFlying School through a new way of ad-justing cables on the engine control. Hedeveloped a new instrument (shownabove) which is a combination socketwrench and pliers. It tightens cables ac-curately and easily. - PRO, WCAFTC.Santa Ana, Calif.

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

Individual Light for CodeFormerly visual code instruction signalswere given to aviation cadets at the EnidArmy Flying School by a large light ineach corner of the code room. They hadto glance at a light in a corner, then lookdown at their paper to print the letter.

Under a new arrangement, each codebooth now has a radio pilot light in thecenter only a couple of inches from thecadet" s paper when he is receiving thevisual code, enabling him to watch boththe light and the paper with a minimum.imount of eye movement.

Mr. W. B. Teitzcl, instructor, statesthat the new system allows the averagecadet to receive from one to two wordsfaster per minute. - PRO, Enid Army Fly-ing School, Okla.

Safety Device for Tire InflationNot long ago a man was killed at TinkerField while inflating the tire of a bomber.Recently his fellow workers put intooperation a new device which will allowthe pumping up of an airplane tire to bedone in safety.

General plans of the device include a.nct.il bin made of boiler plates intowhich the tire is rolled for inflation.Through an opening in the side of thebin the tire can be blown up to its properpressure from a regular air hose. At-L1ched to the top of bin is an air regulatorwhich automatically allows a maximumamount of air to enter the tire. Gaugesattached to the air hose register theamount of air in the tire at any particulartime and the other one shows the maxi-mum pressure of the control gauge set-ting. A red light flashes while the tireis being inflated.

The idea was advanced by Miles J.Smart, foreman aircraft mechanic in theLanding Gear Installation department,who passed his designs on to WinfieldSmith, foreman of the welding section.The pair turned their invention over toTinker Field, where it is now in use.- Tinker Field, Okla.

Combat's Child-C3-1B CraneOn arriving at an island in the SouthPacific, the 40th Service Squadron of the13th Air Force found itself minus a C-2wrecker or its counterpart, so the en-gineering section set to work and evolveda crane assembly from a meager supplyof parts--mainly salvage-that would dosuch work as picking up engines, wingsand fuselages, and other tasks which oc-cur in the normal course of aircraft repairwork.

Two non-commissioned officers, MasterSgt. Gerald V. Lady, Decatur, Ind., andTech. Sgt. Jack R. Sowers, Rockwell,N. C, working under the direction ofFirst Lieut. R~uben Yarri, Shreveport,

AIR FORCE, September. 1943

The C3.1 B crane, pictured at its birthplaceon a South Pacific island.

Lifting a fuselage.

La., developed after two modifications acrane since designated the C3-1B, whichhas proved very successful. The craneconsists of an "A" frame-boom constructedof six-inch by one-quarter-inch channeliron. The frame is bolted to the rear ofthe bed of a two and one-half ton truckequipped with a power take-off winch.The "A" frame is sixteen feet long witha two-foot base and is welded throughout.Lifting power is derived from the powertake-off winch at the front of the truck.The cable is passed by a series of pulleysover the cab to the base of the boom, thento an eight-inch pulley at the top of theboom to the load which is picked upeither by cables or a hook.

Loads weighing as much as two tonshave been picked up with the C3-1B

Hoisting an engine.

crane hut it is not advisable for steady useto lift loads greater than 2, SO() pounds.it was found. However, this weight limitpermits its use for all aircraft engines,most wings and other aircraft accessories.

Although designed primarily for usewhile waiting the arrival of a C-2 wrecker,the crane assembly is not replaced by thewrecker. On the other hand, it is a veryuseful adjunct to the C-2 wrecker, for ex-ample in the Iifting of B-17 wing innerpanels or in picking up a B-17 fuselage.Working together, the two pieces ofequipment do such jobs easily.

Should the designation "C3-1 B" appearstrange to those familiar with stock lists,here's the explanation for it. The letter"C' indicates crane, the figure "3" was soused because this was the third one made;the" 1" represents the "A" frame whichis the same as the original, and the letter"B" stands for the second modificationmade on the present crane. - Lieut. Col.Franklin K. Reyher.

Arti#icial Icing ;n flightThere was a time when research projectsinvolving test flights in natural icing con-ditions rarely could be completed onschedule because icing areas are stricti ywill-o-the-wisps, easy to locate only whenyou're trying to evade them. Now by theflip of a switch, ice formations C3.n beproduced on prop blades during flight.

Wright Field propeller engineers, witha series of anti-icing and de-icing projectscoming up, resolved to work out a methodby which prop blades could be exposed toicing in flight tests whenever needed.

In one arrangement a special spray wasinstalled in the tail turret of a B-24.Water from two large tanks in the bombbay is pumped through the nozzle as theB-24 flies in front of the plane beingflight-tested. At the right altitude iceforms on the plane trailing in the spray.

In the alternate scheme a single planeis employed. Here an outrigger spray wasbuilt which throws moisture from hombbay tanks into the No. 2 propeller of theB-24 in which it was installed.

To obtain motion pictures of the pro-peller while it is icing up and throwingoff ice during flight tests, the MotionPicture Branch assisted in solving severalproblems. Propeller engineers prescribedthat only one blade be photographed inidentically the same position during eachrevolution at a speed which would resultin a sharp image.

This stroboscopic effect was secured bysynchronizing the shutter speed of thecamera with the rpm of the propeller,thus showing successive stages of icingand de-icing.

It was a tough job but the resultingmotion pictures show the p,lttern andspeed of ice building up and being thrownoff of the prop during flight. - Arden R.Strang, Wright Field. *

27

THOSE who think of this war only in terms of youth and the- present generation forget the thousands of men and women who,though they may have reached their three score years and ten, stillhave the skilled hands and youthful outlook needed for dozens oftasks which must be done to insure the successful prosecution of theconflict. Many of these young-oldsters have taken their talents intoAAF depots and sub-depots throughout the country. They not onlyare performing their duties well but, more important, they are re-lieving younger men and women for service where youth in years-and the stamina that goes with it-is a prime essential. Many ofthese older wzr workers have left the ease of retirement to share inthe fight against our enemies. Some of them are literally backing uptheir grandchildren who are pilots and mechanics, weather otiicersand mess sergeants. They have turned again to the lathe, the forge,the saw and the hammer to perform tasks that are just as vital asdropping bombs on Axis factories or building airdromes in thejungle. AIR FORCE presents this picture story of a representativefew of the thousands of these men and women who are contributingso effectively to the Army Air Forces' and the nation's war effort.

Down through the yeors,William E. Dusky, 68-year-old pointer ot the 29th Sub-Depot at the Enid IOkla.)Army Flying School, hasseen many innovations inhis trode. He made hisstort es a painter 54 yeorsago, and now painting air-plane parts with today'spaints is a cinch for him.

All honors are' notclaimed by men, C'fen inthe upper age brackets.Many grandmothers havedropped knitting needlesand peacetime sewing tobecome full-fledged warworkers. Mrs. Myra E.Bradburn, 63, who raisescanaries as a hobby, isshown here repairingflyers' clothing at the29th Sub-Depot, Enid,Okla. She did olterationwork for on Enid deport-ment store for 21 years.

Oe£j),te his 73 years, Alfred M. Frothingham commutes' dailyfrom Detroit to his job as mechanic and blacksmith at the96th Sub-Depot, Selfridge Field, Mich. In his eorlier years.Mr. Frothingham wos engoged in vaudeville and blacksmith-ing, !Ilxcept for his five years in the Army from 1916 to 1921.

Six years ago, A. J. Bruce was retired after a half century escarpenter for Santa Fe Railway. Today, ot 79, he works theswing shift at the San Bernardino ICalif.) Army ~ir Depot.

28 AIR FORCE, September. 1943

Seventy.year-old Charles E.Baldwin as a parachutejumper (from balloons) atthe age of seventeen, wasbilled as "Professor Baldwin,King of the Air." Now adriver at headquarters of the40th Sub-Depot, Buckley Field,Colo., Mr. Baldwin takes timeout to inspect modern chutesand reminisce. He once per-formed with Ringling Brothers,Barnum 'and Bailey Circus.

Newton M. Rice, 71, is em.played as an aircraft machin.ist at the 308th Sub-Depot,Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz.He, too, is a retired rail.roader, having spent 44 years.as a railway machinist. Heis pictured with the JustRite Angle alld Bevel Calibergauge wh;ch he perfected.

Seventy~year.old RodneyA.r!aterbury, former Mt.Clemens (Mich.) departmentstore and new:ipaper adver-tising exeelltive, puts hislong bookkeeping experl-ence to use for the Army AirForces. He maintains dailystock records at the 96thSub-Depot, Selfridge Field.

After retiring in 1941 as terminal agent ofthe Canadian Pacific Railroad, Francis Dow,68, has returned to "active duty" as apacker in the shipping department, of the46th Sub-Depot at Houlton, Maine., He has.one son in the armed forces in Africa.

After a lifetime spent farming and oper-ating a blacksmith shop, John C. "UncleBill" Denham, 69, works at the 9th Sub.Depot. Harding Field, La. He has twosons and one grandson in the armed forces.

AIR FORCE, September. 1943 29

30

"BET a dime.""I see."

"Up a dime. Say, where's Klotz?""I'm out. He went to Russia yester-

day.""How about Dick Kight? There's my

twenty.""By me. Kight's around. Saw him two

days ago.""1 play. No, he left for India this

morning."'T rn out. Let's throwaway this deck

and get one with some aces 111 It. Ifthese cards don't get any better, you guyswill have to wait until I get to Chinaagain. The adjutant over there owes me47 bucks. And it's about time thatweather officer in Cairo came throughwith the six I loaned him."

"Come on, let's play poker. I needsome dough myself. I got a date romin.:up with that British nurse in Karachi."

That's the kind of conversation you getaround the poker table, when the playc:«are members of the 26th Transport Groupof ATC s Domestic Transportal ion DiVI-sion. This is a "special mission" outfit, oncall for any emergency-anywhere, anytime. To these guys, tlying to Moscow orChungking or Melbourne is about as ex-citing as going to the nearest latrine.

You sit down beside a couple of themlistening to the phonograph playing"Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer."

"Say," says Captain Ralph Reed, "nexttime any of you guys get down to Natal.pick up a couple of my shirts. When Icame back from Africa last time I wastoo damned tired to get them."

Reed explains why he didn't stop toget his :;h;rts.

"There were !jOO,OOO pounds of highpriority materiel piled up at Natal. Rom-mel was in EI Alamein then and theAllies needed that stuff in a hurry. OurCO, Lieut. Col. Willis H. Proctor: was onhand to supervise the job. We had sevenships, am! in 36 days we moved 3HH,339pounds of equipment over to Africa. Allof us made two round trips a week. Eachplane had a double crew and one crewwould leave Natal at 1700 o' clock andget into the West African base in themiddle of the afternoon. We would leaveAfrica that night and land back in Nata!the next morning. The mechanics workedon the ship for five or six hours and thenthe other crew went out. We got twogood nights of sleep out of every fiveLet's see, I think I left Natal on Wednes-days and Sundays."

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

Four meals on four continents inthree days is not unusual for theseflyers of the Air Transport Command.

Reed hastens to explain that it was allroutine Hying. Nothlllg to get excitedabout. Nothing interesting happened.Very dull and monotonous. A job to do.

"Yeah," says Captain Vernon M.Byrne, "after you jump the ditch once, itgcts sort of boring. The only real fun I'veheld was the timc I took 100,000 one-dollar bills over to Africa so the ghostcould walk on pay day." (You find outlater that he has made cleven round tripsacross the South Atlantic.)

Captain Joseph E. Kirnm agrees withByrne. "Nothing cxciting happens to us.It's thc boys in combat who are reallydoing the work. Wc just fly around."

"Flying around" to Kimm has meantpioneering the ai r route up to Alaska,making ten round trips across the oceanand flying the first CAn to India.

"The fellow who had some fun,"Byrne continues, "was Captain AlexisKlotz. He's been around more than mostof us anyhow. I think he's in Russia rightnow. On one trip he carried 7,000 poundsof mercury fulminate. If you sneeze twicethat stuff will blow up. If I know Klotzhe just set it down nice and careful like,yawned, and made a routine report tooperations. His flight plan called for fourstops but with that delicate load on boardhe made it in two."

"Speaking of odd cargo," says Kirnrn,"Why don't you ask Reed about that stuffhe brought in from Iceland?"

Reed laughs. "Oh, I just picked upsome Danish pastry in Iceland one morn-ing and my wife and I had it for dinnerthat night in Washington."

You ask about the kind of cargo theyusually carry and are told it is all criticalmateriel or high-ranking dignitaries. Asa matter of fact, the 26th TransportGroup claims: "If we haven't flown you,you're not a big shot statesman." Most ofthe time, the men don't even know thekind of cargo they have in their ships.

Somebody walks over 'and starts playing"Wing and a Prayer" again. That re-minds Reed of the time he was flying aCAp to Africa. About an hour out ofSouth America, he lost his gasoline capand the gas started to siphon and leakinto the cabin. They cut off the radio forthe slightest spark would have blown theship to hell and gonc. They just had to11)' around praying until the gas got lowenough. And they couldn't contact theirbase or any curious gunner to announcethat they were friendly.

What kind of weather do they find?Byrne says, "Around Africa you'll find

a lot of fronts, but they aren't much toworry about if you play it safe. Goaround or underneath them and look for

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

holes. The best thing to do is run paralleldown the coast of Africa and hunt for aspot to get through. But don't try to tearinto the fronts at medium altitudes oryou'll get yourself a pretty rough ride."

"That's right," Reed adds. "Stay downaround i,OOO feet. You'll find that the tur-bulence is very much lighter. But be sureyou arc out at sea before you start lettingdown to 1,000. Otherwise, you'll spreadyourself all over an African mountain."

..All you have to do," Kirnm says, "islisten to your :briefing oflicers. You getbricfed from station to station by experi-enced men who know their business.Everyone of them has flown your routeand they go out on periodic flights tocheck up. Just do what they say."

"Around Puerto Rico, the weather'sdifferent," says somebody whose nameyou don't get. "Down there, you'll finda lot of severe electrical storms. Keep outof the clouds and you'll be all right. It'sa good idea to put your wheels down soyou can handle the ship better. That slowsyou down and gives you more control."

You find out that these men run intoall kinds of weather. One day they are ina hot climate and the next day it's waybelow zero. They start out in khaki andwind up in electrically heated suits. A lotof peculiar things can happen when youfly from hot weather into cold, or theother way around. Your oil tanks shouldbe covered in cold weather, but when youget into the hotter climates be sure youremove that cover. In the hot countriesdon't screw the gas tank caps on tootightly because the gasoline expands andyou are liable to burst a tank. If you usea thin oil for winter weather, change itthe minute you land wherever the tem-perature is high or it will congeal andyou'll never get it out. If you are flyingthrough severe icing conditions and yourmanifold pressure starts dropping, don'tincrease the throttles. You are losingspeed because of the ice-just apply heatto the engines, don't boost the manifold.

Captain Reed gets up and says, "Let'sgo down to the enlisted men's quartersand talk to the men who know that kindof stuff." You walk down to a day roomand run into Master Sergeants We1ls E.Brown, Clyde W. Nowlin and Leo J.Zulkowsky and Sergeant M. A. Greco.

Brown helped evacuate Java and flewin the last American plane out of thePhilippines. Zulkowsky ran the first sur-vey route of Greenland in a B-24. Grecohas made nine round trips across theSouth Atlantic. Nowlin, a charter mem-ber of the old Ferrying Command, madethe first ferrying hop to Russia and 34

other crossings over both oceans.Their experiences" "Routine flights,

nothing much ever happens." Nowlindoes admit that when he landed after hisfirst trip to Moscow, they put a yardstickinto the g,lSO]inc LlI1k to check their sup-ply and it came out completely dry!

They talk about the fact that they neverknow where they're going until two hoursbefore the ship takes off. "When we wenton one trip," Greco rcca lls, "we weregiven maps [or both Russia and Japan.Just bcfore we left they told us we weregoing to Casablanca."

"Talking about Africa," says Nowlin,"if you have to make a [arced landingthere the bush will seem deserted, butthere are few places you can land withoutbeing seen. Just 'wait a couple of hoursand some natives will come to investigate.Be sure not to frighten them with a dis-play of firearms. While waiting, don'tleave your ship. It's easier to find a planethan ,1 man. If yOli burn the oil fromyour engines it will give out a heavy blacksmoke which is easy to see from above."

"And watch out for the Wags aroundAfrica," Greco adds. "The Wags areAfrican soldiers serving the All ies. Theydo sentry duty and they only understandtwo words of English-'stop' and 'go.'When they say 'stop,' freeze or you'll geta couple of feet of cold steel through you.Don't play around with those boys."

You ask for maintenance ti ps.Zulkowsky says, "Be sure to keep your

radio off when you transfer gas in a B-24.The slightest spark will blow you up."

"And when something goes wrongwith your radio equipment," adds Brown,"don't take the set apart. Check the plugsand fuses. Instead of ripping out theequipment, look for the minor troubles.You'll usually find a loose plug or ablown fuse causing the difficulty. Andwhen the radio won't work on compassposition, nine times out of ten the troubleis in the inverter. Check it thoroughly."

"And tires," Nowlin continues. "Incold climates you check tires for leaks tv;spitting on your finger, putting it on thevalve and seeing if any air comes out. Besure to blow the vapor out of the valvewhen you're finished. Otherwise, it wi1lfreeze, expand, and you'll get a flat tire."

"Tell the mechs," says Zulkowsky, "tocarry enough tools with them to do theirjobs. They'll be getting places where therejust aren't any tools."

Together they agree that everybody inthe crew should know how to do everyjob. When you arc flying for ten andtwelve hours at a time the fatigue elementplays a big part, and if one man getstired somebody else can relieve him tem-porarily. It's always a good idea for every-body to know everybody's business.

As you close the door on the enlistedmen, one of them is saying, "Drive intotown with you? Not the way you handlea car. It's too damn dangerous; ''i,'

31

EVERY day in some sections of theUnited States, Army pilots hear the

words, "Army Flight Control advises.followed by such warning messages as:

"Heavy icing vicinity of Cleveland be-tween 5,000 and 7,000 feet. Advisechange in al ti tude."

"Your destination closed to all exceptinstrument flights due to low ceilings.Advise landing at alternate or continueCFR to Redfield."

"Violent thunderstorms along yourroute. Advise you proceed via Yorktownto destination."

These and dozens of other warningmessages arc keeping Army flights in thiscountry out of serious trouble. No longeris the military pilot a "lone wolf" of thesky. Today for the first time in U. S. mili-tary aviation, a system is being installedto plot and trace the progress of everymilitary airplane engaged in point-to-pointflight in this country.

This system is being set up by theFlight Control Command, Winston-Salem,N. C Specially trained flight control of-ficers arc being placed in control centersthroughout the United States to trace theprogress of each airplane and stand readyto dispatch emergency warning messages,with minimum Joss of time, through com-munications stations nearest the pilot.

Here's how the new Pilot's AdvisoryService works: A pilot, while planninj:his flight, selects the radio range stationshe will call en route and lists these on hisflight plan. All flight plans are sent bythe operations oflrces to the flif~ht controlcenters for the area, whether the flight ison or off the airways, ClR or instrument,day or night. Every flight is plotted, eitheron the airways fl ight progress boards oron specially designed magnetic maps,

Take a look at a flight control centerin action. Before you is the maj-neticmap with ma rkerx scattered over it. Amoment ago a flight plan rarne in byinterphone from a base operations office.Within a few seconds this flight plan isin the hands of a control officer who in-spects it to sec th.it all necessary informa-tion has been furnished. An abbrcvint ioncode is used to mark up a slip of pane"I~iving the serial number of the airplane,its type, its air-speed, the pont of de-parture, destination, actual time of take-off, estimated time en route and the radioranges which the pilot will contact.

This slip of paper fits into a slot in thetop of a movable arrow marker which isplaced on the magnetic map at the pointof take-off. Every fifteen minutes thismarker is moved along the stated headingfor the flight consistent with the airspeed

At the AAF Flight Control Center inEast Boston, Mass .• Lieut. Franklin D.Harrington, Jr .. maps the positions ofmilitary planes in the control area.

32

ARMY FLIGHT CONTROL

HEAD9UARTERS. FLIGHT CONTROL COMMAND

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

Two officers note the movement of aircraft from the magnetic mapwhile the East Boston control center CO, Maj. William L. Thorburn.studies flight plans and progress reports coming in by teletype.

Lieut. Joseph W. Reeves checks a flight plan while sitting inthe control position. Before him are the Flight Control Panel.weather sequences and other data pertinent to a pending flight.

of the plane. From time to time the posi-tions of aircraft are adjusted to coincidewith pilots' position reports which arerelayed through range stations. At anymoment the flight control officer can tellyou with surprising accuracy where eachairplane is and through which radio rangethe pilot can be contacted.

Meanwhile, other officers in the flightcontrol center are collecting data on wea-ther conditions in the area. Sources ofweather information include the ArmyWeather Services, United States WeatherBureau, and data furnished by pilots' re-ports on ceilings, icing, turbulence. etc.From this composite of information ananalysis of weather movements is madeand studied in terms of the weather con-ditions likely to be met by each flight.

While this is in progress, another con-trol officer is receiving position and ar-rival messages, and the teletype is ham-mering out warning notices concerningfields that are closed, runways under con-struction, hazardous obstructions, practicetactics that are a menace to planes, andother valuable information.

Thus, at his finger tips, the chief Armyflight control officer has complete infor-mation on weather, changes in radionavigational aids, tr athc and practicallyevery other hazard about which the pilotshould know. This is the information onwhich Pilot's Advisorv Service is based.

Let's, for example,~ take the story of awarning message that got through to onepilot and not to another. The two planestake off from nearhv fields for the samedestination on cross-country instrumentflights. Their flight plans come in to theflight control center and are posted on theArmy flight control plotting maps. Everyfifteen minutes for two and one-half hoursthey are moved along on the map. Sud-denly the forecaster receives informationof unexpected bad weather. A severe

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

cold front is pushing rapidly across theline of flight. closing both the destinationand alternate airports of these aircraft. Awarning is prepared and interphoned tothe range stations nearest the two planesas indicated on the map plotting board.

Within less than a minute the pilot ofthe first ship, who has made regular posi-tion reports and whose radio is tuned tothe range station, hears the attention sig-

nal, a sputter of "dits" in his ear. Heswitches over to "voice" and hears theradio range calling him. Responding, heis told, "Army Flight Control advisesheavy icing thirty minutes ahead of you.and your destination and alternate closeddue to low ceilings. Suggest you reversecourse and land at . . ." Th is pilot hasno love for heavy ice or low ceilings. Heexecutes a lEW-degree turn and in a fewmoments is si pping a cup of coffee withhis feet planted on a stout plank floor.

MEANWHILE. the other plane is movingrapidly toward the heavy weather. FlightControl is getting anxious and has everyrange station along the line calling thepilot. A dance band or other diversionkeeps his radio tuned to everything exceptthe range stations that are trying to reachhim.

The weather is thickening. The pilotplows on and finally calls his destinationas icing becomes a serious problem. Anhour after the other plane is safely on theground, this pilot is informed his destina-tion and alternate are closed by low ceil-ings. In reversing his course he en-counters even worse weather. Before long.heavy ice is dragging the plane downrapidly. In the nick of time most of the

crew bailout, but the pilot jumps too late.Here were two planes that took off at

about the same time, traveling the sameroute toward the same destination. Inone case the flight was safely terminated.In the other case, a potentially good pilotwas killed, a crew demoralized and abadly needed airplane was destroyed-alldue to lack of proper radio communicationwith the right stations at the right time.

This is not a bedtime story pulled fromthin air to help put the children to sleepToo often Army Flight Control tries toraise a pilot with an important radio mes-sage without success. Sometimes the planeruns smack into the trouble and only byresourceful action is the pilot able tobring the airplane and crew home safely.At other times Flight Control watchesplanes go on and on to certain disasterwhile warning messages go unheeded andthe pilot and crew either get a free para-chute ride or end up in a tangle of wing.;and twisted props on some lonely hillside.

Army Flight Control will be nation-wide in its 'operations by December .')1.19-1). On June 1. 19.1) it was activatedin the Seattle and Boston Flight ControlCenters. Early in July four more centerswent into action, in the New York City.Washington, D. C, and the Oaklan'dand Burbank. Calif., areas. Several othercenters were to be activated this month.Base operations offices can inform pilot,of areas in which Flight Control is offer-ing the Pilot's Advisory Service and pilotsshould plan their flights accordingly.

Full use of radio facilities is part of th<:essential training of the yount' pilot andhis crew. It is force of habit with theolder and more experienced pilots. Useyour radio; tune in on every radio rangeon your route. You may be the pilot theyare trying to locate. And use the Pilot'sAdvisory Service whenever you passthrough an area where it is offered. j~

33

THE PAPUAN CAMPAIGNWHEN the Papuan campaign ended

in January, 1913, with the Alliedoccupation of Buna, Gona Mission andthe Sanananda sector, and the completedestrmtion of Genera! Horii's army, therecame to a close the first fully inreuraredland-air offensive ever undertaken byUnited States forces,

The action was most signifiGlnt. Airpower was used to its highest advantage,not according to old and narrow conceptsof air support but with an eye to all itsman ifol d functions.

In fact, the tr~lilsport of ground troopsand supplies over difficult terrain with ,1

vast resultant saving of time and life wasconccdedlv the air 'arm's most importantcontrihution to the victory. Bombardmentand strafing operations were relentlessand effective. But always they were sub-ordinate to the mass hauling hy air ofground troops, artillery weapons andsupplies.

Prol.ablv sixty percent of the Alliedground troops were flown by air across theOwen Stan lev Range and were landed freshand in full force close to the battle lines.The troops flown to combat amounted,conservatively. to a full division.

Our aircraft also transported jeeps, ma-chine guns, Befors, 25-pounders and evensome 105 howitzers. Other supplies weredropped continuously. Our record daysaw approximately 350 tons transported,and a fair daily average would he around115 tons. The distance was 110 miles

34

from Port Moresby to the front.H was this campaign, moreover, that

witnessed our first mass air evacuation ofcasualties. All Allied sick and woundedwere flown back across the mountains, ac-complishing in less than an hour a jour-ney which normally would have recluireda couple of weeks by donkey-back.

While no comparative figures arc avail-able, it is believed that our air unitshauled more-on a per ton-mile hasis-than the Germans at any time in this war.

Proper evaluation of the Papuan cam-paign calls for a brief review of its de-velopment and of ,the circumstances withwhich our forces were confronted.

Strewn along a New Guinea beach are Jap.barges wrecked in an Allied raid. Heavy

strafing has stripped the palm trees.

How the U. S. Army launchedits first great land-air offen-sive across the Owen StanleyRange.

On July 21-22, 1942, the first units ofa Japanese army under General Horiisucceeded in landiru; at Gona Mission.Allied air action against the Jap navalunit of three tr.insports, lwo lighl crui:ers and three destroyers was intense butinsufficient to prevent the beaching ofsome 4,400 troops and supplies. Onetransport was set afire and l.er.unc knownas the "Coria Wreck," to be used laterby the Japanese in an interesting manner.

This J'lp army W:IS subscqucntlv rein-forced by several thousand additional menand by September 27 had crossed theOwen Stanley Range, driving to within32 miles of Port Moresby.

Here Allied resistance stiffcned and astrong defensive position was establishedat Iorabaiwa Ridge.

11' is noteworthv that the Japanese nevergained air superiority. From July 2019i~, to January 23, 19cJ3, they raidcdPort Moresby only about thirty lime;with no re.i llv serious results and mo-lested our gr~unl! forces on\; occasionally. Our .ur units lurassed their drome,at Bun,l and elsewhere, knocke,\ out n1<111\enemy aircraft and later, when our of-fensi;e was under way, completely domi-nated the skv.

However, 'before our air power couldbe brought into full play, it was neces-sary to recapture the landing field atKokoda, on the enemy's side of the OwenStanley Mountains.

Thi~ was a slow, costly process. Groundunits had to drive the Jap back up thejungle track, wiping him out of ravinesand pockets in dense foJ iage where ob-servation was always difficult. Six weekswere consumed before our troops suc-ceeded in fighting back across a gap inthe range to take Kokoda on November 2.

By November 1 a landing strip at Ko-koda was ready for our use and suppl iesfor our troops began to be flown in. TheJaps retreated six miles or so down theKokoda-Wairopc track to make a standat Oivi, but they were subjected to suchheavy ground attack and strafing from theair by Beaufichters and A-20s that onNovember 11' they were forced out ofOivi with considerable losses.

In this phase of the operation, our air-men kept the enemy's supply lines underdaily attack. Particularly heavy bornbin sand strafing of Wairope, Kakendetta, Popondetta, Soputa, Sanananda and Bun.iwas done by A-20s, Beaufighters and B-2()s.

One of the important troop transportoperations began on November 5. Ameri-can units were flown from the Australianmainland to Port Moresby and from there

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

Rifles and ammunition salvaged in action aroundBuna are brought back by air to an Allied base.

across the mountain range to the eastcoast of Papua, at Wanigela Mission. ByNovember 15 the whole force with itssupplies had been landed at Wanigela,from where it set out on foot for Buna.

THE Japs had obtained some reinforce-ments but these represented only a frac-tion of their casualties. Reports at theend of November indicated that someS.OOO to 9,()OO of their troops were dead,wounded, sick or missing, and that theirforce had been reduced from appr oxi-mately lc,,()()() to, at most,LOOO. GeneralHorii had drowned in a crossing of theKumusi River.

After the defeat at Oivi, the next realstand made by the Japanese was on thecoast east of Soput.i. Enemy resistancewas soon reduced to three sectors: Buna,Sanananda-Soputa and Gona Mission.

Gona Mission was the first to fall. TheJaps held strongly defended positionsand, despite the fact that our A-20s, P-40sand Bcaufighters reduced all buildings towreckage and repeatedly strafed theirlines, stubborn resistance continued untilfJlied ground troop reinforcements wereflown right into the forward area. Theyvcnt Jirectly into action and Gona Mis-sion was finally occupied on December 9.

At Buna there were two fronts-the"New Strip" area and the Giruwa Vil-lage area. In the former, the Japs hadsturdy pillboxes impervious to 81 mmmortars and 25-pounders. Tanks, how-ever, finally broke the deadlock.

Resistance around Giruwa was also ob-durate until the enemy was overwhelmedwith fresh troops flown from PortMoresby to nearby Dobudara.

Air attacks had leveled the Buna Gov-ernment Station and other buildings toashes (although much credit for this de-struction must go also to the 25-poundersof the artillery). But it was not until

"A New Form of CampaignGeneral Douglas Mac Arthur issued the follow-

ing statement on January 24, 19.13:

"The destruction of remnants of the enemyforces in the 5anananda area concludes thePapuan campaign. The Horfi army (lieu-tenant General Tomatore Horii commandedthe estimated 15,000 Japanese troops inPapua) has been annihilated.

"The outstanding military lesson of thiscampaign was the continuous, calculatedapplication of air power inherent in thepotentialities of every component of the airforces employed in the most intimate tac-tical and logistical union with groundtroops.

"The effect af this modern instrumental-ity was sharply accentuated by the geo-graphical limitations of this theater. Formonths on end, air transport with constantfighter coverage moved complete infantryregiments and artillery battalions acrossthe almost impenetrable mountains andiung les of Papua and the reaches of thesea, transported field hospitals and otherbase installations to the front, supplied thetroops and evacuated casualties.

"For hundreds of miles bombers providedall-around reconnaissance, protected thecoast from hostile naval intervention andblasted the way for the infantry as it droveforward.

"A new form of campaign was testedwhich points the way to the ultimate de-feat of the enemy in the Pacific.

"The offensive and defensive power ofthe air and the adaptability, range andcapacity of its transport in an effectivecombination with ground forces representtactical and strategical elements of abroadened conception of warfare that willpermit the application of offensive powerin swift, massive strokes rather than thedilatory and cosily island-to-island advancethat some have assumed to be necessaryin a theatre where the enemy's far flungstrongholds are dispersed throughout a vastexpanse of archipelagos.

UAir forces and ground forces werewelded together in Papua, and when insufficient strength with proper naval sup-port, their indissoluble union points theway to victory through new and broadenedstrategic and tactical conceptions."

tanks and other ground units had forcedwithdrawals from the pillboxes and hadcaptured the Buna drome, driving theJaps into a grove on Giropa Point, thatan end was finally brought to the enemy'sresistance in this sector on January 3.

The Sanananda-Soputa sector was themost difficult of the three. Here the Japsheld out until January 23. Our aircraftpounded the area relentlessly, making ita mass of bomb craters and wreckage.from November 2 to January 23 therewere 43 missions directed against Sana-nanda. These included strafing operationsby Beaufightcrs, A-20s and P--lOs, andbombing by 13.25s, 13-26s and B-17s.

THE Japs held on doggedly however,in an area about .t mile in diameter. evenafter they had been surrounded. But theywere at last broken up into small pocket~,which gradu,l1ly succumbed to our groundtroops. Except for minor mopping-upactivities, the campaign ended on janu-ary 23 with the Allies in complete pos-session of Papua.

Air power had contributed to the suc-cess of this offensive in three principalways: the transport of troops and sup-plies; the prevention of worthwhile rein-forcement, and the harassment of enemysupply lines.

These operations, all under the direc-tion of Major General Ennis C. White-head, commanding the advance echelonof the 5th Air Force with headquartersat Port Moresby, were accomplished inthe face of severe weather conditions anddifficult terrain.

The Owen Stanley Mountains rise to14,000 feet at certain points and almostalways the ceiling above the range is low.Rain falls every day in this area, with asmuch as forty inches a year at Moresbyand perhaps triple that in the mountains.Also, there are tremendous thunderheads

3S

NEWGUINEA

AUSTRALIA

running up to 25,000 feet or more. Mostof our flying was done between daylightand noon.

Customary ideas of air support had tobe dispensed with, since it was extremelylinr.] to define targets. The japs rarelypresented massed troops against which todirect attack and because of the jungleobservation was always difficult frc-qucnt lv impossible. Results could rarelybe determined.

In bombing and strafing operations ourair units had to attack well ahead of ourown ground forces to avoid casualties.The l~ost c:ffective means by which enemytargets could be defined was through useof smoke shells.

Conditioned by these circumstances,our combat operations developed alongthe following lines:

P-39s am!'p-'lOs were assigned the bulkof our fi,<.;hter work. Strafing was carriedout prinrip.il ly by P-40s, A-20s, B-25sand B-2()s, in concert with such Alliedplanes as Beaufighters. Heavy bombers,including B-17s, were utilized chiefly toattack convoys and prevent successful re-inforcement of the enemy.

Our A-20s, B-2,)s aml B-2()s droppedmany demolition bombs on build invs andstorehouses, with much resultant d'~-;ILlge,and dropped an unusual number of frag-mentation bombs on Japanese troop con-centrations. Bornbardrncn t operations,however, cannot be considered of vast im-

36

portance. It is probable that, under thedifficult conditions affecting observationand tar zet definition, field artillery wouldhave b~~n more effective had it been pos-sible to get enough of it into forwardpositions.

All combat missions were flown fromPort Moresby, 1] 0 miles south of themain battle area and across the OwenStanley Range. Scant fighter opposit ionwas encountered. There were some Zerosand other planes based at Burin, but manyhad been destroyed on the ground beforethe offensive actual Iv was bet!un.

While Jap figl{ter opp~sition wasmcauer, their anti-aircraft lire \vas some-thing else again. At many points it wasquite heavy and was used adroitly. Anti-aircraft guns were continually beiru;shifted fr~m one emplacement t~ anoth;rfor purposes of surprise and were natur-ally well-concealed.

The "Gona 'V{T reck" was transformedinto an anti-aircraft position which, de-spite repeated bombings and strafings,was effective r itrht to the end of thePapuan campaigl~.

Our air attacks certainly contributedmuch to the final victory. During No-vember extensive destruction of supplydumps and gasoline drums was accorn-

plished, numerous barges and nativecanoes being used by the e:1emy werestrafed and set afi rc, and the Buna Dromewas rendered vi.tua llv useless.

During December' two large-sc:de at-tempts t~ land reinforcements were op-posed by our air units. And, while sometroops were put ashore in both instances,the attempts were not in themselves verysuccessful. Of the J;lpanese who landedmany were destroyed by strafing, severalbarges were sunk or burned, and theirstores, drawn up on the beach, were leftsmoldering. What probably was anotherreinforcement attempt, in January, wa sbroken up far to the north nc.i r Lac.

Despite the acknowledged importanceof these and other opc r.u ions, however, itis c1e:11'that in view of the bad weatherand b:ld terrain the handlin e of groundl!nits v.as the key to the {it~~d OL;tcome.It was in the t~ar;sport of such units andtheir supplies that our air power wasmost useful.

Loading and unloading of transportsW,IS handled by crews of the groundunits, arid the work went smoothly fromthe very outset. Bulky equipment was in-variably broken down into small loadsfor expeditious handling.

The planes used were mostly converted

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

DC-2s, DC-3s and C-47s, all flown bypilots with troop carrier training. Land-ing fields were built quickly as ourground units progressed. No mats wereused, for our engineers found it fairlysimple to construct strips in the opensavannahs of the area merely by cuttingthe grass and doing a slight amount ofleveling. This situation obtained only inthe Buna area, however.

Throughout the Papuan campaIgn,

Japanese OppOSItIOn was extremely de-termined. They were hopelessly outnum-bered and knew it, as the rather patheticentries in their diaries revealed. But theyfought fiercely and with high morale.

Had our ground forces been requiredto march 110 miles through jungle andover mountains to reach the front, hadwe not been able to transport by air suf-ficient reinforcements to bring about rela-tively quick decisions in certain areas, the

loss of Allied life and materiel againstthis stern opposition would have been in-finitely greater. And there is no estimat-ing the amount of time that would havebeen consumed in gaining the victory.

Thus, the Papuan campaign, first large-scale demonstration of a modern ground-air offensive by the U. S. Army, waseminently successful and was-e-tc groundand air officers alike~an impressive pre-view of things to come. *

••• _* - .• __y_____=_ .w •

n. What is a landfall?a. Hitting the earth from a para.

chute jumpb. A complete victory over the

enemyc. Sighting land when you come

in from over waterd. A term describing the hill-end-

dale-like nature of the terrain

J2. Four Air Forces have per-manent Headquarters in theUnited States. Associateeach with its proper Ieee-tion.a. 1st Air Force b. 2nd Air Forcec. 3rd Air Force d. 4th Air Force1. Tampa. Florida2. Mitchel Field. New York3. San Francisco. California4. Colorad'o Springs. Colorado.

J3. What is the shortest air dis-tance from Dutch Harbor toTokyo?a. 2840 miles b. 2260 milesc. 3185 miles d. 1900 miles

14. Find the error in the follow-ing statementThe navigator in the P-39 watchedthe lead plane chandelle up. doan Immelmann. a half.roll. and divesteeply away.

J5. Army nurses, no matterwhat their rank, are neversaluted by enlisted men.a. True b. False

J6. March Field is located ina. Texas b. Californiac. Louisiana d. Georgia

J7. In the AAF the word "mo-saic" most commonly referstoa. A reconnaissance planeb. A temple in Indiac. A composite photograph formed

by matching a number of photo-graphs of contiguous partstaken from the air

d. A tribe of Arabs in NorthAfrica friendly to flyers

J8. Identify this airplane:

..-.... _ ...

8. You are low over the oceanin enemy territory and yourdrift meter isn't working.How can you determinewind velocity?a. Call nearest weather stationb. Watch the white capsc. Wet your finger and stick it out

of the side of the planed. Throw something out of the

ship and watch it fall

9. When a newly commissionedofficer receives his first sa-lute, he traditionallya. Initiates an additional saluteb. Never returns the first salutec. Pays out a dollard. Buys a drink

JO. What is wave bombing?a. Torpedo attacks made by drop.

ping bombs on the wavetopsb. Coming in low over the wavesc. Attacking a target in waves

of planesd. Using 100 pounders and lneen-

diaries

Here's another quest for information,please. Chalk up five points for eachquestion correctly answered. If youscore Ninety, the next higher rank isnone too good for you. Eighty is excel-lent; seventy, good; sixty, fair, and fifty,below par. Watch out for the flak.Answers are on Page 44.

5. An aviation cadet namedSmith is addresseda. Cadet Smith b. Smithc. Mister Smith d. Candidate Smith

6. What is the recommendedway to thaw a frozen hand?a. Use hot waterb. Rub snow on itc. Exercise vigorously and allow

blood to warm itd. Put it under your armpit or be-

tween your legs

7. Identify this airplane:

1. What ;$ the armament inthe B-17 belly turret?a. One .30 and one .50 caliber

machine gunb. Two .50 caliber machine gunsc. Two .30 caliber machine gunsd. One .50 caliber machine gun

and one .20 mm cannon

2. When an enemy fighter, justout of range, starts to comein, what is the best thingfor an aerial gunner to do?a. Hold your fire until he closes

so as not to waste valuableammunition

b. Give him a burst and let himknow you see him even thoughyou can't hit him

c. Call out his position and lookaround for other enemy planes

d. Apply for Officers CandidateSchool

3. What is pilotage?a. Flying by use of maps and ree-

ognition pointsb. The 26 year old age limit es-

tablished for AAF pilotsc. The approved method of flying

through an overcastd. Elements of flying taught in

pre.f1ight school

4. The best way to prepareyour eyes for night flyingIs bya. Putting a patch over one eyeb. Looking steadily at a red light

for approximately ten minutesc. Wearing night adapter goggles

for about half an hourd. Eating lima beans

AIR FORCE, September, 1943 37

The notched knob atleft must be orientedwith break in lighted"e" flashed acrossthe room. Recorder(below) clicks wheQthe setting is correct.

'ott\taG .

Bif <J. -/I. B Mcldo./JWRIGHT FIELD

A NIGHT vision testing machine thatdetermines the ability of soldiers to

see objects at night is now in use, andmay soon be placed in the Army's classi-fication centers and gunnery schools. Themachine was largely developed at theAero- Medical Laboratory at Wright Field.

Earlier in the war it was discovered thatairmen who made the poorest scores innight vision tests generally returned totheir bases with the poorest night combatresults. This finding immediately stimu-lated extensive study of the peculiaritiesof night vision.

Scientists recently have discovered thatan entirely different part of the eye isused to spot objects at night than duringthe day. One can see objects most dis-tinctly at night by looking, not at but toeitber srd e of an object, while during theday the clearest image is obtained bylooking directly at the object.

Here's how scientists explain the phe-nomenon:

The eye has two different sets of nerveelements, cones and rods. The cones, lo-cated in the center of the retina, make itpossible to see objects in daylight orunder artificial lighting. Through them,colors and fine details can easily be dis-tinguished. The cones are concentrated inthe center of the retina and are scatteredthinly toward the periphery. These cones

38

are of practically no use in discerningobjects in dim light.

The rods, on the other hand, are mostnumerous toward the periphery, awayfrom the center of the eye. For thisreason, objects are distinguished at nightby the rods because they are about 1,000times more sensitive than the cones indim light. Perception of color and detailis a function of the cones, rods are goodonly for spotting objects in dim light.

Hence, under darkened conditions, ob-jects can best be seen by looking to oneside-from five to ten degrees off center.The cones in the center of the eye con-stitute a "blind spot" at night which fewindividuals know they possess.

ARMY scientists at Wright Field's Aero-Medical Laboratory, working with thenew night vision tester, discovered thatthe lowest-scoring individuals of anygroup tested need approximately tentimes more light to discern objects atnight than do the highest-scoring in-dividuals.

translated into combat terms, thismeans that lowest-scoring airmen see anobject only if it is twice as large as thatsame object viewed by men with the high-est scores. In more vital terms, it meansthat those having the best ni~ht visioncan see an enemy plane at twice the dis-

tance than those with the poorest. Thismay well mean the difference betweensuccess and failure of a mission.

According to the scientists who devel-oped the machine, the average individualhas a wide range of night vision and,moreover, men from the country have amore highly developed sense of nightvision than those from the city. Experi-ments have shown that five percent of anygroup taking a night vision test for thefirst time fail in the test because they can-not immediately accustom their eyes tolooking at an object off-center instead ofsquarely in the middle. Less than onepercent, however, fail the test entirelyafter being given a second chance.

The night vision testing machine,which will enable the Army to classify itsmen as to their night vision aptitude, con-sists of two parts: a rotating white disc(located twenty feet from the subject be-ing tested), in the center of which is ablack letter "C" with a one-inch break init, and a manual recorder with a C-shaped knob which the individual mustmatch with the "C' on the revolving disc.

During the test, the rotating whitecircle with its black "C" stops fortytimes, each time in a different position.The duration of each stop is seven sec-onds, and after each stop is an interval ofnine seconds of darkness. At first, the

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

Lighted "C" flashed on screen.

You don't have to be endowed-with cat eyes to see obiects atnight. This tells you why. and howyou can best adapt your eyes fornight vision.

white circle is f.rir lv hright. hut with eachsucceeding five slC;ps the 'light hcromesmore faint so that bvt h« time the test isconcluded, only thos~ with superior nightvision c.in ddect the roun.] patch of li,l.(hl.There are eil.(ht kvcl-. of hr iuhtncss, eachlevel with fi\e successi\(' ,t~ps arid c.u li>lop in a diiTcrent I,o,ition.

Dur ins; the «vcn «x on.ls that thewhite cil:cle is illumin.uc.i. the indivi.lualmust plclle the "C' knob which he isoperatin,l.( in the idcntic.1] position of the'C" shown at the other end of the ma-chine. \X/hen the li,!.(ilt ,l.(oes orl. he is per-miitc.d .uiot hcr three seconds in which tomake a (IU ick c1un,l.(e on the recorder ifhe feels he might li.ive made ,1I1 error.An electrical impulse then registerswhether he has correctly coordinated thetwo Cs. J.arh of the correct m.uchim« isrecorded and the total store at the e~d ofthe test reveals his r.u inu. /\ rl ick lets thestudent know whether' he lus "hit them.uk" c.u h time the m.uh inc rel.(istels.

On the present system of scoring, thoseJ,;dting from 31 to 10, inclusivc , are .il-ove;I\('r,l,l.(e: those with scores from 21 tO)o,avcr.u;c : those from 11 to 20, belowaveLl~e. and Jess than I 1, unsatisfactory.

It ~uluires half '111 hour for one's dyesto hecome accustomed to seeing objects indim light. Therefore. men taking the testarc either pLiced in a .l.rrk room for thatlcncth of time hefore the test is hel.(un, orthe}' .i re eCjuipped with red goggle~whichachieve the same effect.

The night vision tester is operated by asingle individual who can test from 250to 300 persons a day. i'~AIR FORCE, September, 1943

Bif Maj. qen. 'k/a/ie4 dI. IJ)lUi-nhCOMMANDING GENERAL, AIR SERVICE COMMAND.

KHP 'EM FLYING - everybody hasadopted this slogan. But the Air

Service Command is really in the business.The Command's mission is "to maintainthe maximum possible percentage of air-cr.i l t furnished the Army Air forces incombat readiness." And the activity of theASC is it business. On Decernber 16,1912, the ASC was re~rgwized on thatbasis-"the artivit ies of the Air ServiceCommand arc more closely related tothose of business management than ofmilitary operation; the Air Service Com-mand is an industrial organization man-aged by the military."

This is big business, too. Eight monthsago figures on the ASC far exceeded com-parahle ones for General Motors, re-pUkdly the world's biggest corporation.The Command had more personnel andwarcliousc space, and it handled morematerial.

The ASC is operated by 300,000 civil-ians, and the military management consistsof approximately fl,OOO officers. Another7,000 olJicers and 1 'jO,OOO enlisted menarc under its command being trained forCommand activities overseas. The civilianpersonnel represent eighty percent of thetotal civilian employees of the AAF. Incontrast to employees of most other govern-ment agencies, only a very small percentageof these civilians arc stenographers andclerks. In the ASC they are highly skilledmechanics, technicians, engineers, admin-istrative assistants and executives, The of-ficers, excepting those with service groups,air depot poups and the related trainingactivities, were commissioned mainly fromresponsible positions with our large peace-time corporations.

These officers bring their experience and

40

knowledge immediately to bear on theirjob and find a minimum of military pro-cedure to deal with. The problems theyfind in the ASC may be bigger than thoseto which they were usually accustomed,and time is always pressing, but the prin-ciples arc similar and the solution" ofsome of these problems have given theCommand better systems of property con-trol and maintenance methods than haveever before existed. In fact, when aerialpuddle-jumpers become commonplace afterthe war, the ASC will already havesolved, in principle, the problems of sup-ply and maintenance in the age of flight.The ASC has already trained enough per-sonnel to give such industry a good ex-perience level.

How the world's largest "cor-poration" functions under a

decentralization program.The Air Service Command is the typi.

cal expression of modern war. Its organ-ization illustrates the fact that a distinc-tion between industrial activity and mili-tary operations is no longer clear-cut. TheCommand represents a merger and it suc-cessfully transfuses industrial experienceand etfort into military action.

Having recognized' its status as an in-dustrial organization, the ASC has aban-doned the traditional military staff andintroduced a component into the armedforces which embodies a new concept. Itwas found that the staff organization wasnot adapted to ASC operations. The ac-tivities of the Command did not dividethemselves along the lines of the usualstaff functions but of the functions ofsupply, maintenance, and personnel and

trarrung. Experience at sub-depots andcontrol depots had shown that this was anatural grouping. Our headquarters fol-lowed suit. The real change effected inthe ASC headquarters was not in thealia ndonmont of staffs as such, becausetheir functions are still exercised some-where among the divisions, special sec-tions and administrative otticers; it W,lS

the decentralization of authority at thesame echelon. The commanding generaldesignated those officers who formerlyhad been his advisers only, to be defi-nitely responsible for certain functions,and gave them sufficient authority to dis-charge this responsibility. And now whenhe requires advice his experts arc at hand.Overall planning was established as afunction of the control of/icc.

A standard or-ranizat ioual frameworkwas developed a~d al! echelons of theASC were o,g,ll1ized alike. The chiefs ofthe divisions at Command headquarterswere the big operators and h,ld the re-sponsibility for their respective functionsthroughout the entire Command. Thissame relation exists between all compo-nents at any echelon. Thus, activities whichhad been traditionally organized along theconcept of installation or command wereorganized vertically without regard tolocation.

THE idea of management was intro-duced to the ASC with specialists in or-ganization, procedures and adruinistrativepractices. The commanding general wasprovided ,1 control room where the statusof his program was portrayed and all theinformation leading to necessary decisionswas available. The control room of theASC, which is closely guarded became

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

AIR SERVICE COMMAND

COMMANDING GENERAL

EXECUTIVE SPECIALOffiCE INfORMATION

OffiCE

I DEPUTY COMMANDER I

~ CONTROL LIAISONOfflC E

I II BUDGET & fISCAL I JUDGE ADJUTANT I I INSPECTOR INTELLIGENCE HQ. lOffICE ADVOCATE G EN ERAL G EN ERAL OffiCE CO M MANDANT

I I ICHIEF CHIEF CHIEf

I I II I I

SIGNAL SECTIONSUPPLY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEl ANO ENGINEER SECTIONOIVISION DIVISION TRAINING OIVISION

ORONANCE SECTIONTRANSPORTATION SECTIONQUARTERMASTER SECTION

; MEOICAL SECTIONCH EMICAL WARfARE SECTIONfiNANCE SECTIONCHAPLAIN'S SECTION

*AREA *AREAAIR SERVICE COMMANDS

fAIRfiElD AIR SERVICE CO.MMANDMIDDLETOWN COMMANDING GENERALMOBILEOODEN SPECIALOKlAIiOMA cln EXECUTIVE INfORMATIONROME OffiCE OFfI C ESACRAMENTOSAN ANTONIOSAN 8ERNADIND I ASSISTANT ISPOKANE COMMANDING GENERALWARNER ROBINS

OTHER ACTIVITIESNEW YORK AIR SERVICE

PORT AREA COMMAND ---i CONTROL SUB-DEPOTMIAMI AIR DEPOT OFFICE COORDINATOR

I IIBUDGET & FISCAL JUDGE ADJUTANT I llNSPECTOR INTElLIGENCE BASE IOffiCE ADVOCATE G EN ERAL G EN ERAL OffiCE COMMANDER

I I ICIlIEF CHIEF CIlIEF

I I II I I

SUPPLY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEl AND SIGNAL SECTIONDIVISION DIVISION TRAINING DIVISION ENGINEER SECTION

ORDNANCE SECTIONTRANSPORTATION SECTIONQUARTERMASTER SECTIONMEDICAL SECTIONCHEMICAL WARFARE SECTIONfiNANCE SECTIONCHAPLAIN'S SECTI ON

I AAf AAF I UNITED AAF IAIR SECTION I I I I AIR I AIRSERVICE I SEPARATE ISUPPLY STORAGE NATIONS INTRANSIT PORT Of SUB-DEPOTS BASES DEPOT GROUPS UNITS

DEPOTS DEPOTS DEPOTS OEPOTS EMBARK. GROUPS

AIR FORCE, September, 1943 41

of the nature of the Command's activities,probably presents as complete a picture ofthe AAF program and operations as existsoutside of Washington.

The committee type of operation wasadopted. Instead of a piece of paper, out-lining a proposal, being routed through aseries of officers for comment and thenback again when the comments have beenconsidered, the responsible persons areinformed of the problem and called as acommittee; final decision is obtained with-out further delay. The flood of paperworkbetween echelons was reduced by the ap-plication of straightline control and per-sonal contact between echelons.

Most AAF personnel are familiar withthe ASC through contact with sub-depotswhich are only the terminal activities ofthis Command in the United States. Asa result, they frequently arc unaware ofthe huge activities which support thesesub-depots and keep the supplies flowingoverseas. More supplies are now requiredoverseas than in the United States. Thesupply division has devised automaticsupply tables, pack-ups and ingeniouscrating procedures. The automatic supplytables are lists of supplies by type air-plane for a certain number of combatunits, usually thirty- to ninety-day periods,and are shipped without requisition inaccordance with movements of plane. Op-erations from various theatres and changesin design of plane cause these tables to beconstantly under revision, and the ASCsends observers overseas to report on thesematters. Pack-ups represent a method ofputting supplies together for special pur-poses, eliminating unnecessary unpackingand recrating on the other side and spe-cial requisitions.

In the United States the supply divi-sion has numerous depots for special pur-poses and by teletype controls the dis-tribution of hundreds of thousands ofitems. If a part is required for a plane outof commission and the sub-depot is con-tacted, it is not just the sub-depot facili-ties that are being tapped but the wholesupply setup in the ASC, because if thatpart is available anywhere in the UnitedStates it can he located immediately on thesame network system of property control.

But these operations are routine anddo not represent the magnitude of thesupply division's task. The real problemof the division is to analyze consumptiondata, study strategical problems and tac-tical operations in order to determineproj ected requirements for planes of theAAF, and those furnished our Alliesunder lend-lease. The job of preparing aspare parts consumption list for a newtype of plane is so difficult in itself as tobe mostly "by guess and by God," but therevisions necessitated by experience andchanges of design in the plane after ithas been in combat all over the globestagger the imagination. By the time astock is established it may be obsolete.

42

But the supply division is on a day-to-day basis and is in constant contact withmanufacturers, returning obsolete parts tothe production line and flying criticalparts directly away. It is safe to say thatnowhere in the world is so much mate-rial on such a fluid basis.

PERHAPS the best way to explain whatthe maintenance division does is to beginby saying that this division at Commandheadquarters receives all UnsatisfactoryReports and issues all Technical Orders.Whenever there are American planesthere are T.O.s. They are almost a part ofthe plane itself and those who operateaircraft must be as familiar with them asthey are with the planes and their tools.The job of publishing T.O.s is probablythe biggest continuous editorial activityin the world. T.O.s are printed in all lan-guages of our Allies to accompany lend-lease aircraft. They arc distributed toevery part of the world where there is anAmerican plane. Most frequently this isaccomplished by microfilm sent to over-seas activities where reproduction and dis-tribution are handled by publication ccn-

"Gatta Get Those Spares"

ters. The sheer bulk of T.O.s is not ofgreat significance; it is their standard oftechnical excellence and accuracy whichrepresents a publishing feat. furthermore,it is not their world-wide circulationwhich is really impressive but the effi-ciency of the distribution system and therapidity with which it can be effected.

The story of Unsatisfactory Reports isprobably the most dramatic aspect of theASC. It is these thin red sheets of paperthat come into headquarters at the rate of8,000 a month which frequently tell astory beginning with some pilot's death,the end of which will be the saving ofmany of his comrades' lives. These URsare the means by which the collective ex-perience of thousands of pilots and me-chanics may be brought into the solutionof the deficiencies of our aircraft and thusenable their constant improvement.

But the maintenance division is farfrom being a paperwork organization. Itsshops perform third and fourth echelonmaintenance on all AAF planes. Produc-tion lines of aircraft industries may makethe plane but the maintenance divisionmakes it over again two or three times in

its career. Maintenance activities extendfrom the repair of the most delicate in-struments in the world to the replace-ment of whole wings on the biggestplanes, and from air-conditioned instru-ment shops to canvas maintenance shel-ters in the middle of the desert. The head-quarters of the maintenance division maybe in Dayton, Ohio, but it is affected byweather conditions all over the globe~sandstorms on the desert and the cold ofthe Arctic. A small army of manufac-turers' representatives is in all parts ofthe world acclimating their type of planesto the combat conditions encountered andreporting back to the maintenance divi-sion and their companies.

The maintenance division does thework and the supply division furnishesmaterials with which the work is done,but it is the personnel and training divi-sion that supplies both the men who sup-ply the materials and the men who dothe job.

Obtaining trained civilian personnel isnow out of the question. In fact, it ishard to obtain personnel of any sort, andthe men who have been trained throughthe years are being drafted. Consequently,the personnel and training division nowrelies almost entirely on the procurementof women who are then trained in thecomplicated terhrriques of aircraft repairand maintenance. Thirty-nine percent ofour present employees arc women.

The problem of employment in theASC is complicated by the fact that ourinstallations are, of military necessity, re-moved from the large centers of popula-tion, with consequent housing and trans-portation problems. In the face of themany difficulties surrounding our relianceon civilian personnel for basic operations,the personnel and training division hascome to be a sociological service spendingalmost as much time with the problems ofhousing, transportation and recreation aswith the routine personnel procedures.But, as the largest employer of civilianpersonnel in the AAF, the ASC is makingevery effort to comply with the spirit anddirectives of the War Manpower Com-mission. The policy of utilizing civiliansin order to release soldiers was adoptedyears ago and today every emphasis ison the improvement of functional effi-ciency in order to effect savings in man-power. Stenographic pools and a systemof office management have been estab-lished. Occupational Standards are thebasis of all personnel actions and the uscof machines in all operations such as thepreparation of payrolls is universal.

Yet civilian personnel does not repre-sent the division's primary responsibilitywhich is to furnish trained ASC groupsand air depot groups for overseas service.These units are probably the largest andthe most complicated of the basic organ-ization in the AAF, if not in the whole

(Continued on Page 55)

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

* * * * * *

IN THEATRE OF OPERATIONS

THESE SUPPLIESFORWARDED

DIRECT TOCOMBAT SOUAD.

RONS OR TO-- SERVICE--

CENTER

t----~~----1I----~

'"s ~00

"" zg', ~0::;

~ !212. ~

/" ~+. .r<:~ /1>8COM""'S,""" ~~ .I \ ~ ~C"COMM'~A"~

~ ~ 1ST & 2ND ECHELON MAINT. & SUPPLY

iHESE SUPPLIESFORWARDED

DIRECT TOCOMBAT SQUAD..

RONS OR TO-- SERVICE -- -- SERVICE CEN

CENTER

~---I

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

A I R 5 E R v I c E c o M M A N D43

(Confinued from Page 7)

BE READY FOR ANYTHING

their bodies. Soldiers who weren't killedby the blasts were' finished off by Marine:,ayonets.

'We worked closely with the Marinesand Navy all the time," explains Lan-phier. "And raids would be made bygroups of planes. Sometimes, for example,we would fly along at 30,000 feet in P- 3Hs,with ,l flight of P-40s several thousandfeet below us and perhaps some GruI11-mans sever.tl thousand feet below them.

"We were so high, in fact, that it wasentirely possible Ior the Grummans to getinto a scrap without our seeing or know-ing, thing about it. When they wantedto ric .s, they called tbe P- 3H a 'high-altitude fox hole.'

"But, seriously, everybody out thereknows that the P- 3H is good, and farsuperior to the Zero. It Ius an exceed-ingly fast rate of climh, high speed, longrange an.] its guns throw plenty of lead.And it's pretty sweet having two engineswhen one gets shot out miles from homeand the other brings you back."

That business of getting back, say bothMitchell and Lanphier, really taxes apilot's ability.

In the Solomons campaign missionswere long and were flown in all kinds ofweather. Time and ,Ht,lin, planes wouldgo out on escort under extremely hazard-ous conditions and upon their return haveto land after dark in a heavy rainstormwith no landing lights. Enemy bases werealways close and the Japs alwa.ys out-numbered our aerial forces by four orfive or six to one.

"Both living and fighting conditionswere a.bout as tough as I want to seethem," said Lanphier. "But don't forget,

ANSWERS TO QUIZ ON PAGE 371. (h) Two .50 caliher machine guns.2. (h) Givc him a burst and let him

know you see him even though youcan't hit him.

3. (a) Flying hy use of maps and rcc-ognition points.

4. (c) Wearing night adapter gogglesfor ahout half an hour.

5. (c) Mister Smith.6. (d) Put it under your armpit or

between your legs. 7. Spitfire.8. (h) Watch the white caps.9. (c) Pays out a dollar.

10. (c) Attacking a tHget in waves ofplanes.

11. (c) Sighting land when you corne infrom over water.

12. First Air Force, Mitchel Field, NewYork; Second Air Force, ColoradoSprings, Colorado: Third Air Force,Tampa, Florida: Fourth Air Force,San Francisco, California.

n. (a) 2840 miles.t,L There is no navigator in a P-39.IS. (h) False. 16. (h) California.17. (c) A composite photograph formed

by ma tchiug a number of photographsof contiguous parts taken from theair. 18. Lancaster.

44

it's dl1l'd)'J going to be rugged for afighter pilot. As this war moves into newareas our men will again have bad foodand bad quarters and will again be out-numbered, probably. That sort of thingcan't be helped. All you on do~asMitch says~is be ready for it."

"That raises another point," addedMitchell. "Phvsical condition. I can'ttell you how important it is for a man tohe in shape when he gets to the front.

"In the Pacific, for example, it wasterribly hot all the time. Many a mancame out there in poor physical conditionand got sick. You just can't fly whenyou're sick, though lots of them try andas a result get hurt or killed.

"Especially new men. They don't wantother pilots to th ink they have lost theirnerve. So they conceal their illness, takeotf when they should be in bed, and toooften don't come back.

"If yOll .i:c in shape and have storedup plenty of physical energy, the chancesare you won't get sick at all."

Mitchell paused briefly, his face troubledand serious.

"Here's a tough thing to talk about,"he said finally, "but it's the truth andshould be realized. The majority of pilotswho get lost arc lost on their first two orthree missions.

"Perhaps they grow rattled and leavea formation. Perhaps they're sick. Per.haps they don't know their equipmentwell enough and something goes wrong.Perhaps they are not familiar enough withthe ship itself, with its climbing or turn-ing capabilities. Acrobatics will correctthis; it helps you get so used to the planethat you can do things in combat that youwill never remember doing. Or perhapsthey arc just not expert enough at nightflying or instrument flying.

"A squadron commander can and willprovide last-minute training in combatwork. But the prime responsibility is thepilot himself. He must take such advan-tage of his training here in the States thathe is ready when he gets to the front.

"If he does that he has little to worryabout. Our planes and cqui pment arc farsuperior to those of the enemy. Our groundcrews do a wonderful job of keeping theships in fighting trim and they get a kickout of it when you bring down a [ap,

"All that's expected of you is to knowhow to bring them down." *

PICTURE CREDITSFront Cover: AIR FORCE Editorial Office.H-15-16-21: Signal Corps. 34.35: SignalCorps. '10--11-'\3: Air Service Command..i6./j7: Civil Air Patrol. 51: Jack Holland,Albany (Ga.) Herald. 52: Patterson Field,5-1: Vega Aircraft. Third Cover: Acme.All . other photographs secured throughoflicin l Army All' Forces sources.

IS HEKIDDING?We don't know whetherhe is or not, lady-but weagree with you that it'stime for him to pass onthat copy of AIR FORCE!How about it. soldier?Share your copy of theservice journal with theother men in your unit.

PASSITON!AIR FORCE, September, 1943

TARGET FOR TONIGHT •••Well planned and brilliantly executed night operations are becom-

ing more and more important. They depend in large 'measure on excellentnight vision-a faculty which this amorous airman obviously doesn't have.

And if he were up 12,000 feet-without OXYGEN-his e{fectivenight vision would be only about half what it is now because of anoxia. Hischances 0/ locating that "target for tonight" would be practically zero.

(If by now you're wondering how to kiss a girl through an oxygenmask, CHECK WITH YOUR OXYGEN OFFICER.)

M ore good advice: You can adapt your vision to the dark by wear-ing special red-lensed, night vision goggles or by staying in a dark roomfor thirty minutes before a night flight. Eat foods rich in vitamin A-car-rots, spinach, eggs and the like. Keep your windscreens clean, and USEYOUR OXYGEN FROM THE GROUND UP AT NIGHT!

With a little study on this night vision problem you won't have toworry about the "MISS" in "NIGHT MISSION."

(This is the first of an oxygen series prepored for AIR FORCE by the Flight Control Command.-Ed.)

AIR FORCE, September. 1943 45

Bif .Pieui. eO/. fJal/;le .P. jolut,d,OnNATIONAL COMMANDER, CIVIL AIR PATROL

Now that Civil Air Patrol has becomean auxiliary of the Army Air Forces,

its members at more than 1,000 flyingfields throughout the United States wantnothing more than to be given furtherwork.

CAP was formed a week before PearlHarbor as a division of the Offtce ofCivilian Defense to rnobilrze the civilianpilots and planes of the country for vol-unteer wartime duties. From the begin-ning, a large and steadily increasing partof its work has been of a military nature,carrying out assignments for the ArmyAir Forces.

A short time ago the entire organiza-tion was transferred to the War Depart-ment by Presidential order. Robert A.Lovett, Assistant Secretary of War forAir, declared:

"The transfer is a recognition of a jobwell done and it is motivated by the de-sire to make the Civil Air Patrol moredirectly available to perform its servicesto the armed forces."

What the disciplined and uniformedvolunteers of the CAP can do and earn-estly want to do may be briefed underthe following headings:

1. Flying services including coastal pa-trol and light-plane courier work to re-lieve military personnel and aircraft forother assignments; and ground dutiessuch as guarding airfields and planes.

2. Training of thousands who areheaded for the Army Air Forces.

3. Maintaining civil aviation facilitiesas a wartime auxiliary and as the founda-tion for post-war development.

The last point could be important toArmy pilots, navigators, servicemen andothers who desire careers in aviation afterthe war is over. If home town airportsbecome overrun with weeds, progress weall want to see will be retarded. Mean-while. a good many Army pilots owe

46

their lives to the fact that these fieldshave been kept open for landings.

The CAP has enlisted HO,OOO citizens.The minimum age is sixteen and most ofthe youngsters join the service as soon asthey are permitted. The oldest CAP pilot,A. 1. Martin, is 81. He has an airport onhis farm near Montour Falls, N. Y. Someof the lads who got their private licenseson Mr. Martin's farm are flying for thearmed forces in various parts of theworld---and there are more coming.

Approximately 100,000 private pilots,a comparable number of student pilotsand 25,000 privately owned aircraft werein the United States at the time thiscountry entered the war. The initial taskof the CAP was to mobilize pilots andauxiliary workers, such as radio operators,mechanics and photographers, into amilitary type organization.

UNDER a National Headquarters staffedby a. dozen officers of the Army AirForces, a Wing Command was activatedin each of the .18 states and subdividedinto groups, squadrons and flights. Fromthe wings on down, the CAP organizationis composed of civilian volunteers whoreceive no salaries and pay their own ex-penses, except while on active-duty mis-sions. Then they are paid a per diem tocover living costs and a moderate hourlyrental for the flying time of their planes.

The largest and most important ofCAP's active missions to date is theCoastal Patrol conducted from a series ofspecial CAP bases along the Atlantic andGulf coasts from the Canadian Border toTampico, Mexico. The Patrol keeps a

constant daylight watch over the shippinglanes as far out as 100 miles at sea.

Early last year, when enemy submarinesbegan to take a heavy toll of tankers andmerchant ships within sight of shore, theCivil Air Patrol was ready although itsorganization had just begun to function.

The volunteers came with their planes,radios, monkey wrenches, $1.9H kapoklife vests and very little else except theirboundless enthusiasm. With no federalfunds for many weeks, though aided bycontributions from the oil companies, theycarried on from their improvised bases,spotted subs and summoned Army andNavy bombers to the kill until the subswere scarce in the waters they patrolled.

These "Flying Minute Men," as the,were called by Maj. Gen. Follett Bradley,then Commanding General of the FirstAir Force, kept tiH:ir scuds so well thatU-boat commanders crash-dived at theapproach of CAP planes, not knowingthey were unarmed. It was months beforebombs and depth charges were hung onthese little airplanes at General Arnold'sorders---and to good effect.

With the success of the first ex pcr i-mental bases, the protecting chain wasextended, first on the Atlantic seaboardand then along the Gulf, until the last,gap was closed. Thus the heavier cqui pment of the Army and Navy was releasedfor other theatres or for patrols furtherout. By close cooperation between theArmy, Navy, Coast Guard ancI CAP.sinkinus close to the mainland were rcduced < month by month.

These CAP Coastal Patrols, stilI oper-ating along the enti re Atlantic shoreline,

AIR FORCE. September. 1943

have flown more than 75,000 missionsinvolving more than 20,000,000 miles otover-water flying. They have spotted morethan 170 enemy submarines and seven-teen floatinj; mines, often in the path oftroop convoys. They have reported ~nvessels in distress, observed hundreds ofirregularities at sea, made hundreds ofspecial investigations and flown thousandsof convoy missions.

Bombs have been dropped against S 1enemy submarines, at least two of whichhave been listed as definitely damaged ordestroyed. These arc in addition to thesubs which the Army and Navy have ac-counted for on radio cdl from CAP. Thepatrols have located 352 survivors of shipand plane sinkings.

In the course of these missions, twentyCAP airmen have been lost at sea andfour in accidents over land. Seven havebeen injured seriously ;\11,1 79 planes havebeen destroyed. Flying over the ocean insingle-motor land planes is hazardous,especially in the winter when Hights aremaintained at temperatures far below zero.Inland there have been three fal,dities onArmy courier missions and three on vol-unteer missions. making a total of thirtyCAP members who have lost their lives inthe service of their country to date.

High standards of maintenance havebeen achieved under the most adverseconditions. By pooling their funds andby private contributions, the men on thebases have developed first-class repaircenters, sometimes at sites where theyhave leveled fields and erected the build-ings by their own labor.

They arc ingenious in devising theirown methods and equipment. On onenorthern base a remarkably successfulmachine for thawing out motors in coldweather was built from an old oil drumand the bellows from a forge. In high-wing planes the cabin is immediately sub-merged when forced down on water; toenable pilots and observers to escapeunder such circumstances, a lever devicewas invented to pull off the door hinges

The Civil Air Patrol. with anenviable record already onthe books. comes to the WarDepartment ready to take on

even more work.

This CAP pilot on a training mission dropsto low altitude to identify "survivors."

be; ore crashing. Special flotation ,>.:;earalso has been fabricated on the bases.

CAP's Southern liaison Patrol thesalong the Mexican border, in cool'era-tion with the Mexican Government, tospot irregularites and stop illegal cross-ings in either direction. Operating frombases similar to those of the Costal Parr ol ,the liaison pilots follow every bend inthe Rio Grande, flying so low that theycan read the license numbers of suspiciousautos and give personal descriptions ofindividuals spotted. More than 1,000,000miles have been flown on this servicewithout a single Lltality or serious injuryto personnel. When CAP took over thisjob, an Army unit previously assigned tothe work was transferred to other duties.

Most of the CAP pilots cannot qua lifyfor military duty. One of the pilots all

liaison patrol lost both legs flying in thelast war yet, with artificial limbs, he notonly flies but even marches in the drillsat his base. CAP duties involve no draftexemption. Many members, hopeful ofgoing into the Army Air Forces. arcworking to build up qualifying flyingtime and experience on CAP missions.

Potential] I' larger than the coastal andliaison patrols is the growing network ofinland services which CAP has estab-lished. For the Second Air Force, CAPpilots coordinated by the WashingtonState Wing arc flying on regular routesand schedules totaling upwards of 20,000miles daily. More than 2, ')00,000 mileshave been flown on this service to linkwidely separated Army posts which other-wise would have had to use Army planesand personnel at high operating costs orrely on slow ground methods.

Pilots who know the terrain f1vthrough the mountains rather than ove'rthem, winding low along the valleys.They have carried approximately 350,000pounds of cargo, often including urgentparts and materials, and 40,000 pouchesof Army mail.

In the east, CAP planes arc standing byat sub-depots ready (Confinued on Page 56)

CAP plane set to drop food supplies to icebound freighter on Lake Erie. Fifty-pound bags of foodwere held from right window of plane on a sixty-foot line and dropped to deck as plane came upwind.

AIR FORCE. September. 1943 47

BASIC TRAINING CENTER No.8.FRESNO, CALIFORNIA

I HAD always thought that if my end asan Army pilot came, it would happen

with a 20 mm shell exploding in the cock-pit during fierce combat with a Focke-Wulf.

1 didn't know that plenty of pilots'-or, rather, would-be pilots' careers areended less bloodily during flight training,particularly in primary. Sometimes overhalf a class are victims of the Messer-schmitt May tag in the washing-out proc-ess. It may seem ruthless, but it's a wayof getting only the best possible pilots tofly Uncle Sam's hot ships.

How do they determine if a cadet isn'tup to the high standards and fast pace oftraining?

Let's recall my final check ride in pri-mary at Thunderbird Field, Arizona.

Lieutenant Gillesby and I are adjustingour parachutes beside an innocent-looking,blue and yellow Stearman. 1 knew I hadto give him a good ride or 1 would bewashed. 1 hadn't passed the others. I wasnervous, desperately determined.

The lieutenant, blonde, big, solid-look-ing, smiled reassuringly at me. Well, Ithought, at least it's different from themovies. The lieutenant and 1 aren't inlove with the same girl, and he isn't tornbetween vindictiveness and -

"Mister," the flying officer said, "I wantyou to relax. Then take me up, and -How many hours do you have?"

"Thirteen, sir.""Solo?"1 shook my head.

48

'I see," he said, "Well, the ship's allyours. 1 won't take over at all unless 1want to demonstrate something. You takeit off, climb to 2,000 feet and show mepower-on and power-off stalls. Then climbto 3,000 and do a two-turn spin. Afterthat, gliding turns to 500 feet, and let mesee some S-turns across a road. Maybe I'llpull a simulated forced landing on you.Then take me home,"

I knew the routine, all right. In thepast three days I had ridden with threedifferent civilian check riders. 1 had beenput up for check when I hadn't soloedafter eleven hours and twenty minutes ofdual instruction. If my landings hadn'tbeen off, 1 might have soloed. Now I wasbeing checked on all I had learned to seeif I were good enough to be given addi-tional instruction.

Now we were in the plane, the propwas turning over, and the cadet wing-walkers were throwing me well-wishinglooks. I released the brakes, turned it andwent S-ing toward the take-off point onthe runway.

I paused just before take-off and putmy goggles over my eyes. I picked out areference point on the hor izon by whichI would try to keep the Stearman straighton take-off.

Muttering the old cadet war-cry,"Habba Habba," I pushed the throttlefull forward. The engine roared and theplane shook, gathering speed. I pressedright rudder to correct the swing to the

stick forward to lift the tail off. I noticed1 was swerving to the right. Too muchright rudder. Then as I corrected, I over-corrected, and I swerved too far to theleft. [was now fishtailing and bumpingalong the ground, almost airborne, and Iwas relieved when by pulling the stickback slightly I was up in the air wherethe ship was more easily controlled. Apoor take-off, I had to admit. Get on theball, I told myself.

In flying, you don't have to be a 1,000-hour veteran to tell if your piloting isbad. Even with my microscopic time, 1could tell when I rolled out too abruptlyin turns that I was not smoothly co-ordinated.

I was now thinking of the stalls andrecoveries I'd do. It is an importantsafety maneuver, particularly the recogni-tion of the exact second you are in thestall, to enable you to recover before yougo into a spin. A stall occurs in almostany position, climbing, turning, whereairspeed falls off and controls mush in-effectively. To recover, you should recog-nize the stalling point and then apply theproper correction for a recovery. In therecovery, drop your nose below the hori-zon to pick up more air speed and in-crease the engine power.

At about 2,000 feet I made some turnsand hanks to make sure no planes werebelow me. I then tried a power-on stallWhat you do is set the throttle at cruisingand then go into a steep climh. This Idid, and soon the Stearman was shudder-ing uphill with its airspeed down tosixty mph. I kept pulling the stick backas the ship wanted to nose down. Thenthe controls began to mush. Now-!

I jerked the stick forward and shovedthrottle full forward and pressed rightrudder, in one motion. The nose pitcheddown and I held it below horizon in aglide. But, damn it, I was veering defi-nitely to the left. I hadn't used enoughright rudder. I did other stalls but some-how I just couldn't get those three move-ments of stick, throttle and rudder prop-erly synchronized. The stalls were roughlyexecuted. I was glad when I finished thelast one.

I went up higher for a two-turn spin.After seeing that the area below me was

AIR FORCE, September. 1943

deal, I put the plane in a power-off stall,hut instead of recovering, I pulled thestick all the way hack, held it and thenkicked right rudder. The nose droppedoff to the right, and I soon was twistingnose down toward the earth which lookedlike a spinning platter of houses andfields.

A spin and a recovery from one is a testof many things-timing, judgment andkeeping your head in a bewildering, be-fuddling position. In most maneuvers agentle, silky touch is required on the con-trols. But in recovering from a spin youhave to use smooth but definite violence.

Sure, I can tell you how to do it. Nowwatch me. I have started revolving to theright. I have picked a house as a refer-ence point. It is upside down. I havegone 180 degrees around it. Now it ap-pears right side up in the view below me.I have completed one turn. I still keepthe stick back. Full right rudder. Thehouse becomes upright again. I kick leftrudder, pause a fraction of a second anddump the stick forward. The plane shud-ders in the stress of recovery. And nowI notice, instead of gliding, I am plungingstraight down in a dive. I have pushedthe stick too far forward.

I pull the stick back to get out of thedive before I go into an outside loop, andfor pulling back too sharply in my eager-ness, Newton's law of inertia punishesme. The plane comes up but my bodywants to keep going down, particularlymy stomach.

LIEUTENANT GILLESBY, up front, saysnothing through his speaking tube. Maybehe's too scared to talk, I tell myselfhumorously.

I made gliding turns to 500 feet andpicked out a road for S-turns across it. Idid a fair job correcting for drift, whichis one of the purposes of the maneuver.I completed my turns the same distanceacross each side of the road.

And when Lieutenant Gillesby cut thethrottle suddenly, I made a pretty goodsimulated forced landing. First, I put thenose in a glide to maintain flying speed,then made a turn into the wind for ap-proach to a fairly level green field. Itwould have been an OK forced landing.

With throttle forward again, I headedfor home and my biggest test-landing.

The idea of landing a plane is simple.Gliding in with motor idling, you merelystall the airplane a few feet off theground.

The first problem is to fly the correctapproach to the field or get into the "pat-tern," which changes with the directionof the windsock or tee. You first fly down-wind outside the field, then make twoninety-degree turns, finally gliding downinto the wind.

I got into the pattern at 500 feet andkept watch for other planes. I made myfirst ninety-degree turn, straightened out

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

This former aviation cadetgives a straight-from-the-shoulder account of his wash-out in primary and his feel-

ings in the matter.and looked rapidly for a landing laneclear of planes. I found it and then cutthe motor to make my last ninety-degreeturn a gl iding turn. Because your air-speed is lower in such a turn, your airfoilreactions are less effective so I generouslygave plenty of left rudder. I thought theship would never stop turning. I hadgiven enough rudder to turn a 1'1yingFortress. After some violent fishtailing, Ifinally established a straight glide down.

I watched a fixed point to see if anycross wind was causing me to drift. Itwasn't. Otherwise I would have had todip one wing slightly into the wind anduse a little opposite rudder.

The ground was steadily coming up tomeet us as we glided over the edge of thefield. Now only about fifty feet. Shiftingmy eyes, I looked down below. Theground was going past in a blur. Idiot!Remember what your instructor told you:look ahead to a point where the grounddoesn't blur. I did but I lost my refer-

ence point ahead. Confused now aboutmy actual altitude, I instinctively pulledthe stick back to take the plane out ofglide and into a stall. But with too muchairspeed left, the plane zoomed, and nowI could see I was going to stall-butabout twenty feet off the ground. Never adull moment with Charlie!

I pushed the stick and the nose of theplane down to gain airspeed. I gainedsome but before I could pull it out of theglide, my wheels hit the ground and theplane bounced-but hard. That was un-expected and a little too fast for me. Ipulled the stick back to stall it and keepthe tail down, but still the plane had toomuch airspeed and it leaped some ten feetoff the ground, then bang, down againwith a terrific jar. Still worse, the Stear-man began veering to the right.

Lieutenant Gillesby grabbed the con-trols and, in a fast blur of movement,

Illustrated by James T. Rawls

averted a wing-scraping. He retained con-trol of the airplane, taxiing back to thehangar. I felt ashamed of myself.

As I got out of the cockpit to talk toLieutenant Gillesby, I knew what the de-cision was.

But I asked anyway, "Well, sir?""Mister, you don't have it. Not enough

coordination. Your turns were rough. Youdon't match pressure on rudder and stick.You muffed your stalls because youcouldn't coordinate all the movements re-quircd. I don't know the reason for thatbad landing, but it was bad. Sorry, butr will have to recommend you for elimi-nation."

THAT was straight from the shoulder.Automatically, I saluted and left. Myeyes smarted, for it is damn hard to takea defeat of hopes and dreams.

MyoId instructor, one of the civilianflyers employed by the field, saw me inthe flight room and tried to cheer me up.

"You can still fly. You just can't learnfast enough. The Army wants men whohave a high degree of aptitude becausethey have to learn fast-c-first in PTs, thenBTs, then ATs and finally in even hottercombat ships."

"If I only had some stick time beforeI came here," I mused. But then I gotrealistic, "But, hell, my trouble is co-ordination, or a lack of it."

"In that case," he said, "we are justsaving you from some fatal mistakes youmight have made later in a hot ship."

I was too disappointed, however, to ap-preciate the implication that LieutenantGillesby had saved my life.

I joined the other wash-outs in anotherbarrack.

"Why did you wash out?" is the ques-tion we eventually ask each other.

The answers may be evasive as, "Oh, Igave the final check rider a rough ride," orperhaps some more bitter comments onthe check riders' judgment.

Most of those who are eliminatedusually fail, as I did, because of insuffi-cient coordination. There are others whocarelessly get into such accidents asground loops and can't survive the checksgiven after an accident. There are somevictims of airsickness. Others wash be-cause they disobey regulations, engage indogfights or formation flying before theyare ready. A very small percentage iseliminated because they have threatenedcadet officers or have overstayed passes.

The number of men who wash outalways strikes one as being wasteful. Mostof the boys can fly, and fairly well, too.But even I, disappointed as I am, can ap-preciate the Army's aim. It wants thecream of the crop. to make the best pilotsin the world. The standards for Armypilots haven't been lowered in this war.you don't believe it, ask those youngmen who have ridden the MesserschmittMaytag. 1:>:

49

-_.....-

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSSMAJORS: Ron,lId D. Hubbard, Herman F.Lowery, Kenneth McCullar':' (Also Distin-guished Flying Cross wi th Oak Leaf Cluster),Robert F. Strickland. CAPTAINS: James R.Smith (Also Distinguished Flying Cross). [ranSussky. LIEUTENANTS: Bernard E. Anderson,Kenneth W. Howat (Also Purple Heart. Dis-tinguished Flying Cross and two Oak LeafClusters to Air Medal), Robert G. Oestreicher.SERGEANT \'Vilbert R. Burns. PRIVATE Ray' J.Matr hitt ".

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDALLIEUTENANT GENERAL Delos C. Emmons (AimAir Medal). MAJOR William G. Benn.

SILVER STARCOLONEL Leon W. Johnson. MAJORS: HarveyJ. Scandrett (Also Distinguished Flying Crossand Air Medal). John A. Thompson (AlsoDistinguished Flying Cross). CAPTAINS:Thomas T. Dabney (Also Air Medal), FredP. Dollenberg (Also Distinguished FlyingCross and Air Medal), Justus A. Emens (AlsoPurple Heart), Curran L Jones (Also Distin-guished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Clusterand Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters),Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr. (Also DistinguishedFlying Cross). LIEUTENANTS: John G. Bren-nan, Henry D. Chism, jr., Leonard E. Edington(Also Distinguished Flying Cross and AirMedal), Paul Pestel, Byron R. Work (WithOak Leaf Cluster), R. W. Yundt (Also Dis-tinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal ),STAFF SERGEANTS: Fred J. Best, Adolph Buda,Clarence E. King (Also Distinguished FlyingCross). Torn P. Rogers (Also DistinguishedFlying Cross). SERGEANTS: Arthur Karlinger*(Also Purple Heart*), Robert B. Lowrie (AlsoPurple Heart), Ollie Michael (Also AirMedal).

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TOSILVER STAR

LIEUTENANTS: E. J. Nossurn, Horace E. Perry.PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: Edward Van Every, Her-bert M. Wheatley, Jr.

• Post b xrn ons

50

PURPLE HEARTLIEUTENANT COLONEL Stuart M. Porter. MAJORChauncey B. 'Yhitney*. CAPTAINS: ~)hn A. E.Bergstrom"', hiward W. Rohinson. LIEUTEN-ANTS: Kenneth L. Alspaugh, John D. ',aw-ford. Donald Eaken, Marshall L. .orshey,David L. Gaede, Paul J. Gruesser, Thomas L.Hayes, Jr., Arthur N. Inman (Also Distin-guished Flying Cross and Air Medal with OakLeaf Cluster), Donald J. Kundinger, JosephF. Kane*, William A. Lorence, William W.O'Neil, Arnold W. Postel Ie, Burt H. Rice,Eugene A. Wahl. WARRANT OFFICER Jack E.Day. MASTER SERG.EANT Edwin F. Rhodes.TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: Almond E. Caird,Thomas J. Coburn, Otto T. May. STAFFSERGEANTS: Nicholas T. Brozack, Carl A. Knut-son, Myrvan R. Morley, Gerald H. Watson,Terrel Henry Wood. SERGEANTS: Oscar R.Billings, John G. Cottros, Archie Cothern,Eritrco E. Del Vecchio*, Ray L. Draper, BobbyH. Gordon, Russell L. Hultgren, Charles E.Stafford, William R. \'Vhalon. CORPORALS:Edwin W. Burns, Jennings G. Beckwith, An-gelo P. Delucia, Leonard K. Florence. CarrollJ. Ferguson, Darwin A. Garrett. Harold Kissel.PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: Robert R. Kelley':'. J. B.Sparks*. Edwin A. Tischhirek, Anderson G.Tennison*. PRIVATES: Jack H. Feldman*,Stuart H. Fiander*. Stanley R. Foster, Leo E.A. Gagne*. Rohert H. Gooding*, Josephjcdrysik". Bethel L Kniphfer, Roderick O.Klubertanz*, Otto C. Klein*, Andrew J.Kinder*. John A. Mayberry, Russell M.Penny*, Hal H. Perry':', Clarence M. Poulsen,William T. Rhodes*, Halvor E. Rogness*, An-son E. Robbins':'

DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSSCAPTAINS: Robert C. Beebe, Raphael Bloch. Jr.(With Oak Leaf Cluster and Air Medal),Howard Burhanna, Jr., Robert M. Creech,

Robert E. Hawes (With two Oak Leaf Clustersand Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Cluxtcrx ) ,Earl R. Kingsley (Also Air Medal with OakLeaf Cluster), Clayton L. Peterson (Also AirMedal), Wayne H. Rathbun (Also Air Medal),Lloyd L. Reynolds, George Simmons (Also AirMedal), Richard Taylor (Also Air Medai).LIEUTENANTS: Malcolm K. Andresen, Walter O.Beane, Jr. (Also Air Medal), Jesse M. Bland(Also Air Medal), Hubert S. Bronson, Ber-nard Cederholm, Andrew Cook, J r. (Also AirMedal), Thomas D. Dejarnette (Also AirMedal), James W. Egan (Also Air Medal),Irving A. Erickson (Also Air Medal), Cleve-land D. Hickman, Glenn L. Johnson (Also AirMedal with three Oak Leaf Clusters), RobertS. Knight, Melvin C. Lewis, William G. New-man. John Y. C. Roth (Also Soldier's Medaland Air Medal), Glenn J. Schaffer (Also AirMedal with Oak Leaf Cluster), John F.Stroup, Anthony C. Yenalavage, Howard N.Young. FLIGHT OFFICER Wilbur M. Hackett.MASTER SERGEANT Gust D. Portl. TECHNICALSERGEANTS: Nicholas J. Andreas, Anton T-Budgen, William Ludkiewicz, Daniel F. Mor-ton, Jr., James R. Shackelford (Also AirMedal). STAFF SERGEANT Theron R. Jones.SERGEANTS: Jack Archer, Clarence L. Campbell(Also Air Medal), Charles J. Geyer, AlbertK. Will. CORPORALS: Elmer F. Awtrey, Wil-liam C. Myers. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: LouisD, Gardiner, John R. McNellis.

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TODISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS

COLONEL Emmett O'Donnell, Jr.

SOLDIER'S MEDALCAPTAIN Alexis Klotz. LIEUTENANTS: DaleDavis, Elmer J. Gedeon. Robert Kernan, PaulM. Lindsey*. Harry Patteson. MASTER SER-GEANTS: Howard W. Deal, George M. Dun-

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

can. TECHNICAL SERGEANTS: Kenneth Addis,Richard J. Barrett, Jr. STAFF SERGEANTS: For-rest M. Beckstead, George W. Gunn, DouglasH. Logan, Clarence L. Singsank. SERGEANTS:Wayne C. Martin, Victor P. Minkoff, HowardS. Petersen. TECHNICIANS FOURTH GRADE: Ed-ward J. Dowling, Malcolm B. Levison. PRI-VATE Joseph W. Adrian.

AIR MEDALMAJOR GENERAL George F. Stratemeyer. BRI-GADIER GENERAL Frank A. Armstrong (Alsothree Oak Leaf Clusters to Distinguished Fly-ing Cross). COLONELS: Walter W. Gross. Ken-neth B. Hobson, George F. McGuire. LIEUTEN-ANT COLONEL Dale O. Smith. MAJORS:Donald J. Green, Francis H. Matthews, Mar-vin E. Walseth. CAPTAINS: Benjamin C.Adams, Archibald D. Anderson, William H.Arthur, James F. Berry, Edward D. Black,Howard F. Butler, George C. Cranston. Ken-neth C. Dempster, Charles G. Esau, John E.Fox, John K. Hall, George W. Haney, CarlDavid Hoffman, George K. Hughel, FrankMacDougall Hunt, Donald M. Hyland, VirgilIngram, Jr., Lawrence E. Jarnig'llJ, Jr., EdwardL. Jenkins, \Xlilliam D. Jernigan, Ralph E.Jones, Jr., Jacob P. Sar tz, John Urick.LIEUTENANTS: Louis M. Abernathy, LloydAdonson, Peter K. Arpin, William E. Ayres,John A. Balaban, Junior M. Barney, CharlesJ. Barr, Jack Best, Rachel N. Bethune, RalphA. Birk, David B. Bishop, William EmanuelBlack, j-., Alfred D. Blair, Raymond W.Boggs, Charles Felk, Clyde V. Knisley, Jr.,Martin E. Lichle, AII,m R. Lind, Herbert E.Lindhe, Marion G. Lloyd, Robert H. Long,William A. Loudermilk, William D. Lown,Raymond Lunenfeld ", Alvin M. Lusk, Raymond

B. MacDonald, Donald 1.. McKay, EdwardJoseph McPherson (With two Oak LeafClusters), George R. Mason, Thomas F.Magruder, Harrison L. Marshall, Paul M.Means, Orval H. Michelson, Maurice 1.. Mi-nett, Howard A. Moore, Charles E. Morris,Clement K. Miller, Albert C. Nauru, EdwardR. Neff, Joseph H. Nesbit, Kenneth LOgie,Jr., Clifford R. Oliver, Ben 1.. Parker, HarryG. Peterson, Michael G. Phipps, Ray 1.. Pitt-man, Belah O'B. Price, Darwin E. Rasmussen(\'(!jth O'lk Le'tf Cluster), Levon L Ray,William J. Rhodes (With O'lk Leaf Cluster),John E. Richards, \Villiam M. Riddle, CharlesF. Rogers, Arnold Z. Rosoff, Hardin E. Ross,Jr., .Joseph P. Schilling. Jr. (With Oak LeafCluster), David Herbert Schreiner, MeldrumL Sears, Robert 1.. Shedden, Robert E. Speer,Arland Stanton, Roger P. Stcin*, Benjamin .J.Stone, Jr., Floyd F. Strohl, Don L. Sutliff, La-Vern B. Terrell, Don,dd V. Thompson, WalterE. Thorne, Oliver E. TiJli, Fred HermanTowne, .Jr., Claude A. Trotter, Jr., Robert F.Valentine, Robert C. Velan, Hussell M. Vif-qua in, Irving W. Voorhees, Jr., Harold E.Ward, Lucian K. Wernick, Robert W. Wert(With two Oak Leaf Clusters), Roy E. Whit-taker (\Xlitll Oak Leaf Cluster), Robert H.Wilder, Rayburn A. Wilks, Howard C. Wil-liams, Jr., Raymond R. Yahr (With two OakLeaf Clusters), Edwin A. Yelton. TECHNICALSERGEANTS: Walter B. Belleville, Jr. (Withtwo Oak Leaf Clusters), John F. Clark, Law-rence A. L. Craig, James G. Dorsey, LeslieT. Figg, Jr., Clarence \Xl Gilmore, Robert A.Guy (With Oak Leaf Cluster), Leslie O. Han-sen, William P. Hoben, Howell G. Hubbard,Charles E. Mayhugh. STAFF SERGEANTS: ElmerJ. Alifano, Mark A. Battles, Sebron D. Bristow,

John D. Thomson. SERGEANTS, Francis L. Ben-nett, Warren Riley Bishop, Carl L. Bixby,Maxwell A. Blue, Gregory Bournazos (WithOak Leaf Cluster), Harold }. Brothers (\VithOak Leaf Cluster), George A. Burke, Mc rv inC. Bush, James B. Cahley, Joseph F. Con-chiglio, Thomas W. Crook, Jr., Jimmie N.Davis, Carmen C. Dimuzio, Clarence W. Dur-bin, Theodore .J. Elfrink, William C. FicldsJames P. Fitzgerald, .Jr., Curtis N. Fosler, ZaneA. Gemmill, Graham C. Hancock, Donald R.'Hardwick, \Xlillis D. Harris, Fr'lI1klin P.Hohmann, Claude D. Hooks, Jerry D. John-son, Donald L. Kerns (Also O,tk Leaf Cluste-rto Silver Star), Rohert Knight, Alton D. Le-man, Henry T. Lukowski, Peter G. Lupica,Theodore .J. Nast.i l, Carl C. Nclson, SUn leyE. Nichols, John L. Nixon, Edgar L. Phillips,Morris T. Quate, Louis L Rom.mc lli . COR.-PORALS: Herman C. Detwiler, William M.Donahoo, Charles R. Dunn, Snlv.uorc L. Fer-raro, William E. Filgo, Irving W. Krause,Edward M. Lemons. William Malone, AndrcwC. Mitchell. PRIVATES FIRST CLASS: Donald}. Raber, Ch'lrles H. Seltzer. William T. Wim-hish. PRIVATES: Jack Holloway. Stanley A.Douglas, Philip O. .McGovern, .Jodie B.Thornell.

OAK LEAF CLUSTER TOAIR MEDAL

MAJOR Donald J. M. Blakeslee. CAPTAINS:John L. Ryan, Reynold A. Soukop. LIEUTEN-ANTS: .Jack Cohen, William .J. Crumm, HaroldE. Snider, Ashley C. Woolridge. TECHNICALSERGEANTS: Karl 1.. Masters, Robert G. J\fu-maw. STAFF SERGEANT Harold F. Lightbown.SERGEANT Bernard J urosck. CORPORAL JackE. Leverone. *

AIR FORCE, September, 1943 51

HERE we go again, mechs. Gather 'roundand pick out the boners. A fighter plane is pic-tured this month and it seems that there are anumber of things happening to this P-39 whicharen't strictly according to T.O.s You shouldbe able to spot the mistakes as easily asshooting fish in a barrel.

Naturally at advance bases in combattheatres and often in extreme emergenciesin the United States, you'll find it necessaryto improvise and use the ingenuity that makesAAF mechs supreme in their job. But as longas you can, it pays to use the right tools andmethods for the job; those skillful tricks usedof necessity in the combat theatres can only52

be done by mechs who knew how to do thingsthe right way in the first place.

This month's picture was posed by men ofthe 88th Repair Squadron, Air Service Com-mand, Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio. Leftto right, they are Private First Class JosephBuffamonte, Staff Sergeant Peter Kasprzyk,and Privates First Class Frank J. Cussio andGene Rankin.

They deliberately acted out these bonersin the interest of better maintenance pro-cedures.

Crew Chief Kasprzyk can point out sevenmistakes in the photograph. They are listedon Page 55. Can you find any more?

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

ON THE LINE

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

RU CONSCIENTIOUS ABOUT URs? •••Upon discovery of a failure in any part

of an airplane it behooves the mech toreport it. The reason for URs (Unsatis-factory Reports) is to eliminate 'rouble atthe source, saving lives and planes as wellas headaches for mechs ON THE LINEwho have to cope with the defect. It'syour responsibility to make use of URs.

What happens to the UR you fill out?It goes from your hands through a sub-depot, a depot or field unit to Air ServiceCommand Maintenance Division engin-eers. It is studied by them in addition togetting careful scrutiny by manufacturersand AAF laboratories. Frequently actionis taken by the Materiel Command if de-sign or material is involved.

Of utmost importance, URs furnishnecessary information to enable correc-tive measures to be developed. Withoutthem, flaws and failures may go unheededand are repeated. Complete statistics arekept on all URs and the number of fail-ures reported often determines the actionrequired. The clinic studying and adjust-ing the faults must have representativefigures on which to base its study. SeeAAFRegulation 15-54 for complete in-formation on URs.

So turn 'em in. men. Those URs are avital AAF instrument.

MAINTENANCE AT BORIN9UEN •••

It is the boast of many engineeringofficers at Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico,that the base, if necessary, could com-pletely break down and rebuild any air-plane in the AAF.

There, at one of the principal steppingstones on the route to England, Africa,the Middle East, Asia and other points,they have to be ready to service or repairevery American airplane flown by theUnited Nations. An enlisted man orcivilian at Borinquen may be called on towork on an A-20, B-17, B-24, B-25,B-26, A-29, A-30, C-54, C-53, C-47,C-87 and heaven knows what else.

The big problem is to keep abreast ofsupply requirements. Parts and otherstock needs are anticipated far in advanceand flown from Air Service Commanddepots. At Borinquen they do bothsecond and third echelon maintenance andoperate on a 24-hour basis at all times.Chief concern is engines but they also

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

carefully check hydraulic and electricalsystems, and, occasionally, even armor andarmament.

Construction at Borinqucn was begunin 1939 and the base was just aboutready to operate when war broke out, hav-ing been through a period when it waslittle more than a tent city. In fact, ex-perience gained there in handling main-tenance work right in the open showedthe feasibility of operating exposed tosun, wind and the elements.

Now there are several gigantic hangarswith a German-designed roof, reinforcedin a complicated manner, and supposedto be hurricane-proof and able to resistdirect bomb hits.

Salt water corrosion is the great worryfor mechs there, because the salt aircauses corrosion in planes even when theyare just parked.

Men at Borinquen recall many of theearly planes to go through after the warstarted. These included LB-30s and B-17Essent out to reinforce the 19th Bombard-ment Group in the Southwest Pacific.

Several hundred Puerto Rican civiliansnow work at Borinquen and have becomequite proficient. They are naturally goodwith their hands. One, formerly an artist,is operating the plexiglas department.Another is a high-grade propeller expertand many others are skilled with fabrics.

Classes are scheduled constantly to keepall enlisted men and civilians acquaintedwith new developments, and trainingfilms are shown frequently.

1. Tholl shalt notturn propeller withoutchecking ignitionswitches.

2. Tholl shalt notwarm tip engine.f with-out wheel blocks.

3. Thou shalt notleare airplane u/itb ont checking park-ing brakes.

4. Tbou shalt not leave airplanewithout locking controls where ap-plicable.

5. Tbon shalt not start engineswithout seeing that crew is clear ofpropeller.

A monthly maintenanceroundup prepared in collabo-ration with the Air ServiceCommand and the TechnicalInspection Division. Office ofthe Air Inspector.

SHARPS AND FLATS •••

We heard of a case in which a nail wasfound in the tire of an ambulance, ready-apparently-for emergency duty on theflight line. Drivers of crash trucks andambulances ON THE LINE must makean inspection of their tires and runninggear immediately upon arriving at dutyposts. You might loll behind the wheelall day with nothing to do, but if anemergency comes up everything mustclick. When a crash truck or ambulanceis needed, it is needed right now!

WHO'S HOARDING? •••

At an AAF flying school using BT-13aircraft, 21 tool assembly cam movingwrenches were found in storage. Thesewrenches are used on hydromatic pro-pellers and no hydromatic propellers areused at that station. One wrench shouldhave been issued to the transient aircraftcrew, another to sub-depot engineering,and the remainder reported as excessequipment as outlined in AAF Regula-tion 65-2. Keep in mind that toolshoarded at one station probably keepplanes grounded at another! '*

6. T bou shalt not taxi airplane ifnot qNalified to do so,

7. Thott shalt not clean engine.f in-side hangars with inflammable f!uid.f.

8. Tbou shalt not leave cowls wherethey will be bloum away by other air-planes taxiing or warming liP.

9. Thott shaltnot me jacks with-alit being JUre ofcapacity.

10. ThoN shaltnot leave a jobuntil a final checkindicates that it isfinished.

53

TRAININ' ,AIDS A MONTHLY REPORT ON FILMS, LITERATURE AND SYNTHETIC DEVICES IN AAF TRAINING

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

SYNTHETIC DEYICES

THE men who deal with synthetic train-ing devices use the term "mock-up"

to describe one broad category of theirwares. Generally, it may be defined as areplica or facsimile model which looksand acts enough like the real thing so thatthe student may use it effectively for prac-tice or study.

Hundreds of such gadgets arc in effec-tive usc in the AAF training program.Some are made in local workshops oftraining activities, some are factory-built.Mock-ups used for practice by studentsusually arc life-size models. Those in-

8-17F Cockpit InstructionPanel

THE B-17F cockpit mock-up shownhere is actually a series of photo-

graphs, which have been enlarged andmounted on panels at appropriate pointsso that the whole set-up looks for all theworld like a cockpit model.

The panels were designed to assist in-st;lldors at the Hobbs Army Air Field,Hobbs, N. Mex., in teaching pilots theoperation and flying characteristics of the.urcraft.

This method of instruction was de-iigned and used originally at Luke Field,Ariz., about two years ago. Since thattime, it has become widely recognized andmany have suggested that it be made astandardized training procedure. Thisteaching method is supplemented by othermock-ups, charts, diagrams, training films,film strips and other training aids.

54

tended for demonstration or study may bereduced in size for easy handling or en-larged to permit effective demonstrationto large classes.

Typical of this type of training deviceare cockpit mock-ups in current use atAAF training stations. By using modelsof this kind instead of the real thing,students may be familiarized with specifictypes of airplanes without the necessity ofgrounding operational equipment. Thethree cockpit mock-ups described andshown on this page will illustrate thepossibil ities of such devices.

P-40 Type Mock-upInstrument Trainer

THE P-40 trainer shown here was de-veloped by the AAF School of Ap-

plied Tactics, Orlando, Florida. Designedto orient new pilots, this cockpit has theregular P-40 instrument and switch panel,landing gear, landing flaps and cowl flapcontrols with functions simulating thosein actual flight.

On the front of the trainer there is acomplete set of controls so that difficultiesin the flight of the trainer may be set upat any desired time. For example, thelanding gear may be locked and the stu-dent required to make necessary correc-tion. A fuel tank selector valve may beused to check the pilot in using the cor-rect tank in take-off and landing.

AT-6A Cockpit Mock-up

CORRECT cockpit technique adds to thelife of the airplane, engine and

.mxiliarv equipment. To teach this tech-nique and to provide a method by whichthe student may practice until good pro-cedure is instinctive, the AT-6A panelshown here was devised.

In addition to the instruments, whichsimulate those of the aircraft, the stu-dent is provided an index and a set ofpublications for additional study.

WHERE TO GOInformation on the availability of training

films and film strips, aircraft recognition ma-terials, synthetic training devices and train1ngliterature may be obtained from the TrainingAids Division, Army Air Forces, Park AvenueJand 32nd Street. New York, N. Y.

- "'''---

THE AIR SERVICE COMMAND(Continued from Page 42)

army. There is the task of welding all the accordance with the principles underarms and services together with Air Force which it was reorganized was not withoutpersonnel into a single organization. The its problems. A general re-education oftraining of such an activity is compl icated all the personnel was involved in orderby the different sources from which the to get them to appreciate the differencemen must be procured - the different between technical control and commandsources of their technical training and control, on which straight-line organiza-technical control. If the magnitude and tion is based. It took some time to con-complexity of the ASC setup in the vert officers to the fact that a committeeUnited States can be appreciated, then the was not a "bull session" or a conferencegrort number of men required to perform but a temporary unit of organization,the similar functions all over the world more analogous to a board in its type ofcan be understood and the job of the action. It was difficult reconcilingpersonnel and training division in fur- straight-line control with standard Armynishing these men realized. administrative procedures which are basecl

The establishment of the Command in on the concept of posts, camps and sta-

tions rather than on a division of activityby function, irrespective of where thefunction occurs.

In the end the Air Service Commandhas profited tangibly by its new organiza-tion. The number of planes out of com-mission due to Jack of parts or propermaintenance by the ASC has decreased.The new organization has improved ouroverseas activities despite a lack of ade-quate overseas control. Considerable re-duction in estimated personnel require-ments has been accomplished.

The Air Service Command is now infull swing. It is realizing the capabilitiesof its personnel and the system of organ-ization it has perfected---and these arebeing expressed in action everyday inAAF combat operations. *

(ConTinued from page 23)

AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE BATTLE OF ATTU

In addition to its observation opera-tions, Colonel Earerkson's Liberatorjoined other aircraft in strafing enemypositions. This naturally called for low-level flying, much of which had to bedone through fog which billowecl wellbelow the 3,500-foot mountain ridges.Some of the beac'l recesses into which heflew his plane to reach stubborn enemyground positions were just lart~e enoughto permit the B-21 to turn around with-out crashing into one of the vertical walls.

One of these recesses was behind Sa-rana Bay. About sixty Jap troops, withtwo trench mortars and two machine gunshad stationed themselves behind a smallembankment bcing the beach to opposeany landing in that area. Despite a 200-foot ceiling which completely obscuredthe top of the ravine, Colonel Earecksontwice took his B-24 into the narrow re-cess, banking vertically around the Japposition and materially reducing its effec-tiveness with machine gun fire from thenose, waist and top turret of his plane.

Although enemy troops spotted in fox-holes were strafed occasionally from theair, the usual procedure was simply tomake their position known to the groundcommanders. In this way aerial observa-tion aided considerably in reducingcasualties caused by enemy snipers and inaccelerating mopping up operations.

A striking example of the manner inwhich the element of chance enters intocombat operations took place during thefirst days of the battle, when a small U. S.scouting force of some 350 officers andmen who were attempting to cross aknife-like ridge in a flanking movementwere observed from the command Lib-erator.

These troops had landed at ScarletBeach and were working their way backof the enemy concentrations along HoltzBay to come in from the rear just as ournorthern force attacked down the beach.

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

Observers in the command plane wereaware that the scouting party was turningin too soon and was headed toward adeep, fog-filled ravine back of the westarm of the Bay. Late in the afternoon, amap giving proper directions was droppedfor the troops, along with twenty para-chute loads of food, medical supplies andammunition dumped from another B-24.But the map was never received: it wasfound tangled in the tail structure of thecommand Liberator after it had returnedto Amchitka.

The next day a B-21 carrying addi-tional supplies went up to locate the partybut it crashed on one of the fog-hiddenpeaks. On the third day, although theycould not be seen through the thick fog,it was apparent that the troops fiad sliddown the sides of the ravine and werefacing the fire of the Japs who had thembottled up from the beach. Food andammunition were dropped into the ravinethrough the fog until the little band wasfinally relieved by the advancing northernforce which fought its way down thebeach.

THAT little piece of paper catching inthe tail of a B-2'1 had cost the scoutsmany casualties and the AAF an eleven-man bomber crew and a B-24, not tomention equipment and flying hourswhich might well have been spent inother phases of the operation.

This incident also serves as an illus-tration of the lengths to which our air-men went time after time in supportingthe Attu landing. All air personnel par-ticipating in the operation did a mag-nificent job considering the handicaps en-countered.

The work of the navigators and radio-men in taking the planes through theworst weather in the world and bnngingthem home again without a single majorerror on their part was superb. The pilots

flew extremely hazardous rmssions dayafter day with coolness and efficiency.Maintenance crews, who operated underanything but ideal conditions on theground, kept the fighters and bombers intopnotch flying trim.

To the men of the Army Air Forcesmust go a large share of the credit forthe success of an operation which re-claimed the first piece of American terri-tory from the enemy in this war. j.':r

MISTAKES IN "ON THE LINE"PICTURE ON PAGE 52

1. Lets get on the he<1m. men. Youknow a P-39 is always towed properlywith a towing bar. Reference: T.O. 01-1-')0. (Incidentally, consult T.O. Hand-books applicable to each airplane for therecommended method. When a rope iscalled for, it's length should be three andone-half times the tread of the airplane.Reference: T.O. 01-1-')0. The rope shouldnot he around the scissors or tied withloose ends. See T.O. Ol-110FB-2.)

2. What is this' The tire on the rightlanding gear is really soft-in fact, almostflat. Obviously this will break down thesidewalls of <1 precious rubber tire. andturning a corner will strain it even more.Reference: T.O. O.I-lO-1.

3. We don't like to keep harping onthis, Sergeant. since other crews in pre-vious pictures have made the same mis-take. But. once more. no objects shouldbe placed on the wings. This applies tothose chocks you have there and also tothe mcch peacefully seated thereon.

4. Wanted for safety: Men walking,one at each wing tip. We cau't see theright wing tip hut there's no one out atthe left.

5. Say you, were you raised in a barn'The cockpit door is open, and it shouldbe closed while the airplane is heingtowed. What's more, a man should be atthe controls.

6. oi, oh. One prop blade is pointingdownward. Surely at least one of you fourmechs knows that when towing an air-plane with a threc-hlade.l prop, one hladeshould always be at twelve o'clock.

7. And what about you two extra menon the tug' Did you come along just forthe ride' If you don't have anything elseto do, you could he out at the wing tip.

55

CAP cadets at Des Moines, Iowa. Upongraduation from high school, many CAPcadets enter the AAF for further training.

CAP AT YOUR SERVICE(Confinued from Page 47)

to fly emergency shi pments where they areneeded Tracking missions to give prac-tice in' sighting' to anti-aircraft' gun andsearchlight crews, tests of the aircraftwarning system, camouflage inspections,blackout observations and other miscel-Iancous missions involve thousands ofmiles of flying each week.

Searches for lost Army planes are con-ducted by CAP as a matter of regularroutine in many regions, especially in thewest. Flying slowly and at low altitudes,with pilots and observers trained inmethods of precision reconnaissance, theCAP puddle-jumper planes find whatthey are looking for. In one instance,wreckage was found by looking up ratherthan clown. This Army plane had crashedalong a canyon wall.

Many CAP squadrons have developedelaborate ground units with transporta-tion. first aid and communications facili-ties. The Nevada Wing has formed someexcellent cavalry units to go to the sceneof accidents spotted in the mountainsfrom the air; it also has motorized andfoot auxiliaries. The New HampshireWing has ski units for the same type ofmissions. Michigan has parachute units.

The purpose of CAP has been to getready for missions that will he useful tothe Army Air Forces. Volunteer flightsand squadrons in all parts of the countryhave drilled, trained and conducted prac-tice missions so that every member willknow what to do in emergency.

On many occasions when Army planeshave been in distress, this CAP groundtraining has resulted in a safe landingfor the aircraft. One evening in an Ohiotown, a private pilot and his wife, hothCAP members, heard a plane circlingoverhead. They notified the police andfire departments. A field was illuminated.They flashed landing directions with anauto spotlight in a code they had learnedin CAP classes. After the Army pilothad landed, it developed that he had

56

Cavalry unit of the CAP Nevada Wingen route to search for lost Army plane.

been in CAP and had learned the Morsesignaling that saved him from a crash.

The Coastal Patrols have made possiblethe rescue of more Army airmen than thetotal of their own losses. The survivorsof the "ghost" plane which flew toMexico after the crew bailed out offFlorida were first spotted by CAP planes.Near a northern base, when an Armyfighter pilot bailed out and was injured,his crashing plane set the woods afire.Skimming the tree tops through thesmoke, CAP pilots located him just intime for a rescue.

BACK of these missions is the intensivetraining in military procedure, aviationand civilian defense subjects which isrequired for all members so that flyingpersonnel will learn military disciplineand ground workers will understand thefundamentals of flying. While CAP doesnot give flight training, its courses covermuch more than the requirements of aprivate pilot' s license. Members are en-couraged to learn to fly at their own ex-pense and thousands have done so in theCAP program.

Practice flying missions include areasearching, bombing with flour bags, pick-ing up messages and dropping suppliesby paper parachutes. Mobilizations andmaneuvers are practiced. Since there havebeen no enemy air raids yet. CAP unitshave not been called on for the home-guard duties for which they were origi-nally formed. But many a squadron hasshown what it could do by going intoaction during floods and other natural

Printed in the U. S. A.

disasters, performing aerial reconnais-sance and relief duties as well as guardand labor tasks on the ground.

In addition to missions for the Army,CAP conducts extensi ve courier servicesfor war industries. Often, by rushing invitally needed supplies, the stoppage ofassembly lines at war plants has beenaverted. Recently the departure of a fleetof Army trucks was dcl'lyed. by lack of ashipment of tie rods. A CAP courierplane from Cleveland dropped the partsby paper parachute and saved many hours.

Through its training program and itsdetailed Jiles of personnel, CAP has beenable to furnish many specictlly qu.i lificdmen on relluest from thl' armed forces;upwards of 15,000 of its members havegone into various branches of the service,including the Army, Navy and MarineCorps, as well as into flight and groundschool instructor jobs and to the airlines,

CAP women members, compnsingabout ten percent of the total enrollment,have gone into the WAACs, WAVESand WAFS. The commandant of theMarine Corps Women's Auxiliary, MajorRuth Streeter, is a former CAP officer.

CAP units in all areas arc now engagedin a drive to find wel l-quahtied aviationcadets for the Army Air Forces and en-courage them to visit cadet examiningboards. The CAP has its own cadets, inaddition to its regular organization. Eachlocal CAP squadron or flight is authorizedto form a counterpart unit of cadets-boys and girls in the last two years ofsenior high school. Hundreds of theseunits, with a membership of approxi-mately 20,000, have been formed. Theyoung people get the same drill and train-ing as the adults in CAP and are thusgiven a running start for military service.

CAP members are authorized to wearthe Army uniform with red shoulderloops and silver CAP insignia as dis-tinguishing features. Officers of the pa-trols and inland units are commissionedin CAP with ranks up to major.

Because these men who cannot go towar are doing their duty on the homefront, there is reason to hope that thepost-war development of aviation will bemuch more rapid than otherwise wouldhave been the case. In addition to thebig airlines and flying boats which willencircle the globe in peacetime commerce,it is predictable that a great network offeeder lines and air-mail pickup services,together with a great volume of privateflying, will be developed with lightplanes, gliders and helicopters.

In the tens of thousands of ai rcraftwhich thus can be used there will be op-portunities for many thousands of the de-mobilized members of America's militaryair services. That is one way in whichCAP, by maintaining local air progresseven in the grounded areas where civilianflying has ceased, is trying to do a servicefor every member of the AAF. *

AIR FORCE, September, 1943

S.QUADROII

,S Oil tHE ND YOURSFOR YOU A

FI,\

...

Army Emergency Relief is available at ALL times to ALLmilitary personnel regard-less of rank, grade, branch or component - and to their dependents. regardless ofrelationship.

AER may be consulted on all problems involving the personal affairs of a soldierand his dependents. When assistance or advice is needed, contact the Army EmergencyRelief Officer at your station: dependents may apply at the nearest Air Force station.Army camp or direct to the Air Forces Branch of Army Emergency Relief, 703 Mari-time Building. Washington. D. C.

Assistance may be in the form of a loan, cash grant or relief in kind, depending onthe nature and worthiness of the case. AERwill also aid in arranging for prenatal careand hospitalization of wives of Air Force men, for hospitalization of dependents, andfor employment of dependents and discharged personnel.

When in need of assistance ... Contact