Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1931, Page 73

The S Washington to View the Greatest Concentration of the Nation’s Aerial Defenses This Month—Spec- tacular Demon- Stration. RE the aerial defenses of the Nation capable of standing the fiery ordeal A of a national emergency? Can the combat squadrons of the Army be concentrated rapidly enough from their scattered posts to safeguard a hreatened point? Are ground facilities suf- lent to permit an emergency concentration the air forces in any one part of the country? All these vital questions and others will be hswered by the largest military air concentra- on in the history of the country this month, hen the Army Air Corps is to simulate a great tional emergency and concentrate 672 planes pr active field service on the East Coast, wind- up with a great demonstration over the pital on Memorial day. Leaders of Army and naval aviation a few eks ago reached an agreement as to the func- ons of the two air services which makes the pming Army maneuvers of greater importance the country than any similar exercises ever #d. It was agreed that upon the Army Air orps must rest the burden of aerial defense the Nation’s shores; that the duty of naval iation is with the fleet exclusively. This month’s maneuvers will be the test ot he Army's ability to meet the new trust im- osed upon it. To prepare for its test, the pmy will concentrate the greatest air force er seen in this Nation, calling upon National aviation squadrons and the graduating of the advanced flying school at Kelly eld, Tex., to swell the available force. The result will be the sternest and most spece ular demonstration of modern aerial war- re ever witnessed in the United States; an ibition which it is hoped will drive home in e minds of American people the conviction at it is to the skies they must look for future fety. HEN the maneuvers come to & close in Washington on the last day of May the ountry’s military leaders are expected to have i their hands facts based upon actual experi- ce which will determine the pathways to be ollowed by the Air Corps in its capacity as erial defenders of the Nation's vulnerable past line, The great aerial armada of this month will drawn from every corner of the country. here will be wasp-like pursuit squadions, one of aerial defense and offense, from dge Field, Mount Clemens, Mich.,, and well Field, San Diego, Calif. Observation quadrons, the eyes of the Army, will come om Mitchel Field, N. Y., and from every Na- onal Guard division area in the country, ere will be bombardment squadrons, the eavy artillery of the air, from Langley Field, jampton, Va., and from Rockwell Field, on ie Pacific Coast. Attack aviation, regarded as e most deadly striking power ever developed r use against important ground targets, will semble from the Third Attack Group base ear Galveston, Tex. Cargo and transport lanes will be drawn from many Army air posts. attered detachments from such fields as Boll- 18, the Air Corps field in Anacostia, will swell 1¢ ranks of the squadrons. The units, flights and squadrons will be forged to the First Provisional Air Division, the rgest tactical unit contemplated in the tables f organization of the Air Corps and the first ir division ever assembled in this country. Approximately 75,000,000 Americans will have n opportunity next month to see fighting lanes of the Army Air Corps participating in € maneuvers or en route to or from the con- entration points, the War Department esti- tes. The airways and airports system of the ountry will be taxed to their limits to handle e mighty air force and their ability to stand P under the strain will be one of the features the test, 1e First Air Division, according to plans an- ounced by F. Trubee Davison, Assistant Sec- of War for Aeronautics, will be composed 205 pursuit planes, 335 observation planes, vy aga;inz_ WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 10 Stat 1931, Bombing planes from Langley Field over the Capitol. 51 attack planes, 36 bombardment planes and 45 transport and cargo planes. The personnel totals 740 officers and 631 enlisted men. The division will be commanded by Brig. Gen. Ben- janan D. Foulois, America’s first military air- plane pilot and one of the most colorful vete erans of the Army's early flying days, now in command of the great Air Corps Materiel Divi- sion base at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. The fighting squadrons will assemble from all parts of the Nation at Wright and Fairfield airdromes near Dayton, Ohio, on May 15 and 17. They will be organized as a division there, though their numbers will permit only a skele- ton divisional organization, and will undertake concentrated practice in large unit flying op- erations and training. After three days ef formation and combat practices by the entire division the squadrons will fly to Chicago for & demonstration on May 20 after which they will return to Dayton for the night. HE movement to the East Coast will be un< dertaken on May 21 and is expected to prove a supreme test of the capacity of the airports in this part of the country for han- dling large scale emergency military air move- ments. The division cannot travel as a unit because the fuel demands would prove too Heavy artillery of the skies. An Army formation photographed from planes. one of the Graphic Facts About Aviation SPEED. Thirty miles an hour was the fastest speed made in an airplane in 1903, attained in the United States by Orville Wright in his first flight. In 1929 the airplane had reached a speed of 357 miles an hour, the Jpresent world record made by Orlebar in a British super- ALTITUDE. The world altitude record in 1908 was 361 foet, made over France by Wilbur Wright, In 1930 the airplane had climbed to a height of 43,165 feet, a record made by Soucek, an marine plane, American pilot flying a Wright plane. NON-STOP FLIGHTS. The longest non-stop flight in 1908 was over a distance of 77.5 miles, made in France by Wilbur Wright. Lindbergh, in 1927, flew 3,610 miles non-stop from New York to Paris, and the French pilots Coste and Bellonte established & pew world record in 1929 of 4,912 miles non-stop from Paris to Coulart, China, Books Features A Test of the Army’s Ability to Meet New Trust Imposed Upon It. Remarkable Prog- ress Made Within the PastFew Years. Winged Artillery. great for the airports along any one airway bew tween Dayton and New York., Some of the squadrons will go by a route as far South ag Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Others will go by a northern route through Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N. Y. Even though the forces are so widely scattered they are expected to tax the capacity of the airports selected as bases for fueling and intermediate stops. There is no airport near New York large enough to handle the entire division at one time so it will be “divided, with Mitchel Field as division headquarters and with the planes parceled out at this and other nearby fields. From the time of arrival in New York until the following Sunday it will be assumed that a state of war exists and the battle problems ta be worked out will test to the utmost the skilly training and stamina of personnel and equip- ment. On Sunday, May 24, the division, in full battle formation, will take off from the New York area for New England and as it proceeds at« tacks will be delivered against Hartford, New Haven and Providence. That night, weather permitting, there will be night attacks over the Boston area, with a full divisional attack the next day. One group of planes will continue on to Portland and Bangor, Me, by way of Vermont and New Hampshire, Having covered the New England coast Mne, conducting both offensive and defensive train- ing operations, the division will continue its advance, turning back toward the west, on May 26 proceeding by way of Springfield, Mass., and Troy, Schenectady and Albany, N. Y., and then down the Hudson River Valley to New York. In New York the original divisional head- quarters will be reoccupied a$ Mitchel Pield. The headquarters organization consists of 30 officers, headed by Gen. Foulols; 13 enlisteq men and 22 planes, There also will be press headquarters, the 21st Observation Wing, of 160 planes; 22d Observation Wing, of 99 planes; photo press section;, of 12 planes, and 30 planes for officlal observers—a total of 359 officers, 273 enlisted men and 313 planes, The 11th Bombardment Wing, of 69 planes, 113 officers and 105 enlisted men, will be ab Roosevelt Field No. 1, near Westbury, Long Island. At Roosevelt Field No. 2, near ) will be the 31st Provisional Transport Group, of 45 planes, 45 officers and 45 enlisted men. The 3d Attack Group, with 51 planes, 53 offi- cers and 51 enlisted men, will be stationed at Fairchild Airport, Farmingdale, Long Island.” At Curtiss-Wright Airport, Valley Stream, Long Island, will be the 1st Provisional Pursuit Wing of 194 planes, 227 officers and 213 enlisted men. The units of the division also will be broken up and scattered among & half score of airparts in the New England area during the maneuyers along the upper Atlantic coast. : New Jersey citles will form the targets for divisional attacks on May 27, the whole @ivi- sion moving by successive combat waves against Atlantic City, Trenton, Jersey City and Newark and then returning to the New York airdromes, where on the following day they will be inspect- ed, the planes checked and tuned up and equip- ment overhauled. On May 29 the squadrons will head south away from New York and will stage demonstra- tions over Philadelphia and Baltimore, That night, in preparation for the final demonstra- tion over Washington, the division will be dis- tributed among various airports, owing to the utter inadequacy of airports in the National Capital area to handle them. The War Depart- ment declded not to make use of Washington- Hoover Airport because of the heavy commer- cial air traffic which must be continued there. The division will be stationed on the night of May 29 as follows: At Logan Fleld, Baltimore, the 22nd Observa- tlon Wing; a8 Middletown Air Depot, Middle~ town, Pa., the transport group; at Langley Hampton, Va, the 21st Observation Wing, Bombardmeny Wing and 3rd Attack Bolling FleM, Division HeadquaXers, let Fyes