_Langley_, the Disarmament Conference of 1922 had changed this country’s
plans for the construction of new battleships. However, the United
States and Great Britain were permitted, by the terms of the conference
agreement, each to have 135,000 tons of airplane carriers. Two of the
big cruisers under construction at that time were converted into
carriers. These two, our first specifically designed-aircraft carriers,
were the _Lexington_ and the _Saratoga_. When commissioned in 1927, the
_Lexington_ and the _Saratoga_ were the biggest and best aircraft
carriers in the world. Weighing about 35,000 tons and capable of
carrying sixty to eighty airplanes,
[Illustration: VOUGHT VE-7 FIGHTER]
[Illustration: CURTISS F6C-1 FIGHTER]
[Illustration: CURTISS T5 FIGHTER]
[Illustration: BOEING F4B-4 FIGHTER]
[Illustration: CURTISS BF2C-1 FIGHTER-BOMBER]
they were the fastest ships of their type afloat. The ships--the “Lex”
and the “Sara,” as airmen called them--became the twin mothers of
carrier fighter tactics and operational techniques.
The U. S. Navy pioneered in the development of aircraft as a military
weapon and spared no effort to develop it and fit it into naval
organization. The _Lexington_ and the _Saratoga_ were the proving
grounds for the ideas of our imaginative leaders of naval aviation. The
lessons learned in maneuvers with the _Lexington_ and _Saratoga_ were
well embedded in the minds of the men who were someday to command the
greatest carrier task force the world has ever seen. The old _Lexington_
and _Saratoga_ were in the thick of the fight in the Pacific from the
day after Pearl Harbor. The “Lex” went down in the gallant fight that
stopped the Japs in the Coral Sea. Within two years a new and more
powerful _Lexington_ was hammering the Japs in the Pacific. The
_Saratoga_, damaged severely several times, lived through the heroic
struggle to see victory. The “Lex” and the “Sara” will always live in
the hearts of the Navy’s veteran airmen.
SHIPBOARD FIGHTERS
[Illustration: GRUMMAN FF-1 FIGHTER]
The Curtiss TS-1 was the first carrier fighter built to Navy
specification. It was followed by the Boeing FB-l. Carrier fighters
offered one of aviation’s most difficult problems. A carrier fighter had
to have a short takeoff run, necessitated by the carrier’s short deck.
Another requirement was a short wingspan to permit the storage of a
number of planes in the limited space of the carrier’s hangar deck. As a
result, small light biplanes were used on the carriers for many years.
The Curtiss BFC-l and BF2C-l were the first carrier-based aircraft to be
equipped with retractable landing gear. The Boeing F4B-4, though it did
not have a retractable landing gear, was a very fast, all-metal fighter
and was popular as a carrier-based fighter. Grumman came into the
picture in 1935 with a stubby, fast, two-place fighter, the FF-1. It was
highly successful, but was later re-designed as a scout plane, the SF-1.
The FF-1 was the fastest fighter yet to appear in service and, after
several modifications, it became the F3F-1, a design standardized by the
Navy and used throughout by the carriers’ fighter squadrons.
[Illustration: U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER _LEXINGTON_]
BATTLESHIP OF THE AIR
In line with its strategic policy the Army Air Corps continued to
develop aviation around long-range bombardment. Long-range bombers would
stop an invader far from our shores and therefore the aim of our Air
Corps leaders was to develop a bomber that could be used for that
purpose.
The Martin BM-1, the Barling bomber, and the Keystone LB-6, developed in
the twenties, were all biplanes made of wood, metal, and fabric. What
the Army airmen really wanted was an all-metal, low-wing, multi-engined
bomber capable of flying far out to sea, dropping its bombs, and
returning to its base on land. Naturally at that time our only thoughts
were of weapons for defense and the protection of our coastline from an
invader.
The Martin B-10 two-engined bomber seemed to fill the Army requirements.
It was a low-wing monoplane capable of carrying a ton of bombs a
thousand miles at a speed of nearly 200 miles per hour. It became the
Army’s standard bomber in 1934.
In the same year ten Martin B-10’s, under the command of (then)
Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Arnold, made an historic flight to Alaska.
This Alaskan trip was climaxed by a nonstop flight from Juneau, Alaska,
to Seattle, Washington, 943 miles over water in five hours and forty
minutes. Alaska’s nearness became apparent and American airpower was
needed to defend it. Army officials and top air strategists went to
work. The answer was a call for bigger bombers with greater range,
greater bomb capacity, and greater speed.
The Boeing Company, whose B-9 all-metal, low-wing, two-engined bomber
had proved sensational in 1932, produced the answer to the Army’s
problem of 1935. The answer was the giant four-engined model 299,
America’s first four-engined bomber. It was a mid-wing, all-metal
monoplane with a wingspan of 104 feet. With a top speed of over 250
miles per hour its performance was more than sensational.
[Illustration: 1935-1939
WINGSPAN 105 FEET
LENGTH 70 FEET
THE BOEING 299. THE _FLYING FORTRESS_, WAS AMERICA’S FIRST ALL-METAL,
LONG-RANGE, HIGH-ALTITUDE, FOUR-ENGINED “BATTLESHIP OF THE AIR.”
POWER
FOUR 9-CYLINDER 750-HP. RADIAL ENGINES
THE FIRST _FORTRESS_ WAS POWERED WITH PRATT & WHITNEY 750-HP. RADIAL
ENGINES. LATER MODELS USED 1,000-HP. WRIGHT CYCLONES.
SPEED
ONE HOUR
230 MILES
RANGE
2,000 MILES
CEILING
20,000 FEET
PAYLOAD
9 CREW MEMBERS, ONE
TON OF BOMBS, AND FIVE
30-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS.
THE 299, OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED THE XB-17, WEIGHED 16 TONS. ITS GREAT
WINGS WERE CONSTRUCTED OF ALUMINUM ALLOY METAL BRACED INTERNALLY BY A
BRIDGE-LIKE TRUSS STRUCTURE. THE 299 WAS HIGHLY STREAMLINED AND ITS
LANDING GEAR RETRACTED INTO WELLS IN THE ENGINE NACELLES. ITS ENGINES
WHIRLED 3-BLADED CONSTANT-SPEED PROPELLERS. IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH WING
FLAPS TO REDUCE ITS LANDING SPEED. GUNNERS WERE PROTECTED BY PLASTIC GUN
BLISTERS AND BOMBS WERE CARRIED INSIDE THE FUSELAGE.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE _FLYING FORTRESS_ MARKED A GREAT STEP FORWARD IN
THE DESIGN OF BIG MILITARY AIRPLANES. IT CAME AS THE RESULT OF THE
BOEING COMPANY’S DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-WING, ALL-METAL, MULTI-ENGINED
PLANES. IT ALSO PROVED THAT PROPER STREAMLINING REDUCED _DRAG_ AND
INCREASED SPEED.]
[Illustration]
The pioneering of unusual airplanes like the _Monomail_, the B-9, and
the 247 transport were steps toward the Boeing 299. It was a courageous
step from two-engined to four-engined bombers, but the Boeing Company
made it so successfully that almost instantly the United States Army Air
Corps won world leadership in long-range, heavy bombardment aviation.
The exceptional speed, range, armament, and bomb capacity of the 299
quickly resulted in the dramatic name _Flying Fortress_. As the B-17 it
flew across the country at 232 miles per hour. In 1938, six B-17 _Flying
Fortresses_ set unofficial world records for speed and range in a mass
flight from Langley Field, Virginia, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
return.
[Illustration: GRUMMAN F3F NAVY FIGHTER]
NAVAL AVIATION GETS READY
From 1930 to 1940 the small but efficient air arm of the United States
Navy continued to make progress. Since the introduction of the radial
engine, the Navy had worked closely with manufacturers of this type of
power plant. All types of Navy airplanes were powered with either Wright
or Pratt & Whitney air-cooled, radial engines. Many problems peculiar to
naval aircraft were worked out through the close co-operation of Navy
technicians and manufacturers. Corrosion-resistant metals were developed
for cylinders. Stronger engine parts were introduced to withstand the
stress of dive-bombing. Continual progress was made in increasing the
power of the engine without increasing its weight per horsepower. Thus
engine power increased from 200 horsepower in 1925 to 1,000 horsepower
in 1940.
[Illustration: GRUMMAN F4F _WILDCAT_ NAVY FIGHTER]
Naval aviators, encouraged by pioneer flying officers such as Jack
Towers, Marc Mitscher, Reeves, Bellinger, Read, and others, flew
continually to improve their flying and tactical techniques. They
flight-tested experimental planes, invented and perfected the technique
of dive-bombing, and improved their skill in the difficult task of
carrier operations. A young lieutenant, Frank D. Wagner, who invented
dive-bombing almost twenty years ago, a rear admiral in World War II,
had the satisfaction of seeing his invention, at the peak of perfection,
operating with deadly effect against our enemies in the Pacific. In
fact, many of the young naval aviators who fifteen years before were
conducting a continual competition to see whose squadron could excel the
rest in flying, dive-bombing, and gunnery, commanded the greatest naval
air force in the world.
In addition to the development of carrier-based aircraft operation, the
Navy perfected a catapult device which simplified the launching of
planes from all types of surface vessels. In 1912 the air-minded Captain
Chambers had made a successful experiment with a catapult-launching
device. This device, made of material salvaged from a scrap heap, laid
the foundation for catapult-launching of aircraft from surface vessels.
In Captain Chambers’ device the plane rested on a small car running on
the catapult rail. A cylinder filled with compressed air contained a
piston. When a valve was opened, the escaping air pushed the piston
against the car with a force that sent the car down the catapult rail
and the plane into the air.
The basic idea developed by Captain Chambers is still used in Navy
catapults. In the modern device, the airplane rests on a car riding on a
catapult rail which can be mounted on all types of surface craft. The
rail is so constructed that it can be swung in any direction, permitting
the plane to be launched into the wind. The power that shoots the
catapult car and sends the plane off the rail is furnished by a
five-inch shell fired in a mechanism at the rear of the rail. It was
this idea of Captain Chambers’ that originally gave the Navy a start on
the device enabling our battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to take
observation planes to sea with them. This was the idea which furnished
the “eyes of the fleet” and gave admirals and captains the power to see
what lay beyond the horizon.
The development of naval aviation marched step by step with the
development of aircraft. The year 1940 saw the introduction of one of
the best carrier-based fighters ever built, the Grumman F4F _Wildcat_.
This stubby-winged craft was a radical departure from previous
carrier-fighter design and became the first successful monoplane to go
to sea on the carriers. Wing-flaps lowered landing speeds and shortened
take-off runs. This permitted the use on the carriers of the fast
fighter, since the flaps acted as brakes and reduced the plane’s speed
for deck landings. The F4F had a wingspan of 38 feet but this was
decreased by the folding of its wings to 14 feet 6 inches. This device
reduced the space necessary for storage in the carrier’s hangar deck and
permitted the use of additional fighters on the ship. The F4F’s landing
gear retracted completely into the fuselage, thus aiding in streamlining
and increasing the speed of the fighter. It was powered with a
1,200-horsepower Pratt 81 Whitney air-cooled radial engine and had a
speed of about 350 miles per hour.
[Illustration: CATAPULT LAUNCHING]
Experiments with the use of aërial torpedoes brought about the
development of the Douglas TBD-1 torpedo plane. Though not so fast as a
fighter, the three-place TBD-1 _Devastator_ carried a deadly torpedo
load. The Douglas SBD _Dauntless_ was designed for dive-bombing and was
the first low-wing monoplane to be used as the standard dive-bomber on
our carriers.
The Douglas SBD _Dauntless_ was the first Navy dive-bomber to get into
action in World War II. In fact it went into action a few minutes after
the first Jap shot was fired at Pearl Harbor, on the morning of December
7th, 1941. SBD’s from the carrier Enterprise, steaming toward Hawaii,
were the first planes in action on that fateful morning. From that day
on our war in the Pacific was one of attack. The dive-bomber is an
attack weapon and the sturdy SBD’s led the attack from Pearl Harbor down
to Guadalcanal and on up the Pacific to the Philippines and victory.
While other types of planes were under consideration at the beginning of
the war, the airplanes just discussed were the ones that bore the brunt
of the fighting in the early months following the attack on Pearl
Harbor. Their work in the hands of gallant Navy airmen in the
heartbreaking first year of our struggle against terrific odds in the
Pacific would in itself furnish material for a book many times the size
of this one.
[Illustration: TWO FAMOUS DOUGLAS NAVY AIRPLANES
SBD _DAUNTLESS_ DIVE BOMBER
TBD _DEVASTATOR_ TORPEDO PLANE]
THE U. S. NAVY’S FIRST LONG-RANGE FLYING BOATS
In the early twenties the memories of the famous transatlantic flight of
the NC flying boats persisted in the minds of naval aviators. Much of
the Navy’s interest was centered in the Pacific, and the vision of
flying boats that could quickly link Hawaii to the mainland was an
enticing one.
On a trial flight from San Francisco, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii,
in 1925, Commander John Rogers, flying a Navy patrol plane, was forced
down after twenty-five hours in the air. He was within four hundred
miles of Hawaii when he landed on the sea. After drifting for nine days,
Rogers was picked up by a submarine. Although the flight had failed, it
had established a seaplane record of over 1,800 miles, and the trail was
blazed.
It was the development of the famous Consolidated PBY flying boats that
eventually put our West Coast within twenty-four hours’ flying distance
of Hawaii. You will remember the Army officer who had charge of our
first air mail service back in 1918--Major Reuben H. Fleet. Major Fleet
resigned from the service in 1922 and in the year following organized
the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. His firm manufactured many types
of airplanes, including the Army’s PB-2A fighter and the 0-19
observation plane. In 1928 Consolidated built the XBY-1, a flying boat
with a wingspan of 100 feet. This was the first Consolidated flying boat
purchased by the United States Navy. Following this came the big
thirty-two-place Consolidated _Commodore_ flying boat.
The _Commodore_ led to the development of the P2Y type of flying boat.
This was a two-engined plane with a wingspan of 100 feet and a length of
62 feet. This was the plane which was to lead to the world-famous PBY
_Catalina_ flying boats. In January, 1934, six P2Y’s in the service of
the United States Navy made the first successful mass flight from San
Francisco to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a distance of 2,414 miles.
[Illustration: 1934-1945
WINGSPAN 104 FEET
LENGTH 65 FEET
THE _CATILINA_ WAS THE FIRST LONG-RANGE FLYING BOAT TO BE BUILT IN
QUANTITY FOR THE U.S. NAVY.
POWER
TWO 9-CYLINDER RADIAL ENGINES
THE FIRST MODELS WERE POWERED WITH 600-HP. ENGINES, LATER THEIR POWER
WAS INCREASED TO 1050 HP.
SPEED
ONE HOUR
198 MILES
RANGE
2,000+ MILES
THE _CATALINA_, WITH A RANGE OF OVER 2,000 MILES, GAVE THE NAVY A
LONG-RANGE PATROL BOAT CAPABLE OF CONNECTING OUR MAINLAND WITH THE CANAL
ZONE, HAWAII, AND ALASKA.
CEILING
18,000+ FEET
PAYLOAD
A CREW OF SEVEN
TO NINE MEN AND
A TON OF BOMBS.
THE POWERFUL, STURDY _CATALINA_, WITH ITS ABILITY TO CRUISE FAR OUT OVER
THE OCEAN, GAVE THE NAVY A VALUABLE DEFENSE WEAPON. SCOUTING FAR OUT
FROM OUR SHORES, IT COULD PROTECT OUR COASTLINE.
WHEN THE _CATALINAS_ WENT INTO SERVICE IN 1934, NOT EVEN THEIR
STAUNCHEST ADMIRERS VISUALIZED THAT, YEARS LATER, THEY WOULD BE ONE OF
THE NAVY’S MOST DEPENDABLE WEAPONS IN DEFEATING THE NAZIS AND THE JAPS
IN WORLD WAR II.]
[Illustration]
First introduced in 1934, the Consolidated PBY _Catalina_ was one of the
world’s first all-metal flying boats. Powered with two 600-horsepower
radial engines, the PBY was for six years the fastest airplane of its
class. In January, 1937, twelve Navy PBY’s flew in nonstop formation
from San Diego, California, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a distance of 2,553
miles, in 21 hours and 43 minutes. In June of the same year twelve PBY’s
flew in nonstop formation from San Diego to Coco Solo, Canal Zone, or
3,087 miles in 27 hours and 21 minutes. In 1937 Sir Hubert Wilkins flew
a commercial version of the PBY over 19,000 miles of Arctic wastes.
[Illustration: BOEING P-12 FIGHTER
BOEING P-26 A FIGHTER]
TECHNICAL PROGRESS IN THE U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS IN THE THIRTIES
Although prevented from any great expansion in the years following World
War I, the Army led the way in many phases of aviation. United States
Army planes were the first to fly around the world. Army aviation also
pioneered night flying and the use of the lighted airfield, refueling in
the air, and radio communication between ground and plane. It made great
advances in aërial photography. In 1929, Captain Albert W. Stevens
photographed Mount Rainier from an airplane 227 miles away, establishing
a record of long-distance aërial photography. The same year, Lieutenant
“Jimmy” Doolittle, in a demonstration of instrument-flying, accomplished
a take-off and a landing solely through the use of instruments. This was
the beginning of “blind flying.” The Army Fokker _Question Mark_ under
the command of Carl Spaatz and Ira Eaker, generals commanding our heavy
bomber forces in Europe in World War II, established an endurance record
by staying aloft for 150 hours. Their plane was refueled in the air
during the record flight. Army aviators were trained in the use of
oxygen at high altitudes and in the use of instruments for “blind
flying.”
[Illustration: CONSOLIDATED PB-2A FIGHTER-BOMBER
CURTISS P-36 _HAWK_
CURTISS P-40 _HAWK_]
In 1927 the great Matériel Division of the Air Corps was established in
its new home at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, close by the birthplace of
Orville and Wilbur Wright. The Air Corps Matériel Division was the
testing laboratory for all Army aviation equipment. Here all types of
new engines, planes, and instruments were developed and tested. Aircraft
manufacturers co-operated closely with Army technicians in developing
ideas which would help to further the advancement of military aviation.
New types of planes were taken to Wright Field, where Army technicians
and test pilots put them through grueling tests before releasing them
for Army service. Here the Army research engineers worked with oil
companies to develop fuels which would increase the performance of
aircraft engines. Clothing and equipment for pilots were tested.
High-speed aërial cameras were developed, and it was through the efforts
of the men at Wright Field that aërial photography in general was
perfected to so high a degree.
Many of the features developed for the Army at Wright Field also were
applied to commercial aviation and contributed greatly to the safety of
air travel. From the earliest postwar days, Army aviation leaders had
been insistent that safety was the most important factor in the
development of airplanes and of aviation equipment. The experts at
Wright Field have contributed greatly to the high record of safety which
consistently has prevailed in Army aviation.
THE ALLISON ENGINE
For several years after World War I, all Army airplanes were powered
with water-cooled, in-line engines. In the majority of cases it was the
_Liberty_ engine developed during the war, but some water-cooled Wright
engines also were used. As late as 1927 the Army still was experimenting
with the _Liberty_ engine and trying to increase its horsepower. James
A. Allison became interested in this project and, when the job was given
up as hopeless, went on to create his own engine. He died before he had
completed his engine, but his assistant, Norman H. Gilman, continued its
development in conjunction with General Motors. The first successful
Allison engine was completed in 1932, and the following year the Navy
used it to power the dirigibles _Akron_ and _Macon_.
The Army became very much interested in the Allison engine. Although a
number of Army fighters were equipped with radials following the early
successes of that type of engine, Air Corps men believed that, due to
its narrow frontal area, the in-line engine could help to streamline
fighters. Finally, in 1939, after many changes, the first Allison
engines were installed in Curtiss P-40 Army fighters. The first Allison
engine had developed 1,090 horsepower. By 1940 its horsepower was
increased to 1,150 and the Army adopted it as standard. It was installed
in all P-40’s and later in Lawrence Bell’s P-39 _Airacobra_. In the P-39
the engine was installed in the fuselage behind the pilot. A ten-foot
shaft carried the power to the propeller in the nose of the ship. This
installation permitted the housing of a 37-millimeter cannon and two
machine guns in the nose of the _Airacobra_. The Lockheed P-38
_Lightning_ was powered with two Allison engines, making it the first
fighter with more than two thousand horsepower.
[Illustration: LOCKHEED P-38 _LIGHTNING_]
[Illustration: ALLISON LIQUID-COOLED, V-TYPE, IN-LINE, 1,150-HP.
12-CYLINDER ENGINE.]
[Illustration: BELL P-39 _AIRACOBRA_ WITH THE ALLISON ENGINE INSTALLED
BEHIND THE PILOT’S COMPARTMENT.]
BATTLESHIPS OF THE AIR LEAD THE WAY TO VICTORY
Regardless of the fact that this country was at peace and our military
policy a defensive one, our farseeing Air Corps leaders continued to
build American air power around the heavy, long-range bomber. As the
heavy bomber was primarily an offensive weapon, many Americans believed
the Army’s development of it to be contrary to our declared policy. As a
result, we did not build great numbers of bombers. However, with the
small number that we did have, our Army aviators made great progress in
the technique of high-altitude bombing.
As in all branches of the United States Army, great stress was laid on
good marksmanship. Army aviators were trained to hit the mark with their
bombs just as the infantryman does with his rifle. Other countries
developing heavy bombers were satisfied if their airmen dropped a great
many bombs in a given target area. In this country the development of
the bombsight enabled our aviators to hit a target with great accuracy
from high altitudes. This is called precision bombing. It was also known
as pin-pointing a target, because of the ability of our bombardiers to
score direct hits on small targets. It was the B-17 _Flying Fortress_
that gave Army airmen the greatest help in perfecting high-altitude,
precision bombing. The broad wings of the _Fortress_ furnished a steady
platform from which to aim the bombs, and the great plane was able to
fly smoothly in the higher altitudes. The bombardier riding in its
transparent nose could carefully line up his target and drop his bombs
with precision accuracy.
It was not until the outbreak of World War II that most Americans came
to realize the value of the airplane in modern conflict. As the fighting
grew to global proportions, Americans began in particular to appreciate
the farsightedness of our Air Corps leaders in developing the long-range
bomber.
By 1940 the original Boeing 299 or B-17 had grown from a sixteen-ton
ship to a giant twenty-two-ton bomber. The new version, the B-17D, was
powered with two 1,200-horsepower radial engines, giving it a speed of
more than 300 miles per hour. Continual improvements were made on it and
by the spring of 1942 a still more formidable member of the _Fortress_
family, the B-17F, was in production.
The B-17F was the most powerful bomber yet produced. It was armed with
eleven .50-caliber machine guns and manned by a crew of ten. It could
carry more than three tons of bombs to targets over seven hundred miles
distant. Its oxygen system permitted its crew to fly the _Fortress_ at
altitudes above 35,000 feet. With its eleven heavy machine guns in the
hands of a perfectly trained crew, the _Fortress_ was capable of
defending itself with deadly effectiveness.
The first _Flying Fortresses_ went into action with the United States
Army on the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although this country
had then only a limited number of _Fortresses_, they and their
successors quickly began to distinguish themselves on the battlefronts
of the world.