he must first secure by combined a profession in civil life, many men' which is of no value at another part Coast Artillery School.-The training of officers and selected enlisted men for these highly specialized duties is carried out at the Coast Artillery School, Fort Monroe, Virginia, the second oldest institution of learning in the army, which has for more than 100 years carried along the education of artillery officers on this appropriate site. The courses at the present time include instruction in In November, 1925, the "pilot” 14the tactics of artillery, methods of inch railway gun, made and perfected gunnery, electrical and radio engi- by the Ordnance Department, was neering and motor transportation. sent across the continent to Fort McFor captains and lieutenants, the Arthur near Los Angeles, California, technical detail of these subjects is from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. very thoroughly covered, and the The gun and carriage weigh 365 tons principles applied by practical in- or as much as a heavy locomotive. A struction. In the advanced course for careful survey of the capacity of the senior officers, the instruction is along transcontinental railroads preceded broader lines. During the past year the movement of this heavy gun, the following number of officers have which was made at limited speed unsuccessfully pursued these courses-til smooth-running was assured, and Battery officers: 34 Regular Army, 2 Cuban Army, 17 National Guard, 8 Organized Reserves-Field Officers: 35. then at higher speed. The trip was re A very desirable feature of the Photography. the probability of their being success- | is charged with development, mainfully neutralized by either ships' guns tenance, preparation and supply of or airplane bombing. The guns, ordnance materials. During the year, magazines and position-finding instal- 24 officers graduated from the Ordlation are so dispersed over the ter-nance School at Watertown, Mass., rain and concealed, that the target and 31 enlisted men from the Specialpresented to an enemy is less than ists' School. Two ordnance officers that of the older small-calibre bat- were detailed to the plant of Holt teries. A number of these superpowerful batteries have been completed. Similar development has been made with heavy artillery of medium calibre which is drawn by tractor. The object to be obtained is generally the same the concentration of this type of artillery at a threatened point. Mfg. Co., Stockton, California, and one other to the offices of E. I. Dupont De Nemours and Co., Wilmington, Del., for the purpose of familiarizing themselves with the work of civilian plants and of allowing the heads of those establishments to gain a knowledge of the wants of the army. Plants for the prompt and efficient utilization in war have been Defense Against Aircraft. The the subject of constant study in the most important recent development in Ordnance office, since it was clearly the Coast Artillery has been with the demonstrated during the World War means of defense against aircraft. that the decentralization of contact The efficacy of anti-aircraft gun fire with industry through procurement having been questioned by witnesses districts was vital to successful appearing before a Congressional operation of ordnance activities. The Committee conducting hearings on district system has been revised and Air Service matters during the winter has been in operation for nearly three and spring of 1925, the War Depart- years. Fourteen procurement disment initiated measures to obtain tricts have been organized, each with definite information on which sound a permanent, local civilian as chief conclusions could be based. During and a Regular Army officer as exthe summer an extended program of anti-aircraft firings at targets towed by airplanes was held at Fort Tilden, Long Island, these firings being by day and by night, with 3-inch guns for distant targets and machine guns for low-flying targets. The following results were obtained with the 3-inch guns. ecutive assistant. Each district has been engaged in surveying manufacturing plants, placing tentative orders for material with these plants and supplying information to prospective contractors, the response being encouraging and the interest keen. The Browning machine gun, calibre 50, was approved as an antiaircraft weapon. Machine rifles, pistols, divisional, corps, and army artillery, especially the railway and seacoast weapons, and tractors and reconnaissance vehicles have been signally improved. A noteworthy achievement was the development of X-ray in the investigation of steel and other metals as an outstanding feature of the year. Not only is the composition and structure of metals by this means understood but defects are located and discovered which would not otherwise be visible. The matter has already been taken up by commercial concerns and should be a valuable addition to scientific industry. Other researches at the Picatinny Arsenal, especially in propel research work as to the flight of bombs dropped from aircraft has been undertaken in connection with tests lant powders in conjunction with the ARMY AËRONAUTICS BY MAJOR W. A. GANOE, U. S. A. HISTORICAL DIVISION, ARMY WAR COLLEGE Service to General Aeroplaning.The Air Service (Major General Mason M. Patrick, Chief), working in coöperation with the Navy, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Post Office Department and the Bureau of Standards, has not only contributed signally to the healthy infancy of the comparatively new science of flying, but has been of great benefit to industry in general. In conjunction with the Information Division, the Engineering Division of the Service has in the past five years collected, digested and disseminated to the public a tremendous amount of technical data; and has aided in the perfection and standardization of nomenclature, of mechanical processes, of methods of analysis of designs, and of procedure in the static and flight test of complete airplanes. The Engineering Division has prepared a Designers Handbook, a Book of Standards and a series of Specifications which, while intended primarily for the use of manufacturers dealing directly with the army, have come to be looked upon throughout the field of aviation in this country as the most valuable works now extant on the subject. These, together with Information Circulars and other technical publications prepared by the Air Service, are used either as text books or references in nearly all universities where courses in aeronautical engineering are given. Many of them are in demand for similar purposes in foreign countries. The Air Service furnishes to school boys information on the construction of models and gliders; to older children material for study and debate on aeronautical subjects; to journalists aerial photographs from the files of the Army Air Service; to inventors (no matter how radical or impracticable may seem their ideas) sympathy, interest and advice; and to builders assistance and guidance in the great task of perfecting types of planes and engines suited to the many purposes for which aircraft may be advantageously employed. Probably in no other field does the Air Service exert a stronger influence toward the perfection of commercial aviation, than in that more or less intangible one of information and education. The Army does not limit itself in this great work to the dissemination of advice, theories and formulae. It has devoted much time and effort to practical demonstrations and has developed many of the most progressive and important items of equipment. The parachute developed by the Army Air Service is used throughout the United States by civilian as well as military fliers, and has been adopted by the Canadian Air Force and by the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. Since its perfection, no instance of malfunctioning has been recorded, and many lives have been saved as a direct result of its use. The supercharger developed by the Army Air Service has greatly improved the range and climbing ability of aircraft and is now being applied with great promise to truck and motor vehicles operating habitually at high altitudes. As commercial airplanes differ from military only in the matter of armament and in the modification of performance characteristics, the application of navigation instruments and of other equip ment and accessories perfected by the Army to civil aircraft is immediate. The Alaskan Flight, the Porto Rican Flight, the Non-stop Transcontinental Flight, the Dawn to Dusk Transcontinental Flight, the Round the In 1925 ten DH 4B planes with necessary equipment were furnished by the Army and were flown on patrol by Reserve Officers paid from the funds of the Department of Agriculture. World Flight, the annual Interna- | commissioned personnel together with tional Air Races, and many others the heavy demands of the summer have been conducted by the Army Air training period have made it imposService to demonstrate the capabili-sible for the Air Service to take the ties of aircraft, to promote confidence same active part as in 1920. in air travel and to stimulate design competition. With our entry into the World War the Air Service Engineering Division at Dayton, Ohio, laid the foundations for a sound and progressive aeronautical engineering pol- Writing of the work of that part icy, to which more than to any other of the 9th Aero Squadron operating single influence may be attributed the out of Mather Field during the sumstanding of this country in the world mer of 1920, Paul G. Redington, of aviation to-day. Since the de- Forester in charge of the California velopment of airplanes is a long and district, states that 33 per cent. of tedious process, involving painstak- the 196 forest fires discovered and reing research and exhaustive inquiry ported were accurately located. "And into new and unexplored fields, the accurately,' says Mr. Redington, design and construction of aircraft "in this case means that these locamust necessarily be attended by many tions given us by the airplane fire costly mistakes. Considerable sums patrols were all within one-fourth must be devoted to experiments which mile of the exact location as later when completed may prove to be fruit- determined by actual surveys on the less except as an indication of what ground. not to do. The vast aeronautical industry built up during the war disappeared almost completely after the armistice. "This record, when supplemented by the further facts that an additional 19 per cent. of the fires discovered were reported within one-half Service in Forest Fires.-During mile of their actual location, that 10 the summer of 1919 the Secretary of per cent. of the total numbers were War, at the request of the Secretary discovered by the air patrol before of Agriculture, authorized the estab- the rangers knew they even existed, lishment on an experimental basis of and that 42 per cent. or 83 of the aerial forest fire patrols by the Army. fires were reported by radio, while In 1920 an appropriation by Congress the ships were in flight, demonstrates of $50,000 made possible the improve- without a doubt that airplane fire ment and expansion of this service. patrol in California has been successAs a result in that year Army air- ful. planes flew a total of 476,085 miles "Besides acting as lookouts to deover nine patrol routes in Washing tect and report fires, airplanes were ton, Oregon and California. Of used this year to direct fire fighting 1,338 fires occurring in all National operations and to patrol fire lines Forest Preserves of California dur- which have been established, but ing July, August and September, the which needed watching to see that air patrol reported 772. Since much the flames did not get beyond condepends upon the early determina- trol. The case of the Mill Creek tion of the existence and of the exact forest fire, on the Lassen National location of fires, the airplane, through Forest, where 25,000 acres were its speed and ability to cover other burned over, is an example. Here a wise almost inaccessible areas, proved special reconnaissance plane, equipped to be of great value in this work. with radio and with a forest officer No doubt these results would have for observer, hovered over the fire been greatly exceeded had it been pos- and actually directed the movement sible to continue operations on the of bodies of fire fighters by wiresame scale for several years more. less messages received right on the Unfortunately the appropriations for fire line. In addition this plane the purpose since 1920 have been patrolled twice each day some fourgreatly reduced and the shortage of teen miles of completed fire lines, |