1913-Continued
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UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
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Base for first aviation operations with f7eet at Fisherman's Point, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January 1913 652044
8 February Lieutenant John H. Towers reported on
experimental work underway at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, including bombing, aerial photography, and
wireless transmission, and stated: "We have become
fairly accurate at dropping missiles, using a fairly sim-
ple device gotten up by one of the men. Have
obtained some good photographs from the boats at
heights up to 1,000 feet. I believe we will get some
results with wireless this winter."
26 February Action to provide the Navy with a
wind tunnel, a basic tool in aeronautical research and
development, was approved formally by the Chief
Constructor of the Navy. The resulting tunnel, which
was built at the Washington Navy Yard, remained in
operation until after the end of World War II.
4 March The Navy Appropriations Act for fiscal year
1914 provided an increase of 35 percent in pay and
allowances for officers detailed to duty as flyers of
heavier-than-air craft, limited to 30 the number of offi-
cers that could be so assigned, and further provided
that no naval officer above the rank of lieutenant com-
mander, or major in the Marine Corps, could be
detailed to duty involving flying.
5 March As a result of tests held at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, 3-5 March, Lieutenant John H. Towers
reported that submarines were visible from the air at
depths of from 30 to 40 feet.
13 March Captain Washington 1. Chambers was
awarded the medal of the Aeronautical Society for the
year 1912 and cited for "his unusual achievements in
being the first to demonstrate the usefulness of the
aeroplane in navies, in developing a practical catapult
for the launching of aeroplanes from ships, in assisting
in the practical solution of the hydroaeroplane by the
production in association with others of the flying
boat, in having been instrumental in the introduction
into our halls of Congress of bills for a National
Aerodynamic Laboratory, and a Competitive Test, and
through his perseverance and able efforts in advancing
the progress of Aeronautics in many other channels."
31 March Aircraft instruments and allied equipment
for installation in a new flying boat, the Burgess
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Guantanamo 1913 - B. L. Smith, P. N. L. Bellinger, A. A.
Cunningham, W D. Billingsley (standing) V. D. Herbstel; G. deC
Chevalier (seated) 426948

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