1915-Continued
28 May The Naval Militia was informed that refresh-
er flight training at Pensacola, Fla., was available for a
limited number of its aviators.
1 June The Navy let its first contract for a lighter-
than-air craft to the Connecticut Aircraft Company,
New Haven. It ordered one non-rigid airship which
was later designated the DN-1.
7 July In the initial step towards mobilizing science,
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels stated in a let-
ter to Thomas A. Edison: "One of the imperative needs
of the Navy, in my judgment, is machinery and facili-
ties for utilizing the natural inventive genius of
Americans to meet the new conditions of warfare."
This letter led to the establishment of the Naval
Consulting Board, a group of civilian advisors which
functioned during the World War I period and includ-
ed in its organization a "Committee on Aeronautics,
including Aero Motors."
10 July The Aeronautical Engine Laboratory had its
beginnings at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington,
D.C., with an authorization by the Secretary to outfit a
building for testing aeronautic machinery.
10 July After test of a sextant equipped with a
pendulum-type artificial horizon, NAS Pensacola's
commanding officer, Henry C. Mustin, reported that
while the pendulum principle was basically unsatis-
factory for aircraft use, a sextant incorporating a
gyroscopically stabilized artificial horizon might be
acceptable.
10 July A standard organization prescribed by
General Order was the first to provide for an aeronau-
tic force within the Naval Militia. Its composition, par-
alleling that of other forces established at the same
time, was in sections of not more than 6 officers and
28 enlisted men; two sections forming a division.
Officers were in the "aeronautics duty only" category,
the highest rank provided being that of lieutenant
commander at the division level. Its enlisted structure
provided that men taken in under regular ratings of
machinist mates and electricians would perform duties
as aeronautic machinists; carpenter mates would per-
form duties as aeronautic mechanics; and landsmen,
the equivalent of today's strikers, would perform spe-
cial duties.
22 July Based on recommendations received from
the Naval Aeronautic Station, Pensacola, Fla., the
Director of Naval Aeronautics established requirements
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
17
for 13 instruments to be installed in service aero-
planes: air speed meter, incidence indicator, tachome-
ter, skidding and sideslip indicator, altitude barometer,
oil gauge, fuel gauge, compass, course and distance
indicator, magazine camera, binoculars, clock, and
sextant. All except the navigational instruments, cam-
era, binoculars, and clock were also required for
school aeroplanes.
5 August Lieutenant Patrick N. 1. Bellinger, flying
the Burgess-Dunne AH-10, spotted mortar fire for
Army shore batteries at Fort Monroe, Va., signaling his
spots with Very pistol flares.
11 August The Naval Observatory requested the
Eastman Kodak Company to develop an aerial camera
with high-speed lens, suitable for photography at
1,000 to 2,000 yards altitude, and so constructed that
the pressure of the air during flight would not distort
the focus.
12 October A directive was issued establishing an
Officer in Charge of Naval Aeronautics under the
newly created Chief of Naval Operations and giving
authority for aviation programs in the Navy
Department to the Chief of Naval Operations and to
the Bureaus. Although this had the effect of abolishing
the Office of the Director of Naval Aeronautics, that
office continued to exist until the detachment of the
incumbent director.
15 October The Secretary of the Navy referred a
proposal, made by Captain Mark 1. Bristol, to convert
a merchant ship to operate aircraft, to the General
Board with the comment that there was a more imme-
diate need to determine what could be done with
North Carolina (ACR 12), already fitted to carry aero-
planes.
5 November Lieutenant Commander Henry C.
Mustin, in the AB-2 flying boat, made the first catapult
launching from a ship, flying off the stern of North
Carolina (ACR 12) in Pensacola Bay, Fla.
3 December Lieutenant Richard C. Saufley, flying
the Curtiss AH-14, set an American altitude record for
hydro aeroplanes, reaching 11,975 feet over Pensacola,
Fla., and surpassing his own record of 11 ,056 feet
which he had set only three days before.
1916
6 January Instruction commenced for the first
group of enlisted men to receive flight training at
Pensacola, Fla.

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