1932-Contin ued

the following June, aviation in the Asiatic Fleet was

reduced to the observation aircraft on board cruisers.

2 May The Bureau of Aeronautics directed that

hydraulic cylinder type arresting gear be installed on

Langley to replace weight type gear used earlier. This

decision resulted from operational experience of

Langley with two sets of hydraulic gear installed in

June and September 193 I .

18 May With enough qualified students on hand to

fill several classes at Pensacola, Fla., the practice insti-

tuted in 1930 of waiving the requirement of two years

of sea duty before assignment to elimination flight

training was discontinued. In effect, this marked the

beginning of almost a year in which no new prospec-

tive aviators were enrolled.

1 June The resignation of the Assistant Secretary of

the Navy for Aeronautics David S. Ingalls was accept-

ed by the president and it was announced that, as an

economy measure, the appointment of a successor

was not contemplated. The office remained vacant

until 1941.

30 June Los Angeles (ZR-3) was decommissioned for

economy reasons at NAS Lakehurst, N.J., after eight

years of service and over 5,000 hours in the air.

1 July The requirement of an earlier law that 30 per-

cent of the Navy's pilots be enlisted men, was reduced

to 20 percent as an amending act became effective.

The restrictive nature of the requirement was modified

by an additional provision that it was applicable

except when, in the opinion of the Secretary of the

Navy, it was impracticable to obtain the required num-

ber of enlisted pilots.

28 July Research into the physiological effects of

high acceleration and deceleration, encountered in

dive bombing and other violent maneuvers, was initi-

ated through a Bureau of Aeronautics allocation of

funds to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery for this

purpose. The pioneer research, pointing to the need

for anti-G or anti-blackout equipment, was performed

at Harvard University School of Public Health by

Lieutenant Commander John R. Poppen, MC, under

the direction of Dr. C. K. Drinker.

25-27 September The International Balloon Race,

held at Basel, Switzerland, was won by Lieutenant

Thomas G. W. Settle and Lieutenant Wilfred Bushnell

in a flight which ended on the Polish-Latvian border

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

83

near Vilna and established a new world distance

record of 963.123 miles for balloons in three cate-

gories of volume.

10 November A contract for 125 sets of GF radios

was issued to the Aviation Radio Corporation. This

was the first production order for radio equipment

suitable for installation in single-seat fighters.

22 November Following tests of the OP-I autogiro

in Nicaragua, Major Francis P. Mulcahy, USMC, report-

ed that the autogiro's chief value in expeditionary duty

was in inspecting small fields recommended by

ground troops as landing areas, evacuating medical

"sitting" cases, and ferrying important personnel.

1933

4 January A new plan for postgraduate work was

approved which combined the existing programs for

specialists and for the General Line, and extended the

aeronautical engineering program to three years.

Under the new plan, all officers selected for postgrad-

uate work began with one year in the School of the

Line. Those demonstrating ability and interest in

advanced technical specialties were given a second

year in that area of study and, in the third year, were

sent to a civilian institution for work, in most instances

leading to a Master of Science degree.

25 January The Bureau of Navigation announced

that the assignment of naval officers to flight training

at Pensacola, Fla., would be resumed in Mayor June,

or almost a year since the last group had been

assigned.

16 February The president presented to Colonel

Nathan D. Ely, USA (Ret), the Distinguished Flying

Cross, awarded posthumously to Colonel Ely's son,

Eugene B. Ely, for extraordinary achievement as a pio-

neer aviator and for significant contribution as a civil-

ian to the development of aviation in the Navy when

in 1910 and 1911 he demonstrated the feasibility of

operating aircraft from ships.

1 April Fleet Aviation was reorganized and assigned

to two principal commands each exercising type func-

tions within his Force, and one of whom, Commander

Aircraft, Battle Force, served as type commander for

all fleet aircraft. Carriers, with their aircraft, were

assigned to Battle Force and all tender-based air and

Fleet Air Bases at Pearl Harbor, T.H., and Coco Solo,

C.Z., were assigned to Base Force. The command

Aircraft Scouting Force was abolished.