1924-Contin ued
17 November Langley reported for duty with the
Battle Fleet, thereby ending over two years in experi-
mental status and becoming the first operational air-
craft carrier in the U.S. Navy. On 1 December she
also became the flagship of Aircraft Squadrons, Battle
Fleet.
25 November Mrs. Calvin Coolidge christened the
ZR-3 as Los Angeles (ZR-3) at NAS Anacostia, D.C. As a
part of the ceremony it was commissioned a ship of
the Fleet, with Captain George W. Steele commanding.
13 December The NM-1, an all-metal airplane, was
flown at the Naval Aircraft Factory. This aircraft was
designed and built for the purpose of developing
metal construction for naval airplanes and was intend-
ed for Marine Corps expeditionary use.
14 December A powder catapult was successfully
demonstrated in the launching of a Martin MO-1
observation plane from the forward turret of the bat-
tleship Mississippi (BB 41) at Bremerton, Wash. The
aircraft was piloted by Lieutenant L. C. Hayden with
Lieutenant William M. Fellers as passenger. Following
this demonstration, the powder catapult was widely
used on battleships and cruisers.
1925
17 January A special board, headed by the Chief
of Naval Operations, Admiral Edward W. Eberle, sub-
mitted its report to the Secretary of the Navy.
Appointed on 23 September 1924 to consider recent
developments in aviation and to recommend a policy
for the development of the Navy in its various
branches, the board devoted most of its discussion to
the importance of the battleship, but in its recom-
mendations gave prominence to aviation. For this
branch, it recommended that carriers be built up to
treaty limits, that Lexington and Saratoga be complet-
ed expeditiously, that a new 23,000-ton carrier be
laid down, and that a progressive aircraft building
program be established to insure a complete comple-
ment of modern planes for the fleet. In regard to per-
sonnel, the board recommended expansion of avia-
tion offerings at the Naval Academy, assignment of
all qualified academy graduates to aviator or observer
training after two years of sea duty, and the establish-
ment of a definite policy governing assignment of
officers to aviation.
22 January VF Squadron 2, the first trained to oper-
ate as a squadron from a carrier, began landing prac-
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995
61
tice on Langley off San Diego, Calif. This was also the
beginning of the Langley operations as a unit of
Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet.
4 February Commanding officers were made
responsible for determining when aircraft attached to
vessels of the fleet required overhaul, and an earlier
order of 1923 was canceled which had required com-
plete overhaul of such aircraft every six months.
2-11 March Fleet Problem V, the first to incorporate
aircraft carrier operations, was conducted off the coast
of Lower California. Although the air activity of
Langley was limited to scouting in advance of the
Black Fleet movement to Guadalupe Island, the per-
formance was convincing enough for the Commander
in Chief, Admiral Robert E. Coontz, to recommend that
completion of Lexington and Saratoga be speeded up
as much as possible. The Admiral also recommended
that steps be taken to insure development of planes of
greater durability, dependability and radius, and that
catapult and recovery gear be further improved. He
also reported that experience now permitted catapult-
ing of planes from battleships and cruisers as routine.
11 March Routine aerological sounding flights-
NAS Anacostia, D.C., reported arrangements were
being made for daily weather flights to an altitude of
10,000 feet to obtain weather data and to test upper-
air sounding equipment. These flights commenced in
mid-April, and the following February the schedule
was extended to include Saturday, Sunday and holi-
day flights, with the altitude being increased to
15,000 feet.
13 March Rear Admiral William A. Moffett was
appointed for a second tour of duty as Chief of the
Bureau of Aeronautics.
2 April The feasibility of using flush-deck catapults
to launch landplanes was demonstrated by catapulting
a DT-2 landplane, piloted by Lieutenant Commander
Charles P. Mason, with Lieutenant Braxton Rhodes as
passenger, from the Langley, moored to its dock in
San Diego, Calif.
8 April Lieutenant John D. Price, piloting a VF-1
plane, made a night landing on Langley, at sea off San
Diego, Calif., and was followed on board by
Lieutenants Delbert L. Conley, Aldolphus W. Gorton
and Rossmore D. Lyon. Except for an accidental land-
ing on the night of 5 February when Lieutenant
Harold J. Brow stalled while practicing night
approaches, these were the first night landings made
on board a U.S. carrier.

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