66

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1926-Contin ued

an altitude of 400 feet, dropped 25 pound fragmentation

bombs; observation squadrons similarly attacked from

1,000 feet. Pilots of VF-2, commanded by Lieutenant

Commander Frank D. Wagner and flying F6Cs and FB-

5s, scored 19 hits with 45 bombs on a target 100 feet by

45 feet. The uses visualized for this tactic included dis-

abling or demolishing flight decks, destroying enemy

aircraft in flight, attacking exposed personnel on ship or

shore and attacking light surface craft and submarines.

1927

1 January A flight test section was established as a

separate department at NAS Anacostia, D.C., with

Lieutenant George R. Henderson in charge.

1 January To test the feasibility of using enlisted

pilots in fleet squadrons, VF Squadron 2, manned with

four Naval Aviators and 10 Aviation Pilots, was estab-

lished at San Diego, Calif., Lieutenant Commander

James M. Shoemaker commanding.

18 January Lieutenant Commander John R. Poppen,

MC, reported for duty in charge of the Aviation Section

of the Naval Medical School, Washington, D.C., mark-

ing the beginning of a three month period during

which the entire resources of the school were devoted

to intensive instruction in aviation medicine. The insti-

tution of this program also marked the beginning of

Flight Surgeon training in the Navy and the discontinu-

ance of an interservice agreement in effect since 1922,

by which Navy Medical Officers were trained in this

specialty at the Army School for Flight Surgeons.

9 March The first passenger transport, the JR-l tri-

motor, was purchased from the Ford Motor Company

following a demonstration at NAS Anacostia, D.C.

14 April Lieutenant George R. Henderson, flying a

Vought 02U Corsair equipped with a Pratt & Whitney

Wasp engine, broke the world altitude record for Class

C seaplanes with a useful load of 500 kilograms,

reaching 22,178 feet over Washington, D.C.

23 April Lieutenant Steven W. Callaway, flying a

Vought 02U Corsair at Hampton Roads, Va., set a new

100-kilometer world speed record for Class C seaplanes

with a 500 kilogram useful load, at 147.263 mph.

30 April Lieutenant James D. Barner, flying a Vought

02U Corsair at Hampton Roads, Va., broke the 500-

kilometer world speed record for Class C seaplanes

carrying a useful load of 500 kilograms with a speed

of 136.023 mph.

5 May Lieutenant Carleton C. Champion took off

from Hampton Roads, Va., in a Wright Apache,

equipped with a Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine and

NACA supercharger, and climbed to an altitude of

33,455 feet, breaking the existing world record for

Class C seaplanes by better than 3,000 feet.

Battleship-based

02Us (Vought

Corsairs) of

1 920s 426930