1928-Contin ued

25 July The removal of bow and stern catapults on

Langley was authorized since neither had been operat-

ed in three years.

6 October Contracts for the 6,500,000 cubic foot

rigid airships ZRS-4 and ZRS-5, subsequently chris-

tened Akron (ZRS-4) and Macon (ZRS-5), were let to

the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, Akron, Ohio.

14 December Fourteen fighting-plane radio tele-

phone sets, operating on a frequency of 3,000 to 4,000

kilocycles and featuring an engine-driven generator,

were shipped to VB-2B Squadron aboard the Saratoga

for service tests. This equipment had been designed at

NAS Anacostia, D.C., and manufactured at the

Washington Navy Yard, D.C., in order to provide early

evaluation of radio equipment in single-seat aircraft.

1929

16 January Experience in night flying became a

requirement for all heavier-than-air Naval Aviators and

Naval Aviation Pilots of the Navy and Marine Corps.

The Chief of Naval Operations ordered that prior to 1

July 1930, each qualified aviator pilot an aircraft on 10

hours of night flying involving at least 20 landings,

and that student aviators meet the same requirement

during the first year of their first duty assignment.

21 January The Naval Proving Ground recommend-

ed that three prototypes of the production version of

the Mark XI Norden bombsight be accepted and

reported that on the first trial two of the three sights

had placed a bomb within 25 feet of the target.

23-27 January The carriers Lexington and Saratoga

appeared in fleet exercises for the first time, attached to

opposing forces in Fleet Problem IX. The most notable

event of the Problem was the employment of Saratoga

by the attacking Black Fleet to achieve its primary

objective, the theoretical destruction of the Panama

Canal. This carrier was detached from the main force

and with an escorting cruiser, sent on a wide southward

sweep before turning north to approach within striking

distance of the canal. On the morning of the 26th,

while it was still dark, she launched a strike group of 69

aircraft which arrived over the target undetected shortly

after dawn and completed the theoretical destruction of

the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks without opposi-

tion. This demonstration made a profound impression

on naval tacticians and in the 1930 maneuvers, a tactical

unit, built around the aircraft carrier, appeared in force

organization for the first time.

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

71

1 March The Secretary directed that 33 officers of

the Construction Corps and one officer of the line des-

ignated for Engineering Duty Only (EDO), with such

additional Naval Constructors and EDO officers as the

exigencies of the Navy permitted and the needs of the

Bureau of Aeronautics required, be assigned to duty in

the Aeronautical Organization.

1 March In an effort to increase the proportion of

officers completing the flight training course at

Pensacola, Fla., and thereby reducing per capita train-

ing expense, the indoctrination courses at Hampton

Roads, Va., and San Diego, Calif., were changed to

elimination courses that would emphasize flight famil-

iarization to determine aptitude and be open only to

those meeting the physical requirements for aviators.

13 March Rear Admiral William A. Moffett was

appointed for a third consecutive tour as Chief of the

Bureau of Aeronautics.

9 April The feasibility of abandoning fore-and-aft

wire arresting gear was confirmed in operations

aboard Langley. These, and similar operations aboard

Saratoga later that month, culminated a year of experi-

mental development on the landing platform at

Hampton Roads, Va., and led to the Secretary's autho-

rizing, in September, the physical removal from the

carriers of the fore-and-aft wires and associated equip-

ment.

4-6 May In winning the National Elimination Bal-

loon Race with a flight from Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh,

Pa., to Savage Harbor, Prince Edward Island, Canada,

Lieutenant Thomas G. W. Settle and Ensign Wilfred

Bushnell won the Litchfield Trophy, qualified for the

International Race to be held later in the year, and

established world distance records for balloons in

three categories from 1,601 to 4,000 cubic meters

capacity with a flight of 952 miles.

8 May The Bureau of Aeronautics announced the

policy of providing all carrier airplanes with brakes

and wheel type tail skids, following successful opera-

tions of a T4M so equipped in tests carried out aboard

Langley in conjunction with the elimination of the

fore-and-aft wire arresting gear.

8 May Lieutenant Apollo Soucek, flying a Wright

Apache equipped with a 425-hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp

engine, set a new world record for Class C landplanes,

reaching 39,140 feet over NAS Anacostia, D.C.

10 May The Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded

to Lieutenant Alford 1. Williams by the Secretary of the