News Letter 1940 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office
News Letter 1940 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office
News Letter 1940 Jul-Dec - Air Force Historical Studies Office
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A FLYING S1'UDENT's NIGHl'NAVIGATION FLIGHT<br />
.. By Fl:>.mgCadet William M. llowden,<br />
Class. 4O-C,<strong>Air</strong> Ccrps 'AdvencedFlying School<br />
,,,::: ;11; ,'I;HO<br />
_""6 II J I sj"g"I<br />
~ •• )o (c".~; \t' £:o"a<br />
. .:c ?s:>'li3eJ)<br />
.' .. '. . '. :.--2 ...:0:.. 51.~:o.b<br />
Student training b.t the <strong>Air</strong> b6ti:l~Ail,,: ~he,t'bn and-thrill 'Of, flY!-ng'Qn.tal,m.<br />
o1!d'.~<br />
vanced Flying SchOol, located at kelly At 8:08 I started the mbtor;:.checteed:;K<br />
Field', Texas, is divided into,several 'my lights, switches, end themagsT';!lhd~~;<br />
distinct phases :- which ~be classi- at 8:10 released the brakes.totax~:;'oJ.\t<br />
f'Led- as follows: a trensitlon period, to the runway for the take-off ;'" .~tr:f?J:',Ii<br />
formation flying, beam end instrument . so good.. I was on time. on the:~?':~;;5<br />
work, end cross-countries. It mi/dlt be at least, end t..texa.ctly, '8: l3:by>tli~:;'~~:l<br />
added that the latter group cen 3Isobe clock in the centrol tower IgaV'e.'~er L'j;! •<br />
subdiV1-dedinto t~ee classes, namely: the gun. . . ... . , ~ .' " :.y~,..~L<br />
day, IUght .. and tlJile end distence prob- The take-off wasn't bad consldep.ng L$2<br />
lams. ',' . the fact that I couldn't see'vety:well, 'n<br />
~O\Vmasmioh as' I. have had, at. this iI?- the: dark end 11£.d to pull one.of~'InY,~:lj<br />
~mt, a few morEthours end consader- mngs up to get over the portable f10'O.0, j<br />
ablY.l!!ore "expenence" in night work lignts on the far end of the ramp,'ll.aq;c...~<br />
(flymg) then have any of my fellow came the throttle end':proppitch,. end.. c':; students, I have been honored with the away I'went into the n1ght: 1IJ8king:a,,;;:,<br />
request to publish a short treatise on wide circle, I gained my 'altitude over;~<br />
just. wha~ to do and how to ~rive at my the field end was ready tObegi~;.t~~rbI.i~<br />
destlnatlon. on a sllIIDlelito~e problem prol'lem at band.. , . . . ": ~'r;irlj'<br />
such as a mght fli@lt from Kelly to" L1/dlts of San'Antonio'were plalnly~,,' a<br />
Pa~ee to ~ Marcos end back to Kelly visi1i1e end I caugh~ the double, beaco~~<br />
again. The Ldea of the problem is to of Brooks end the smgle beacon .of,?' ;~"..<br />
take off from Kelly, fly over the sever- stinson on rrw left. Off to the s'otith"a:t<br />
al points as mappedout in ~he flight couple of pin points madeperiodical t1"<br />
plan, and return to Kelly w1thout unne- flashes, so I settled back end headed'll.YJ{<br />
cess1;l.Tyside. trips (SUchas a jaunt to out.: . . "':,::", ;~;.~'"<br />
AustlI,l, ~ay). ~t JIllght be added, too, . "Oh, what a breeze ." I thou/dlt'r TheSI':'s<br />
that 1t 1S p~lcularly.helpful to fly h/dlts downthere rr:ust be on lhe.s9)l~tl.?f<br />
onlY,for the allotted hme as allow~blE3.ana: of.-the lake, .N.d that cluster:jnus~.r~~<br />
by mnds aloft and arather meager sup- .be Loso;ra. I.th1nlC'Illl easeover 't(r~::~<br />
ply of 100 octane fuel. ."; , get on bhe light. line so I 'canread"tliei~<br />
But I digl:ess; The best wa:;;out flas.c'1i~ code beacon on the rear Of .thEi"{<br />
seems to be a little personal excursion li,ghts. . '. '.' .,~,;,."<br />
on the above mentioned route, with a • With this on my mind I be~easini:'.~~<br />
cOjIDleof side trips so here goes. . over end when I got to the H" light.'I<br />
"~et Is see nc;>w .... Pawnee 15~ degrees, could see t~e Pawneebeacon wi~li.ft.s;, ..;(.~~<br />
a minus-f'our wind factor, making 1t 'green flashmg code only two ll,ghts '-.;:"~<br />
147, and a minus-ten v?Tiatic;>n... that Is aYfay. Checking ~he 90mpass, I found??,.:_"<br />
137; then, of course; 1f I f'Lnd any that I had to mamtaln a course. of ap::o: .?,<br />
IOOre. ~nd drift I can a.+ways90rrect it :proxilll13.tely130 degrees tc;>keep ah~?d':'n:'.<br />
by Im1ng up with the hght Lmes , This lIlg toward Pawnee. The \Vlndwas a :.':_"';.,<br />
is going to be a cinch. I kdnda wish little stronger than I had expected:~~~'::<br />
nOVlt~t I had called that blonde I met Finally, I reached a point over PCl-l'!nee.<br />
last mght and have her mset me.when I where I could see the green dotted ;01.l,t,.~<br />
gl3t in. .. . line of the landing fiela., so I. Cir'plj3d; ~<br />
"FromPawnee I III fly about 360 end once to the left end headed out fro.in.' 'a-.~;;:<br />
catch Fal~s City, sto~e, Se~l .slJot directly over the center of th~:o~'<br />
end the highwa:;;;and coming back 1t 11 f1eld. " '-:,::':, r<br />
be a breeze along the light line to Sen Things had gone pretty smoothlYj,~i!i'~,;:ii'<br />
Antonio, so there's not much sense to fact too smoothly, thus far, but'lt.Wa.s;.~<br />
even bother about figuring a course.". just the calm before the storm, 'end}it. ~3<br />
Thus pla.'1s'were madefor the expected' wasn 1t long before I realized that~:B:il';~';;'<br />
"cinch" night cross country' on the tri- good t;1in~ must end. First I it'seemetl:~<br />
angular course from Kelly to Pawneeto that heading away from the hghts"!t. ~.:.~<br />
Sen Marcos end back to Kell;r again. was wch darker, and the to\11Ilsthat,' .~_".<br />
Take-off time was'on the Hi,ght board were su~posed to be sprll.l\'ledalong;tlie~,'j:g<br />
as E plus 1: 13,putting me in the air railroaa. were not materializing 'as. :~::;~[<br />
at 8:13, end, if all went well, back rapidly as.they should have'... Soon"r'sonu:;<br />
hc;>me ~ain at 9:15, or thereabouts. So forei~ bug in J!!Y brain reminded niet,)1!l't}~<br />
wlth llght heart 'I,got out _my 'headset , the ~nd ~ drifted me on the way./iB'Wil:i.<br />
gomes,end parachute, stUIfed'm:/ ears I the llght lme and even now.must":be,;t'f<br />
wHli cotton end sauntered out to good drifting me off my course. - ~" :.,,' ~ ; .<br />
old 124 , with nothing but thoughts of "That town below me cenItbe"F~lll.I.rIf'1<br />
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V-8499, A.C.