Page:Aeronautics and Astronautics Chronology 1915-1960.pdf/9

 factory for aircraft use, but that a sextant with a gyroscopically stabilized artificial horizon might be acceptable.

August 11: Naval Observatory requested Eastman Kodak to develop an aerial camera with high-speed lens suitable for photography at 1,000 or 2,000 yards' altitude.

September 1: Congress supplemented appropriation of Army aeronautics to $13,281,666 from $300,000 of previous fiscal year.

October 15: Secretary of the NACA was instructed by the committee to communicate with the Government departments, the result of investigation with regard to aeronautical activity, and to recommend or advise the Secretaries of the separate departments of the Government to continue and foster experimental development.

November 6: First catapult launching from a ship underway, made from the U.S.S. North Carolina in Pensacola Bay, by Lt. Cmdr. H. C. Mustin.

December 3: Lt. R. C. Saufley reached 11,975 feet over Pensacola in a Curtiss AH-14, an American altitude record for hydroaeroplanes.

December 9: NACA Report No. 1 was issued, a two-part "Report on Behavior of Aeroplanes in Gusts," by Jerome C. Hunsaker and E. B. Wilson of MIT.

December 12: An all-steel frame, fabric-covered combat plane successfully flown, one designed by Grover C. Loening and built by Sturtevant Aeroplane Co.

During December: All-metal fully cantilever-wing monoplane produced by Hugo Junkers in Germany, the J-1 powered by a 120-hp Mercedes, made its first successful flights.

During 1915: Elmer A. Sperry developed and demonstrated his drift indicator for which he received the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1916.


 * General Vehicle Co., Long Island City, contracted with French Government to build Gnome engines, the first radial engine produced in the United States.


 * Robert H. Goddard proved validity of rocket propulsion principles in a vacuum at Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

March 15: First U.S. tactical air unit in the field, the 1st Aero Squadron commanded by Capt. B. D. Foulois, began operations with General Pershing's expedition into Mexico.

April 2: American altitude record of 16,072 feet set by Lt. R. C. Saufley in a Curtiss hydroaeroplane.

During April: French employed first air-to-air combat rockets, four Le Prieur rockets attached to each strut of Nieuport fighter, credited with downing of German hydrogen-inflated Zeppelin LC-77. The Belgian, Willy Coppens, and Briton, Albert Ball, reportedly used rockets effectively against German balloons until incendiary bullets were developed.

May 22: French airmen successfully destroyed five of six German balloons using Le Prieur rockets on their Nieuport fighters.

June 8: The NACA called the first meeting of representatives of the aircraft industry and of interested Government agencies.

July 19: Navy Gallauder 59A, an airplane with propeller mounted amidships in the fuselage, made preliminary flights at Norwich, Conn., Lt. (jg) G. D. Murray as pilot.

July 22: Navy requested Aluminum Co. of America to develop a suitable alloy for fabrication into Zeppelin-type girders.

August 22: President Wilson signed Navy appropriation bill, which included $3,500,000 for naval aviation.

August 29: The NACA requested $85,000 and received $82,515.70 for fiscal year 1917 as a part of the naval appropriation bill. $68,957.35 later went toward laboratory construction at Langley Field.


 * U.S. Army appropriations approved, which included $14,281,766 to the Signal Corps for military aeronautics.

September 2: Plane-to-plane radio demonstrated over North Island, Calif., at a distance of about 2 miles.

September 2-3: First German Zeppelin shot down by RFC aircraft over Britain; five Zeppelins were brought down over Britain during 1916.

September 12: Piloted hydroaeroplane equipped with automatic stabilization and direction gear developed by the Sperry Co. and P. C. Hewitt was demonstrated by Amityville, Long Island, before naval observers.

September 21: The National Research Council, formed at the request of President Wilson by the National Academy of Sciences, held its first meeting in New York.

During September: Wright-Martin Aircraft Corp. contracted with French company to manufacture the Hispano-Suiza engine in the United States.

October 5: The NACA first recommended inauguration of airmail service, and William F. Durand was elected Chairman of the NACA.

October 9: Subcommittee of the NACA appointed to consider the needs of the committee as to a site for experimental work, with authority to visit and inspect sites, and to secure the cooperation of the War and Navy Departments and the Weather Bureau.

November 23: The NACA recommended purchase of land north of Hampton, Va., for use as an aircraft proving ground by the Army and Navy. This site became known as Langley Field, and the location of the first NACA laboratory.

November 28: First airplane raid on London, by a German seaplane.

During November: "Design Requirements for Airplanes" (A.P. 970), a basic six-page pamphlet, was issued by the British Royal Aircraft Factory of Farnborough.

December 20: Army Balloon School established at Fort Omaha, Nebr.

During 1916: Radio-controlled pilotless monoplane, the "Aerial Target," designed by H. P. Folland with radio gear by A. M. Low, flown at the British Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.


 * Development work on air cooling of aircraft engines by means of spacing, depth and thickness of fins, and the effects of airflow, were conducted by Professor Givson at Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough.


 * Nine U.S. aircraft companies delivered only 64 out of 336 aircraft ordered by the Army, the performance of which compared unfavorably with European aircraft.

January 10: Comptroller of the Treasury Department ruled that the NACA was an independent agency and was not an appendage of the Navy Department in spite of the fact it was originally funded under the naval appropriations bill.

During January: The NACA, after considering high-cost complaints of Army and Navy, recommended creation of Manufacturers Aircraft Association to effect cross-licensing of aeronautic patents. This was a milestone in preventing a virtual deadlock in aircraft construction because of patent infringement suits.

February 2: The NACA recommended to the President, for transmittal to Con 4