Right Field Dayton, Ohio, the home of the Army Air Force's Materiel Command.
The Materiel Command is charged with design, development, testing, and procurement of all AAF aircraft equipment and accessories.
The word material signifies every object, raw material or fabricated part, from the smallest bolt to the complete airplane used by the Air Force.
Shortly after the First World War, the Army felt the need for a long-range bomber.
After thousands of hours of experimental work, this giant barling powered with six liberties was the result.
Slow and cumbersome, yes, but it was the daddy of the later developments that in turn fathered today's speedy dreadnoughts of the air,
the most formidable bombardment airplanes in the world equipped with every conceivable device for faster, safer, higher flying, more deadly bombing, and high firepower.
One of the most vital problems is to provide flyers with the correct clothing to combat the elements on worldwide fronts.
The pilot equipped with late model flying suit and oxygen mask is ready for the coldest weather or the highest altitudes.
With flights over water, jungle, or ice cap a daily occurrence today, emergency rescue equipment plays a vital role in the lives of Air Force's personnel.
Literally thousands of men today owe their lives to emergency equipment developed by the Materiel Command.
In the development of aerial photography, the Materiel Command has outstanding achievements to its credit.
Night photography and reconnaissance cameras provide information vital to conduct of tactical missions.
Air Force's photographers using equipment developed by the Materiel Command have shattered world records by taking pictures from 13 miles above the earth
and recording scenes more than 300 miles from the camera's eye.
Day after day, month after month, propellers of all types roar through their ground testing bases.
Here at Wright Field, the largest propeller testing stand in the world is located.
It is capable of testing the tiny two-bladed variety or giant multi-bladed props 45 feet in diameter and at speeds in excess of 4,000 revolutions per minute.
Under wartime conditions, propellers must be changed in the field.
The Materiel Command developed this simple derrick for removing the propeller and the carrier for returning the damaged prop to the depot for repair.
Controllable pitch propellers have greatly increased the efficiency of aircraft.
A valuable outgrowth of this development is the full feathering propeller, which can be stopped during flight.
In case of motor trouble, the engine is shut off and the propeller feathered, streamlined, so that the air pressure will not keep it windmilling.
Fire hazard is thus lessened and the danger of ruining the ailing engine by continued running is eliminated.
Another advantage of feathering props is that complete streamlining cuts down drag, thus increasing speed and efficiency.
This may be vitally important to a pilot trying either to clear a high mountain or to safely reach his destination with a limited gasoline supply.
The bomber cruises easily with two of its four motors dead.
This is a striking example of how lives and valuable equipment are saved by research and development.
As engine power increases, propellers must be increased in size, but too long a propeller would not clear the ground.
The engineer's answer is the dual rotating propeller, in effect two propellers rotating at the same speed in opposite directions.
In the static test branch, aircraft are subjected to stress and strain tests.
Thousands of pounds of sandbags are placed upon the wings to test their strength before pilots are asked to risk their lives with them.
A crash occurred, but only the airplane was consumed. No pilot was at the control.
These crash tests were made to study the cause and origin of aircraft fire.
Using obsolete and condemned aircraft and taking slow motion pictures of the test, it was learned that the fire originated at the point where the exhaust manifold was broken.
Much valuable information was gained by the research department of the materiel command from such laboratory crashes.
In early flights, man flew neither sufficiently high, fast, nor far to take him beyond the elements of normal physical reaction.
Today, flight conditions are far beyond previous human experience.
So the physiological research laboratory studies the reactions of the pilot.
In this chamber, without leaving the ground, he can be taken 80,000 feet above sea level theoretically,
with temperatures down to 65 degrees below zero while doctors study his reactions.
Explosive decompression tests show the ability of pilots to withstand sudden changes in atmospheric pressure.
All methods of transportation are taxed to the utmost in time of war.
Air transport today is a vital arm in the race to victory.
Millions of miles are flown carrying tons of supplies.
Airborne troops are transported, wounded are quickly evacuated, and isolated field units are often completely supplied and kept in action by the air transport fleet.
One of the most remarkable developments since long-range flying became commonplace is the automatic pilot,
which holds a true and set course with accuracy without a human hand on the control.
This relieves the pilot of undue fatigue and allows him to concentrate on other problems of flight.
Aviation during the past few years has developed to the extent that taking off and flying blind has become a routine event.
But we were still confronted with landing an airplane when the visibility is zero,
until the Materiel Command developed the radio-controlled airplane.
Automatic flight was achieved for the first time in history on August 23, 1937 at Wright Field.
Although a safety pilot sat in the cockpit, he never once touched the controls as the airplane took off, circled, and landed safely,
a long step forward in the art of safe flying.
Following closely on the heels of the automatic landing, the Materiel Command developed a radio-controlled target glider.
Released for flight, this small airplane is amazingly controlled by a small gadget held in the hand of the operator on the ground.
When the release button is pushed or when a bullet puts the target out of commission,
the parachute opens and the little plane gently floats to earth, ready to be groomed for another flight.
The first parachute pull-off ever recorded was made at the Materiel Command.
Man was believed to become unconscious if he fell over 500 feet.
This first delayed drop of over 1,000 feet proved the fallacy of man's opinion.
The aerial life preserver has saved thousands of lives and is now used as a means of transporting highly trained troops from air to ground objectives.
For many years, man has been attempting to accomplish vertical flight.
This strange and weird object, the first helicopter, did successfully leave the ground, but under the greatest of difficulties.
The pilot and his assistants always gave a sigh of relief when the flight was completed.
This view of three late model helicopters in flight demonstrates the tremendous strides of aeronautical engineering in a few short years.
This remarkable aircraft is capable of vertical ascent and descent.
It can rotate on its own axis and hover in one position in the air indefinitely.
Since it can be landed on any level area 20 feet square, the helicopter can be operated from a small deck on a cargo vessel and should be a useful weapon in anti-submarine warfare.
Evacuation of wounded, rescue of grounded airmen from impenetrable areas, and battle reconnaissance are a few of the uses to which this versatile craft may be put.
The Materiel Command has built a tradition of progress and achievement in the development of aircraft.
Whether it be some microscopic instrument part or testing a speedy new pursuit plane, the goal is always the same, perfection.
The flight test section puts through its paces one of the most capable fighters in the world.
This is the P-51, one of the finest fighting planes yet developed.
It is a daily routine for the flight test section to give aeroplanes such as this B-26 Marauder every conceivable test that is possible to give while in flight.
Year in and year out, the Materiel Command forges ahead in its important job of developing and buying the best.
Great have been the strides made from the old Barling bomber to such giants as the B-29 or the deadly little fighter that flies with it to the air fronts of the world.
The goal of the Materiel Command is to keep America first in the air.
Second best isn't good enough when planes battle in the sky.
In addition to keeping abreast and checking all current developments, the aim of the Materiel Command is to keep three years ahead of present aviation by thinking and working in terms of the future.
Military aviation is increasing today at an unprecedented rate.
General Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the Army Air Forces, speaks.
To all of you who are doing hundreds of big and little jobs in the vast family of the Army Air Forces,
say to yourselves, I am a truly important part of a mighty and powerful machine.
To keep that machine moving forward, we must not, we shall not break down.
We are faced with a tough job, but I know that we can do it.
And with all due reverence, I say by God we will do it.
Training the necessary personnel to meet the expansion program of the AAF was a huge task.
Young America responds with enthusiasm.
Normal young Americans, these, they have had two or more years of college work and can successfully pass the physical requirements of the Air Corps.
Specially trained flight surgeons working at top speed to examine the thousands of applicants give the password.
You are physically qualified to start your flying training.
The combat branch of the Air Forces adds many squadrons to meet the new needs.
Pilots must be trained and quickly.
The Air Forces training center charged with the training of embryonic pilots is called upon to train thousands of additional officers.
The challenge is met with gratifying results.
Changes had to be made.
The training course shortened, but the rigid training standards must not be lowered.
There will be no compromise with safety, is the watchword as the expanded pilot program gets underway.
The course of nine months is divided into three parts. Three months at one of the several primary schools located at various points in the United States.
Then three months of basic training at Randolph Field, the west point of the air, or one of the new basic fields.
This is followed by three months of advanced training.
But with air training must go ground training, ground discipline.
That's the basis for the air discipline so necessary for the precision flying by the modern combat pilot.
Subjected to rigid and intensive schooling from the first ride through the memorable day of soloing until the last flight on graduation day,
these cadets have been given the best flying training in the world.
Closely supervised by their officer instructors, they are taught with infinite care and pains the art of flying in all its phases.
Whether it be flying individually, cross-country, in formation, or maneuvering in aerial combat,
the aerial soldier turned out by the Air Force's training center is second to none.
Keeping a fleet of complicated modern military airplanes in readiness for operation requires skilled maintenance crew.
Enlisted men are especially trained at the Air Force's technical school.
Here again we see the Air Corps meeting the demand for trained personnel.
These technical schools teach not only the maintenance of the motor and the airplane itself,
but all crafts allied to the combat units, armament, radio, photography, welding, and a multitude of other crafts.
So with the newly trained pilot and mechanic, we join the United States Army Air Force.
Pursuit aviation, fighters, thunderbolts, lightnings, mustangos, sky fighters all,
tiny aircraft powered with giant motors moving with the precision of a well-trained ballet.
These pursuit groups, strategically located, can take off and climb at the amazing rate of 5,000 feet per minute, 25,000 feet in five minutes.
Performance beyond belief, reaching incredible altitudes and speeds, these sky fighters are ever on the alert,
relentlessly searching and seeking for the invader, ready to spit death from the hard-hitting machine guns and cannon.
Bombardment aviation.
It has shrunk oceans to ponds and continents to fields.
These dreadnoughts of the air carrying thousands of tons of bombs are heavily armed with machine guns and cannon, equally at home over land or sea.
They have pounded the enemy until he struggles futilely to keep up his supply lines and production.
The Army Air Forces, confronted with the task of carrying the battle to the enemy while we prepare the knockout blow,
must have the most formidable bombers in the world.
Manned by highly trained crews, they plow their way hundreds of miles through all kinds of weather on bombing missions over enemy territory.
Subjected to terrific barrages of anti-aircraft flak and vicious attacks by enemy fighters,
no bombing squadron has been known to turn away from its target before dropping its load of bomb.
Flying at speeds well over 200 miles per hour, laden with hundreds of gallons of gasoline and carrying tons of bombs and a crew of ten men each,
these bombers complete their missions despite the toughest handicaps.
They are truly remarkable airplanes, and these scenes pictorially are things of beauty,
but they likewise tell the story of the ability of the pilots and the faith they have in their flying steams.
Medium bombardment is charged with direct support of ground troops on tactical missions,
ground strafing, delayed bombing, gas spraying, smokescreen laying, disrupting enemy transportation and communications.
These functions have given medium bombardment a unique place in warfare, functions violently feared by all ground troops.
Medium bombardment, formerly called attack aviation, was developed as a result of our experience in the First World War.
These speedy ships bristle with machine guns.
They are maneuverable, fast, and capable of effective operation close to the ground or at higher altitudes.
Crews must be ever on the alert. The medium bomber must be prepared to perform many types of missions.
This is the story of the Air Force with its Viro Mobile Fighting Squadrons, a fighting force that is ready to strike with all of its combined strength.
It is an Air Force that we can point to with pride and confidence, knowing that it can accomplish its difficult tasks effectively.
For two years, this Air Force has been built into the greatest air power in the world.
It operates 15 complete Air Forces in 10 major theaters of war.
Combined operations of air, sea, and land forces have been the key to victory over the Axis nation.
These are scenes that leave an indelible impression, an impression that is reassuring during these troubled times,
because we know that the wings of the Army will always cast their protecting shadows over the people of the United States of America.
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At Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. Army Air Corps maintains a $10 million research laboratory
to help develop further a science and an industry which in the short space of 30 years has revolutionized man's way of life
and shaken the political order of the world.
Here, the aeronautical engineer seeks new ways to make the military plane travel faster, fly higher.
To learn whether man may fly these new planes, scientists simulate conditions of high speed and high altitude.
Seeking to reduce the incidence of mechanical and structural failures, a major cause of air crashes,
engineers test and retest the component parts of each new design.
With its air expansion program fully launched, the Air Corps is driving for 25,000 new recruits
and listed men to be trained as mechanics and technicians.
More experience has shown that every plane and pilot in the air requires a crew of eight specialists on the ground.
For its growing Air Corps, the Army needs and must have a force of nearly 50,000 soldier experts,
privates, corporals, and sergeants skilled in the manual of the airplane.
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