1923

JANUARY 5 At McCook Field, Ohio, personnel from the Army Air Service and Cornell University make the first recorded attempt at “cloud seeding.”

JANUARY 9 In Washington, D. C., a War Department board under Major General William Lassiter advocates expanding the Army Air Service. Moreover, the new force would possess its own general head­quarters and perform strategic missions without interference from surface forces.

FEBRUARY 6 At Scott Field, Illinois, the Army airship D-2 reaches an altitude of

1,0 feet and maintains it for an hour.

FEBRUARY 7 At Selfridge Field, Michi­gan, Lieutenant Russell A. Meredith transports a physician to Beaver Island to treat a critically ill man; he receives the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.

MARCH 1 The TC-1 nonrigid airship,

the largest such craft delivered to date by the Goodrich Tire and Rubber Com­pany, is accepted into the Army Air Service.

MARCH 5 At Selfridge Field, Michigan, a Boeing MB3A fighter successfully jetti­sons an eternal auxiliary fuel tank for the first time. This device also increases the aircraft’s range to 400 miles.

MARCH 27 Major General William Las­siter of the Lassiter Board declares that the Air Service requires operational free­dom at the strategic level to strike targets beyond the reach ofland and naval forces, to reach its fullest potential. He also notes it will probably require Congressional action to acquire such a function, given the entrenched resistance to airborne independence.

MARCH 29 Lieutenant R. L. Maitland pilots a Curtiss R-6 racer to a new air­speed record of 236.587 miles per hour.

April 16 During a practice flight, Lieu­tenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly pilot a Fokker T-2 to new world distance, payload, and endurance records of 2,516 miles in 36 hours and 4 minutes while carrying 10,800 pounds of supplies.

April 17 At Dayton, Ohio, Lieutenant Rutledge Irvine flies a Liberty engine – powered Douglas DT biplane to a Class C record of 11,609 feet. Concurrently, Lieutenant Harold R. Harris sets a new world speed record of 114.35 miles per hour over 1,500 kilometers while flying a Liberty 375-powered DH-4L.

APRIL 20 Over Rockwell Field, Califor­nia, the first aerial refueling takes place, via a rubber hose extended through the air. Two DH-4s, directed by Major Henry H. Arnold, run a rubber hose between them in flight, and demonstrate the viability of gravity-flow air refueling.

May 2—3 At Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly complete the first nonstop, transcontinental flight across the United States in a Fokker T-2. The mission originates at Roosevelt Field, New York, lasts 26 hours and 50 minutes, and traverses 2,500 miles. They are greeted by an estimated 100,000 specta­tors upon arrival.

May 14 The new Curtiss PW-8 pursuit (fighter) aircraft is accepted into Army service for flight trials. This is the first in the long series of “Hawk” fighters; the “W” signifies a water-cooled engine.

May 26 At Hamilton, Ontario, a DH-4B bomber flown by Lieutenant H. G.

Crocker arrives from Houston, Texas, in an early south-to-north transcontinental flight of 11 hours and 55 minutes.

June 20 At McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, the prototype Gallaudet CO – 1 monoplane, the Army’s first all-metal aircraft, performs its maiden flight. The machine was designed and built by the Air Corps Engineering Division at the field, but proves unsuccessful.

June 23 At Rockwell Field, San Diego, a DH-4 bomber piloted by Lieutenants Lowell H. Smith and John P. Richter perform the first air-to-air transfer of fuel over a hose extended from another DH – 4 flown by Lieutenants Virgil Hine and Frank Seifert.

July 4 Lieutenants R. S. Olmstead and J. W. Shoptaw fly Army balloon S6 500 miles between Indianapolis, Indiana, and Marilla, New York, winning the National Elimination Balloon Race.

AUGUST 22 At McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, the huge and experimental Barling XNBL-1 bomber makes its maiden flight. Gigantic for its age, the craft spanned 120 feet, was powered by six 400-horse­power Liberty engines, and flew at a top speed of 93 miles per hour; it is not accepted into service.

AUGUST 27—28 At Rockwell Field, Cal­ifornia, a DH-4B bomber piloted by Lieutenants John P. Richter and Lowell H. Smith sets world distance and endur­ance records by covering 3,293 miles in 37 hours and 15 minutes.

September 5 Near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, General John J. Pershing watches as Army bombers sink the elderly battleships Virginia and New Jersey during bombardment tests.

September 13-December 14 At Langley Field, Virginia, a Martin MB-2 bomber flown by Lieutenants J. F. Whitley and H. D. Smith departs on a transcontinental tour that ends at Rockwell Field, California, covers 8,000 miles, and last three months. They are testing possible routes for a national airway.

September 18 A diminutive Sperry M-1 Messenger, one of the smallest airplanes ever designed for the Air Service, is flown by Lieutenant Rex L. Stoner and makes a successful “hook-up” with an Army D-3 airship in midair.

OCTOBER 6 In St. Louis, Missouri, Lieu­tenant Al Williams establishes a new speed record of 243.76 miles per hour at the Pulitzer Trophy flying competition.

OCTOBER 25 Over Ohio, the gigantic Barling bomber (NBX-1) piloted by Lieutenant Harold R. Harris sets a pay­load record by carrying 3,000 kilograms
of cargo to 5,344 feet for 1 hour and 19 minutes.

At Camas, Washington State, a DH-4B flown by Lieutenants L. H. Smith and J. P. Richter fly nonstop 1,280 miles to Tijuana, Mexico, with three in-flight air refuelings.

The court martial of Brigadier General William G. “Billy” Mitchell begins; he is charged with insubordination and uses the occasion to make the case for air power as a separate branch of the military.

NOVEMBER 1 Dr. Robert H. Goddard successfully test launches a liquid fuel rocket powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen. The fluids are pumped into a combustion chamber and fired out a noz­zle in the rear.

NOVEMBER 18 Over Kelly Field, Texas, tragedy strikes during an air show as an air refueling hose gets entangled in the wings of the two aircraft; the plane piloted by Lieutenant P. T. Wagner crashes, killing him.

DECEMBER 13 In the English Channel, a Sperry M-1 Messenger flown by Law­rence B. Sperry, son of the inventor,

crashes during a cross-channel flight; the pilot drowns.