EARLY INSTRUMENT FLYING — DOOLITTLE 355 



3. A slant glide beam at right angle to the vertical landing beam 

 which might be curved to become tangent to the earth rather than 

 intersect it in a straight line. 



4. The possibility of automatic volume control on the receiving 

 radio. 



5. A good gyro pilot to assist the pilot in flying the aircraft. This 

 could be, and later was, tied in with the instrument landing systems. 



6. Much more work on ignition shielding, not only to reduce noise 

 but to permit flight in heavy rain. 



At the end of 1929 the fund, feeling that it had made the necessary 

 initial contribution and believing that further development could 

 better be carried out by other organizations, was disbanded. The 

 Full Flight Laboratory went out of existence with the fund, and the 

 NY-2 was turned over to the U.S. Army Air Corps and moved to 

 Wright Field, where instrument-landing experimentation and devel- 

 opment were continued under the direction of 1st Lt. — Later Maj. 

 Gen. — Albert Hegenberger. 



The Bureau of Standards and the Bureau of Air Commerce of the 

 Department of Commerce also continued their work, and on March 20, 

 1933, James L. Kinney, with William La Violette as mechanic and 

 Harry Diamond as passenger, flew a Bellanca airplane by instruments 

 from College Park, Md., to Newark Airport, a distance of about 200 

 miles. He landed blind, using the recently developed bent landing 

 beam. The weather was actually below minimum. 



The Collier Trophy is awarded each year to an individual or group 

 "for the greatest achievement in aviation in America, with respect 

 to improving the performance, efficiency, or safety of aircraft, the 

 value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during 

 the preceding year." In 1934 the Collier Trophy was awarded to 

 Capt. Albert Hegenberger, U.S. Army Air Corps, for the develop- 

 ment and demonstration of a successful blind-landing system. On 

 May 9, 1932, Captain Hegenberger made the first solo blind flight, 

 depending solely upon instruments from takeoff to landing. Over a 

 period of years he and his colleagues had greatly improved the equip- 

 ment previously used and developed additional equipment. He de- 

 vised a blind-landmg procedui'e which became standard military 

 practice. This system was put into actual use in 1934. 



Flying by instruments had outgrown the early experimental phase. 

 It was a practical reality, and aviation had entered a new era. 



