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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1951)
Maim Street by Ralph Sfein t Irave/er* Safety SerWc# Reversible Props Aid Flyers To Make Descent-In A Hurry! Washington, Jan. 18——Hav ing bombers that can operate above 40,000 feet. Air Force experts now want to know how to get them back down fast in emergencies. Rapid descents can mean life or death in case of fire in flight, per sonnel injuries or lack of oxygen through loss of cabin air pressure. The Air Force Is studying the use of reverse thrust on the pro pellers to give the B-36 and the B-50 a high rate of drop with rela tively slow forward speed. Its work began with tests on a C-54 four-engine transport loaned to the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Propeller Di vision for the purpose. In propeller reversals the pitch or blade angle is changed to throw the air blast forward in stead of rearward while the pro peller continues to turn in the same direction. That is what happens when air line pilots reverse the plane’s pro pellers after landing, as nearly all modern transports are equipped to do. The forward blast works against the plane’s momentum, slowing it down more quickly than wheel brakes and without regard for wet or icy runways. The B-36, B-50 and B-29 have propellers reversible for landing brakes. In addition, the B-36 uses two of its six propellers in reverse while taxiing to save wear- brakes and tires. The Curtiss-Wright experiments, under the direction of C-W’s chief test pilot, Herbert O. Fisher, in eluded 100 flights in which all four- propellers were reversed. They showed immediately that the re verse pitch used for landing and Swiss Build Wall of Steel Against Possible Aggression Geneva, Jan. 18—(A 1 )—If a future aggressor ever- launches an attack against Switzerland, he will face what is probably Europe’s most powerful military force outside the Iron Curtain. Switzerland, though determined to remain aloof from any western military alliance, is carefully build ing up her defenses at an unpre cedented rate. Most Swiss firmly believe that it was only the strength and effiicency of their army which discouraged Hitler from an in vasion of Switzerland during World War II. On the theory that the Russians or any other future aggressive power may hesitate to attack Switzerland for the same reason, the Swiss Government has launched a five- year-plan to make the nation’s defenses stronger than ever be fore. The plan calls for expenditure of about 8320,000,000 during the five-year period, in addition to the regular annual expenditure of $106,000,000 for the maintenance of the armed forces. With this money, the army is to be equipped with the most modern weapons and planes, the fortifica tions system is to be extended, and munitions and other war supplies are to be stored in sufficient, quan tities to enable the Alpine strong holds to resist an aggressor for years, if necessary. Any increase in the number of men in the army is impossible, because every able-bodied male Swiss citizen is already trained as a soldier and ready to take up arms at one hour’s notice. lUTKTi'jl Bryan FKI. MITE PREV. II P.M. The principal aim of the military authorities is to increase the fire power of the individual soldier to a point an attacking . army with extended communications lines would find difficult to equal. The new weapons to be drawn from home production and imports include armored long-range anti tank guns on caterpillar tracks, annor-piercing bazookas, rapid-fir ing machine guns and rocket-firing jet planes. The Swiss Air Force already has about 7,5 Vampire jets purchased from Britain, and their production in Switzerland will be under Brit ish license. Only the engines will still be supplied by Britain. To underline their neutral atti tude, the Swiss like to stres.s that they also import arms from the Soviet sphere, such as anti-tank guns from Czechoslovakia. But these supplies have been diminish ing for months and recently stop ped altogether. The five-year-plan also calls for some reorganization of the farmed forces to. meet the re quirements of'modern warfare. Thus, special units are being set up to combat a possible attack with toxic and bacteriological weapons or atomic bombs. Under a tactical reorganization, every infantry unit is to be assigned a tank group un der infantry command and the in fantry itself is to be motorized wherever possible. Together with the streamlining of its miiltary preparedness, the Swiss Government is carefully de veloping plans for the protection of the civilian population. Civil defense workers are being trained and food supplies to last many years are being laid in. Ration cards have been printed and are ready to issue to every man, wo man and child at a moment’s no tice. PALACE NOW SHOWING feeiY* ,Jomar^ J ±2i£^^ Jane POWELL Ricardo MONTALBAOT Iwo Weefei WdAxtove LOUIS CALHERN ANN HARDING ROBERT MONTCOKERV USLIE 3HNK5 SAT. MTE PREV. U P.M. LAST DAY “TEA FOR TWO” STARTING—Friday thru Saturday Filmed on the A&M Campus THE SAVAGE STORY OF UNCLE SAM'S. ^ nFIGHTIN'EST MEN! ■^\\\^> taxiing was unsatisfactory for in flight braking. C-W settled on less than one-third as much “negative” pitch but used more revolutions per minute and more power. The tests showed in general that reversed propeller thrust cut the time to get down safely from high altitude to one-third or less than needed for a nor mal emergency descent. Why can’t an airplane like the B-36 simply be dived down to low altitude, then leveled off and land ed? The answer is that it probably would be torn apart before it got near the ground. All aircraft except such super sonic test planes as the X-l have speed limits to prevent damage from what is known as the “com pressibility” of air. Combat craft built for unusual stresses, such as dive bombers, and equipped with air brakes can be dived straight down. Their design and equipment is not practical either for bombers or transports. Even dive bombers have been test ed with reversing propellers to give them slower dive speeds for safety and accuracy. Jet planes, of course, pose a special problem in dive speed control. Forward firing rocket engines have been considered. Two air force jet bomber types use parachutes for landing brakes and conceivably could use them in emergency dives. Oceanography Will Offer Ten Courses The relatively new Department of Oceanography will offer ten new courses for the spring semes ter. , . - In addition, “Introduction to Oceanography” which is open to men having senior or graduate standing in the physical or biologi cal sciences or ip engineering will be presented. Most of the new courses are ad vanced prog-rams requiring prere quisites in oceanography. Several graduate assistantships are available in connection with an oceanographic and meteorological survey of the Gulf of Mexico spon sored by the U. S. Navy Hydro- grahpic Office and the Office of Naval Research. The hydrographic office now has more than twenty positions open. Particularly needed are men with backgrounds in physics, meteorol ogy and engineering. Page 4 THE BATTALION THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1951 How About Some Bowling? ONE OF THE BEST SPORTS FOR RECREATION AND EXERCISE! The Y.M.C.A. Alleys Four Lanes Certified by American Bowling Congress Reservations for Special Clubs or Parties CALL 4-7584 “SUPER VALUE” SPECIALS Friday and Saturday Only JAN. 19th & 20th We Reserve the Right to Limit Quantities Green Giant Sunnyland - Colored Imperial PEAS OLEO SUGAR No. 303 Can % Lb. Slicks POUND 5 Lbs* 15« 29e 3 9 e VC Tenderized—Whole or Shank End HAMS lb. 59c Veal Square Cut SHOULDER ROAST . lb. 65 c VC All Meat FRANKS . • • • • • lb. 49c Old Tyme—1 Lb. Bag PORK SAUSAGE . . lb. 49c End Cut PORK LOIN ROAST . lb. 49c Decker Tall Korn BACON . . . . . . lb. 49c FARM FRESH FOR HEALTHFUL MEALS Texas Valencia—Size 200’s ORANGES .... 4 lbs. 25c Louisiana K. D. YAMS 3 lbs. 23c Red Delicious APPLES. . . 2 lbs. 29c U.S. No. 1 YELLOW ONIONS. . lb 5c Russett POTATOES ... 10 lbs. 39c PON T MISS fp* ^ Wv ■ , gj cf ji 1 Lb. Pkg. ADMIRATION COFFEE, 79c SOFTEX TISSUE 10c Puss N Boots—No. 1 Cans CAT FOOD 2 cans 27c Puss N Boots—8 Oz. Cans CAT FOOD 2 cans 17c OLD DUTCH CLEANSER, 12c Quart CLOROX 17c Y> Gabon CLOROX . 32c Johnson Gloeoat & CREAM WAX DEAL ... 89c Light Crust FLOUR 5 lbs. 41c 2 Lb. Box ADOLPHUS RICE .... 31c Del Monte—46 Oz. Can PINEAPPLE JUICE ... 33c Top Kick DOG FOOD . . . . 4 cans 25c 12 Oz. Can NIBLETS CORN 15c 12 Oz. Cans NIBLETS MEXICORN, 2 - 35c Sun Maid—15 Oz. Box RAISINS . . . 27c For You—Freestone—No. 1 Cans PEACHES 2 cans 35c 12 Oz. GREEN PEAS 21c 14 Oz. LEAF SPINACH 26c 4 10 Oz. CAULIFLOWER 31c • DRUGS • 100’s BAYER ASPIRIN .... 39c BANDAIDS 25c Economy Colgate TOOTH PASTE 20’s Schick INJECTOR BLADES . 49c . 59c COLLEGE FOOD STORE VOUR EAST GATE GROCER COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS . 137 WALTON DRIVE . . . PHONE 4-1141