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