PAGE. AUGUST 6, lUSt Ice Cream Social Planned by AAUW An ice cream social, annual fund raising event of the China Lake branch of the American Association of University Women, will be held on Thursday. Aug. 19. from 7 to 10 p.m. at the home of Mr. and Mrs. K. H. Robinson, 3 Sage P lace. Holders of tickets, priced at 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children under 13 years of age, will be entitled to a serving of ice cream and their choice of either pie or cake and coffee or punch, officials announced. The . tickets may be purchased from AAUW members. and also will be on sale at the Robinson residence on the evening of the affair. Pro- ceeds from the event will go toward the annual scholarship awarded to a Burroughs High School senior girl for use in continuing her {annal edu- cation. Mrs. Elaine Jenne is chairman of the committee planning the ice ice cream social TRAFFIC COURT REPORT Four drivers appeared at the Sta- tion traffic court this week and were cited for 1llega! parking and speed- ing. Three received warnings and one was restricted from driving on the Station for two weeks. ........ n...... 6 ...... p .... dol.,.. 1GckI.' MatInee (,""Hil "-"-h 1 p .... Soturcloy MIllIMe: 1 p.... ...., TODAY AUG. 6 "DAWN AT SOCORRO" (81 Min.) R.ory Calhoun, Piper laurie Shorts: " Along Come Doffy" (7 Min.) " Dlny Diving" (7 Min.) News (10 Min.) SATURDAY AUG. 7 "SUN VAllEY SERENADE" (16 Min.) Sonia Henie, John Payne- Shorts: " Sutt.TKo'eh and Soda" (7 Min.) "Jet Power" (10 Min.) MATINEE ''THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH" (77 Min.) Abbott and Co.stello Shorts. "Primitive Pluto" (7 Min.) "Gunflght.rs of the Northwest" (16 MinJ SUN.oMON. AUG. 8-9 "flHANTOM Of THE RUE MOIGUf" (IW Min.) Karl Marden, Patricio Medina Shorts, "Mouse Menace" (7 Min.) "Lea1her and lother" (8 Min.) TUES.-WED. AUG. 1()'11 "ALGIERS" (95 Min.) Oades Boyer, Hedy Lamarr Shorts. "Hot Rod Huckst.rs" (7 Min.) News (10 Min.) THUIS...fRI. AUG. 12·13 "THE .usASSIN" (90 Min.) Richard Todd, Eva Bartok Shorts: "Slop, look and Hasten" (7 Min.) "Untroubled Border" (9 Min.) News (10 Min.) Newly EstabJished Drone Unit at Armitage Field To launch First Pilotless Aircraft Flight Today The recently established drone unit of the Naval Air FaCility op- • erations division will pass a signifi- cant milestone in its brief history today by launching its first NOLO (no live operator) flight. Establishment of the local drone unit. under the supervision of LCDR I. M. APplebaum, required a revision of the Station's mission to include setting up such an outfit in support of the NOTS missile program. Previously, a drone unit from the Naval Air Missile Test center at Point Mugu had filled the "demand for readily controlled, ¥et maneu- verable, targets against Which to test miSSiles. However, weather condi- tions at Point Mugu sometimes pro- hibited take off when ideal flying weather prevailed at China Lake and this, coupled with the extra distance involved and the fact that the Point Mugu outfit was available here only one day a week, led to the decision to establish a local drone unit. LCDR Applebaum, who arrived here in March from similar duty with Experimental Squadron 2 at Chincoteague, Va., is high in his praise for the work of officer and enlisted. personnel and civilians who, although mainly inexperienced in this type of operation. have pitched in to bring the unit to its present state of readiness. Navy officers assigned to the unit as pilots, in addition to LCDa Ap- plebaum, are LT K. J. 'bahms and LTJG K. J. Simmons, who serve both as ground and air controllers of the pilotless craft; and LT H . F. Tipton Jr., and LT W. L. Cromley. With the exception of the latter. all have had a limited amount of ex- perience with drones. Only a very few of the present team of enlisted personnel have ever worked with drones, but have caught on remarkably fast, accord- ing to LCDR Applebaum. Richard Bogoger, ADC. is in over- . all charge of the enlisted men's work, while Robert Richards, AEC. has supervision of all electronics men and electricians, and Charles Guerrant. ADC, is in charge of all maintenance work. A group of civilian employes, headed by Twain Lockhart of the aircraft instrumentation branch of Aviation Ordnance, is responsible for the installation and checking of all electronics gear, and earned praise from LCDR Applebaum for the effi~ ciency of their work. At the present time, the unit has ten F6F Hellcats, used as target drones, and four F'8F Bearcats fitted out as COntrol planes. In addiCton, one F2F Banshee also is being in- strumented for use as a control plane. These planes may be identi- fied aloft by their brillian,t colors. The target drones are a bright red. and the control planes are blue and yellow. The drones are controlled on the ground during the take-oft period from a small control cart, known as LenR I. M. APPLEBAUl\I, officer-in-charge of the Station's new drone unit, standing on wing of plane, looks on as Donald Cheverette, ADZ. assistant to the drone unit's maintenance chief, cheeks the instruments on one of the pilotless craft before take-off. a F'oxcart, but once the pilotless craft is aloft its control is tIJW.Sfer- red to a control plane. In both in- stances, however, the controller must maintain Visual contact with the drone. Once OVer the 0-1 range area, however, control can again be swit- ched to the ground to another con- trol cart. This one, called Fox Jr., is tied in with radar equipment to en- able the drone to be maneuvered far beyond the visual range of the op- erator. Control from Fox Jr. is lim- ited only by the effective range of the radar equipment. After leaving the ground, the pi- lotless planes can be taken aloft to a prescribed altitude and put through all types of standard maneuvers by radio control. The time over the Plans Discussed For Scout District Fall Encampment Preliminary plans for the fall scouting program were discussed at a meeting held last week, according to Frank Lavacot, Desert DistrIct commissioner. Dr. Carl Heller, a physicist In the physics division. Research Depart- ment, has accepted the position of director of the fall encampment, which will be held on Oct. 23-24 in the Tehachapi mountains. He also directed the s p r i n g encampment which was held at Camp Whitsett near Johnsondale. The fall encampment, in keeping with scouting activities, will be pri- marily directed toward the advance- ment of each scout in his program requirements. Final plans for the encampment and the fall scouting program will be announced later. target area will depend upon the al- titude. More fuel is burned getting to higher altitudes, limiting the op- erating time over the test ranges at altitudes above 20,000 feet to a max- imum of 1 ~ hours, or below 20.000 feet to approximately 2 hours. An average of 10 or 11 piloted hours is required in each drone CheCking out the complicated elec- tronic gear for every hour of NOLO flight, LCDR Applebaum reported. The normal liCe of a target drone is four or five flights before it is blast- ed from the air by a test misslle. Dr. Krzywoblocki Addresses Local Business Women Dr. M. Z. v. Krzywoblock1, pro~ fessor of gas dynamics and theoret- ical aerodynamiCS at the University of Illinois. who 1s a Research De- partment summer consultant at China Lake. was the featUred speak- er at a recent dinner meeting of the Kern Desert Business and Profes- sional Women's Club. Dr. Krzywoblocki, a native of Aus- tria-Hungary, gave a talk entitled, ''Women Abroad," in which he dis- cussed the standards of education. .customs. participation in public af- fairs and limitations placed on wo- men in middle European countries. The meeting was held in the China Lake Community Center, which also will be the setting for the group's next get-together on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Members were well pleased with the facilities offered by the new community building and are to vote at next week's meeting to determine whether the COmmunity Center will be used for a.ll of the group's future gatherings. TliE WEATHfR Mostly clear 0Vet'" the weekend with surf1ie winds 10 to 15 knoTS, increasing to gusts of 25 to 30 knots in the :lfternoon. Maximum temperature 103. Mini· mym temperature 76. VOL. X, NO. 31 large Trailers Now Rated Same As O-Bedroom Apts. The Housing Officer announced this week that the large, govern- ment-owned trailers will be consid- ered as zero-bedroom apartments. It was also stated that single em- ployes are now eligible to apply for " zero-bedroom apartments (as dis- tinguished from motels) and large trailers. In addition, employes hav- ing not more' than two dependents are also eligib~ for the large trailers. To apply for these apartments and trailers, applicants must go to the housing office Aug. 9 through 11, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Assignments of the large trailers will be on the same basis as for the zero bedroom apart- ments. The small trailers, of which 89 are currently occupied by married and single employes. will be closed on Oct. 31 in line with the present Sta- tion housing program that requires a reduction of overhead costs. Indi- vidual notices to move will be tMued. in accordance with the Navy Lease and Rental agreement. Residents in small trailers are re- minded that there are now 23 new Wherry homes ready for occupancy. Ei&hteen of the..homes have two bed- rooms and five have three bedrooms. Nineteen three bedroom homes will be added as the final1ncrement later this month. After sept. 15, the Station cannot assure the small trailer occupants of obtaining Wherry housing; a few em- ployes with long terms of service may be reached for assIgnment to (Continued on page Five) School Relocation Opinion Poll To End Wednesday Eighty more votes were received. during the past week in the public opinion poll being conducted regard- ing a proposed relocation of Bur~ roughs HIgh School. The poll, which was started July 15, will continue through next Wed- nesday. The results are running nearly five to one in opposition to the move. Of the total of 380 ballots re- turned., 68 now favor relocation of the school and 312 are opposed. For- tY-nine of the affirmative votes were received at.. the elementary schOOl office and the remaining 19 at the Burroughs High SChool office. All of the negative ballots were turned In at the Burroughs offloe. 2 i x fE.Y.P£RATURES • (Houling Area) Max. Min. July 29 ........ 108 78 July 30 ........ 108 68 July 31 ........ 109 67 Aug. 1 ........ 109 71 Aug. 2 __.... 105 75 -ee U.s. NAVAL ORDNANCE TEST STATION, CHINA LAKE. CALIF. A GRIM REMINDER that speed IdUs Is graphleally portrayed In the abG.e picture whicb really needs no caption. The 1953 Mercury carried William F. Smith, SN, to his death early last Sunda,1D01'1lin1 near Brown. Accord- In, to Donald R. Hagen, AA. who was a p&SSenev ill the vebJele, Smlth was drivinC approximately 100 miles per hour when he came upon the curve which is posted at 30 mlles per hoar. Speed Kills Station Enlisted Man In Auto Accident on Highway 395 Death came violently to William F. of Tucson, Ariz. The latter accom- Smtth, SN, 20, attached to the ChIna ponied the body to Morristown for Lake command. as a result of an burial. auto accident near. Brown last Sun- In another vehicle accident 1nvolv- day morning. ing Station enlisted men, Jessie B. The accident occurred appro:x1- Curtsinger, AD2. and Valdama.r L. mately 10 m11es north of Inyokern, Robinson. AD~ attached to the Na- at about 3:45 a.m., as Smith, who val Air Facility, escaped serious in- was driving a 1953 Mercury, and. • jury Monday near Inyokern Donald R. Hagen. AA. a passenger, The accident occurred at about 9:30 who was reporting to the Naval Air (Continued on page Five) Aug. 3 ........ 106 79 Aug. 4 ........ 100 n AUGUST 6, lUSt New Homes Filling Rapidly as Project Nears Completion All construction work wlll be com· pleted within the next two weeks on the last of the 300 Wherry housing units, according to officials of the In- yokern Housing Corporation, build- ers of the new housing subdivision. Planting of trees and shrubs and the finish grading of streets is all that remains to be done throughout most of the project. As of early this week, 208 homes were occupied and another 20 had been claimed but not yet moved into. Street signs and a large project entrance sign 'are being constructed, and officials are seeking a name for the new housing area. Desert Park has been suggested, and seems to be holding the edge at the moment. but persons having any other ideas for • name for the pr9J"", ..... ..- to call or visit the tr-=&. aCIIIL Duties of ~'q." fill Ibe Wheny proJ"", WID be .......... by Alfred Barmt, otI!w _ per- sonnel are MrL Yo!bMf'W_. of- fice secretaq; .9!! ......., nance f~_ Roland. Work aloo 11 &Q\DC abIId CIa ... extension of RjcIuDoll4 _ ~­ ward to Join the TroDI. Road. "Ibe actual roadwork is expected to be completed today. leaVing only the sentry shelter and new gate still to be constructed. The entire job will be finished by the first of next month, giving (Continued on Page Five) Fac1J1ty from Lakehurst, N.J., were ------------------------------ returning to the Station from a pleasure ride. According to Hagen, they were traveling approximately 100 miles per hour as the car approached the curve, which has a posted speed of 30 miles per hour. Aware Ulat he was traveling too fast to safely negotiate the turn, Smtth applied the brakes and s1Pd- ded. about 137 feet before the car struck the shoulder of the road. It then slid, broadside. fOr another 200 feet, overturned. and when it stopped the vehicle was upright on its wheels, but Smith had been thrown out and killed. Hagen, who was still in the vehicle, suffered only minor injuries. He was taken to the Infirmary, treated and then held for observation. before be- ing released Monday morning. Smtth, who had been at China Lake since January 1953. is survived by his mother, ~ry Mae Smtth, of Morristown, Tenn., and two brothers, Wayne, also of MorriStown. and Sam. Aerial ColliSion Ends in Tragedy, Two Station.Employes Die in Crash Two Station employes were killed at 7:30 p.rn. last Saturday folloWing a mid-air collision of two privately- owned light airplanes in the vicinity of the Ridgecrest 'J\ir field. One of the planes, although dam- aged, landed safely at the Ridge- 'Crest field, while the other plunged to earth south of the field. near the county dump. Victims of the fatal accident were Marvin C. Benson, 39, a leadingman auto mechanic in the Public Works Department, and William E. Smith, 32, an engineering draftsman in the instrument development division of the Test Department. Benson, accompanied by Smith, was practicing formation flying with another plane piloted by Allyn R.:. Berryman. an electronics me- chanic in the Test Department, when the planes collided. Berryman recovered control of his plane and made a safe landing with his pass- enger, Dean D. Hickman, an elec- tronics engineer also employed in the Test Department. T):le two fliers and their passengers hf\.Q gone aloft to practice maneu- v.;!:rs for the air show to be staged as a part of the forthcoming Desert Empire Fair. Both were flying Er- coupes and had dOo ne formation f1y~ ing together on previous occasions. They had agreed on a flight pat- tern, and all went well. according to Berryman. until after Benson had completed two rolls and was to re- join him before the two planes land· ed together. At the inquest held here (COntinued on Page Five) , OCR Text: PAGE. AUGUST 6, lUSt Ice Cream Social Planned by AAUW An ice cream social, annual fund raising event of the China Lake branch of the American Association of University Women, will be held on Thursday. Aug. 19. from 7 to 10 p.m. at the home of Mr. and Mrs. K. H. Robinson, 3 Sage P lace. Holders of tickets, priced at 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children under 13 years of age, will be entitled to a serving of ice cream and their choice of either pie or cake and coffee or punch, officials announced. The . tickets may be purchased from AAUW members. and also will be on sale at the Robinson residence on the evening of the affair. Pro- ceeds from the event will go toward the annual scholarship awarded to a Burroughs High School senior girl for use in continuing her {annal edu- cation. Mrs. Elaine Jenne is chairman of the committee planning the ice ice cream social TRAFFIC COURT REPORT Four drivers appeared at the Sta- tion traffic court this week and were cited for 1llega! parking and speed- ing. Three received warnings and one was restricted from driving on the Station for two weeks. ........ n...... 6 ...... p .... dol.,.. 1GckI.' MatInee (,""Hil "-"-h 1 p .... Soturcloy MIllIMe: 1 p.... ...., TODAY AUG. 6 "DAWN AT SOCORRO" (81 Min.) R.ory Calhoun, Piper laurie Shorts: " Along Come Doffy" (7 Min.) " Dlny Diving" (7 Min.) News (10 Min.) SATURDAY AUG. 7 "SUN VAllEY SERENADE" (16 Min.) Sonia Henie, John Payne- Shorts: " Sutt.TKo'eh and Soda" (7 Min.) "Jet Power" (10 Min.) MATINEE ''THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH" (77 Min.) Abbott and Co.stello Shorts. "Primitive Pluto" (7 Min.) "Gunflght.rs of the Northwest" (16 MinJ SUN.oMON. AUG. 8-9 "flHANTOM Of THE RUE MOIGUf" (IW Min.) Karl Marden, Patricio Medina Shorts, "Mouse Menace" (7 Min.) "Lea1her and lother" (8 Min.) TUES.-WED. AUG. 1()'11 "ALGIERS" (95 Min.) Oades Boyer, Hedy Lamarr Shorts. "Hot Rod Huckst.rs" (7 Min.) News (10 Min.) THUIS...fRI. AUG. 12·13 "THE .usASSIN" (90 Min.) Richard Todd, Eva Bartok Shorts: "Slop, look and Hasten" (7 Min.) "Untroubled Border" (9 Min.) News (10 Min.) Newly EstabJished Drone Unit at Armitage Field To launch First Pilotless Aircraft Flight Today The recently established drone unit of the Naval Air FaCility op- • erations division will pass a signifi- cant milestone in its brief history today by launching its first NOLO (no live operator) flight. Establishment of the local drone unit. under the supervision of LCDR I. M. APplebaum, required a revision of the Station's mission to include setting up such an outfit in support of the NOTS missile program. Previously, a drone unit from the Naval Air Missile Test center at Point Mugu had filled the "demand for readily controlled, ¥et maneu- verable, targets against Which to test miSSiles. However, weather condi- tions at Point Mugu sometimes pro- hibited take off when ideal flying weather prevailed at China Lake and this, coupled with the extra distance involved and the fact that the Point Mugu outfit was available here only one day a week, led to the decision to establish a local drone unit. LCDR Applebaum, who arrived here in March from similar duty with Experimental Squadron 2 at Chincoteague, Va., is high in his praise for the work of officer and enlisted. personnel and civilians who, although mainly inexperienced in this type of operation. have pitched in to bring the unit to its present state of readiness. Navy officers assigned to the unit as pilots, in addition to LCDa Ap- plebaum, are LT K. J. 'bahms and LTJG K. J. Simmons, who serve both as ground and air controllers of the pilotless craft; and LT H . F. Tipton Jr., and LT W. L. Cromley. With the exception of the latter. all have had a limited amount of ex- perience with drones. Only a very few of the present team of enlisted personnel have ever worked with drones, but have caught on remarkably fast, accord- ing to LCDR Applebaum. Richard Bogoger, ADC. is in over- . all charge of the enlisted men's work, while Robert Richards, AEC. has supervision of all electronics men and electricians, and Charles Guerrant. ADC, is in charge of all maintenance work. A group of civilian employes, headed by Twain Lockhart of the aircraft instrumentation branch of Aviation Ordnance, is responsible for the installation and checking of all electronics gear, and earned praise from LCDR Applebaum for the effi~ ciency of their work. At the present time, the unit has ten F6F Hellcats, used as target drones, and four F'8F Bearcats fitted out as COntrol planes. In addiCton, one F2F Banshee also is being in- strumented for use as a control plane. These planes may be identi- fied aloft by their brillian,t colors. The target drones are a bright red. and the control planes are blue and yellow. The drones are controlled on the ground during the take-oft period from a small control cart, known as LenR I. M. APPLEBAUl\I, officer-in-charge of the Station's new drone unit, standing on wing of plane, looks on as Donald Cheverette, ADZ. assistant to the drone unit's maintenance chief, cheeks the instruments on one of the pilotless craft before take-off. a F'oxcart, but once the pilotless craft is aloft its control is tIJW.Sfer- red to a control plane. In both in- stances, however, the controller must maintain Visual contact with the drone. Once OVer the 0-1 range area, however, control can again be swit- ched to the ground to another con- trol cart. This one, called Fox Jr., is tied in with radar equipment to en- able the drone to be maneuvered far beyond the visual range of the op- erator. Control from Fox Jr. is lim- ited only by the effective range of the radar equipment. After leaving the ground, the pi- lotless planes can be taken aloft to a prescribed altitude and put through all types of standard maneuvers by radio control. The time over the Plans Discussed For Scout District Fall Encampment Preliminary plans for the fall scouting program were discussed at a meeting held last week, according to Frank Lavacot, Desert DistrIct commissioner. Dr. Carl Heller, a physicist In the physics division. Research Depart- ment, has accepted the position of director of the fall encampment, which will be held on Oct. 23-24 in the Tehachapi mountains. He also directed the s p r i n g encampment which was held at Camp Whitsett near Johnsondale. The fall encampment, in keeping with scouting activities, will be pri- marily directed toward the advance- ment of each scout in his program requirements. Final plans for the encampment and the fall scouting program will be announced later. target area will depend upon the al- titude. More fuel is burned getting to higher altitudes, limiting the op- erating time over the test ranges at altitudes above 20,000 feet to a max- imum of 1 ~ hours, or below 20.000 feet to approximately 2 hours. An average of 10 or 11 piloted hours is required in each drone CheCking out the complicated elec- tronic gear for every hour of NOLO flight, LCDR Applebaum reported. The normal liCe of a target drone is four or five flights before it is blast- ed from the air by a test misslle. Dr. Krzywoblocki Addresses Local Business Women Dr. M. Z. v. Krzywoblock1, pro~ fessor of gas dynamics and theoret- ical aerodynamiCS at the University of Illinois. who 1s a Research De- partment summer consultant at China Lake. was the featUred speak- er at a recent dinner meeting of the Kern Desert Business and Profes- sional Women's Club. Dr. Krzywoblocki, a native of Aus- tria-Hungary, gave a talk entitled, ''Women Abroad," in which he dis- cussed the standards of education. .customs. participation in public af- fairs and limitations placed on wo- men in middle European countries. The meeting was held in the China Lake Community Center, which also will be the setting for the group's next get-together on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Members were well pleased with the facilities offered by the new community building and are to vote at next week's meeting to determine whether the COmmunity Center will be used for a.ll of the group's future gatherings. TliE WEATHfR Mostly clear 0Vet'" the weekend with surf1ie winds 10 to 15 knoTS, increasing to gusts of 25 to 30 knots in the :lfternoon. Maximum temperature 103. Mini· mym temperature 76. VOL. X, NO. 31 large Trailers Now Rated Same As O-Bedroom Apts. The Housing Officer announced this week that the large, govern- ment-owned trailers will be consid- ered as zero-bedroom apartments. It was also stated that single em- ployes are now eligible to apply for " zero-bedroom apartments (as dis- tinguished from motels) and large trailers. In addition, employes hav- ing not more' than two dependents are also eligib~ for the large trailers. To apply for these apartments and trailers, applicants must go to the housing office Aug. 9 through 11, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Assignments of the large trailers will be on the same basis as for the zero bedroom apart- ments. The small trailers, of which 89 are currently occupied by married and single employes. will be closed on Oct. 31 in line with the present Sta- tion housing program that requires a reduction of overhead costs. Indi- vidual notices to move will be tMued. in accordance with the Navy Lease and Rental agreement. Residents in small trailers are re- minded that there are now 23 new Wherry homes ready for occupancy. Ei&hteen of the..homes have two bed- rooms and five have three bedrooms. Nineteen three bedroom homes will be added as the final1ncrement later this month. After sept. 15, the Station cannot assure the small trailer occupants of obtaining Wherry housing; a few em- ployes with long terms of service may be reached for assIgnment to (Continued on page Five) School Relocation Opinion Poll To End Wednesday Eighty more votes were received. during the past week in the public opinion poll being conducted regard- ing a proposed relocation of Bur~ roughs HIgh School. The poll, which was started July 15, will continue through next Wed- nesday. The results are running nearly five to one in opposition to the move. Of the total of 380 ballots re- turned., 68 now favor relocation of the school and 312 are opposed. For- tY-nine of the affirmative votes were received at.. the elementary schOOl office and the remaining 19 at the Burroughs High SChool office. All of the negative ballots were turned In at the Burroughs offloe. 2 i x fE.Y.P£RATURES • (Houling Area) Max. Min. July 29 ........ 108 78 July 30 ........ 108 68 July 31 ........ 109 67 Aug. 1 ........ 109 71 Aug. 2 __.... 105 75 -ee U.s. NAVAL ORDNANCE TEST STATION, CHINA LAKE. CALIF. A GRIM REMINDER that speed IdUs Is graphleally portrayed In the abG.e picture whicb really needs no caption. The 1953 Mercury carried William F. Smith, SN, to his death early last Sunda,1D01'1lin1 near Brown. Accord- In, to Donald R. Hagen, AA. who was a p&SSenev ill the vebJele, Smlth was drivinC approximately 100 miles per hour when he came upon the curve which is posted at 30 mlles per hoar. Speed Kills Station Enlisted Man In Auto Accident on Highway 395 Death came violently to William F. of Tucson, Ariz. The latter accom- Smtth, SN, 20, attached to the ChIna ponied the body to Morristown for Lake command. as a result of an burial. auto accident near. Brown last Sun- In another vehicle accident 1nvolv- day morning. ing Station enlisted men, Jessie B. The accident occurred appro:x1- Curtsinger, AD2. and Valdama.r L. mately 10 m11es north of Inyokern, Robinson. AD~ attached to the Na- at about 3:45 a.m., as Smith, who val Air Facility, escaped serious in- was driving a 1953 Mercury, and. • jury Monday near Inyokern Donald R. Hagen. AA. a passenger, The accident occurred at about 9:30 who was reporting to the Naval Air (Continued on page Five) Aug. 3 ........ 106 79 Aug. 4 ........ 100 n AUGUST 6, lUSt New Homes Filling Rapidly as Project Nears Completion All construction work wlll be com· pleted within the next two weeks on the last of the 300 Wherry housing units, according to officials of the In- yokern Housing Corporation, build- ers of the new housing subdivision. Planting of trees and shrubs and the finish grading of streets is all that remains to be done throughout most of the project. As of early this week, 208 homes were occupied and another 20 had been claimed but not yet moved into. Street signs and a large project entrance sign 'are being constructed, and officials are seeking a name for the new housing area. Desert Park has been suggested, and seems to be holding the edge at the moment. but persons having any other ideas for • name for the pr9J"", ..... ..- to call or visit the tr-=&. aCIIIL Duties of ~'q." fill Ibe Wheny proJ"", WID be .......... by Alfred Barmt, otI!w _ per- sonnel are MrL Yo!bMf'W_. of- fice secretaq; .9!! ......., nance f~_ Roland. Work aloo 11 &Q\DC abIId CIa ... extension of RjcIuDoll4 _ ~­ ward to Join the TroDI. Road. "Ibe actual roadwork is expected to be completed today. leaVing only the sentry shelter and new gate still to be constructed. The entire job will be finished by the first of next month, giving (Continued on Page Five) Fac1J1ty from Lakehurst, N.J., were ------------------------------ returning to the Station from a pleasure ride. According to Hagen, they were traveling approximately 100 miles per hour as the car approached the curve, which has a posted speed of 30 miles per hour. Aware Ulat he was traveling too fast to safely negotiate the turn, Smtth applied the brakes and s1Pd- ded. about 137 feet before the car struck the shoulder of the road. It then slid, broadside. fOr another 200 feet, overturned. and when it stopped the vehicle was upright on its wheels, but Smith had been thrown out and killed. Hagen, who was still in the vehicle, suffered only minor injuries. He was taken to the Infirmary, treated and then held for observation. before be- ing released Monday morning. Smtth, who had been at China Lake since January 1953. is survived by his mother, ~ry Mae Smtth, of Morristown, Tenn., and two brothers, Wayne, also of MorriStown. and Sam. Aerial ColliSion Ends in Tragedy, Two Station.Employes Die in Crash Two Station employes were killed at 7:30 p.rn. last Saturday folloWing a mid-air collision of two privately- owned light airplanes in the vicinity of the Ridgecrest 'J\ir field. One of the planes, although dam- aged, landed safely at the Ridge- 'Crest field, while the other plunged to earth south of the field. near the county dump. Victims of the fatal accident were Marvin C. Benson, 39, a leadingman auto mechanic in the Public Works Department, and William E. Smith, 32, an engineering draftsman in the instrument development division of the Test Department. Benson, accompanied by Smith, was practicing formation flying with another plane piloted by Allyn R.:. Berryman. an electronics me- chanic in the Test Department, when the planes collided. Berryman recovered control of his plane and made a safe landing with his pass- enger, Dean D. Hickman, an elec- tronics engineer also employed in the Test Department. T):le two fliers and their passengers hf\.Q gone aloft to practice maneu- v.;!:rs for the air show to be staged as a part of the forthcoming Desert Empire Fair. Both were flying Er- coupes and had dOo ne formation f1y~ ing together on previous occasions. They had agreed on a flight pat- tern, and all went well. according to Berryman. until after Benson had completed two rolls and was to re- join him before the two planes land· ed together. At the inquest held here (COntinued on Page Five) , China Lake Museum,Rocketeer Newspaper,Rocketeer 1950s,Rocketeer 1954,Rktr8.6.1954.pdf,Rktr8.6.1954.pdf Page 1, Rktr8.6.1954.pdf Page 1