Copyright; 1ί>81), Tom B. Woodburn UNITED STATES ARMY RECRUITING SERVICE y A PARKS AIR COLLEGE was founded August 1, 1927. Has enjoyed full Federal approval longer than any other aviation With PARKS Training cpHaaI is accredited in its Aeronautical Engineering School by the Illinois for LEADERSHIP in Superintendent o f Public Instruction. Included in the Accredited Higher Institutions 1938, issued by the Commercial Aviation United States Office o f Education, Federal Security Agency. Graduates are qualified education­ he responsible positions in com­ problems that confront anyone who ally for appointment as flying cadets mercial aviation are being won by is on his way up to success. in the U. S. Army Air Corps and T for flight training in the U. S. Naval young men who qualified themselves Parks offers you a proven prepara­ Air Reserve. for leadership through the thorough­ tion for leadership by providing a Has a capacity enrollment of 300 ness of their preparatory training. college education majoring in com­ commercial aviation students, 216 So you, with your hopes and visions U. S. Army Air Corps flying cadets mercial aviation. Through the devel­ and 48 enlisted mechanics. of success, must chart your own course opment of important executive ability, Has its own airport with a school now —you must realize that technical Parks graduates are equipped to plant of 25 buildings devoted to skills are not enough—you must look progress to positions of leadership school purposes entirely, also two beyond that first job. Be sure that fields o f 568 acres and 96 acres for and responsibility. military flight training. y o u r preparation training will equip you to advance. Parks offers you four courses: Pro­ Has a faculty o f 82, each especially fessional Flight and Executive, Avia­ qualified for his particular field o f Parks Air College courses are designed instruction. tion Operations and Executive, to provide you with a solid founda­ Aeronautical Engineering, and Main­ tion of essential technical knowledge tenance Engineering. and skills, p lu s a well rounded under­ Section AT-10 standing of basic principles. This is To chart your own course for suc­ PARKS AIR COLLEGE because you must know the w hy as cess, send the coupon or a postcard East St. Louis, Illinois well as the how of the things you do. request now for complete information Please send me details o f four major Parks develops your capacity for and the free 64-page Parks Catalog. courses in commercial aviation training. creative, independent reasoning— so Because Parks enrollment is limited that you can solve those unexpected and restricted, mail the coupon tod ay. Name............................................— ........... Address State PARKS AIR COLLEGE, East St. Louis, Illinois PAG E 3 AIR TRAILS OCTOBER, 1941 Hill TRAILS OCTOBER, 1941 VOLUME XVII NO. 1 15 CENTS PER COPY $1.50 PER YEAR A STREET & SMITH P UBLICATI ΟN FEATURES A R O U N D T H E C L O C K A T L O C K H E E D ...................................... 10 B L IM P S O N G U A R D .........................By Lieut. Comm. R. F. Tyler 14 SECRET AGENTS OF THE AIR CORPS . By John R. Hoyt 16 RADIOED MAPS IN C O D E ......................................................... 17 FLYING PILLBOXES ..................................................................... 18 H O R O U G H Luscombe train­ Y O U C A N ’T M IS S I T I ..........................By Idell Durrett H e y i T ing qualifies you quickly for 19 the better paying aviation jobs I GET MY PRIVATE ................................By Welter E. Edwards 20 today— a profitable lifetime career A IR D E FE N SE N O T E B O O K ......................................................... 21 tomorrow. N O W is the time to join ELMIRA M E E T ............................................ By Alexis Dawydoff 22 the thousands of skilled technicians T H A T ’S A SIL L Y R U L E ......................................By Private Pilot 24 vital to American defense, "Am eri­ MEET THE B - I7 C ..................................................................... 34 ca's Production Army." Properly trained men get good jobs DEPARTMENTS now leading them to high salaried positions in the future. Get the best WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION? 6 training you can. Enroll at Lus­ C. A. V. U ....................... 8 combe School of Aeronautics. FREE PLACEMENT SERVICE MODEL SECTION Select your course and mail cou­ 1941 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ........................37 pon today. FROM THESE DESIGNS— . By Henry Struck 40 THE DOPE CAN . By Gordon Light 42 LIGHTNING ON A LEASH . By Frank Reinhold 44 PILOT THIS VANGUARD! . By Frank Reinhold 46 DOWN THE RUNWAY . By Al Lewis 49 "DON'T QUOTE ME!" By the Traveling Salesman 49 WAKEFIELD DESIGN . By Al Casano 50 SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS CUT THAT SKIN FRICTION! By Maurice Schoenbrun 52 (Division of luscombe Airplane Corp., World s larpest manufacturers of all-m etal lipht airplanes) BREWSTER BERMUDA DIVE BOMBER . By J. B. Rust 53 MERCER AIRPORT OR 3407 Commerce St., DALLAS, TEXAS FULL-COLOR COVER PHOTO OF ENGLISH SPITFIRE WEST TRENTON, N. J. ( M y sheet metal training available at Dallas.Teiat School.: BY BRITISH-COMBINE LUSCOMBE SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS MERCER AIRPORT I .......... .......... y ( 3407 COMMERCE ST. W EST TRENTON. N. I . f Address School NMrest You ioALLAS. TEXAS C. B. C O LB Y ............................. Editor Without cost or obligation please send me your FR EE folder, ’‘Aviation Today and W M. W I N T E R .......... Associate Editor Tomorrow”, and information in the courses c h e c k e d . ALEXIS DAWYDOFF . .Soaring Editor □ AIRCRAFT WELDING □ AIRPLANE ENGINE MECHANIC'S G O R D O N S. LIG HT .... Model Editor (2 M o n t h s ) □ CREDIT (8 M o n t h s ) ALEX D. SNIFFEN ....................... Art Editor □ AIRCRAFT SHEET METAL (Gov’t. Approved) (3 M o n t h s ) PLAN □ AIRPLANE MECHANIC'S FOLDER □ AIRPLANE MASTER MECHANIC'S (8 M o n t h s ) ( O n e Y e a r ) Monthly publication Issued by Street & Smith Publication*. Incorporated. 79 Seventh Avenue. New York City. (Gov’t. Approved) (Gov’t. Approved) Alien L . Grammer, President; Henry W . Ralston. Vice President; Gerald H . Sm ith. Treasurer and Secretary. Copyrlfht. 1941, la U. 8. A. and Great Britain by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Entered as Second- N a m e ......................................... class Matter, January 11. 1937, at the Post Office at New York, under Act of Centres* of March 3 . 1879. Subscriptions to Canada. $ 2 .0 0 ; Countries in Pan American Union. $1.75 per year; elsewhere, $2.25 per year. A d d r e s s A ll characters used ia fiction and seml-ftctioa stories la. this magazine are fictitious. W e eanaet accept responsibility fee unsolicited manuscripts er artwork. Any material submitted must include return pestape. Printed the U. 8 . A . PAGE 4 A IR TRAILS COURSES! INVEST IN AVIATION CAREER TRAINING! THE AVIATION INDUSTRY offers wonderful opportunities for a secure, interesting and profitable career — but only to those who prepare themselves by thorough and proven training. Although the emergency of national defense is forcing the industry to give jobs to untrained or inadequately "quiclcy" trained men. its executives will entrust responsible supervisory positions only to men who have chosen aviation as a life work and have invested the time and money to FIT themselves for an aviation career. You can't fool aviation's leaders . they know what it takes to succeed in aviation and they know that Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute graduates are— and for many years have been—thoroughly qual­ ified to fulfil] the industry's most exacting requirements. Located in the very center and a very important part of Southern California's great aircraft industry, with its more than a billion dollars in unfilled orders, Curtiss- Wright Tec has come to be recognized as the nation's leading institution for the training of Aeronautical Engineers and Master Mechanics. Mr. Donald Douglas. President of the great Douglas Aircraft Company, chose this school for his own son's training, which pointedly indicates the high standing Curtiss-Wright Tec has attained in the aircraft industry since its establishment in 1929. It is imperative that before you invest in a course of career training you de­ termine what the returns will be on your investment . for your choice of a school in which to take your training will determine how much money you will make all the rest of vour life. Curtiss-Wright Tec's career training is carefully designed to do just one thing:— TO MAKE MONEY FOR YOU. so upon graduation you can be independent and self-supporting for life. Our thousands of successful graduates have proven that Curtiss-Wright Tec training gets results and always pays, since it trained them in advance for the highest position they could ever expect to occupy. It can do the same for you. This school has never guaranteed positions for its graduates, but practically every graduate has obtained immediate employment and is advancing rapidly. The demand for our graduates far exceeds the supply, and we honestly believe that every student who enrolls here will be able to obtain, with our assistance, immediate employment upon graduation. WARNING!—“Don't miss the boat.*' The greatest opportunity in your lifetime exists today! There never was such an opportunity in aviation for you; there may never be another. A position awaits you. Insure for yourself a steady income and independence for life. Invest NOW in your future! Send in your enrollment be­ fore you “miss the boat" ★ AesumatUicol CtujiHe&Utttf. &*ui Ma&tel· M eduutioi. ★ NO FLYING INVOLVED / BE WISE— PROTECT YOUR FUTURE r 'l THIS TOWER OVERLOOKS AVIATION'S MOST DISTINGUISHED SCHOOL OF AERONAUTICS K T M l « 1 N NUSITIN KM ■( f l u Ι·Τ·ΙΙΙΙΙΜ III lim it ·■ TNI mum tmu catnti mn DOD’T DfLfly □ AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING COURSE m CUJItlfllSS □ MASTER AVIATION MECHANIC COURSE w i n i d i T □ SPECIALIZED ENGINE COURSE □ SPECIALIZED AIRPLANE COURSE ΜΗ TCCIllllfM IINSTITUT« Q POST GRADUATE AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING COURSE □ SPECIALIZED AIRCRAFT SHEET METAL COURSE □ AERONAUTICAL DRAFTING COURSE.