European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 1, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Sunday october 1, 1967 the stars and stripes Page 7 developing five Inch gun 5- i the Navy s new automatic five Inch 54-caliber gun undergoes tests. Navy photo Washington is the Navy has developed a new lightweight fully automatic five Inch gun that has a greater Range faster rate of fire and is safer than the five Inch gun it is designed to replace. These guns Are used primarily on destroyers. The Range and rate of fire of the new gun now in a test and evaluation stage will enhance a destroyer s ability to engage fast moving air and surface targets and support amphibious assault operations the Navy  new gun is equipped with a solid state circuit and can be operated by six men stationed below decks making it safer to operate than the present five Inch gun because Crew men Are not needed in the mount  of the new gun which can fire up to 20 rounds per minute is about 10 Miles or20,000 Yards. The old gun fires a slightly heavier projectile but Only 16,000  new gun weighs about one third As much As the old one. Weight reduction resulted from the use of aluminium new advances in the production of steel improve design and the elimination of the equipment that is need for manual  new gun was developed by the naval weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren a. If cur rent tests Are successful the Navy could be Gin negotiating contracts shortly. On the Home front Pentagon eases promotions to e7 Washington is the army has eased promotion requirements for advancing to Grade e7, according to a Penta gon Cable to major  the past before a noncommissioned officer could be promoted to Grade e7 through e9 he had to hold a secret Security clearance or a National Agency Check nac. Now the army has changed regulations to authorize commanders to promote servicemen if they can qualify for an interim secret clearance and a request for a nac has been  old requirements still apply for promotion to grades e8and e9. New Yorks san Amer ican airline will begin carry ing . Servicemen to Syd  Australia from Vietnam for five Days of or starting sunday it was announced  airline will operate 15 flights a month on the new service under an expanded contract with the . Mili tary Airlift come. The or program is directed. By the . Military assistance come Vietnam the top military authority in that theater. Washington special Thomas h. Wilkenson army safety director has receive the Arthur Williams memorial award for outstanding contributions to safety Engineer ing. He is the first employee inthe defense department to receive the  Arthur Williams me Morial award originated i philanthropic bequests by a thur Williams first president of the american museum of safety. It is Given for out standing achievement by invention development plan or service in the interest of greater and improved Indus trial and general safety to human life and  Washington special de livery of surface mail to Viet Nam is being improved by Steps aimed at reducing de lays in sea transportation across the Pacific. The . Army military mail terminal in san fran Cisco monitors the departure of All ships carrying military mail. When a ship does no depart on time the mail will be offloaded and consigned to another ship if reasonably available or moved As space available mail by Airlift. The military sea transportation service has issued instructions that whenever ships Are unduly delayed in route for any reason the Mai should be offloaded for faster delivery by other Means i necessary. Pascagoula miss. Up the Navy s newest nuclear submarine under the com Mand of cmdr. S. J. Ander son has completed its first sea trials. The Haddock underwent trials in the Gulf of Mexico and ran under full Power both surface and submerged. Washington i two air Force officers Brig. Gen. William c. Garland and  e. Bryan or. Will be promoted to two and one Sta rank respectively the air Force  is the air Force s director of information at the Pentagon while Bryan is commander of the 831st air div tac at George fab Calif. First . Jet flew the wild Blue yonder 25 years ago Buffalo . Special the month of october Marks two significant anniversaries inthe history of flight Man s first trip beyond the sound Barrier and the first flight of the United states first Jet  were achievements of the former Bell aircraft corporation today known As text Ron s Bell Aero systems company. It was 25 years ago on oct. 2,1942, that the xp59a air Comet officially flew for the first Tim eat an army air corps testing base at maroc Calif., now Edwards air Force base. Five years later on oct. 14,1947, the rocket powered i made history by flashing through the California skies faster than sound. The i and the xp59a were far More than aircraft powered by new types of engines. The were research vehicles in which the foundations were Laid for to Day s Jet flight and tomorrow s supersonic  As a super secret project the xp59a was designed and fabricated at a secret Plant in Buffalo . Photographed in 1942 is America s first Jet the xp59a, zooming Over California skies. The xp59a had its inception on aug. 28, 1941, when the late Lawrence d. Bell then presi Dent of the company was summoned to Washington for a con Ference with the late Gen. H. H. Arnold then commander of the army air corps. Construction work on the Firsti Jacomet began in january 1942, less than nine months be fore its first flight. Surrounded by armed military police the secret air plane was fitted with a mock wooden propeller an shipped to the West coast crated on a Flat  prevent possible damage to the delicate bearings in its two Jet engines they were run slowly by compressed air throughout the trip. Following the first flight hundreds of other flight were made at what is now Edwards air Force base in Cali fornia before a Public announce ment of the radically new air plane was made in 1943. The air Comet had a Speed of More than 400 Miles per hour and a service ceiling of 40,000feet, but while it was developed for combat in world War a the War ended before it could be put in  for the first . Jet were built by the general elec tric company after a Jet engine designed by a Royal air Force officer group capt. Frank whittle. Designated the i a the engine delivered 1,250 pounds of thrust and burned the same fuels today s jets kerosene. At Edwards preliminary tax tests were conducted on septem Ber 30. Bell s test Pilot Robertm. Stanley also made several High taxis lifting the air Lanea foot or two off the runway. The next Day Stanley flew Theair plane 25 feet off the ground and then flew it to 100 feet. On oct. 2the official first flight Date he made two More flights to 6,000 and 10,000 feet. Stateside service if i mass skiis Ai avs so v so m v Fri i Fife k its is  Isis