Aeronautics: No. 1 Flyer Flayed

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Twenty-five years ago the U. S. Army Air Corps consisted of one plane and one pilot. He was a keen-eyed, pipe-smoking bantam named Lieut. Benjamin Delahauf ("Benny") Foulois. Up from the ranks of infantry, he joined the Signal Corps in 1908, learned to fly balloons, went to Fort Myer, Va. where Orville Wright was trying to sell the Army its first airplane. He laid out the test course—the amazing distance of ten miles—and was chosen official passenger by Orville Wright for two reasons. First, he weighed only 126 Ib. Second, as Orville Wright put it, "You laid out the course, so if anything happens you have only yourself to blame." The Army bought the flimsy plane, appropriated $150 for maintenance, and in 90 minutes the Wrights made "Benny" Foulois the Army's No. 1 pilot. First year's repair bills amounted to $450 of which $300 came out of Pilot Foulois' meager wages. Steadily "Benny" Foulois rose with the new service, landed in France in 1918 commanding the A. E. F. air service. Three years ago he was made Chief of Air Corps. Exulted a high-ranking brother officer: "Benny is 99% for the Air Corps and 1% for himself. That's what the service needs."

Last week a sub-committee of the House Military Affairs Committee after secret hearings, called upon Secretary of War Dern to oust General Foulois for "dishonesty . . . gross misconduct ... inefficiency . . . inaccuracy . . . unreliability . . . incompetency . . . mismanagement.'' Prime charges: ¶He said he was "quite certain" his men could fly the mail, following cancellation of private contracts. ¶He "told a lie" to the committee, saying that Army mail pilots had from 30 to 60 hours night flying experience, whereas some who crashed had as little as 8 hours. ¶He persistently violated the law in buying planes by direct negotiation instead of by competitive bidding. ¶He changed specifications on new Boeing pursuit planes, thus delaying construction so long that the type will be obsolete when delivered. ¶He made "false and misleading statements" about Air Corps affairs, and recanted points of sworn testimony. General Foulois promptly branded the charges "most unfair and unjust," asked for an open hearing in court. Popular in and out of the service, he had many a defender. His friends made the point that purchases by direct negotiation, while il legal, were the rule rather than the exception in government aircraft procurements because most specifications could be best met by one contractor; hinted that "Benny" Foulois was being "made the goat" by higher officers responsible for the weakness of the Air Corps. But all Washington knew it was a far cry from the report of a Congressional sub-committee and the actual removal of the Chief of Air Corps.