1917-Continued

17 June A joint Army-Navy Mission (called the

Bolling Mission after its senior member, Major R. C.

Bolling), of which the Navy members were

Commander George C. Westervelt and Lieutenant

Warren G. Child, sailed for Europe to study air devel-

opments among the Allies and recommend a policy

and program for the American air services.

22 June Enlisted men of the First Aeronautic

Detachment began preliminary flight training in

Caudron landplanes under French instructors at the

Military Aviation School, Tours, France. At about the

same time, 50 men of the Detachment were sent to St.

Raphael, France, for training as mechanics.

22 June Change No. 11 in uniform regulations was

the first to make special provision for aviators. It pro-

vided for a summer service flying uniform of Marine

Corps khaki in the same pattern and design as service

whites, to be worn when on immediate active duty

with aircraft. The order also provided for a working

dress uniform made as a coverall from canvas, khaki

or moleskin of the same color as the flying uniform.

4 July The first 8-cylinder Liberty motor arrived in

Washington, D.C., for testing by the Bureau of

Standards, having been assembled at the Packard

Motor Car Company from parts made by manufactur-

ers in plants scattered from Philadelphia, Pa., to

Berkeley, Calif. Design, manufacture, and assembly of

this motor had required less than six weeks.

I

I -

American built HS flying boats moored at NAS Moutchic, one of the main training bases in France 1053802

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

27

7 July Lieutenant Kenneth Whiting, commanding the

First Aeronautic Detachment, cabled the Secretary of

the Navy reporting the results of his negotiations with

the French in regard to training and establishment of

air stations and requested departmental approval.

Under the terms of the agreement, the first of several

concerned with the expansion of Naval Aviation over-

seas, the French agreed to train personnel of the

Detachment at existing French Army Aviation Schools

(pilots at Tours, France, and mechanics at St. Raphael,

France), and to start construction of three patrol sta-

tions for American use, located at Dunkirk, France, the

mouth of the Loire River (Le Croisic, France), and the

mouth of the Gironde (St. Trojan, France), and a train-

ing station at Lake Lancanau (Moutchic, France).

9 July A group of 24 potential Naval Aviators under

Ensign Frederick S. Allen as Officer-in-Charge, report-

ed at the University of Toronto for the start of flight

training under the Canadian Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

This training was arranged by an agreement with the

Army and the RFC that 25 men from the Navy would

be included in the contingent of 100 Americans for

which the Government of Canada had agreed to pro-

vide flight training.

10 July A plan for training student officers of the

Naval Reserve Flying Corps was circulated for com-

ment. It proposed a program in three parts: (1) A

Ground School for indoctrination into the Navy and

study of subjects related to aircraft and flight, (2) a

Preliminary Flight School for flight training through 5

to 10 hours of solo, and (3) a Completing Flight