Nava AviATION paver aaa VES NavAer 00-75-R3 RESTRIReatrieted The Skyraider loses a wingtip on the turret Ens. D. Kirkpatrick's engine sputters IF YOU MUST DITCH A PL: ete cockpit of his plane, floating high minus engine. i Restricted i Saved by shoulder straps, pilot climbs out o}Restricted se) nnd ™ e: Bs ete, ELECTRONICS TEST Magnitude Of Operation At N: Staggers Imagination 1S BIG deavor covers Ic occupies a lot of space. Its field of en myriad of tasks. Moreover, most of the projects are way over the average man's head. A “short” visit ro the Electronies Test Division of the Naval Air Test Genter at Patuxent River, Md. would take the better part of a day. At that, only the surface of the division would be scratched. Some idea of the magnitude of the operation can be obtained by comparison, Electronics Test is au: thorized to employ more civilians, 448, than all the rest of the test divisions ac Pacuxent together. I ages over one-half che projects of the test center, with some 170 projects underway at present. Milicary population now is 37 officers and 264 enlisted men, with an expected increase coming later Ik is the job of the division co rest and evaluate everything electrical and electronic that is designed to leave the ground in Navy aircraft. This includes radar, radio and communications, antenna systems, composite systems, navigational aids systems, primary and secondary equipment and the working of all of them together. Ic is the division's job to make recom Restricted C Patuxent River 170 Projects Underway mendations as to engineering changes, circuitry, fab- rication, and mechanical construction upon comple tion of test and evaluation. LECTRONICS Test’s mission does not include per sonnel training for the service, although there is an occasional exception when no other activity in the Navy can train the personnel. The division does no work with missile electronics equipment. Located ac the huge center at Paruxent, ET is housed in one large double hangar, another com pletely shielded hangar, a large administration build- with a tower, a small building housing the antenna section, a barge on the Paruxent River at Solomons Island, and numerous towers and antennas scattered about the base. The shielded hi a space bigger than a football field. Postwar developments in electronics are just now flying. Production money is taking effect. Mose startling is the relative cose of electrical and clectronics equipment to airframes. In 1943 it was 56. For fiscal 1951 ic was 1714%. For fiscal 1952 the figure will rise to one-third the cost of the plane 1