First Aero Squadron
During World War I, the US actually began to use its aerial military power in 1916, when the First Aero Squadron deployed to Meixco to participate in General John J. Pershing's expedition against Pancho Villa. The squadron's equipment failed disastrously: their engines were underpowered for the high altitudes and replacement parts also did not work at all. This abysmal failure caused some scandal and the establishment of a new Aviation Board headed by Lt. Col. George O. Squirer and Major William Mitchell.[1]
The Squadron was headed by Captain Benjamin D. Foulois. Its initial complement of airplanes was eight JN-2 biplanes created by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. These had been ordered by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Aviation Section, on 8 January 1915; the plant insepctor was Joseph E. Carberry. The planes used Curtiss OX engines. Continual failures of the Curtiss equipment led Foulois to write (16 September 1916): "Have come pretty near to the point of breaking off diplomatic relations with that firm."[2]
In response to the equipment disaster, Congress passed the "Urgent Deficiency Act" on 31 March 1917, budgeting $500,000 for 24 airplanes, 8 of them for the First Aero Squadron. They initially received four Curtiss N-8s, similar to the airplanes they already had. Rejecting these, they were supplied with a set of Curtiss R-2s, which also had major technical problems, including propeller breakage. The Curtiss Company sent engineers to work on this problem onsite.[2]
Organization names | First Aero Squadron |
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Entity type | |
Country | US |
Locations | |
Affiliated with | U.S. Army |
Scope | |
Started aero | 1916? |
Ended aero | |
Keywords | military |
Key people | Benjamin D. Foulois |
Wikidata id |