No longer. need a fost pilot rely entirely on pencil nbtes and memory for making his report when he roars an experimental plane into the clouds. For he can now take along a robot “photographic observer,” developed by aircorps technicians at Wright Field, that records instantaneously on a film, by pressure of a trigger switch, the readings from a bank of seven to fifteen instruments, depending on the space available for installing them. The apparatus consists of a thirty-five millimeter movie camera equipped with a lamp housing to provide uniform lighting for the special set of instruments duplicating those on the pilot’s instrument board, together with any other gauges and meters that may be desired. After recording a flight, the developed film is projected through a machine which enlarges each frame on a ground glass screen for studying the results of the test. Photographic records are of special value in tests where instrument readings change rapidly, as in take-offs, in finding the plane’s rate of climb at various altitudes, and in determining the altitude at which the plane gives maximum performance. With the new “silent partner” aboard, the pilot may devote his entire attention to maintenance of uniform speeds.