Guerre di meraviglie

“lNVENTIONS for Defense” might be the subtitle on the office door of the Crosby Research Foundation in Pasadena, California. In the teception room of these private investigators you are apt to find, waiting for consultation, a landscape architect with an idea for a new camouflage system in his briefcase; in another corner, accompanied by a bodyguard, a chemist with the formula for a new super-explosive. Even if neither invention proves practical, it will get the benefit of rigid tests for the investigators never know when an out- standing idea may be brought in. The Crosby organization is financed by a group of men who chose this way to help defense, and is headed by Larry Crosby, business manager for Bing Crosby. What would you think of a nonmetallic cartridge that is entirely consumed when the bullet is fired, thus speeding up and simplifying automatic guns? Or a parachute-troop release gear by which 24 men and their equipment can be discharged from an airplane in six seconds, from an altitude of only 85 feet? These are two ideas brought in recently. One inventor designed and tested streamlined and teardrop bullets that have a flatter trajectory, longer range, and greater penetration than present bullets. But this improvement may be too late because the Army is trying out a bullet with four small tail fins that is discharged without spin from a smooth bore gun. The bullet has two small copper skirts to prevent the gas from escaping past it in the barrel and is said to have an 80 percent increase in range and a 100 percent increase in velocity over conventional designs. A method of taking time-exposure photos from fast-flying planes has been badly needed and it may be that the answer is contained in one device submitted to the Foundation. A time exposure from an airplane sounds silly but the factis that aerial military photographs are not as clear and sharp as they used to be because camera planes now have to fly three or four times faster than before. An optical distortion results, even at fast shutter speeds, and creates poor photographs that are difficult to interpret. The new device is intended to compensate for such camera movement and is said to produce clear pictures of the ground from an altitude of only a few thousand feet, even though a one-second exposure is made from a plane flying 300 miles an hour. Another device that has promise is a four-bladed airplane propeller in which the blades are staggered around the central shaft, permitting each blade to bite into fresh undisturbed air. The design is said to be 30 percent more efficient than present arrangements but the drawback is that a longer propeller shaft must be used. The Foundation is trying to work out such production “bugs.” Of possible importance is a proposed new street lighting system giving some illumination during blackouts. The unit consists of a shielded lamp holder that directs all of its light downward and is fitted with a blue bulb and blue reflecting surfaces. Traffic on the street would be able to move in illumination somewhat better than bright moonlight, yet the reflective qualities of blue light makes the illumination invisible at altitudes greater than a few thousand feet. The Foundation finds that only one among a thousand or so military inventions that are submitted have any marked merit. Items in the news stimulate many people who have creative imaginations, with the result that many submit practically identical ideas at about the same time. How to prevent torpedoes from striking ships is a popular subject at present and most suggestions are based on placing a sturdy net around the ship. The investigators have to point out that the net idea is both old and impractical and would have been adopted years ago if it worked. One man had a notion to place a metal roof and side plates over a battleship, the roof and plates resting against powerful recoil springs. The idea was that if a bomb or torpedo struck the surfaces the springswould bounce the missile harmlessly away. Unknown inventors are neither encouraged nor discouraged to consult the foundation. When one does, he is put through a routine. First he is appraised in a non-technical interview by John B. Rathmell, ex-machine gun officer and director of the organization. The inventor must prove he has protected his idea so that, if it proves valuable, it can’t be stolen from him. If he passes this test he may submit his invention for study, and if the device interests the organization it is scientifically studied by a staff of consultants. Improvements may need to be worked out to make it practical. Passing this stage, it is then studied by engineers and production men from the standpoint of manufacturing and costs. Finally there is a market survey that is the final test as to whether an invention should be a success. Among recent military inventions brought in are a punctureproof gasoline tank and a machine gun cooling device, invented by a priest; a lethal projectile of a new principle, conceived by a motion picture extra; a remote-control mechanism for sighting and firing wing and tail guns from the pilot’s cockpit; and a new airplane detecton originated by a physician, Why waste time looking over the ideas of untrained people from various walks of life? The answer, of course, is that almost anyone is apt to conceive the germ of an important invention. Bicycle repairmen don’t know a great deal about aerodynamics, yet the Wrights were in the bicycle business when they built and flew the first airplane. Gatling and Maxim, each of whom invented an automatic gun, were respectively a physician and a farmer. The Crosby group first intended to limit itself to the handling of inventions directly related to war but now it is realized that anything that speeds production, or saves time, or replaces strategic materials with more common ones, contributes to the defense effort. Accordingly they are studying a number of ideas that may be as valuable in times of peace as in war.