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[[image]] TIMES HERALD: WASHINGTON, D.C.: JANY. 17, 1950 Early Birdmen - A Vision of Victory in the Air Fresh from flying instruction given them by Orville and Wilbur Wright, two of the Army's first regular pilots pose with the rickety contraption which was a source of constant amazement to earth-bound citizens. Left to right, Hap Arnold, who died Sunday, and Thomas De Witt Milling. At the time of this picture both were lieutenants. Arnold's Pioneer Buddy Tells of Near-Fatal Flight Pair Were Heroes Of Early Aviation By ROBERT DENNY How General of the Air Force Henry (Hap) Arnold almost didn't live to become dean of American airmen was recalled yesterday by a ruddy-faced little gentleman whose booming voice belies his size. Arnold, 63, who died Sunday of a heart attack at his California ranch, was one of the Army's first two regular pilots. The other was Thomas DeWitt (Tommy) Milling, now 62 and a retired Air Force brigadier general who lives at Alban Towers. Milling's story began in 1911 when he, a cavalry lieutenant, and Arnold, an infantry lieutenant, flew the Army's first Wright biplane at College Park. Taught By Wrights The pair, fresh from flying instruction given them by Orville and Wilbur Wright, were in a rickety, cloth-and-glue 35-horsepower contraption. Day after day, the two outdid each other in setting world records in aviation. They had no technical manuals, no benefit of research. They learned the hard way, surviving countless forced landings and crack-ups in an effort to establish the airplane as an effective military weapon. Altitude Record Set On one occasion, Milling recalled, Arnold almost killed himself when he froze his hands and feet so badly in setting a new world's high altitude record - 4,167 feet - that he couldn't fly his airplane. Milling produced a newspaper clipping on the incident. Dated July 23, 1911, it quoted Arnold, [[image]] GEN. T. DE WITT MILLING was a "very good pilot - not exceptional - but very good." On the personal side, the retired general said, Arnold was "very lovable, had lots of drive and high ideals - but was never stuffy." Milling can be regarded as an authority on Arnold's or anyone's flying ability, for he wasn't exactly a slouch himself. In fact, newspaper stories of the time carried more about Milling's prowess than that of his colleague. One story tells of a time at College Park when Milling set a word record for landing accuracy, landing with a dead engine within five feet of a given point. Arnold, in two tries, made it within 20 feet. Milling Lionized in Boston __________________ Arnold's Body To Lie in State By United Press The body of Gen. Henry H. Arnold, wartime commander of the Air Force, is scheduled to arrive here by plane from California at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The Air Force said that the body will lie in state in the Washington National Cathedral until shortly before general services at Arlington National cemetery at 3 p.m. Thursday. The public will be admitted to the cathedral's chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea to view the body from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow and from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday. The body will be borne to the cemetery in a procession starting at Fifteenth street and Constitution avenue, about two blocks from the White House. [[section removed?]] was recalled to service in 1942. He retired again in 1946, but keeps a close eye on aviation and has some very emphatic opinions about it. Doesn't Miss Flying Despite governmental figures, and in a stone that would make a civil aeronautics administration
