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MILLING, T.DEWITT, BRIG. GEN. USAF. - BIOG. FILE FOLDER NO. 2 ITEM NO. 5A

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
NATIONAL AIR MUSEUM

to work on this sight with excellent results. Also we were anxious to develop a parachute. A man by the name of Broderick brought a chute to North Island during the summer. He used the chute by attaching a rubber to the plan and to the back of the [[crossed-out]] pilot [[/crossed-out]] pack so that when the drop was made the back was released and the pack was released and the operator was lowered to the ground. These tests were the forerunner of the final development of the parachute which was put in service in 1920. In December of 1914, it was decided to conduct the Mackay trophy test by having [[crossed-out]] pal [[/crossed-out]] planes make a crosscut flight to Los Angeles. [[crossed-out]] C [[/crossed-out]] For a week [[crossed-out]] traffic [[/crossed-out]] rain and high winds raged. After the weather had seemed to clear, we were informed by the weather bureau that we should have ideal weather [[crossed-out]] d [[/crossed-out]] conditions for the flight on 21 December. We took it as intervals based on the speed of the plan with the [[crossed-out]] specific [[/crossed-out]] objective of having the planes arrive at Los Angeles in one flight. Unfortunately by 9-o-clock the wind was blowing off the coast toward the ocean which caused terrific winds to come over the [[crossed-out]] mont [[/crossed-out]] mountains and, in addition, to [[crossed-out]] b [[/crossed-out]] being gusty it made flying impossible for the type of plane we were using. Lieut. Mueller, with Gerstner as passenger, tried to land on the coast but came down in the ocean a hundred yards off shore. I was flying a B-tractor with Lieut. Petterson as passenger. Shortly after [[crossed-out]] , [[/crossed-out]] we left the field, my motor began to miss. [[crossed-out]] [[?]] [[/crossed-out]] I kept going a few miles but finally was forced to land. I picked a spot, but it was rough with a ditch at the end and when my wheels got in the ditch, it turned the plan over on its back. I realized that was happening[[crossed-out]] s [[/crossed-out]] undid my belt and jumped out. Patterson was hung-up by the belt which could not be opened due to the fact that it was secured by a ____ through a hole held in place by a _____ but by getting a small rock I was able to get the belt loose. Fortunately, the plane did not catch on [[crossed-out]] file [[/crossed-out]] fire. When I returned to San Diego, I made it the first order of business to design a kick release buckle so that accidents would or could [[crossed-out]] [[?ko]] [[/crossed-out]] not happen. This I succeeded in doing and the [[crossed-out]] buckel [[/crossed-out]] buckle, with some modification, has been in use ever since.

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