Los Banos Rotary Club History
Base Commander Tells Of Work

Speaking at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday noon, Lt. Com. Thomas B. Smith commandant of the Naval Auxiliary Landing Field at Crows Landing explained the purpose and use of the base as a unit of the Naval Air Station at Alameda.

Surprising to his listeners, Smith said the normal permanent personnel at the base is only 75 men, including maintenance, commissary and small medical crew.

It is strictly a specialized training center, he said, where Navy pilots are taught how to land on aircraft carriers. Carrier landings, the Commander explained, are the most precise type of landings for modern pilots—like trying to land a plane on a postage stamp. It is also very dangerous, so much so that two specially trained crash crews are on instant call during all training sessions. In event of crash and fire, it is estimated that the pilot has one minute to live before being burned to death. The crews are trained to get to the plane and rescue the pilot within that time.

Simulated carrier decks are painted on the landing field and the pilots are required to swoop in and land on the designated spot. They are taught to land, not by their own judgment, but by signals given them by a landing signal officer, who uses two large brightly colored paddles to guide the pilots in.
Smith said that carrier planes, unlike regular planes, come in to the landing pattern at a very low altitude, 100 to 200 feet off the water, and drop down very fast for their landing. Almost half of the training at the Crows Landing Field is done at night.

Smith also showed a number of interesting color pictures taken in Turkey where he was stationed as a member of the Joint American Mission for Aid to Turkey. As the pictures were shown, he explained the different scenes, and told something of that country's history, politics and economic life.

August 22, 1952

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