30 October 1935: While undergoing evaluation by the U.S. Army Air Corps at Wright Field, northeast of Dayton, Ohio, the Boeing Model 299 Flying Fortress, X13372 ¹—the most technologically sophisticated airplane of its time—took off with Major Ployer P. Hill as pilot.
The largest land airplane built up to that time, the XB-17 “seemed to have defensive machine guns aimed in every direction.” A Seattle Times newspaper reporter, Roland Smith, wrote that it was a “flying fortress.” Boeing copyrighted the name.
Major Hill was the Chief of the Flying Branch, Material Division, at Wright Field. This was his first flight in the airplane. The co-pilot was the Air Corps’ project pilot, Lieutenant Donald Leander Putt. Boeing’s Chief Test Pilot Leslie R. Tower and company mechanic C.W. Benton were also on board, as was Henry Igo of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company.
Immediately after takeoff, the 299 suddenly pitched up, stalled and crashed, then caught fire. Three men, Igo, Benton and Putt, were able to escape from the wreck despite injuries.
First Lieutenant Robert K. Giovannoli, a test pilot assigned to the Material Division at Wright Field, saw the crash and immediately went to help. He made two trips into the burning wreck to rescue Hill and Tower, though later they both died of their injuries.
Lieutenant Giovannoli was awarded the Soldier’s Medal and the Cheney Award for his heroic rescue of two men from the burning wreck of the Boeing Model 299. His citation reads:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Soldier’s Medal to First Lieutenant Robert K. Giovannoli, United States Army Air Corps, for heroism, not involving actual conflict with an enemy, displayed at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, 30 October 1935. When a Boeing experimental bomber crashed and burst into flames, Lieutenant Giovannoli, who was an onlooker, forced his way upon the fuselage and into the front cockpit of the burning plane and extricated one of the passengers. Then upon learning that the pilot was still in the cockpit, Lieutenant Giovannoli, realizing that his own life was in constant peril from fire, smoke, and fuel explosions, rushed back into the flames and after repeated and determined efforts, being badly burned in the attempt, succeeded in extricating the pilot from an entrapped position and assisted him to a place of safety.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 4 (1936)
The Cheney Award is a bronze medal awarded annually to honor acts of valor, extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice in a humanitarian interest performed in connection with aircraft (not necessarily military). It memorializes U.S. Army Air Service Lieutenant Bill Cheney, who was killed in action on 20 January 1918. The award was initiated by his family. It has been called the “Peacetime Medal of Honor.”
The official investigation of the crash determined that the prototype bomber’s flight crew had neglected to release the flight control gust locks which are intended to prevent damage to the control surfaces while on the ground. Test Pilot Tower recognized the mistake and tried to release the control locks, but could not reach them from his position in the cockpit.
Experts wondered if the Flying Fortress was too complex an airplane to fly safely. As a direct result of this accident, the “check list” was developed, now required in all aircraft.
After several years of testing, the Model 299 went into production as the B-17 Flying Fortress. By the end of World War II, 12,731 B-17s had been built by Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed Vega.
Hill Air Force Base, north of Salt Lake City, Utah, was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill, U.S. Army Air Corps. The co-pilot, Lieutenant Putt, remained in the service and eventually achieved the rank of Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force. He died in 1988.
Robert Kinnaird Giovannoli was born at Washington, D.C., 13 March 1904, the second of two sons of Harry Giovannoli, a newspaper editor, and Carrie Kinnaird Giovanolli. His mother died when he was six years old.
Giovannoli graduated from Lexington High School at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1920 and then attended the University of Kentucky, where, in 1925, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.). He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ) and Tau Beta Phi (ΤΒΦ) fraternities, treasurer of the sophomore class, and president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. He was employed by the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York.
Giovannoli enlisted in the United States Army in 1927. After completing the Air Corps Primary Flying School at Brooks Field, and the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, both in San Antonio, Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve, 20 October 1928. Lieutenant Giovannoli was called to active duty 8 May 1930. In 1933, he was assigned to a one year Engineering School at Wright Field. He then was assigned to observe naval aircraft operations aboard USS Ranger (CV-4) in the Pacific Ocean.
On 8 March 1936, just a few days after returning from his temporary assignment with the Navy, Lieutenant Giovannoli was killed when the right wing of his Boeing P-26 pursuit, serial number 32-414, came off in flight over Logan Field, near Baltimore, Maryland.
At the time of his death, Lieutenant Giovannoli had not yet been presented his medals.
First Lieutenant Robert Kinnaird Giovannoli, Air Corps, United States Army, was buried at the Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Kentucky. In 1985, the Robert Kinnaird Giovannoli Scholarship was established to provide scholarships for students in mechanical engineering at the University of Kentucky College of Engineering.
¹ At that time, experimental and restricted category aircraft were prohibited from displaying the letter “N” at the beginning of their registration mark.
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes
"Mwezi Oktoba 30, 1935, wakati wa tathmini ya Jeshi la Marekani Air Corps katika Wright Field, kaskazini mashariki ya Dayton, Ohio, Boeing Model 299 ""Flying Fortress"" X-13371, ndege ya kisasa zaidi ya kiteknolojia ya wakati wake, iliondoka na Meja Ployer P. Hill kama rubani." Ndege kubwa zaidi iliyotengenezwa hadi wakati huo, XB-17 <unk>ilionekana kuwa na bunduki za kutetea zilizolenga katika kila mwelekeo.<unk> Mwandishi wa gazeti la Seattle Times, Roland Smith, aliandika kwamba ilikuwa <unk>ngome inayoruka.<unk> Boeing ilipata haki ya jina hilo. Meja Hill alikuwa Mkuu wa Tawi la Ndege, Idara ya Vifaa, katika Uwanja wa Wright. Hiyo ilikuwa safari yake ya kwanza ya ndege. rubani wa pili alikuwa Air Corps'mwandishi wa mradi, Luteni Donald Leander Putt. Ndege Mkuu wa Majaribio wa Boeing Leslie R. Tower na fundi wa kampuni C.W. Benton pia alikuwa ndani ya ndege, kama vile Henry Igo wa Kampuni ya Ndege ya Pratt & Whitney. Baada ya kuruka, ndege ya 299 ilizama ghafla, ikasimama na kuanguka, kisha ikaanza kuwaka moto. Wanaume watatu, Igo, Benton na Putt, waliweza kutoroka kutoka kwenye mabaki ya meli licha ya kujeruhiwa. Luteni wa Kwanza Robert K. Giovannoli, rubani wa majaribio aliyetumwa kwenye Idara ya Vifaa katika Wright Field, aliona aksidenti hiyo na mara moja akaenda kusaidia. Alifanya safari mbili ndani ya mabaki ya meli yaliyokuwa yakichoma ili kuwaokoa Hill na Tower, ingawa baadaye wote wawili walikufa kutokana na majeraha yao. Luteni Giovanelli alipewa tuzo ya Cheney kwa kuokoa watu wawili kutoka kwenye ndege ya Boeing 299. "Mwanzoni mwa mwaka wa 1926, Rais wa Marekani, kwa idhini ya Sheria ya Congress, alitoa tuzo ya ""Medaili ya Askari"" kwa Luteni wa Kwanza Robert K. Giovanelli, wa Jeshi la Marekani la Anga, kwa ajili ya ushujaa, bila kuhusisha mapigano halisi na adui, iliyoonyeshwa katika uwanja wa Wright, Dayton, Ohio, Oktoba 30, 1935." Wakati ndege ya majaribio ya Boeing ilipogonga na kuwaka moto, Luteni Giovanelli, ambaye alikuwa mtazamaji, alivunja sehemu ya mbele ya ndege hiyo iliyokuwa ikiwaka moto na kumtoa mmoja wa abiria. Alipojifunza kwamba rubani alikuwa bado ndani ya kabati la rubani, Luteni Giovanelli, akitambua kwamba maisha yake mwenyewe yalikuwa katika hatari ya moto, moshi, na milipuko ya mafuta, alikimbilia tena ndani ya moto na baada ya juhudi za mara kwa mara na za dhati, akiwa amechomwa vibaya katika jaribio hilo, alifaulu kumtoa rubani kutoka katika nafasi iliyokuwa imefungwa na kumsaidia kufika mahali salama. Amri za Jumla: Idara ya Vita, Amri za Jumla No. Tuzo ya Cheney ni medali ya shaba inayotolewa kila mwaka kwa heshima ya matendo ya ujasiri, nguvu ya juu au kujitolea kwa maslahi ya kibinadamu yaliyofanywa kuhusiana na ndege (si lazima kijeshi). Mfano wa tukio hilo ni Luteni Bill Cheney, aliyekuwa askari wa jeshi la Marekani, ambaye aliuawa katika mapigano ya vita mnamo Januari 20, 1918. Tuzo hiyo ilianzishwa na familia yake. "Mashindano hayo yaliitwa ""Peacetime Medal of Honor"" na uchunguzi wa serikali ulionyesha kwamba wafanyakazi wa ndege hiyo walikuwa wamepuuza kufungua vifungo vya kudhibiti ndege hiyo, ambavyo vinalenga kuzuia kuharibiwa kwa sehemu za kudhibiti ndege hiyo wakati zikiwa ardhini." Mtihani Pilot Tower alitambua kosa na alijaribu kufungua kufuli kudhibiti, lakini hakuweza kufikia yao kutoka nafasi yake katika cockpit. Wataalamu walijiuliza ikiwa Ngome ya Kuruka ilikuwa ndege tata sana hivi kwamba haingeweza kuruka kwa usalama. Kama matokeo ya moja kwa moja ya ajali hii, "orodha ya kuangalia" ilitengenezwa, ambayo sasa inahitajika katika ndege zote. Baada ya miaka kadhaa ya majaribio, Model 299 ilianza kutengenezwa kama B-17 Flying Fortress. Kufikia mwisho wa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, ndege 12,731 za B-17 zilikuwa zimetengenezwa na Boeing, Douglas na Lockheed Vega. Kituo cha Jeshi la Anga la Hill, kaskazini mwa Salt Lake City, Utah, kilipewa jina kwa heshima ya Meja Ployer Peter Hill, Jeshi la Anga la Jeshi la Marekani. Luteni Putt, aliyekuwa na nafasi ya pili, aliendelea na kazi yake na hatimaye alipata cheo cha Luteni Jenerali wa Jeshi la Anga la Marekani. Alikufa mwaka 1988. Robert Kinneard Giovanelli alizaliwa Washington, DC, Machi 13, 1904, akiwa wa pili kati ya wana wawili wa Harry Giovanelli, mhariri wa gazeti, na Carrie Kinneard Giovanelli. Mama yake alikufa alipokuwa na umri wa miaka sita. Giovanelli alihitimu kutoka shule ya sekondari ya Lexington huko Lexington, Kentucky, mnamo 1920, kisha akajiunga na Chuo Kikuu cha Kentucky, ambapo, mnamo 1925, alipata shahada ya kwanza ya Sayansi katika Uhandisi wa Mashine. Alikuwa mwanachama wa Phi Delta Theta (FDD) na Tau Beta Phi (TBF) fraternities, hazina ya darasa sophomore, na rais wa Taasisi ya Marekani ya Wahandisi wa Umeme. Alifanya kazi katika Kampuni ya General Electric huko Schenectady, New York. Giovanna alijiunga na jeshi la Marekani mwaka 1927. Baada ya kumaliza shule ya ndege ya msingi ya Air Corps huko Brooks Field na shule ya ndege ya juu huko Kelly Field, zote mbili huko San Antonio, Texas, alipewa mgawo kama Luteni wa Pili katika Jeshi la Jeshi la Anga. Luteni Giovanelli aliitwa katika kazi ya kazi Mei 8, 1930. Mwaka 1933 alijiunga na shule ya uhandisi ya Wright Field. Baada ya hapo alipewa mgawo wa kuchunguza shughuli za ndege za majini kwenye meli ya USS Ranger (CV-4) katika Bahari ya Pasifiki. Mnamo Machi 8, 1936, siku chache tu baada ya kurudi kutoka kwa mgawo wake wa muda na Navy, Luteni Giovanelli aliuawa wakati mrengo wa kulia wa Boeing P-26 wake, nambari ya mfululizo 32-414 iliondoka katika ndege juu ya uwanja wa Logan, karibu na Baltimore, Maryland. Wakati wa kifo chake, Luteni Giovannoli hakuwa bado amepokea medali zake. Luteni wa Kwanza Robert Kinnaird Giovannoli, Air Corps, Jeshi la Marekani, alizikwa katika Bellevue Cemetery, Danville, Kentucky. Robert Kinneard Giovanelli Scholarship ni tuzo ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma ya kitaaluma. Wakati huo, ndege za majaribio na za vikundi vilivyopunguzwa zilikatazwa kuonyesha herufi <unk>N<unk> mwanzoni mwa alama yao ya usajili. 2018 - Bryan R. Swopes