Armored Aeroplane Planned For Army.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 9, 1913:
Shields of Chrome Steel Will Protect the Aviators and It Will Carry a Wireless Outfit.
MUST MEET HARD TESTS
Width Must Be Limited to Ten Feet, So That It Can Be Transported Over Highways.
    The Signal Corps of the United States Army is now at work on designs for an armored aeroplane. A scout aeroplane with armor protection for aviators and engines will probably be built in a short time, as Brig. Gen. George P. Scriven, Chief of the Signal Corps, has approved plans for such a machine.
    The armor for the machine will be of chrome steel some .075 inch thick. It will be so constructed that the machine can be assembled within one hour by a squad of six Signal Corps officers and men. Provision has been made in the design for a wireless apparatus, to be furnished by the Signal Corps, and to weigh some seventy-five pounds.
    The aeroplane must carry two passengers with seats so arranged as to give both a clear line of observation. Then the machine must be able to ascend to a height of at least 2,000 feet in ten minutes while carrying a load of 450 pounds, and fuel and oil for four hours.
    The machine must not be more than ten feet in width so that it can be transported over highways. The engine must be so constructed that one person can make a flight without the aid of a second person. In the test the operator must start the machine and make a prescribed flight without assistance of any kind.
    Another test will be a continuous flight of four hours, the first part of which will be a no-stop cross-country flight of 180 miles over a course designated by the board of army officers who will supervise the official test of the machine. On this flight the maximum speed must not be less than fifty-five miles, and the minimum not less than thirty-eight miles an hour.
    Still another requirement of the new armored aeroplane is that it must be capable of landing on and flying from harrowed ground and long grass, taking the air within a space of 100 yards and capable of safe gliding. The safety and reliability of the control system must be demonstrated in this way: "The aeroplane must be capable of executing a figure eight within a rectangle 500 yards by 230 yards, without deceasing its altitude more than 100 feet upon the completion of the figure eight. This test may be made by the aviator alone."