Movies That Kill Source: The Science News-Letter, Vol. 46, No. 10 (Sep. 2, 1944), pp.

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SCIENCENEWS LETTER for September

MILITARY SCIENCE

2, 1944

147 trainer is F'red Waller, who also staged the Perisphere show and the Eastman Kodak exhibit at the World's Fair. He started working on the idea in 1937, and delivered the first seven machines to the Air Forces Training Command a year ago, at a cost of $8,000 each. If placed end to end, the film projected in Waller Trainers in one week would encircle the globe nine times. Every 24 hours of operation nearly 50,000,000 feet of film pass through its five projectors.

Movies

That

Kill

TheWaller Trainer teaches men to shoot down en emy airplanes by actually reproducing combat conditions by use of a movie screen.>
> MOVIES that kill, in which the men in the audience actually become actors in the scenes that they witness, are now used to train aerial gunners to shoot down enemy airplanes by actually re producing combat conditions. The new training technique, now used by the Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Royal Air Force, centers around an ingenious motion picture projector and screen combination called theWaller Trainer. Since nothing is more realistic than combat-aerial the real thing-actual the Waller ma gunners training with chine actually step inside the movie screen and become a part of the action projected on it.Gunners are not aware of screen, but actually have the illusion that they are sitting in the gun turret of a bomber, flying at a speed of well over 200 miles an hour. Each man gets the look and he is dead on the target when he hears a high-frequency screech through the earphones he wears. Through these ear phones he also hears the throb and roar of an airplane's engines. Directly in front of each gunner looms the huge tail of a B-17 bomber, projected to scale. In order not to hit this, the tail of his own plane, he must stop shooting at a predetermined angle. The instructor sits at a control board,

This representsover 650,180,000 indi vidual pictures.

The Army has the job of making the special films. Using a camera that is really five cameras in one, in order to

assure perfect synchronization for the five projectorsof the trainer,specialpic

tures are taken. Consulting on the prep aration of the films are pilots recently returned from combat, and who are,

or "console,"high above the students.

Before him are the controls for the mo

tion picture films, the recorders which

give a visible check on each student's score, and aids which help him correct mistakes a student is making. He can

therefore,combat-wise to the enemy's

new methods ods change, of attack. As these meth the instruction films are

talk to the students collectively or in accurate and is believed to indicate ex dividually through an intercommunica actly the number of hits a gunner would tions system. get in identicalcombat conditions. The
The man responsible for the new standard Air Corps 30-to-I gunsight

altered. The Waller Trainer is absolutely

is

feel of being thrust through the clouds, moving swiftly over the ground below.
The gunner is confused by the same

noises, the same sensations he would

have in combat. All of this is accomplished in the

Waller Trainer throughthe use of three dimensional photographs projected on

the screen of the trainer room, which is very much like the inside of a huge

rubber ball. Basically, theWaller Trainer consists of five synchronizedmotion picture projectorswhich flash the images of
attacking airplanes on five different sec

tors of the huge spherical screen, 150 degrees longby 75 degreeshigh, creating a three-dimensional effect. The rounded shape of the screen reproduces the
attacking planes in their correct perspec tive and they cross the screen with nor

mal angular displacement.

Perched on high 10-foot stands behind

realistic photoelectricguns, that work

like the guns in a modern penny arcade, the gunners are actually inside the huge curving screen that curls over them like the interior of a globe more than two stories high. Hits are recorded by four registers. These same registers also re cord the length and effectiveness of each burst of a gun. The student knows that

COMBAT GUNNERY-Aerial gunners of practically all Allied nations now get their first shots at the enemy in theWaller Trainer, an ingenious device that reproduces combat conditions, even to the noise of airplane motors. Perched on a high 10-foot stand, the gunners shown in thisArmy Air Forces
photograph wait for an enemy plane to appear in the gunsights while the

instructor at the console checks the scores and corrects any mistakes.

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148

SCIENCE NEWS LETTER f or September

2, 1944 parable to fresh milk until they return. Another use for this product might be in the storage of surplus milk from early summer, when supplies are large, to mid winter, when milk usually is produced in lesser amounts. At some future date it may be merchandised in the same manfner as other frozen food products.
Scien?ce News Letter, September 2, 1944

Fish liver vitamin oils are being made by four factories in the Union of South

Africa. SCIENCE
Vol. 46

NEWS
2, 1944

LETTER
No. 10

SEPTEMBER

The weekly Summary of Current Science, pub lished every Saturday by SCIENCE SERVICE, Inc., 1719 N St., N. W., Washington 6, D. C., NOrth 2255. Edited by WATSON DAVIS. a year; two years, $8.00; Subscriptions-$5.00 15 cents a copy. Back numbers more than six 25 cents. Monthly months old, if still available, mail to first class mem OverseaJ, Edition: By bers of the U. S. armed forces overseas, $1.25 a and S. year. To others outside continental U. letter postage is Canada by first class mail where is 5 cents. 3 cents, $1.25; where letter postage $1.50; by airmail, $1.00 plus 12 times the half ounce airmail rate from U. S. to destination. Copyright, 1944, by Science Service, Inc. Re of any portion of SCIENCE NEWS publication LETTER is strictly prohibited. Newspapers, maga zines and other are to publications invited avail of the numerous themselves syndicate services issued by Science Service. Entered as second class matter at the post office at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Established in mimeographed form March 18, 1922. Title registered as trade mark, U. S. and Canadian Patent Offices. In dexed in Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, Guide, and in the Engineering Abridged Index. The New York Museum of Science and In dustry has elected SCIENCE NEWS LETTER as its official publication to be received by its members. Member Audit Bureau of Circulation. Adver and Howlanid, Howland tising Representatives: Inc., 393 7th Ave., N.Y.C., PEnnsylvania 6-5566; and 360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, STAte 4439. SCIENCE SERVICE

REALISTIC TRAINING-The student, seen here operating one of the two turrets that each Waller Trainer building has in addition to the two dummy guns, will know what to do when he encounters a real enemy plane.

used. Not only its jarring shutter but the actual rate of burst is timed to the rate of an actual .50 caliber machine gun, which fires at the rate of 740 rounds a The synchronized minute. film clicks through the projectors at the rate of 740 frames a minute. One battle-wise veteran from the 19th Bombardment Group tried out the
NUTRITION

trainer recently. He was completely en veloped by the illusion created, and be came interested only in getting the movie airplanes before they got him. He missed one attacking plane, and whistled nervously, "Whew! That was too close for comfort." And it was.
Science News Letter, September 2, 1944

Frozen

Concentrated
thawed.

Milk

The Institution Science organized poration.

for the 1921 as

Popularization a non-profit

of cor

> INTEREST IN FROZEN concen trated milk manufactured by a process developed by F. J. Doan and J. G. Leeder, research workers in dairy prod ucts at the Pennsylvania State College, has roused the interest of supply officers in the United States armed forces. They hope to use this product to supply whole some fluid milk to hospital ships.

duced. Frozen milk as formerly manu factured resulted in an oily product when The new frozen concentrated milk may be manufactured in any dairy plant that is equipped with an evaporator, homogenizer, and ice cream freezer. The process is the same as evaporation for canning, followed by freezing to a mushy in the ice cream consistency freezer, and further freezing in a stor age room at 10 degrees below zero after packaging. For best results the frozen milk must be held at low temperatures. In evacuating sick and wounded ser vicemen from foreign countries, hospital ships could be stocked with frozen con centrated milk at American ports. Since it will keep for several weeks, the ships will have available a milk supply com

Properly processed, concentrated frozen

milk can be reconstituted into a product that can hardly be distinguished from fresh milk by the average consumer. It is defrosted and diluted to fluid consis tency by putting the frozen block direct ly into hot water. By using an equal amount of water, a product resembling coffee cream or cereal cream is produced. By adding twice as much water, milk for beverage or general purposes is pro

Board of Trustees-Nominated by the Ameri can Association for the Advancement of Science: Edwin G. Conklin, American Philosophical So Otis W. ciety; Caldwell, Boyce Thompson for Plant Research; Institute B. Ward. Henry of Illinois. Nominated University by the Na tional Academy of Sciences: Harlow Shapley, Harvard College Observatory: Warren H. Lewis, Wistar Institute; R. A. Millikan, California of Technology. Institute Nominated by the Na tional Research C. G. Abbot, Council; Smith S. Hugh Taylor, Prince sonianl Institution; ton University; Ross G. Harrison, Yale Uni versity. Nominated by the Journalistic Profes sion: A. H. Kirchhofer, Buffalo Evening News; Neil H. Swanson, Executive Editor, Sun Papers; 0. W. Riegel, Washington and Lee School of by the E. W. Scripps Joturnalism. Nominated Estate: Max B. Cook, Scripps Howard News H. L. Smithton, papers; Agent of Executive E. W. Trust; Frank R. Ford, Evans Scripps ville Press. Officers-President: Edwin G. Conklin. Vice and Chairman President of Executive Commit tee: Harlow Treasurer: W. Riegel. Shapley. 0. Watson Davis. Secretary: Watson Staff-Director: Davis. Writers: Frank Jane Stafford, Marjorie Thone, Van de Water, A. C. Monahan, Martha G. Morrow. Science Clubs of America: Joseph H. Kraus, Margaret E. Patterson. Photography: Davis, Fremont Sales and Advertising: Hallie Jenkins.

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