94. An important phase of crew cooperation is the estimation of time remaining aloft and the position where the ditching will take place. The most efficient Air-Sea Rescue Agency is only as efficient as the cooperation it receives from crews in distress. The rescue agency must get notification of the ditching and the position. Crews must practice transmitting procedure until it becomes S.O.P. The engineer, with the information available, will make an estimate as to the time remaining aloft. This information will to passed to the navigator, who, on the basis of the information supplied, will estimate the position of ditching. The position will be given to the radio operator who will transmit the information to personnel who can effect a rescue.
95. This system of cooperation will not always be applicable, but it is a framework for crew cooperation.
EQUIPMENT:
96. Combat crews are subject to last-minute changes in aircraft. Therefore, it is essential to standardize the location of emergency equipment within the aircraft. Individual responsibility for the removal of this equipment must also be fixed.
97. The locations of the emergency equipment are based on their accessibility for the crews when in ditching position.
98. The later B-29 aircraft are equipped with the new modified E-2 raft. This raft has its accessory kit lashed to the raft itself. The older type utilizes the A-3 raft which stows the accessory kit in the airplane proper.
CHANGES:
99. As new developments are made in the Air-Sea Rescue field, existing procedures and equipment will be modified. Research in this field is being conducted in the United States as well as in the theatres of operation. The new information, as it becomes available, will to disseminated to the units of the command via publications and by Personal Equipment Officers.
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100. A combat crew thoroughly trained in procedures and equipment is a crew with plenty of life assurance which may, one day, pay the largest kind of dividend----HUMAN LIFE------.