Evening Star Newspaper, September 9, 1928, Page 62

AVIATION BY FREDERICK R. NEELY. ROSS-COUNTRY flying has been a routine function for several years and each succeeding year has seen 8 greater volume of air traffic. This volume is on the upward curve, and as the advantage of long-distance air travel becomes more widely known the success and comfort of this mode of travel demands the creation or development of aids to navigation throughout the broad United States. The aeronautics branch of the Department of Commerce, charged with this duty, is working at top speed, but as the United States is a large country (especially when flying from coast to coast) it probably will be many years be- fore there are a variety of trans- continental routes to select from and fly over. The flight of the composite squadron of Army Air Corps bombing planes from the 2a Bombardment Group at Langley Field, Va., has given an obvious demonstration of the value of the necessity of navigational aids. Of course, for certain areas of the country cross-country flying is in the pioneer stage, and also the air traffic is not sufficiently heavy to warrant expensive outlays. Weather Information Gathered. The prime aid. as demonstrated on the transcontinental flight, is accurate weather information. When the bombers left Langiey Field they had an official report from Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, N. C., 240 miles away, and layman observations from the railway sta- tions along the route. The conse- quence of the inadequate informa- tion was the necessity for low flying over thickly wooded and swampy land,where a forced land- ing was sure to produce a crack-up. Then when the take-off was made from Augusta for Mont- gomery the only information was about the weather at the other end of the line, Montgomery. Less than an hour after leaving the formation, which must always cling together, got caught n blind weather conditions over ter- rible flying terrain in Georgia. Lieut. J. E. Upston of the office, chief of air corps, carrying the writer, fought through the dan- gerous conditions, but as his shio was alone his chances of getting through were far greater than nine flving wing to wing. The bombers turned back wisely. and Maj. Hugh J. Knerr, flying the leading plane. is to be con- gratulated for refusing to jeop- ardize the lives of his pilots and 2 ment equipment in that treacher- ous flying weather. Radio weather reports from cities along the line received at the time of take-off could have prevented much hard work for the bombing pilots and prevented the ships from being exposed to great | damage. | Public Will Not Take Risk. The public is not going to run risks over uncharted airways and take the weather as the Army| flyers do—on the wing. Safef and comfort will be demanded, e: «=pt in cases where the adventu ous spirit runs high. The cities along the route taken by the bombers are not to be held re- sponsible at the present time for the lack of proper facilities. All have awakened to the need for airports and have spent muci money in providing these termi- nals. The one at Augusta is fully equipped for day and night flying | and has complete facilities for fueling and caring for planes. Shreveport, La., is awake to the advantages of air traffic and has three airports, one municipal and two privately owned. Out in the Texas desert the thriving little oil town of Midland has a splendid field, which is well patronized oy cross-country airmen. The field is not the only thing, as hangar space, gasoline, o major repair facilities and gen eral assistance with airplanes are demanded. These pioneers in airports are not making millions in receipts, but they love their work, see a great future ahead for their cities and are thankful they are on the ground floor of aerc- nautics. Aid of Cities Important. All cities and towns, however, are not yet awake to the assist- ance they can render air travelers by identifying their communities and pointing the way to the near- | est airport. A pilot flying a course by map sometimes is unable to check all the small places along | the course and consequently is at | a loss to know at which place he | wishes to land. Lieut. Upston was not sure that he had checked all| the towns on his map while flying from Shreveport to Midland, but | Aeroplane & Motor Co. eight months THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. €. SEPTEMBER 9, 1928—PART 4. Capt. Emory Land Given License as A Private Aviator BILLION IS SPENT 10 AID AVIATION Thirty Years of Flying Has Cost U. S. $1,365,000,000, Department Figures. Capt. Emory S. Land, who has just retired as assistant chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics to become associated with the Daniel Guggen- heim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, Inc., has qualified for a Department of Commerce private pilot’s license. Capt. Land, who is 49 years old, has flown more than 500 hours in all types of military planes except single-seaters, during his seven years in Washington with the Bureau of Aeronautics. In 1922 he qualified as a “naval aviation observer” at the Naval Training Station at Pen- sacola, Fla., and had handled planes in the air on many cross-country trips. However,” Capt. Land had mever “soloed.” but shortly before his re- ‘The United States has spent approxi- mately $1,365,000,000 in the develop- ment of military and non-military avia- tion during the it 30 years, according to figures compiled by the aeronautics branch of the Department of Com- merce. By far the greatest portion of these expenditures has been made in |the interest of Army aviation. Since 1899 Congress has appropriated tirement he “sneaked” instruction | for the development of Army aviation at the Naval Air Station at Anacostia & total of $1,896,941,858, but of this and put in ten hours of solo flying |amount the War Department returned to qualify him for the Federal li- |to the Treasury or expended for pur- cense. The license permits him to s other than aviation a total of fiy ail types of licensed airplanes, |($873,802,772. but he cannot engage in m',f,suu Naval aviation has cost Uncle Sam commer nearly $350,000,000. The Navy Depart- hire. Do TR NCHIVIDAT RSy e ment received appropriations totaling AIR EXPERT RETURNS FROM SOUTH AMERICA Todhunter Reports Latin Countries | Interested in Development of Aviation, Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK., September 1.—John A. Todhunter, aviator, who went to South America as a .member of the Curtiss ago to introduce American airplanes in the South American markets, has re- turned. Interest in aviation in South America - ov more general than in the United States, he said, and copies of “Nosotros,” which is Lindbergh's book “We," trans- lated into Spanish, are on sale wherever books are sold. Several leaders in aviation matters in South America are backing a movement to institute an air mail route between Buenos Aires and either New York or Washington, he said, thereby reducing the present mail time of about 17 days by steamer to three days or less by air- plane. Landing fields are being built near most of the large cities of South Amer- ica, but the real development of mail and passenger routes is being made with the operation of flying bodts be- tween cities along the coast, he said. ". Webster, president of the Ex- port Corporation, who headed the party when it sailed from New York for South $444,573,213 for the fiscal years from 1912, when the naval aviation service was established, to 1928. Of thi amount it returned to the Treasury $97,000,000. Post Office Department aeronautical development, including all air mail activities, has cost $4,150,000 during the 10 years since the first air mail fight was made. The Federal Government has spent $3,524,515 in building up the national advisory committee for aeronautics dur- ing the past 13 years and during the t seven fiscal years has expended $253,000 to further the use of aviation in connection with agriculture. | Although the Government’s primary interest, as revealed by the amount of | its appropriations for aviation, has been directed toward the military use of the air, it has not been lax in furthering | the commercial uses of aviation, as is witnessed by appropriations of $9.775,- 840 for the areonautics branch of the Department of Commerce from the time of its establishment in 1927 through the fiscal year 1929. The survey made by the Department of Commerce reveals that from 1909 to 1926 the Army received 15422 air- planes of all types and that from 1911 to 1926 the Navy received 3,398 planes. Low Pay for Aviators. Airplane pilots in the French Navy receive $30 monthly in salary and a $4,000 insurance policy. : POST OFFIE PLANS AR MAIL CAMPAIGN Seeks to Educate Public on Proper Use of Service. | In an effort to improve the airmail service, the Post Office Department is | planning a campaign to educate the | public in the proper use of airmail | stamps and envelopes. Improper desig- nation of letters intended for handling by airmail now is causing much delay in the service, it was stated. | . Envelopes should be marked plainly “Air Mail” unless special airmail en- velopes are used, even_though airmail stamps are affixed. The department has approved designs for airmail en- velopes and urges that they be used whenever possible for this purpose. These envelopes are conspicuously marked with red and blue lines, either as a border or as a band across the face, the markings placed in accordance with postal regulations. Under the new airmail rate which | went into effect August 1 two one-ounce letters may be sent for 5 cents each, while one two-ounce letter will cost 15 cents, the rate being 5 cents for the first ounce and 10 cents for each additional ounce. One ounce equals approximately four sheets of average weight business paper with envelope. Any postage may be used and, while special airmail stamps are issued, they are not necessary. Any envelope may be used, if they are conspicuously marked “Air Mail,” but the special air- | mail envelopes are recommended. Air- mail letters may be dropped in any mail box or letter chute. Airmail wi and from points not on airmail lines | is carried by the fastest train, stage or | boat connections Any mailable matter, except that | liable to damage from freezing, may be | sent by airmail at the rate of 5 cents | for the first ounce and 10 cents for | each additional ounce, including sealed | parcels not exceeding 50 pounds in | weight and 84 inches in length and girth combined. & sl gue i Flyers Make Tnxntin;Mup!. Aerial photography is being employed | by 14 cities and towns in Connecticut | tor making taxation maps. These Con- necticut municipalities also use their | aerial mapping service in city planning | and general engineering enterprises. when he came to the latter city | america is still in South America. Mr. e circled it and found three dif- | Todhunter brought back on board the ferent identification marks on the | American Legion the airplane flown “yuildings of the town. These also ~ointed to the location of the air- ~ort and gave the mileage. Such markings are boons to air- ~zn. pertieularlv when they are in need of hasty landings, and ~vontually the citv which refuses “n ivantify itself will be unpatron- half million dollars of Govern- ized by the air travelers. XVIATION STUDENT TELLS HOW HE MADE HIS FIRST LANDING Flying Beginner Feels So Good Up in Air That He Doesn’'t Want to Come Down. Note—This is the seventh of a series of articles by a newspapsr reporter who {8 ke fins, IDHERCCPNs Brsk croms: account - atly Bight and his first solo hop. BY DON BROWN. NEWARK-ELIZABETH AIRPORT— The day before I was scheduled to make my initial solo flight 1 was flew over the city of Elizabeth and then Pused over two small towns. Follow- ing another rairoad track and a road from my map, I found the general loca- tion of the landing field we were headed for. The instructor, who had been there before, then pointed it out to me. I made my landing, coming in at a steep angle diagonally across a row of trees which lined the road beside the field. I got down with only two or three bounces, which were due partly to roughness in the field. After a few minutes I was told to take off, fly in a circle about two miles in diameter, find the field again and land without having it pointed out. The air was so bumpy and I was fly- ing so low I had considerable trouble . keeping on an even keel. It made me slightly nervous. 1 did not keep my| when I had to start down. over the trees when I was only a hun- dred feet or so up. It was ticklish busi- ness. My instructor noticed this. “Try flying a little bit to the left and straight over that paved road,” he ad- vised. I did this. I found that, although the road was only 35 or 40 feet wide, the air over it was considerably smooth- er riding. The next day I made my first solo fiight and got away with it. I had 20 minutes in the air and a landing which was a fairly good one. At least nothing was broken. ‘When I pu¢ied the stick forward and started down toward the field to land | 1 experienced the lonesomest feeling I ever had. The job was made harder for me because of the fact that I had most of my dual instruction, that is, flying with the instructor along with me to correct my mistakes, in a smaller plane. The plane I used yesterday had to be landed from 10 to 20 miles an hour faster than the type I had been flying. I thought I would feel pretty nervous on starting my first solo, but as near as I can tell I felt more elated than any-| thing else. While I was flying I was too busy to know whether I was nervous or not, except that painful moment After it gense of direction exactly and was not | was all over I felt shaky for a while sure when the circle was completed. See Landing Field. But, recognizing the shape of the landing field, a long triangle with a tree-lined road down one side and a railroad track and wires on the other, I pushed the stick over, throttled the motor slightly and started down. The field looked terribly small, not much | larger than a dime. “But all fields look small from the air,” I thought. “I guess I can make it. Here goes.” About 300 feet up, the field still looked small. Then the instructor took the stick away from me and pulled us up. p“Whlt are you coming down here for>” he asked through the speaking tube. P I blinked through my goggles as we were flying over the place I had been trying to land. It was the same shape as the right field, one-tenth the size. only it was about | and then more confident than I ever have felt about flying. Once Up Would Stay. Now that it is all over there doesn't seem to be so much to tell about. The weather was smooth and I had no trou- ble with bumps. The instructor told me to take the ship off, climb steadily but not too steeply, circle the field a few | times and after about 15 minutes flying fcome down. ! Once I had got 2,000 feet in the air and was feeling confident I was sorry [ couldn't stay up an hour, and put that landing off.” When you have learned a little about flying, getting altitude is like having money in the bank. You know that in case you make an error you have a chance to right the ship and save yourself if you keep your head. But down close to the ground things happen so quickly at 90 miles or more an hour it is much more dangerous. | Puts Off Landing. Gave Me the Stick. A row of small saplings had been set out along a little lane. The railroad track was at the other side. all right, but the right landing field was half a mile away. ‘After this landing the instructor took the plane off for me, flew about for 10 minutes, making several turns and half {urns, and then gave me the stick to take the plane back to our port. Spotting a tall building in Newark, I had no trouble in lining myself up by it, even though he had aimed me in the wrong direction, and in a few minutes was rolling back to the home field. The maneuvers I have learned thus far include taking off, not so simple » matter as it scems. You have to keep moving the rudder quickly and deli- moving Ihe revent the torque of the| FIRING DEM from twisting the plane over = on the ground and wrecking you before the same time you have ‘ pull the stick back with | q! propeller you get off. At to know how to the greatest the plane 1i steep an angle. ‘The other maneuv steep turns to the right and gliding for descents, recover! stalls. spins and sideslips. There is a great deal more to flying of course. A 10-hour cour corresponds to about the first a common school education an the fundamentals. Feel the “Bumps.” entleness in order to make | 't without climbing at too | | As it was, I put off landing for five minutes. Then I decided I would have to do it. As I neared the ground the field seemed to be rising up to slap me in the face, but I held to it. I wanted | desperately to straighten out and circle the field once again. But I knew what | the other students on the ground would | say about that. So I didn't. I can’t swear that I know just how | T landed. It seems now that T bounced only a little. So, by a miracle, it must have been pretty good. \rcwmgm. 1928. in_all countries. by the American Newspaper Alliance.) Next Sunaay Brown will write nis fina | articie of this” serles 'in” wiuch e ‘Wi i s the value of the 10-hour cours | Just completea s ONSTRATION. Demonstrations of the fire power of a uadron of bombardment planes using bombs and of a squadron of pursuit planes with their machine guns firing | through the propellers will be given for re simple and | the benefit of marksmen in the na- ers 8re Sleft. spiral | tional rifie matches, now in progress at ing from ‘ Camp Perry, Ohio, the War Department has announced. Gen. James E. Fechet has ordered a se in flying | formation of three bombardment air- grade in | planes from the Second Bombardment d covers , Group at Langley Field, Va., and eight pursuit planes from Selfridge Field, Mich,, to arrive at Camp Perry in time for demonstrations - today. The order I also learned one new thing about | calls for bombardment, firing on ground air currents. of trees on Taking off over a clump | targets by the pursuit planes, acrobatic the edge of the fleld, I flying and .aerial maneuvers and the always had difficulty with “bumps” just | laying of smoke screens. Pt around the southern continent during the visit by Lieut. James Doolittle, who returned two weeks ago. LEE LEADS AIR MAIL PILOTS WITH 8,000 HOURS Fastest Time in Chicago-Omaha Flight of 430 Miles Made in 2 Hours 46 Minutes. E. Hamilton Lee, who flies the night plane between Omaha and Chicago as part of the trans-continental air mail route, has a record of 8,000 hours in the air and more mileage on air mail routes than any other pilot, according to an announcement by the American Air Transport Association, an organi- zation of air mail and passenger cary- ing lines. Lee took out the first planes in the air mail when it started with 436 miles & day and two stops 10 years ago. He has seen the air malil service expand until it outranks that of any other nation, and today he is part of a nation- wide transportation system which cov- ers 25,000 miles a day, serving 62,000,- 000 people directly and many miilions more indirectly. Lee thinks his most unusual service was_dropping food from a mail plane on South Fox Island, in northern Lake Michigan, to save a band of starving, icebound lumberjacks. The fastest time he ever made with the air mail was between Chicago and Omaha, 430 miles, which he flew in 2 hours and 46 minutes. Train time for that journey is 12 hours. 367 AIRPORTS IN USE. 754 Landing Fields in Preparation in United States. During the 25 years since the first air flight was made in this country, August 15, 1903, American municipal governments have established 367 municipal airports, according to a sur- vey just completed by the aeronautics division of the Department of Com- merce. On August 15 there were 331 private and commercial airports, 256 inter- mediate landing fields maintained by the Department of Commerce airways section, 62 Army airports and 17 naval aviation flelds. There also ware 326 marked auxiliary fields. 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