Evening Star Newspaper, October 14, 1928, Page 85

THF. SUNDAY STAR. TWASHT CGTON, D. C. OCTOBER 14 1998_PART 4. AERIAL HIGHWAYS MAPPED IN WEST | “Main Street” Established| Between San Francisco and Los Angeles. BY HOWARD W. BLARESLEE, Associated Press Science Editor. CAMBRIDGE, Mass—There is now ® “Main street” of the 2ir in the United | States, with the acrial equivalent of stop. go and caution signals and of traflic lane markings This “Main street” is in California, between San Francisco and Los An- geles. It was established last May by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Acronautics and is_oper- ated jointly by the fund and the United States Weather Bureau, with Army and Navy and_telephone com- pany co-operation. It is an experi mental meteorological airway, receiv- ing from 33 stations, in an area 400 miles long and 150 miles wide, reports each hour and a half from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm. | The stations furnish information on | nds, clouds, fog, visibility and | weather, which are flashed by wire to | orts and to such planes as have | radio. Several regular air lines and numbers of individual planes use the | _service. Maj E. H. Bowie, in_charge of the San Francisco Weather Bureau, | directs the service and acts for the| Guggenheim Fund. One of the scien- tists who spent the Summer in or ganizing the work is Dr. C. G. Rossby of Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, who describes some of the re- | sults. Cost §1 to $2 a Minute. One of the regions corresponding to en arterial ground highway control is | the airway about 100 miles north of | Los Angeles, where the land elevation is about 4,000 feet. Here northbound | planes often meet a prevailing wind from the northwest. Several of the | regular planes using the airway, Dr.| Rossby says, have an estimated flying | expense of $1 to $2 a minute. By | charting the air strata the weather | service estimates that a saving is pro- duced for such planes of an average | minimum of 10 minutes each when fiy- | ng against unfavorable conditions. Much of this work has been done by the station at Lebec. Calif., sending | up test balloons, Their records indi- cate a tendency to morning calms in | the first 2,000 feet above the station, | with wind above that stratum. This | wind has been more from the northwest | than from any other direction. Occa- | sionally above the northwest wind a southwest wind has been recorded. “Hole” in Cloud Spotted. When high clouds overspread wide areas, it has been possible to stop | planes before they reached the impene- trable section. In one instance such a cloud area covered 100 miles of the | airway, with good safe flying visibility beneath, but with no apparent way to | get into this vast cloud tent, nor out | of it. Several airports lay beneath it. | Because of their numbers, the meteoro- logical stations were able to spot the only “hole” in this cloud tent, and | flying proceeded as usual. | The Summer’s observations have fix- ed an interesting characteristic of ocean | fogs, which may be called their liquid | nature. The Pacific fogs roll inland | much as a tidal wave might, turning | valleys into vast bays, running over | comparatively low lands, but stopping | ake water when they reach high eleva- jons. A different type of fog is expected to receive study this Winter, when it occurs more frequently than in the | Summer. It is ealled radiation fog and | does not comeé™from the sea. The San Joaquin Valley, which les th an’ im- | mense elongated bowl beneath' the air- | ‘ways, is one of the locations for study | of radiation fog. | TWO MORE PLANES SOLD | TO MEXICAN MAIL LINE Bervice Cuts Time From Eight Days to 24 Hours in South- ern Republic. Two more Fairchild folding wing monoplanes have been purchased by | the Compania Mexicana de Aviacion | for use on the recently organized post- | al route from Vera Cruz to Merida, a | $00-mile airmail route which was open- | ed this month. The service will en- able residents of the states of Tabasco, | Campeche and Yucatan to communi- | cate with Mexico City within 24 hours, whereas formerly eight days were re- quired for the carrying of mail over- Jand. The planes taking off at Vera Cruz | will fly from a field situated at sea | Jevel and will climb over mountains | rising approximately 10,000 feet, land- | fng at the morthern terminus on an | airport 7,000 feet above sea level. i The Compania Mexicana is main- | taining a fieet of planes which is be- | ing used jointly with the Fairchild Aerial Survey for photographic work | in connection with the geographical | and geological investigations over the | impenetrable country below the Rio | Grande River. The new planes were piloted to Tampico by E. J. Snyder | and W. W. Bradley. | MAIL FLYERS SAVE LIVES | BY GIVING FIRE ALARMS | NA Pilots who have encountered cloud banks like that above, with flying visibility over the tree tops AIR “MAIN STREET” FOR WEST. COAST FLYERS beneath, but no way to find a safe way through, will appreciate the experimental “aerial highway” established by the Weather Bureau and the Daniel G Harry F. Guggenheim, right, is president of the fund. uggenheim aeronautics fund. Radio reports from meteorological stations tell the pilots how to get through. PLANES PRICED TO MEDIUM SUM PREDICTED BY EXPERIMENTERS BY DON BROWN. Airplanes are due to decrease in price and increase in safety until they are within the reach of the man who today can afford a medium-priced car. Intensive experiments being carried on by the Government, by private in- dividuals and by manufacturers are having the combined result of making planes safer and cheaper. The increased production necessary to keep up with the rapidly growing in- terest in flying will, of course, have an important influence 1 price reducing. Light sport planes, now ranging in price from about $2,500 up, will take the part in popularizing American flying which was played by gliders in post- war Germany. The Guggenheim foundation for the promotion of aviation is working for safer flying, both in backing the ex- periments in fog flying to be carried out by Lieut. James Doolittle, ‘Army Air Corps,” on Long Island and in offering a prize of $150,000 for a safe aircraft competition, which is to be open until October 1929. “Doctors disagree as to what consti- tutes safety in aircraft,” its president, Harry ‘Guggenheim, said in a recent article in Western Flying. “But after a year's study and after securing the benefit of the advice of manufacturers, pilots, scientists and others, both in America and abroad, the fund prepared a specification. “Some of the specified items have been solved in individual instances on different airplanes; the fund wished to combine them in one aircraft that might be called a ‘fool-proof’ airplane. ‘The invention of a fundamentally safe airplane will be a vitally important stimulus to commercial use.” Limited by the regulations of the treaty of Versailles, the Germans de- veloped the motorless soaring planes {o a point that seems miraculous. Under favorable conditions they have achieved endurance records of as high as 14 hours. Gliding has become such a popular sport in Germany many thou- sands of the sailplanes are now being used in that country. There are signs of a revival of in- terest in gliding in this country; but, free of the limitations imposed on the Germans, and with the greater economic resources of the American nation, popu- lar flying here will probably continue to be motorized flying. ‘The appeal of the motored plane, of course, is that it can be used for defl- nite journeys. The glider can only fly under the most favorable conditions and in certain localities, and the flight, to be sustained, must be all within the limited area of a favorable upcurrent. Interest in flying is growing so rap- idly on the West Coast that news of air activities is beginning to make a whole- some contrast to the hectic annals of Hollywood and Western crime. fornia has almost as many licensed alrcraft as New York State and Illinois combined. It has 'a number of im- portant lines running up and down the State and to the East. An automobile and airplane line from Los Angeles to Chicago soon will be in operation. A bus company is build- ing automobile sleeping coaches to ac- commodate passengers who will ride in it at night”and transfer early in the morning to passenger planes. By this means pabsengers will be relayed from Los Angeles to Chicago in two days and a night. Texas and Mexican air mail routes, through which mail can be sent di- rectly from Chicago to Mexico City, have been started. The new leg of the trip on the American side is from Dallas to Laredo, where the Mexican planes now make connection. Air currents moving close to the ground have sometimes spelled disaster for flyers. But Roger Q. Williams, pilot of the transatlantic Bellanca mono- plane Roma, was able to save the big and its four occupants to plunge into the water. But an up-current, blow- ing off an island, got under the wings and began to lift it slowly. Williams was able to make a safe landing on the beach. The shape of the earth below and even objects on it affect air currents to an extent hard for a non-flyer to imagine. writer was flying as a student dropped suddenly for 50 feet or more, while fly- ing at about 2,000 feet over a meado When a plane in which the | the instructor, who was used to flying over that spot, looked down at & tiny stream and yelled back: “That was that d—— creek!” Another time, taking off out of & bad field, surrounded by many trees, the plane dropped and bucked in a discon- | certing way a hundred feet or so above | the trees. is is a most uncom- ! fortable height. In case something goes | Wrong, you' have very little time to straighten out. The instructor said: “Next time you take off. try to go straight down that paved road and keep I;'gm getting over the trees on each side.” We did this and the smoothness of the |air down the road was a marked con- | trast to the roughness we had encoun- tered over the trees. (Copyright, 1 North American News- by Daper Alliance. '—_\\ll Lh}\.j“ £ NGHTFLING HEL B TRADE FACTOR Extension of Commercial Op- erations, Now Covering 7,500| Miles, Deemed Essential. Extension of night flying operations now being conducted .over more than 7,500 miles of airways is essential for the future success of commercial avia- tlon in this country, Capt.,F. C. Hings- burg, chief engineer of the airways divi- sion of the Department of Commerce, declared at the recent seventeenth an- nual Safety Congress in New York. Capt. Hingsburg explained that the civil alrways system in this country is being established under existing pol- icles to serve the requirements of the air_mail routes and schedules. “The economics of present air trans- portation,” he said, “require the gath- ering of mail at the close of the business day and transporting it to remote desti- nations for early delivery on the next or successive business day on which night fiying takes place. “Airway lights have been installed on more than 7.500 miles of airways and 4,000 additional miles are being lighted during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1929. The present program includes the completion of the transcontinental lighting system from Salt Lake City to San_PFrancisco. Upon the completion of the lighting a double mail schedule will be established. Rapid Mail Transportation. “Mail collected at the close of the busins day on the Pacific Coast will be delivered on the Atlantic seaboard in the first mail delivery on the second day after posting, the mail having traveled two nights and one day on its journey from coast to coast. Close connections with feeder routes will make this service available to 69,000,000 people through 109 air mail stops at commercial centers. This fast trans- portation system will be an important factor in the exchange of ideas, en- largement of the scope of business ac- tivity. and in the creation of a better understanding of our national prob- lem: Night flying, Capt. Hingsburg pointed TR i “‘; ) out, is more hazardous than day flying | because of poor visibility. imperfect ob- servation of weather conditions by the pilot, difficulty with which the extent and ‘severity of storms may be deter- mincd and the prevalence and rapid formation of fog and change of weather conditions at night. Despite these handicaps. he told the safety en- gineers, night flying is being carricd on successfully by air transport companies.’ Safeguard Against Hazards. “To reduce these hazards,” Capt. Hingsburg continued, “the air commerce | act authorized the establishment of | airways equipped with air navigation | facilities. The airways are selected to follow the route offering the best flying conditions between the designated ai: ! ports and are provided with interme- diate landing fields approximately 30 miles apart to provide safe landing places under conditions of stress of | weather or mechanical troubles | One company flying 1.500,000 miles | had 420 forced landings due to verse weather and 55 due to mechanical | and other difficultics, Capt. Hingsburg | stated. A forced landing due to im-| poss:ble g weather was made for | every 1,350 miles of flight and a forced | landing due to mechanical or other | reasons for every 27.000 miles of flight. Cites Air Navigation Facilities. | In concluding he sald: | “The air navigation factlities consist | route markers and landing field | rs for day flying. an airway light em for night flving, a weather | reporting_and forecast system under the Weather Bureau, a communications | stem for the exchange of weather and | other information over the airway, radio | direction for the guidance of airplancs | over the lighted airway and radiotele- phone communications to aircraft in flight. A high percentage of night fly ing efficiency coupled with safety will require the combined use of these fa- cilities, properly co-ordinated.” AIR SERVICE OPENED. Establishment of a regular acrial pas- senger and express service between Winnipeg and Calgary, Canada, by the | Western Canada Airways, Ltd., has been announced in advices to the Depart- ment of Commerce here. Two round trips are to be made cach week at a saving of 14 hours, compared with train time. The d tance of 830 miles by air will be flown in about_eight hours, with a half-hour stop at Regina. The plane used is a De Haviland biplane with a cabin body holding_eight passengers. A 500-horse- of | nautical industry are to be shown at| power Bristol Jupiter motor is used From a standing start to forty miles an hour in fewer seconds than ever before - - - - - - Prove it yourself--lzke this Quick on the trigger! Out of the traffic-press with dazzling swiftness! Taking the lead and holding the lead at all times . . . such is the brisk, thrilling tempo of Silver Anniversary Buick performance! | plane by this means on the recent un- Come in Never was there an automobile so fleet and responsive! Never an automobile with USE PLANES AS OFFICES. Business Exhibit Shows Furniture for Aircraft. Many exhibits of interest to the aero- the National Business Show jn Madison i Square Garden, New York, the week of October 15, as a result of the increas- | ing importance of aviation to the busi- ness world. | So many New York executives are using cabin planes as “flying offices that a demand has been created for light-weight office equipment for use in planes. Such equipment will be on exhibition, with other devices of a simi- lar character, including specially de- signed light-weight-typewriters adapted for use in afrcraft. Calvert Auto Supply Co. i EL 2501 Champlain St. Col. 3418 (Near 18th & Col. Rd.) Willard Batteries—Goodrich Tires Recharging. S CALL CARL INCORPORATED FOR WILLARD BATTERIES 614 H St N.W. Main 2735 Carr Battery Service 1300 14th St. N.W. Authorized Willard Service Station Auto Electrician North 5118 Ehlis & Benz, Inc. 2122 14th St. N.W. Pot. 283-3579 Distributors Fisk Tires Willard Battery Sales and Service Willard Sales and Service Esseno Auto Supply Co. Cor. 8th & H Sts. NNW. Main 277 Batteries Called For and Delivered Charging and Repairing Auto Electrician Willard Service Station Chas. L. Jones Battery & Elec. Co. Radio Batteries Called For and Delivered 616-18 Pa. Ave. S. Line. 782! Drop Low So Motors Will Arouse ' su Sleeping Citizens When They ccessful take-off for Rome. When the engine began to fall shortly | atter the take-off, Williams dumped 600 —arrange to take such magnificent drive and follow-through! Never an automobile that could start from “'scratch” with such a rush of power and attain maximum performance so LOOK FOR THE AUTHORIZED SIGN Washington 5.3 24000 | | gallons of gasoline to lighten the ship. R | But, while still out over the water, 1t “The lives of occupants of two burn- | dropped down to within 25 feet of the ing houses have been saved by night- | white-caps. flying airmail pilots on the New York-| Williams expected the heavy plane Atlanta route south of this city, the dncidents occurring, by coincidence, on | two successive hts. ! The first occurred near Simpsonville, | B. C, n P Gene Brown, flying the air mail south, noticed a fire about SEES PUBLIC SWINGING TO AMPHIBIAN PLANES three miles off his course Flying there he discovered a ablaze but saw | To one about. He flew low with his | Chief Engineer of Ireland Aircraft motor wide open until he aroused oc- cupants of nearby houses. It later developed that 14 colored persons were msleep in the burning house and were rapidly being cut off from the ull:i quickly. Make up your mind to test this new Buick—and test it thoroughly—before the week is out ! Don'’t just have a demonstration. Get in the car and get the facts! Drive in traffic—enjoy the biggest thrill in motoring . . . the keenest acceleration and the smoothest rise to high performance levels ever known! Here is leadership! Here is the Buick of Buicks and the car of cars! Here is per- formance so new, so advanced and so epochal as to have no counterpart in the entire field of motoring ! Come test this great car! Prove to yourself it's the stellar performer of the day! ‘The cfilver cAnniversary. BUICK WITH MASTERPIECE BODIES BY FISHER Stanley H. Horner Buick Motor Co. Dick Murphy, inec. 1015-1017 14th St. (Division General Motors Corporatior) 1835 14th St. N.W. & 604 H St. N.E. 14th at L Bury Motor Co. Emerson & Orme Rushe Motor Co. Anacostia, D. C. Hvattsville, Md. 17th & M Sts. N.W, Bowdoin Motor Co. Fred N. Windridge C. C. Waters & Sons Gaithersburg, Md. +BUREK WILL: BUILD : THEM the wheel of this great new car— We want all pros- pectivepurchasers to make this test. Battery Company (New Location) 1146 19th St. N.W. - North 141 Authorized Willati SALES AND SERVICE Corporation Stresses Trend of Aviation Travel. o the Prediction that the American air v the flames. 1 # 4 . ‘Just 24 hours later Pllot Dick Mer- | [Faveling public will swing to the use #ill, fying south, saw a house burning | of amphibian planes equipped for land- pear Quantico, V He duplicated | ing either on water or land has been FY”‘;\'{"G\&"‘:]‘;"’];”;’;_,'““‘“ g e {made by Daniel J. Brimm, jr., chief B ol o akened Th' | engincer of Ireland Aircraft, Inc. Mr. habitants and they aroused persons | Brimm designed the Ireland metal fiying #n the burning building boat and the Ireland amphibian. = AN.HO “I believe,” sald Mr. Brimm, “that the trend of aviation construction is lTRANSOCE P IN VIEW toward the building of amphibians for = s | reasons which are very apparent. Plans are being made for a trans- | Planes of this type can land with ptiantic flight from the Netherlands 1o/ cqual safety on land or water. thus %he Dutch .colenies in South America, | obviating the difficulties found in land gurinam and Curacao mnext Feburary, | machines of discharging passengers at under the direction of the Netherlands- | an airport quite a few miles from the India flight committee and the East and | heart of a city. Where a city is located West Association. The flight is to be |adjacent to the water—and many of made with a three-motored Fokker | them are, in this country—it is possible V11 monoplane in five stages, the ocean | to land practically in the heart of the op to be made from Dakar to Natal, | business sections. There is added safe- Emu ty to the amphibian type of plane, "Fhe project has the support of the|and the public, which rapidly is be- golonial department of the Nether- | coming educated in aeronautics, realizes fands government and the governments | this and already is showing its prefer- of Burinam and Curacao and of the |ence in this direction.” Netherlands postal and telegraph serv-| Mr. Brimm has been active in aero- Punds for the flight are being | nautics since 1917. He has been as- ;‘:'lwl with the assistance of the Am- |sociated with the Benoist Aeroplane gterdam Chamber of Commerce and | Co. of Sandusky, Ohio; the Thomas- pther public and private bodies. - Of | Morse Aircraft Corporation of Ithaca, he $24.000 necessary to finance: the | N. the Gallaudet Aircraft Cor- \ght, #16.000 already has heen raised, | poration of Eaét Greenwich, R. I. and pe Department of Commerce here has'the Curtiss Aeroplane & Mgtor Co. of 0 aavised, i S Garden City, Long Island, £ Alexandria, Va. Rosslyn, ‘Va, WHEN BegTTER AUTOMGBILES ARE BUILT : : ad . =