Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1929, Page 65

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 13, 1929—PART 4. AVIATION BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON. EGARDLESS of the practical value of the recent per- formance of the Question Mark, its unbroken flight of nearly one week over Southern California has been highly Bene- ficial to aeronautics in gederal. It has had a most wholesome effect on public opinion and has served to open one of f.ie most fascinat- ing subjects of speculation in recent avic,cion history. | with a load of 20 passengers, bag- gage and mail, completed her vransatlantic flight with fuel for 65 hours’ additional flight re- maining. Eddie Rickenbacker, in a re- cently published article, declared that in his opinion the dirigible of the future will spend its entire useful life in the air, just as the steamship spends its life afloat. Repairs will be made en route and 1S TOTAEPAR N SEAPLANE TES Association Makes Entry in Blank for Schneider Cup Race in England. | _ Although no American contender for the Schneider Cup Race for 1929, to be held in England late in the Summer, yet has appeared in the field, the con- | test committee of the National Aero- nautic Association, which is charged with the officiel recording of all Ameri- NEW METHODS OF PREPARING FOR DEFENSE ARE Flying Corps Called One of Most Important Service Branches. I TRAINING IS DESCRIBED? | Cadets Go Through Rigid Course to Win Prized ECESSARY IF U. S. IS TO PROTECT COAST LINE FROM INVADER'S THRUST, SAYS COL. LINDBERGH, TELLING OF RESERVE AIR FACILITIES 5 edge of the subjects pertaining to his future career. The hours of actual flying are those most. Jooked forward to by the cadet. He begins by being assigned, together with several other newcomers, to an instructor. He waits his turn in the air and is allowed to hold the controls lightly while the instructor flles and maneuvers the plane. From then on there is something now each day. Soon he is able to wabble around without the instructor's aid. Take-offs and lana- ings are difficult. but final'yv mastered. After 8 or 10 hours the never-to-be- forgotten solo flight is made. bringing with it the initiative and confidence of self-responsibility. Advanced Training at Kelly. Precision landing for a mark and with the motor shut off bring new difficul- spins, barrel rolls and re- ppear impossible to master with each additional hour |in the air the cadet's splashing about takes on more and more of the appear- Flyers, for the first time, arc begiramg to plan seriously for a | noj-stop flight around the world | new supplies will be taken aboard | without stopping, he prophesies. “As it (the dirigible of tomor {ance of a finished maneuver. As the end of the primary training nears and the dreadful final checks and can aeronautical recoras, has made an entry, in blank, for the United | States, it was announced this week. Silver Wings. Ly airplane. Air enthusiasts are considering the application of the refueling principle employed in the Army flight to transconti- nental non-stop flying, long- range ocean hops of hitherto un- dreamed-of magnitude and to long distance military bombing raids. Anthony H. G. Fokker, designer and builder of the Question Mark. is reported to be considering a| non-stop round-the-world flight as a part of his firm'’s program for the year. He also has called at- tention to the possibility of elabo- rating upon the refueling idea and has proposed the transfer not only | of gasoline and oil from plane to | plane but also of airplane motors | and even crews. He admits, how- | ever, that it is too early to sa; whether these ideas may have a possible application to commercial | aviation. Gocebel Plans Jaunt, Too. . Not only is the Fokker organiza- %ion planning a globe-circling flight, but, according to Associated Press dispatches from Wichita, Kans,, Col. Arthur C. Goebel, one 1 of the country’s finest pilots, also | is making plans for such a trip. Goebel hopes to make his attempt late in the Summer, flying from West to East, with refueling planes along the route. Two pilots zmd} two radio men would make up his crew. An organization is being formed to finance Gobel’s project. Goebel was the winner of the Dole flight from California to Hawali and holds the transconti- nental non-stop speed record. He proposes to start and end his flight at Wichita. . The Fokker flight, according to tentative plans, will be from Paris to Paris, with refueling planes at Aleppo, Syria; Karachi and Calcutta, India; Hongkong, China; Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk and Kamtchatka, Siberia: Prince Rupert or Vancouver, Winnipeg and St. Johns, Canada, and possi- bly Greenland. Next June has been suggested as a time for the | attempt. Maj. Carl Spaiz, commander of the Question Mark, has predicted the establishment, by means of |down their powers, and propeller | high-speed race | row) approached a city,” he wrote, { “another ship would go out o | meet it and dock on its deck. | would unload supplies, exchange cargoes and passengers and possi- bly relieve the crew. Then 1t {would take off again and retura to its home city.” Dirigible Plane Carriers. The possibility of launching air- planes from a dirigible and re- attaching them in flight has been demonstrated in this country and; in Great Britain. The two huge Navy dirigibles now under con- tract will carry five pursuit planes each and will be the first aerial airplane carriers. It is not at ail | illogical to suppose that these | planes might be used to replenist the supplies of the dirigibles fror ground points during prolonged flights. While the field of speculati is being exploited, the practica side of the Army’s notable effort 1 Every phase of the flight is bein studied thoroughly, with results | which should be of lasting benefit to aeronautics. While the per- | formance of the thres motors | carrying the plane more than| 12,000 miles without a stop was,| of course, a source of great satis- faction, certain motor weaknesses | were revealed which now are being | attacked by motor designers witl: a view to future improvements. It is understood that plugged grease outlets in the left motor, cutting off the pressure feed to the | valves, actually brought the flight to an end. The motors themselves | showed surprisingly little wear, and that was chiefly in the valve assemblies. With minor adjust- ments to compensate for this wear, the motors again were ready for flight. Noise Discomforting. The chief source of physical| discomfort to the Question Mark’s crew appears to have been the| noise of the motors, which deaf- | ened them during the greater pait of the flight. Aeronaufical engi- neers have devised methods of | materially reducing the noise of airplane motors without cutting It by no means is being overlooked. | 7 The Schneider contest is held an- | nuaily to decide the fastost seaplane in the 1d. The date and scene of the coming race are to be an:avunced soon. Regulations for the contess provide that each country may be represented by not more than three s2aplanes and that the entry must be made on or before January 1 The contest committee, it was an- nounced, made an entry for the United States in the hope that before the con- test one or more seaplanes would be constructed in this country having suf- ficient speed characterist’cs to_justify its appearance as a contender. It is be- lieved that the winner of this year's event will reach a sp2ed of six miles a minute or better The contest committee will not have to name the seaplane to be ‘entered in the contest or the pilot who will fly the ship until 30 days before the event is 1d. Preliminary tests will form the of the decision by the committee o the American entry, it was an- nounced Williams Seeking Plane. Alford J. Williams, noted Navy is negotiating with the Corporation of New plane to qualify for the an entrant, it is under- sut. Williams, in making these ments, is acting as a private cit the Navy Department having announced that it will not be repre- sented in the race because of the great cost of preparing a plane which could be used for no other purpose. Lieut. Willlams is credited with an unoflicial speed record of 318 miles per hour. He forced to drop out of the Schneider race at Venice in 1927 because his plane could not be com- pleted in time to qualify. He has been at work for two years on plans for a BY COL. CHARLES A. LINDBERGH. F_ all first-class nations, the United States is probably the most dependent upon reserve organizations in time of na-| tional emergency. Our policy of maintaining a comparatively small| Regular Army is demonstrating our de- sire for permanent international peace. | yet at the same time makes new meth- ods of preparation for defense of our long coast line necessary if we do not wish to place ourselves at the mercy of possible foreign aggression. “America has been so distant from its possible enemies that sufficient time elapsed between the declaration of war and the start of actual combat for us to organize and train defensive forces. With the development of marine trans- portation, however, our isolated position became of slightly less military im- portance. There may no longer be time to train an Army after the declaration of war. Months are necessary to in- struct naval recruits in the operation of a modern battleship and years are required to construct the ships them- selves. With the development of air-| craft and the indications of fa. greater development in the future our position of isolation is nearing the vanishing point. The Air Corps has become one of |h€l most. important branches of our mili- tary forces, and a majority of the | trained pilots available for service oper- | plane which would bring the coveted trophy to this country. A motor for the plane is being built by the Packard Co., which constructed a -cylinder engine for the 1927 plane, in which Lieut. Williams established his unofficial record. France, it is understood, will be rep- resented by four planes, three of which will be official entries. Two of the old- cst and best known French firms of seaplane constructors — Nieuport-De- lange and Bernard-Ferbois—will be represented. Their plans are secret, but it is hoped they will be able to pro- duce serious contenders for the cup. One of the Nieuports probably will be flown by Sadi-Lecointe, the great French pilot. Great Britain’s plans: for the race are farther advanced than those of any competing nation. Four English pilots have been in training for the event for many weeks, working up to the which require more aerial refueling, of a non-stop ex- | noise also may be lessened, tests |than ordinary ability, on special train- press air service betwen the At- lantic and Pacific Coasts. Aerial refueling, he pointed out, elimi- nates the hazard of taking off with a heavy load of fuel. which is the eritical point in all long- distance flights. Moflett Says Flight Possible. Read Admiral William A. Moff- ett, chief of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, holds that a non- stop world flight now is within the realm of possibility. The recent California flight, he said, has ushed back the horizons that und human flight. “The flight of the Question Mark,” he said, “stirs the imagi- nation deeply and creates new standards against which to range our ambition.” The feat of the Army crew has aroused the lighter-than-air peo- ple, who have maintained the su- premacy of the dirigible in the field of long-distance operations and who now find their claims challenged rudely by the 150-hour endurance and estimated 12,000- mile distance records of the big Army plane. The dirigible people contend that the only reason dir- igibles have not passed long since the 150-hour record is because the attempt never has been made. They point out that the Graf Zeppelin, after cruising 112 hours have revealed. This source of dis- comfort to airplane passengers | eventually will be reduced to a negligible amount in commercial practice. ¢ An attempted non-stop flight around the world probably will be the first result of the Question Mark’s achievement. When Jules Verne wrote his famous “Round the World in Eighly Days” it was considered darinz in a day when such a trip required months. Last year Cept. C. B. D. Collyer and John H. Mears, using steam- ship and airplane, circled the earth in 23 days 15 hours and 3 seconds. In the not far distant future men may circle the globe by flight refueling in 10 days. The flight of the Question Mark has pointed the way to such an achievement and the first attempt appears certain to occur within the year. Whatever its tangible results, the flight of the Question Mark undoubtedly has been a stimulat- ing tonic to the large portion of the public which follows the de- velopment of aeronautics from | day to day. It is another of the | many recent aviation achieve- ments which are changing the attitude of the general public from a feeling of amazement at what has occurred in the air to an eager anticipation of events to come. PLAN FINAL LINK IN U. S. AIR MAIL Southern Transcontinental Soon to Be Closed, New Announces. Gap ‘The long-needed Southern transcon- tinental air mail route now bids fair to become a reality in the near future, forming one of the final major links in the air mail network of the Nation. Contract air mail route No. 29, from New Orleans to Houston, Tex.. by way of Beaumont, will begin operation Jan- uary 23, Postmaster General Harry S. New has announced. This will give Houston a_direct air mail connection with New York, via New Orleans, At- lanta and Washington, in addition to the service already in existence by way of Dallas and Chicago. The longest single gap in air mail lines between important centers in the United States, that from Dallas, Tex., to Los Angeles, is to be closed soon. Fokker airplanes, both single and triple motored, will be used by Standard Air Lines between the two cities. This Southern route across the Rocky Moun- tains is especially suited to air trans- port operation, the greater part of the line being over priarie lands and other flat formations which afford many un- improved landing areas in case of forc- ed landings. ‘The New Orleans-Houston line will be operated by the St. Tammany Guif Coast Airways. It is understood that when pending changes to be made by the Mexican air mail service so as to change the exchange point between that country and the United States from Laredo to Brownsville become ef- fective the New Orleans-Houston route will be extended to Brownsville. INDICATORS 'I;ESv'-fED. A portable airspeed indicator tester which may be used to check the accu- racy of airspeed indicators after their installation in airplanes has been de- veloped by one of the leading American airplane instrument companies. The test indicator is inclosed in & small wooden box contaming a dial to register the airspeed and a long rubber tubing to be attached to the instrument to be tested. The permanent indicator can be tested quickly and easily and ‘adjustments and corrections made. Air Mail Stamped Envelopes Issued For First Time So general has become the public use of the air mail serv- ice in this country that the Post Office Department has just is- sued the first air mail stamped envelope. The new envelopes were placed on sale for the first time yesterday at the depart- ment’s philatelic agency here. The first envelopes are encir- cled with red, white and blue and bear a special embossed stamp of circular shape, showing a monoplane outlined in white and printed in blue ink, with the wording “U. S. Postage, Via Air Mail,” encircling the border. It is estimated that approximately 100,000,000 of the envelopes will be issued during 1929. Other sizes in air mail stamped envel- opes will be issued later. AIR MAIL PILOT COVERS 93,967 MILES IN 1928 C. E. Peoples Flies Total of 45 Days Between Kansas City and Dallas. Charles E. Peeples, an air mail pilot on the National Air Transport 'line from Kansas City to Dallas, Tex., flew a_total of 1,076 hours during 1928, or 45 days of continuous flying, during which he covered 93,967 miles. His year's flying was equivalent to nearly four times around the earth, or more than 39 transcontinental trips across the United States from New York to Los Angeles. Peeples flies the night air mail be- tween Kansas City and Dallas and has been an air mail pilot since the war. He has been on his present run since October 17, 1927, prior to which he flew between Cheyenne and Pueblo. He served in the Army Air Corps during| the World War. New Plane Motor Developed. A new six-cylinder radial 110-horse- power airplane motor has been devel- oped by the American Eagle Aircraft Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., and pro- duction on a large scale is to begin about February 1. This will enable the com- ing racers. Ttaly also is_expected to strong showing in the contest. make a T01SLANDS OPENED Miami’s New Airport Dedi- cated—Service to Cuba, Haiti and Bahamas. Air mail and passenger lines corinect- ing the United States with Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti, Santo Domingo and the Bahamas went into operation last week as the climax to a three-day celebration of the opening of the new airport at Miami, Fla. The 1,500 miles just placed in operation by Pan-American Airways constitutes the first major link in a pro- jected system of approximately 13,000 miles to be operated by the company, linking every nation in Central and South America with this country. The service inaugurated last week includes _daily mail-passenger plane gervice from Miami to Havana, 261 miles; thrice weekly service from Miami to Nassau, capital and resort center of the British Bahamas, 188 miles, and thrice weekly service from Miami by way of Havana to Camaguey and Santizgo, Cuba; Port au Prince, Haiti; Santo Do- mingo City, Dominican Republic, and San Juan, Porto Rico, the far tip of the We‘st Indies, a total distance of 1,440 miles. The service was inaugurated Wednes- day, when four planes took off from Miami on the new routes and one left San Juan on its long northward trip over the green isles and blue seas of the West Indies. The first of the south- bound planes left Miami with 508 pounds of mail and seven passengers, among them Miss Amelia Earhart, first woman to ¢ he Atlantic by air; William P. McCracken, jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics, and Mr. and Mrs. James Warner Bellah. The fourth plane, bound for Porto Rico, carried as passengers Postmaster General Harry S. New, W. Irving Glover, Curtiss Fledgling, one of the latest types of standard service training planes. —Photo courtesy Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Co. ations are in the Air Corps Reserve. | This Reserve is built up of officers who have received fying training in mili- | tary fl_vln? schools and who would be avallable for active duty immediately in time of emergency. Army's Three Flying Schools. Many of these officers received th training during the World War and turned to commercial life after its clos Others served as flying cadets and wen through the flying schools during th past few years. It is possible for 2 civilian pilot, who is properly qualifi*d to obtain a Reserve commission and military pilot rating; but a majority of our Air Corps officers receive their | wings at Kelly Field. The Army is now operating three flying schools. Applicants who have qualified for flying are divided between Brooks Field, Tex., and March Field, California, where they receive eight months of training. Those graduated | from the primary schools are ordered | Qhe New BUICK All that is Newest.-iz Style & Petformance .- plus the reliability that makes BUICK ju/weme AP e tory. Convenient terms can arranged on the liberal G. Second Assistant Postmaster General in charge of air mail; Mayor E. G. Sewell of Miami, Edgar N. Gott, head of the Keystone Loening Aeronautical Corpo- ration, and officials of Pan-American Airl\;«'a,\'s, in addition to 215 pounds of mail. Under the contract with the Pan- American Airways, the Postmaster Gen- eral may at any time demand extension of the service to Port of Spain, Trini- dad, by way of the Leeward and Wind- ward Islands. On February 4 Pan- American Airways will begin operation of a route out of Miami to the Panama Canal Zone with stops at Merida, Mex- ico; Belize, Bri h Honduras; Teguci- galpa, Republic of Honduras; Managua, Nicaragua, and San Juan, Costa Rica. Provision is made under the existing contract for later extension to Colom- bia, Venezuela, British and Dutch Guiana and Trinidad. Preliminary arrangements have been made and are to be carried into effect as soon as landing fields are provided to carry this service far down the West Coast of South America to Santiago, Chile, thence over the Andes to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Migmi airport has been desig- nated as an official airport of entry to the United States and customs, pub= lic health and immigration officers are stationed there to expedite passenger clearance over the airways. The air- port cost nearly $250,000 to equip, in- cluding six hangars to house 30 of the big, multi-motored air liners and a fully equipped machine shop, Germans Promote Aviation, Aircraft operating in Germany on July 1, 1928, totaled 686, all civilian owned, according to a report just re- ceived here by the Department of Commerce. Of the 686 planes, 186 to turn out a plane constructed entfrely in its own plant, except for the * instrument panels and landing &35, were owned by the Deutsche Lufthan: 117 by training schools, 77 by indus- trial firms, 33 by flying clubs ang by amiscellaneous owners, 2 i Stanley H. Horner 1015-1017 14th St. Bury Motor Co. Anacostia, D. C. Bowdoin Motor Co. Alexandria, Va. Coupes .. $1195 to §1875 Sedans . . . $1220 to $2145 Sport Cars $1225 to $1550 These prices f. o. b, Buick Fac- A. C. Time Payment Plan. Vibrant new beauty and style—an amazing new kind of performance—all that is newest and finest in motoring — combined in this magnificent new Buick! Here are bodies of matchless distinction and charm — rounded contours — alluring new colors—ultra-luxurious upholsteries . . . ensembles so beautiful and distinctive that they are winning nationwide acclaim as the new mode! = Here is the highest M. famous BuickValve-in-Head engine—themost powerful engine of its size in the world. In- creased bore and stroke—greater piston dis- placement—vastly improved carburetion— imparting new and incomparable swiftness, to Kelly Field, San Antonlo, Tex., where they receive their advanced instruction and are graduated as commissioned of- ficers in the Air Corps Reserve. The cadet detachment is buiit up of young men from every part of the United States. Applications are ad- dressed to the chief of Air Corps, War Department. Washington, D.'C. The applicant must be between the ages of 20 and 27, have an education equiva- lent to two vears in a recognized uni- versity and be in good physical condi- tion the requirements set down by the War Department are notified to appear be- fore an Army board for preliminary examination. If they are passed by this board they are then assigned to either Brooks or March Field as flying cadets. Life of a Flying Cadet. The life of a cadet is filled with| interest and hard work. No school is | more fascinating, none more arduous Those whose applications meet than, that of our Air P! Instruc. always tion is given in every major subject | pertaining to aviation, in addition to those bearing on the duties of a com- missioned officer. The flying training is given with a thoroughness and ef- ficiency based on the tradition .f Amc:- ican aviation. A graduate from Kelly Field myst not only maintain. but must raise, the standards of the Air Corps. Acrodynamics, navigation, aircraft and engines, meteorology, machine guns | and bombs, photography, military tac- —these are only a few of the sub- s included in the curriculum. The cadet learns that three-fourths of its lift_comes from the top surface of a wing: that stream-lining an airplane reduces its resistance to a small frace tion of the original amount: that the speed of a plane does not increase be- yond a certain point in a vertical dive; that the shortest distance between two points on the earth’s surface is not a straight line on an ordinary map. In short, he is not only taught to fly, but also to have a general and basic knowl- getaway and flexibility—elements of formance as new and unrivaled as the day the new Buick appeared! been famous. motoring satisfaction. development of the For the newest in style and for utmost value—for the highest degree of stamina and reliability—the choice of the overwhelming majority of fine car buyers is this magnificent new Buick. BUICK WITH MASTERPIECE BODIES| BY FISHER Buick Motor Co. (Division General Motors Corporation) 14th at L Emerson & Orme 17th & M Sts. N.W. Fred N. Windridge Rosslyn, Va. WHEN BETTER AUTOMOBILES ARE BUILT Dick Murp examinations are passed, the low-pow- ered training planes are replaced with actual service equipment of the type | which would be used on the front in war time. The cadet is no longer an amateur learning the first principles of flight. He has become a pilot and is ready to transfer to Kelly, the aima mater of the American Air Corps. Here he is trained in cross-country navigation and reconnaissance, in bomb- ing and gun machinery, in formation combat and attack. The greatest ob- ject of the advanced training is to turn out officers capable of taking their place on the front lines at a moment's notice. One year after a class enters the pri- mary school they are transformed from inexperienced recruits to trained flying officers. Those who have succeeded in passing through the 12 months of Air Corps discipline are assembled for the Iast time, presented with the wings of the service and disbanded into the com- mercial world. ready and able to make their contribution to industrial progress, yet capable of taking the front line overnight if it becomes necessary to de- fend that progress. Reservist Facilities Inadequate. If we wish to maintain our nationai defense in the form of a trained Re- serve engaged in commercial activity but capable of immediate organization in case of necessity, then it is necessary to provide proper facilities to keep this "~ (Continued on Tenth Page.) And here, in addition, are new heights of that sterling reliability for which Buick has A remarkable new chassis—with double-drop frame and a host of new and exclusive features—assures thou- sands upon thousands of miles of complete formance — hy, Inc. 1835 14th St. N.W. Rushe Motor Co. Hyattsville, Md. C. C. Waters & Sons Gaithersburg, Md. BUICK WILL BUILD THEM