Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1929, Page 66

10 AVIATION AWAITS - HOOVER DECISION Views of Future Chief Execu- tive Arouse Renewed Speculation. BY WILLIAM E. BERCHTOLD, Associated Press Aviation Edi | Return of President-elect Hoover to | American soil has resulted in renewed | &peculation as to his policies concern- ing the future of aviation. References to the future of air travel in addresses delivered on his Latin | American tour have stimulated discus- sion among leaders in the aeronautical industry, who now await the President- elect’s first official action on aviation matters—aeronautical activities of War, Navy and Commerce Departments. In accordance with custom, the three | Assistant Secretaries for Aeronautics | will submit their resignations to the | incoming administration. They are F. Trubee Davison. Assistant Secretary of | War for Aviation; Edward P. Warner, | Assistant Secretary of Navy for Avia- | tion, and William P. MacCracken, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics. ‘The posts were created only two years #go, when legislation was enacted upon | the recommendation of President Cool- idge after his consideration of the Mor- sow board report. President Coolidge selected three young men—a professor of aeronau- tics from Massachusetts Institute of ‘Technology for the Navy post, a Chi- cago lawyer who had been chairman of the American Bar Assoclation com- mittee on aviation laws for the Com- | merce office and a former naval aviator | who has been close to aeronautical de- | velopments since the war for the Wari assistant secretaryship. | Chief speculation now centers around | whether Mr. Hoover will continue these | men in his official family and whether they will accept reappointment. Almost simultaneously with the ex-| piration of the terms of the three | eabinet officers the term of Rear Ad- miral William A. Moffett, chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, will end in March. According to naval custom and routine, Admiral Moffett would not be continued as administrative head of naval aviation. The Navy Department, too, is in the midst of its five-year bullding program, which includes the development of two huge dirigibles in which Admiral Moffett has taken espe- cial interest. NATIONAL AIR SCHOOL PROPOSED IN FRANCE Laurent-Eynac Plans Aerial Engi- neering Institution at Sorbonne. Creation of a National School of Aeronautics by the French government has been proposed by M. Laurent- Eynac, first French air minister, ac- cording to word received here. He plans to create an institute of aerial engi- neering at the Sorbonne, m Paris, with branches at several of the other lead- ing French universities. The air minister hopes by this means w supply French aviation with highly trajed technicians, who will improve exyfting models of French planes and create new ones. The new government school will absorb the present High School of Aeronautics, from which nearly 1,000 aeronautical ~engineers have been graduated. The proposal is a part of the pro- am of the French air ministry to uild up French civil aeronautics, de- velopment of which is lagging behind that of Germany, Italy and Great Britain. EUROPE-SOUTH AFRICA AIR LINE IS EXPECTED Route Spurred by Recent 9,000- Mile Flight Recently Made by Portuguese Flyers. Establishment of a regular airmail, Africa is expect to follow a 9,000-mile flight recently completed by Portuguese fiyers in two airplanes from Lisbon to Marques, Southern Africa. The Companhia de Mosambique has requested that the government of Portu- gal sanction the opening of a line, with Beira as one of the stops, between Lis- bon and the Belgian Kongo and Mada- gascar. It is understood that such a service is being considered by govern- ment aviation officials of Portugal, France and Belgium. NEW CRAFi’ PLANNED. Combines Helicopter and Autogiro Types in Design. A new type of aircraft, said to be a combination of the helicopter and auto- giro types, the invention of M. V. Isacco, is being built for the British air ministry at the Saunders Aircraft ‘Works at Crewes, Isle of Wight, accord- ing to information received by the De- partment of Commerce. It is claimed that the machine will rise and descend vertically and hover in the air. It consists of a fuselage with undercarriage, tail plane, engine 2and propeller. Above it is mounted a large two-bladed windmill, each blade of the windmill carrylng a small engine driving a four-bladed propeller which rotates the windmill. Large Instrument Order Placed. One of the largest orders for air- plane instrument boards on record has been placed by a Kansas City airplane manufacturing firm with a New York instrument company. Five hundred boards have been ordered. Of the latest type, with standardized crystals and ranrls. and a new system of indirect THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €., JANUARY 13, 1929—PART 4. Sea Plane Fishing In Brittany Halts Old-Time Methods The fishermen of Brittany, who for generations have ciung pas- sionately to the time-honored methods of their calling, will call the airplane to thei~ aid this Spring. Seaplanes will be used to locate schools of fish, observations of the fishing banks being made by eye and camera. Planes will be sent out in advance of the fish- ing fleet and will return to port with the results of its survey just before the fleet sails. Anoiher plane will accompany the fisher- men and keep them posted on changes in the location of the fish schools while they are at sea. The spotting of fish from the air has been a recognized possi- bility since the days of the North Sea submarine patrols during the World War, but the airplane has not been used intensively for this purpose. FEOERATIN K AERAL RECORDS U. S. Loses Another Mark as New Feats Are Given Certification. ‘Three new world aeronautical rec- ords have been recognized by the Fed- eration Aeronautique Internationale in the dirigible, airplane and light air- plane fields, according to official noti- fication received here last week by the contest committee of the National Aero- nautic Association, In recognizing these records the fed- eration took from the United States one more of this country's dwindling list of world aeronautical records—that for airline distance flown by a light air- plane. The new records are! Class B, airships; distance—Dr. Hugo Eckener (Germany) in the Graf Zep- pelin, five Maybach motors, from Lake- hurst, N. J., to Friedrichshafen, Ger- many, November 29, 30, 31, 1928; 6,384.5 kilometers, or 3,967 miles. The previous record listed by the fedeéra- tion was held by the Italian flyers, Castranca and Castruccie, in the dirigible P-5 by reason of a flight of 503.3 miles, made July 30, 1913. Class C, airplanes; 2,000 kilograms of pay load (4,409.24 pounds)—Speed for 100 kilometers; Paillard and Camp- lan (France), in a Bernard 190-T plane with 600-horsepower Hispano-Suiza mo- tor, from Le Bourget to Gondreville, Prance, November 23, 1928, 138.904 miles per hour. The previous speed record with similar load was made by Herman Steindorff, Germany, in a Rohrbach plane with three Roland 3 BMW motors of 230-horsepower each, flying at Staaken July 29, 1927. His speed for the 100 kilometers was 134.26 miles per hour. Light planes, class C, third category, for airline distance—Capt. A. Vicher- eck, Czechoslovakia, in an Avia mono- plane with a Walter 60-horsepower motor, flew from Prague to Bednodem- janovsk, a distance of 1,249.6 miles, Oc- tober 5, 1928. He broke the former record held by the late Harry J. Brooks, who flew a Ford monoplane with a Ford type AC motor of 36-horsepower rating from Detroit to Titusville, Fla., 2.1 d{s"-zllnce of 972 miles, on February NEW AIR DEFENSE NEEDED FOR COAST (Continued From Ninth Page.) Reserve in training. The Air Corps offi- cer should receive two weeks of active duty each year and be able to fly regu- larly at Reserve airdromes. If he is unable to fly regularly his value as a military pilot will greatly decrease. At present facilities for Reserve train- ing are available to 12 Reserve air- dromes and 8 Regular Army fields. By the end of the fiscal year it is stated that there will be approximately five training planes at each fleld. Funds available for the fiscal year 1929 allow 16,500 flying hours for Reserve pilots. ‘There are about 1,700 Reserve pilots in the United States who are active fiyers. To keep these men in training this_year there are only 20 airdromes for Reserve flying, which will have five planes each by the end of the fiscal year. Thus, 16,500 flying hours does not allow for each officer enough time in the air to enablehim to keep in safe flying training. (Copyright, 1929.) An article by Col. Lindbergh on the pres- ent and future of aviation will appear each yoek exclusively in Washinston in The Sun- MAGEE APPOINTED. Appointment of Joseph V. Magee, en- gineer, who charge of lighting the first United States airway, between Chicago and Cheyenne, as aeronautical engineer of Transcontinental Air ‘Transport, which will establish a trans- continental air-rail service this Spring in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Railroad, has been announced. Mr. Magee, an official o7 E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., will be in charge of the installation of hangars, radio and meteorological stations, airway lighting equipment and other racilities for the transport company with wnich Col. Charles A. Lindbergh is connected. Mr. Magee will work with Col. Paul Hender- son, vice president of the company and former Second Assistant Postmaster General in charge of air mail. African Plane Route Planned. The first British airliner to carry fare- paying passengers from London to a British eolony will leave Croydon Air- port this month for Nairobl, Kenya Colony. The machine will be a 20- passenger Argosy of the Imperial Air- ways. The flight is to be made to determine the pYssibility of establish- ing a regular air service between Lon- ighting they will be installed in a series of commercial type planes. don and East Africa. RADIO AND ALT IMETER LEAD IN FLYERS' FIGHT ON FOG NEW YORK (#).—As the effort to solve the mystery of fog in order to make flying safer gets under way radio, a new type of altimeter and piercing lights appear as the most plausible weapons in the fight. The investigation is under the auspices of the Guggen- heim Foundation. The working cast in the drama to conquer fog consists of two scientists— Dr. S. H. Anderson of the Guggenheim Foundation and Capt. Paul S. Edwards, chief of the radio section at Wright Ficld—and Lieut. James H. Doolittle, Arm; fiyer—"Smilin’ Jimmy” Doo- little—who has risked his life scores of times for the sport of the thing. The United States Army Air Corps radio laboratories at Wright Field, under the direction of Capt. Edwards, who developed the improved radio bea- con, now are experimenting with “leader cables” and “marker” beacons, which may aid planes in landing after they Radio waves, sent through the cable, would be picked up by planes flying over the field, so that they could easily de- termine the exact location of the field landfl the direction in which they should and. To ald the plane further in attempt- ing to land through a dense fog, “marker radio beacons” would be placed at strategic points along the leader cable. The marker beacons, through a standard set of radio signals, would di- rect the aviator to drop his plane to 200 feet at one point, to 150 at another, to 100 feet a little later and finally to a safe landing. Use of radio telephony between the plane pilot or navigator and the airport operations officers would open another avenu~ to aid the fog-blind pilot. Dr. Anderson already has started a systematic study of lights to determine their fog-piercing qualities. reach their destination. A leader cable, which, if successful, would be laid in the direction of the prevailing winds a few inches below the ground of the landing field, is being J f’;vzloped under Capt, Edwards’ direc- o Y, Development of low altimeters which would indicate the exact height of an airplane above the ground from a few inches to 200 feet also are looked upbn by Dr. Anderson as another possible key to the part solution of the fog- fiying problem. NEW GASOLINE GAUGE PROVES AID TO FLYING Device Is Accurate to Within 1 Per Cent, Showing Fuel in Tank. A new type of electrically operated gasoline gauge for airplanes which is claimed to be accurate to within 1 per cent of the exact amount of fuel re- maining in the tank has been perfected in the research laboratory of the Gen- | eral Electric Co. by J. H. Payne. The instrument measures the gasoline supply by weight, showing the result on Ian electric meter having a scale call- ! bratea to indicate gallons instead of amperes. It consists of a small metal container about the size of an ordinary door-knob, which is attached to the drain cock at the bottom of the fuel tank and connected to the indicator on the awrplane instrument board. In the door-knob container is a diaphragm, an electric coil, a carbon pile and wires ! which electrically indicate the weight of | the gasoline on the bottom of the tank. “This instrument has been shown in tests to record to within one-eighth of an inch the amount of fuel in an air- plane tank,” Mr. Payne explained. “In addition to its accuracy and simplicity, an outstanding feature of the gauge is the absence of copper connecting or glass recording tubes, which are liable to freezing or breakage, and except for the indicaling meter on the instrument board, has no movable parts.” The gauge, together with a new alti- meter and a new magnetic compass, de- | . { \ { { { 4 \ 4 ] 14 NEW GASOLINE GAUGE AIDS FLYING JOHN H. PAYNE, General Electric Co. engineer, is shown with the new electrically operated gasoline gauge he has perfected for airplane use. signed respectively by Dr. F. W. Alexan. derson and Dr. J. D. Tear, were pro- | Corps laboratories at Wright Field, Day- duced to meet the needs of aeronautics | ton, Ohio. N January 7, 1926, a new automobile came into existence. It was a six. It had bodies by Fisher. It sold for $825. It introduced real luxury and beauty to buyers in the low-priced field. This new car was the Pontiac Six. During its first 10 months, it more than doubled the full first year’s sales of any new make of car. That is still a world’s record. But Pontiac’s builders did not rest content with their early triumph. They knew that Americans progress. They knew that American standards of luxury and value are continually increasing. They knew that American people are constantly on the look- outkfor new and finer things. . So in February, 1927, they introduced the New and Finer Pontiac Six. And it was lower in price than ever, selling for $775. Then, in July, another objective was reached. Greatly increased production enabled Pontiac’s builders to reduce the price again. Now Pontiac sold for $745. AIRPLANE BUILDERS MERGE IN ENGLAND Vickers Acquires Supermarine Firm, Holder of Several Important Records. Airplane manufacturing is entering the field of big business ip England as a result of several recent mergers of leading English companies. The con- solidations are in line with the plan ad- vocated in France by Louis Bleriot of obtaining a concentration of effort to bring about an improvement of design and manufacture of airplanes. Prominent among the British mergers is that of the famous Vickers firm and the Supsrmarine works, at Southamp- ton, in which the Vickers interests took over the entire Supermarine stock. The merger is of considerable importance, as Supermarine, said to be the oldest constructor of seaplanes in Eng- land, holds many important rec- ords. The Supermarine Napier S-5 won the Schneider Cup race at Venice last year. Its predecessor, the Supermarine Sea Lion, won the same trophy in 1922. The first foreign long- distance cruise by the British Royal Air Force was made from England to Egypt two years ago in Supermarines. other important merger is that of {the A. V. Roe Co. of Manchester and the Siddeley group. The Roe organi- as outlined by engineers of the Army Air |zation has gained world-wide recogni- tion with its Avro planes, the best known of which is the two-seater Avian. repeats itself again Came 1928, and Pontiac. only $745. And after which this car became one of the best sellers in the automotive field, more improvements were announced. Last July, Pontiac was made faster, more powerful than ever and more attractive in style. This brief history is significant. recalls Pontiac’s origin of true motoring luxury into the low-priced field. It relates how Pontiac’s progress has matched strides with the increasing de- mand for luxury among those hundreds of thousands who form its market. But most important of all, it gives you an idea of something that is coming. Auto- mobile history is repeating itself again. Soon Oakland will present a brand new Pontiac Six, an even greater advancement over other low-priced cars available today than the original Pontiac represented in 1926. Beyond any question, this new car is Oakland’s greatest achievement in Pontiac’s field to date. Even then the price remained U. S. COMPANY TO BUILD |CANADIAN AIR MAIL NEW TYPE OF FLYERS| SERVICE EXTENDED Organized to Construct Savoia- Marchetti Seaplanes and Amphi- | Winter Flights Between Quebec L bians on Italian Plan. and Seven Islands Are Begun. e formation of an American com- pany to manufacture in this country the Two Runs a Week. famous Savoia-Marchett1 seaplanes and amphibians, with which Italian flyers| have established a number of records, | has been announced. The company will | Winter air mail service between Que- bec and Seven Islands was begun last month on a schedule of two flights a }téeoknowg as thi!mAmflc_rican Aeronautical | l\\‘«>ek. t:;c C:nadmn gn{\'etmmen’ h;sta;- | Corporation, with offices in New York. |nounced. A service of two roun s Ta ‘addition to the present typec e |2 month has been established between e b e e Ay | GuIr of 5t Tawrcrios, mid & wedkly e es:gning and pro- f - nce, ] duction of large passenger flying boats, | Service between the Moncktor: and Mag- A. Marchetti, designer and engineer of |dalen Islands, New Brunswick, is sched- the NIl 1 canpanys il serve |UhE, e Gaitadiie: Witites s ate aid 90 the cogineering committee of the |, o'Was inaugurated previously between lown on many remarkable air trips, | g g hocen oy » among them the fiight of Marqusslg“g‘r';‘g;‘“{mf‘:f ma&‘,. L be’nll Francesco de Pinedo, wno spanned six | 2P e e *0 Cal- continents on a 60.000-mile trip; the |FUIY. Other Western Canadian routes rescue flight of Comdr. Maddalena !mm‘ Appmxlmzioxl)y 950,000 pm(;nds “M"»-h_ Italy to Spitzbergen and across the | maii and freight were carried over Ca- wrecked_ dirigible Italla, and the 4700- hadian air mail routes up to November ok eiEht Trom Fome w0 Bragil’ 1net | 30 last, according to governmental fig- ;,’;af, g e St ures. ‘The most active routes were be- 2 tween Rimouski and Montreal and be- tween Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, Ontario. Aviation Show Exhibit. The Department of Commerce hzs} prepared an exhibit composed of a Nearly 12,000 student pilots entered standard airways beacon and tower, air schools in the United States last with other lighting equipment and air- | year, according to a survey completed ways maps, for the New York Aviation | recently by the American Air Trans- Show, to be held at the Grand Central | port Association. It is estimated that Palace February 6 to 13 ithe 1929 enrollment will reach 20,000. with it a still finer six months, during It and the introduction Watch for the f. 0. b. factory Y VNV VUV VvV VGV VGV VGV VvV VY YW r