Evening Star Newspaper, January 20, 1929, Page 64

AVIA BY JOSEPH AVY flying people of all ranks are vigorously urging A the reappointment as chief of the Bureau of Aero- nautics of Rear Admiral Willlam A. Moffett, whose present term of duty expires March 13. In this movement they. have the support of a considerable portion of the aeronautics people of the country who are familiar with the growth of naval aeronautics and the splendid work of Admiral Moffett in building up his service in the face of the most discouraging ob- stacles. Admiral Moffett has been chief ~~= of the Bureau of Aeronautics since = “ Its creation in 1921 and now is com- leting his second term. Though ¢ ,ge was not a flying man prior to taking over the bureau at the time of its creation, Admiral Moffett is known throughout the aeronaut- ical world today as one of the most zealous exponents of aero- nautics in governmental service. He has sacrificed much to build . 'up the bureau. He has fought a good fight to bring naval aviation Z. o its present standing and has lost much personally in conduct- ing that fight. He has met op- position from the old line Navy eople and has struggled against hat opposition. It has been a hard battle and he has lost the friendship of many of his old Navy friends because of his unflinching "determination to do his duty by the newest branch of the Navy as he has seen that duty before him. Aides Demand Reappointment. Moffett himself is not seeking reappointment willingly. Person- ally he probably would prefer to * "wind up his long and honorable naval career at sea. Admiral Mof- .. fett will be retired automatically from the Navy in 1933. He has been offered for reappointment only at the insistent demand of his subordinates in the Bureau of Aeronautics, Naval aviation today is in a critical period of its development. The five-year aircraft building program is in full swing. The construction of the Navy’s two huge 6,500,000-cubic-foot dirigibles has just begun, as the result of a long campaign conducted by Ad- miral Moffett, who has worked harder than any other ranking Navy officer to create a dirigible service. With this period of ex- pansion of both branches of Navy aviation in progress, the present program should be completed under the competent guidance of the man who has done so much for the Navy flying service, and who, better than any other, is equipped to carry out the pro- gram he has instigated, observers believe. Other Navy bureaus have built u%tmdltlons and habits of routine which make changes of admin- istration of less moment than in the newly created Bureau of Aero- nautics. This bureau, only eight years old, has no precedents upon which to base its activities. Its destinies have been largely in the hands of one man. Aside from the fact that the five-year building program now TION S. EDGERTON. is in progress, the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics today needs an ex- perienced veteran at its head be- cause of a lamentable loss of subordinate leaders in the service. Capt. Emory S. Land, assistant to the chief of the bureau, re- signed from the Navy only a few months ago to accept an appoint- ment as vice president and treas- urer of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aero- nautics. Capt. Holden C. Richard- son, chief of the design and ma- terial sections of the Bureau of Aeronautics, will be retired in May, after 30 years of service. Lieut. Comdr. Bruce Leighton, one of the pioneers in the development of the rotary motor for airplanes, left the service last August to join the Wright staff. Comdr. John C. Towers, the Navy's most experi- enced pilot, is nearing retirement. Others have left, or soon will leave. N. A. A. Urges MofTett. So important is regarded the re- tention of Admiral Moffett at his present st that the National Aeronautic Association this week broke all precedents when the board of governors, at their an- recommending to the Secretary of the Navy his reappointment for a third term. Admiral Moffett became the first chief of the Burea" of Aeronautics, July 25, 1921, after a distinguished career with the fleet. He has seen 20 years of service at sea and served under Admiral Dewey aboard the Charleston at the bat- tle of Manila, in 1898. In 1914 Moffett was in command of the cruiser Chester at Vera Cruz and Tampico during the Mexican trouble. He won the Congression- al Medal of Honor for gallantry at the taking of Vera Cruz, April 21 and 22, 1914, and won the Dis- tinguished Service Medal during the World War. He was appointed to his present rank July 25, 1923. Capt. Richardson, whose retire- ment this Spring will be a severe blow to the naval flying service, is one of the Nation’s pioneer air- men. He has held a pilot's rating for more than 17 years, having received one of the Aero Club of America licenses in 1912. He was given the rank of naval aviator in April, 1915. From 1915 to 1917 Capt. Richardson served as a member and secretary of the then newly created National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. He was superintendent of construc- tion at the Curtiss aircraft plant in Buffalo in 1918 and 1919, and became -chief engineer at the naval aircraft factory, Philadel- phia, in 1919, serving there for four years, uF to the time of his Present appointment. He was se- ected from among the ranks of the Navy’s most noted flyers to serve as pilot of the NC-3 in the famous transatlantic flight. . Fort Myers Plans New Field. advisement l’:he embush::‘t‘ of e: ble for the in- creased air traffic developed in the last few months. nual meeting, adopted a resolution | p THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. U. . AERONAUTICS BRANCH WINS PRIZE 1 Collier Trophy Awarded to Department of Commerce Division for Work. The. Collier Trophy, one of the most prized awards for merit in aeronautics, has been awarded to the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Com- merce for its work in the advancement of aviation during the past year. The trophy, donated by the late Robert J. Collier, has been awarded annually for “the greatest achievement in aviation in America, the value of which has been demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.” The 1928 award to the personnel of the Aeronautics Branch was made by the Collier Trophy committee of the Na- tional Aeronautic Association last week, “for their outstanding achievement in the development of commercial avia- tion in America during the year.” Previous awards of the trophy have been as follows: 1911—Glenn H. Curtiss, for hydro- aeroplane development. 1912—Glenn H. Curtiss for develop- ment and demonstration of the flying at. 1913—Orville Wright, for develop- ment and demonstration of his auto- matic stabilizer. 1914—Elmer A. Sperry, for develop- ment and demonstration of gyroscopic control. 1915—W. Starling Burgess for devel- opment and demonstration of Burgess- Dunne hydroairplane. 1916—Elmer A. Sperry, for develop- ment and demonstration of Sperry drift indicator. ‘This trophy was not awarded from 1917 to 1920 on account of the war. 1921—Grover C. Loening, for develop- men;lt" and demonstration of his aerial yacht. 1922—Personnel of the United States Air Mail Service for their wonderful achfevement in completing a year's operation along the different Troutes from coast to coast without a single fatal accident. 1923—Pilots and other personnel of the United States Air Mall Service, for successfully demonstrating to the world the practicability of night flying in com- mercial transportation. 1924—The United States Army Air Service, for having accomplished the first aerial flight around the world. 1925—S. Albert Reed, for the de- velopment of a metal ai 1926—Maj. E. L. Hoffman, f¢ outstanding part. in the development of a practical parachute for use in aviation. Last year the committee awarded the Collier Trophy for 1927 to Charles L. Lawrance, president of the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and governor ot the National Aeronautic Association for New Jersey, for his work in the g:\mment of the air-cooled engine rica. The committee which awarded the trophy to the Department of Commerce Branch for the coming year was com- posed of Dr. George W. Lewis, director of research of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics; Capt. E. J. King, U. S. N, assistant chief, Bureau of Aeronautics; Brig. Gen. B. D. Foulois, assistant chief of Army Air Corps; Col. C. De F. Chandler, pioneer airman; Charles J. Bell, chairman of the board, American Security & Trust Co.;- Rear Admiral H. I. Cone of the United States Shipping Board, war-time commander of naval aviation in Europe; Porter Adams, chairman of the executive com- mittee of-the N. A. A, and C. F. Sc‘ttxt:\;y secretary of the contest com- mi Announcing the Appointment of Neumeyer Motor Co. 1344-46 Connecticut Ave. N.W. as Associate Dealers for HUDSON-ESSEX Presenting the most advanced cars in Hudson-Essex history, this organization offers owners and buyers of Washington further ad- vantages in the representation of Neumeyer Motor Co., whose poli- cies and service facilities meet the high standard for which Hudson- Essex is everywhere known. Our knowledge of the reputation and splendid record of these mer- chants is full assurance that Hud- son-Essex owners will enjoy in- telligent and willing co-operation in their. every relation with this responsible and experienced firm. Lambert-Hudson Motors Co. F Phone Decatur 2070 1631 14th St. (Cor. R) N.W. One Forced Landing Within Seven Years Is Record of Flyer Six times a week for seven 'gan flying over the Sierras in 1921 and has not missed a trick of regular duty since. His one forced land- ing was made at Truckee, in the Slerras, several years ago. He was flying an old Government mail plane when the motor quit and he pancaked down into 4 feet of snow on the side of a mountain. Uninjured, Kinslow carried the mail out on foot and the plane was taken apart and carried out to a flying field, where it was reassembled. AIR CORPS MAY BUY AUTOGIRO PLANE New Cierva Is Creating Sensation “in Aeronautical World. ‘The Army Air Corps is negotiating for the purchase for experimental purposes of one of the new Cierva autogirn planes, which have created a sensation ' in the aeronantical world, it was learned here this week, Gen. Williun E. Gillmore, chief of the Material Division of the Air Corps at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, witnessec several flights of the autogiro at Lc Bourget, Paris, during a recent visit t Europe and has written its inventor re- garding the possibility of obtaining one for use at Wright Field. } Lieut. Victor E. Bertrandais, of the Army Alr Corps, who flew the autogiro | at Le Bourget during a six-week trip | to Europe, stopped at Wright Field a few | days ago and reported his ex nce. He said the unique plane handled well and highly interesting pos- sibilities. ‘The only representative plane of the autogiro type in the United States has been purchased by Harold Pitcairn, of Pitcairn Aviation, and has made several test flights at Philadelphia. Knoxville, ‘Term: planning the es- tablishment-of adequate airport facili- tles, including a large landing area with night lighting equipment to follow as new funds become avaflable. A CH In Speed. Dash, Stamina. " the public knows » CHRYSLER ranks with cars éosfinq hundreds of dollars more All Chrysler engines ave provided with counter- weighted 7-bearing crankshafis. An expensive feature, but one that provides an almost incred- ible engine smoothness and remarkable long life. . PLAN GLIDER FLYING AS NATIONAL SPORT Association Sponsors Motor- less Flights as Aid to Recruiting Pilots. Flans to establish- motorless glider fiying as a national sport and means of training future airplane pilots are p2ing made by the National Glider As- sociation, which has been organized with headquarters in Detroit. Six glider clubs have been formed in various parts of the country, and the association has members who are undertaking the es- tablishment of additional clubs this year. Gliding is older than the airplane, the Wrights and others having experi- mentéd with glider flights before the first - airplane flight was bade. Today Germany leads the world in gliding and soaring flights as a result of rigid restrictions placed on the production and use of motored ships in that coun- try by the Treaty of Versailles 10 years 2g0. The Germans were forced to turn to motorless flight and have created a na- tional sport, a cheap and splendid method of training pilots and an effi- cient system of trying out wing and control designs. Distinet types of mo- torless planes are required for gliding | and soaring. Gliding flights are made downhill from a high point to a lower point, while soaring is true flying, the n.ane rising above its starting point by 2king advantage of rising air currents ‘long a hill or ridge, under certain ypes of clouds or along the shores of arge bodies of water. Records for soaring, all new held in Germany, are 14 hours for duration, 45 miles for distance and 2,500 feet for altitude. “A boy or young man who is a quali- fied gliding and soaring pilot,” declared Donald F. Walker, manager of the as- sociation, “is far better trained to be- come a motored plane pilot than is a man who never had such training. All airplanes of proper aerodynamic de- sign can be kept in the air quite a long time by a well qualified pilot even if the motor is dead. Obviously that of- fers greater opportunity for selecting on emergency landing field and the landing of passengers and cargo than otherwise would be the case. In Ger- many, the large commercial companies are émploying only graduate gliding aud soaring pllots to handle their cargo | ships. RYSLER HRYSLER popularity is due not only to the public acceptance of Chrysler originality in style and beauty, but to the acclaim of the freshness of Chrysler engineering and performance. Chrysler engineers bring to the task of developing their new cars the same origi- nality and the same enterprise which characterize their achievements in style and beauty. C., JANUARY 20, 1929—PART 4. SOLUTION OF FOG PROBLEM ANTICIPATED Method of Making More Difficult Than in Ordinary Weather BY COL. CHARLES E. LINDBERGH. Pog is one of the greatest enemies of modern transportation. It often brings shipping to a’standstill and seriously delays ground travel, but the greatest effect of low visibility and bad weather is felt in aviation. Even the air mail ceases to operate when an area of dense fog covers the airports and settles down into the trees along the route. ‘Wind, rain, storm, night, fog and sleet —all of these elements have been met by the pilot and scientist during the last quarter century and one by one they have been overcome until only the last two remain today. We can now Ay wherever we can see the ground to land on unless a sleet storm loads our plane down so heavily with ice that it can no longer remain in the air. The necessity of operating under 211 weather conditions with clockwork reg- ularity is recognized by all air mail and passenger operators. The fog problem is being attacked from every angle that might lead to its solution. The Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aviation has established a flight labor- atory under the direction of Lieut. Doo- little for the purpose of studying and testing means of flying and landing in fog. The problemm may be divided into three major parts. First, the take-off; second, the navigation, and third, the landing. It is now possible for a pilot skilled in instrument flying to take off and navigate to his destination in a dense fog: and it seems probable that the next few months will develop equip- ment which will make a blind landing feasible without great hazard to the highly trained pilot. Experimental Fog Flying. I do not wish to convey the impres- sion that commercial companies will be carrying passengers through impossible weather in the immediate future, but only that the experimental or ploneer- ing success of fog flying is near at hand. In considering the difficulties pre- sented under the conditions of low visi- bility along the airways let us sup- pose that a low-pressure area exists over the eastern division of the trans- continental air mail route and that all of the airports and emergency flelds are covered with a dense fog. The take-off can be accomplished with regular service instruments, which are even now a part of every MOTO New Chrysler BY LINDBERGH Actual Landing No Forecast. mail plane’s equipment. The plane is taxied slowly to the end of the field and headed into the wind. There are then two methods of taking off open to the urllon He can have a number of small lights or flares placed in a row on one side of his plane paralleling the | direction of take-off, or he can use his instruments from the start. In either case he must rely on the instruments entirely as soon as his wheels leave | the ground. The use of lights as long as they can be seen is probably the most satis- factory and simplest method. If lights are not used the take-off requires a great deal more skill and training. The most important instrument is'the turn indicator. After opening the throttle to take off the pilot must keep this indi- cator directly in the center of its arc. Otherwise the plane will veer to one side in taking off. At the same time he is watching the turn indicator the pilot must also watch the longitudinal and lateral inclinometers and the air speed indicator; as soon as his wheels leave the ground he must watch the rate of climb indicator and glance occasionally at the altimeter in addition. Navigating by Radio. I have found in blind flying that all navigation gauges are dependent upon the turn indicator and that a plane may be brought back into control from an | unknown position most quickly by | bringing the turn indicator into posi- | tion first and then correcting for longi- | tudinal and lateral positions. After taking off, a fairly accurate course may be held by the use of a compass alone, and if the fog is local, the air mail pilots often use this method of navigation, picking up their exact position after reaching clear weather where the ground is once more visible. When the fog area is covering the en- tire route, however, the only accurate means of navigation is by radio. There are several methods of radio navigation. We have installed the radio beam system over a number of the airways in this country. In this system the pllot is able to keep directly in the | center of the beam either through audible or visual signals. Some of the European air lines are using a system of triangulation where the radio oper- ator in the plame requests his position, which is found by a comparison of the | a landing feasible? directions from which the message was received at two separated ground sta- RS 'S” Royel Sedan, $1535, Wire whesls extre. applied what is best in sy rumble seat), $1145. Wire tions, and the position radioed back to method is to have tion is tuned in on. The Probable Solution. By use of any one of these sytems in conjunction with standard instru- ments of navigation the mail pilot can cover his route and arrive over his field of destination without seeing ground or sky during the trip. We now encounter the as yet unsolved prob- lem of landing in a dense fog. The approximate altitude of the ship may | be obtained from its present aneroid type of altimeter, but this instrument does not show changes in ground ele- vation and is affected by variation in barometric pressure. Even if we know the exact elevation of the airport above sea level and although the barometric pressure may have been radioed to us, the altimeter itself has a lag which makes the last hundred feet a matter of uncertainty. What is being done to make such Probably the ulti- mate solution will be a combination of radio indications and visual contact with the ground just before landing. An effort is being made to direct a radio beam at an angle which may be followed in a glide to the airport. Land- ing gears can be devised to withstand a much harder shock of landing than those now in use. Possibly the perfec- tion of a radio altimeter in combipation with stations at regular intervals ap- proaching the fleld will be more satis- factory. Higher intensity neon lights are being developed. Experimentation with methods of dispelling fog is going on. Automatic stabilizing devices will play a large part in future transport fiying and, as in other t; of trans- portation, the control will depend less and less on the pllot and become largely automatic. At the present time it appears most likely that radio instruments will bring the pilot to his destination and down to a few feet above the surface of the airport, where he will make ground con- tact through a series of neon lights. It is entirely possible that some method | of dispelling fog may make the actual landing, after the ground contact has been made, no more difficuit than in ordinary weather. (Copyright, 1929 An article by Col. Lindbergh on the present and future of ‘aviation will appear esch week, exclusively in The Washington Sun- ‘ay Star. Official Service DELCO—KLAXON—REMY Authorised by United Motors CREEL BROS. 1811 14th St. N.W. Decatur 4220 PRODUCT Chrysler engineers, from the beginning; have the existing art and practice of the industry, but have not been content to accept even such features without subjecting them to their own improving touch. In addition, they-have devised and developed so manyentirely new features that Chrysler cars are in no sense like anything else that runs. That is why the speed, the dash, the stamina you find in Chrysler can scarcely be equaled, much less surpassed, in.cars costing even-as much as a thousand dollars more. 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