Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1929, Page 40

AVIA BY JOSEPH NAUGURATION day will be a source of humiliation to the aeronautical ple of the Na- tional Capital. This city dur- ing the coming week will receive o{ a little well deserved but nevertheless unpalatable publicity on its lack of adequate airport facilities. Military and commercial pilots and passengers from all parts of the country have been invited to take part in aerial parades and exhibitions tomorrow and Tues- day in connection with the inau- gural ceremonies. The biggest mes- sage they probably will carry home with them regarding the National Capital will be: “How that town needs an airport!” This is not the only source of chagrin to the District’s aviation people, however. Inauguration day means the termination of another session ‘'of Congress. As the legis- lators fold up their brief cases and troop away they carry with them the gnst hope for construction of a local airport for at least another ear. It now seems unlikely that {he District will be able to begin construction of its own airport he- fore the Summer of 1930, and it robably will be 1932 before the eld will be ready for flying. i As a result of the long- con-I tinued procrastination on the part | of Congress the National Capital | is in grave danger of losing its place on the New York-Miami air- | malil line, which is the only direct | Mnk this city has with the airmail system of the country. The use of Bolling Field as an airmail stop has been granted by the War De- partment under the terms of a revocable permit, which, of course, may be withdrawn at any time. Army people make no effort to conceal the tact that they are op- posed as a matter of principle to the carrying on of civilian flying operations from strictly military flying fields such as the local Air ms post. F. Trubee Davison, tant Secretsry of War for Aeronautics, who, by the way, has a vel good chance to succeed himself in the Hoover administra- tion, has stated publicly and with considerable emphasis that the Present situation at Bolling Field s unsatisfactory to the Army and will not be permitted,to continue any longer thanis necessary. The use of Bolling Field, Secre- tary Davison pointed out, was per- mitted only with the understand- ing that the District would com- mence the construction of a muni- cf gal airport at the earliest pos- ible moment. The existing permit wn issued in 1927 and, since there is no assurance tuday that the District will have its own public airport before 1932, it should be no cause for surp-i-- if the War Department loses its patience and clears its fleld for its own use. The movement of Bolling Field from its present site to higher and dryer grounc nearly a mile to the South is contemplated. There, if the Army chooses to take it, is a splendid oportunity to make | fi change of base the signal to terminnte its present unstable relations with the airmail con- tractors. Should this step be taken the District of Columbia will find itself cut out of the airmail map of the country at a time when commercial aviation in the United States is expected to feel its first real growing pains. Washington's aerial visitors to- day are being accommodated at Bolling Field, which, as has been stated, is so unsausfactory for fly- ing purposes that the Army is mlking ready to abandon the lace. For the past week Bolling eld has been a muddy morass | po ice’ TION S. EDGERTON. more suited to the ground flyin of turtles than to the landing an taking off of airplanes. It is un- seemly, unpleasant and dangerous because of this condition, though the Army is doing its best to dry up the bog. Visiting civilian flyers should not be exPected to put up with the | inconveniences they must face at the local Army post. This is no criticism of the Army. Bolling Field simply has not the facilities for handling large numbers of civilian planes. The post will be pressed to care for the military! ships ordered here from the vari- THE SUNDAY _STAR, WASHINGTONX, 'LUKE CHRISTOPHER APPOINTED CONTEST SECRETARY FOR N. A. A. GIVEN AIR MOTORS Kinkade Explains Diligence Used to Produce Mechanism. Relentless inspections at every stage | of production are the price the reliable MANY INSPECTIONS i Succeeds Carl F. Schory, Who Resigns to Enter Commercial Field. One of Nation’s" Foremost Test Pilots, With 5,000 Hours in Air. aviation motor manufacturer must pay for quality and dependability in serv- | ice, which means the safeguarding of | lives and property, T. H. “Doc" Kinkade | told members of the Washington Sec- tion of the Society of Automotive Engi- neers at a meeting this week. Kinkade, who gave the final motor | ous Eastern fields to participate in tomorrow’s events. There are no facilities for the storage ory servicing of the commerdal visi- | tors. | Moreover, because of the physi- ! cal limitations of the local Army | field, the visiting commercial| pllots, for their own safety and that of others, will be required to submit to rigid Army discipline as | regards taking off and landing. For four days their comings and goings will be ruled with an iron hand by the field operations office s0 as to prevent possible colli- sions. * | This procedure, though so ob- viously a matter of necessity, naturally distasteful to the Army peoplé as well as to their guests, though many of the visit- ing commercial flyers are former | Army pilot or Reserve flyers to | whom the necessity of obtaining clearance from operations officers will come as no novelty. This regulation of incoming and | outgoing aerial traffic at Bolling | Fleld will give this city its first rtunity to watch a “traffic " handling of commercial | airplanes. Chicago, because of the heavy operations from that natural aerial center, which is the | focal point today for nine com- | | mercial air lines, has been forced to station a traffic policeman at its municipal airport and when he flips his flags mere pilots sit and shiver. They know that if they don't obey they will be grounded with the most disconcerting abruptness and that if their dis- obedience is too flagrant for a mere grounding they are liable to | lose their pilots’ licenses. Similar threats are being made | to pilots who have been invited | to participate in tomorrow’s events —minus the milder %rcundlng penalties. They have been told that if they disobey their orders from the local operations office they will lose their licenses. No alternatives were mentioned. As! a result it is expected that the extraordinary operations will be conducted from the Army field| with all the precision of military maneuvers. There is no need to point out again the need for a municipal airport. The foregoing recital is merely another illustration of the desirability of a publicly owned air rt large enough and with suf- cient equipment to handle such gatheflngs of commercial planes as is expected for tomorrow—if the pilots have not been fright- ened away by reports of the seas of mud in which they must set their ships down. The occasions upon which this city may expect to entertain num- bers of civilian pilots and their passengers will increase as time goes on. In the meantime, under the terms of a legislative proposal originating in the Senate, another congressional “survey” will be con- ducted during the next nine months to determine the need for an alrximrt for the District of Columb PROBLEMS OF PLANES WORKING FROM FLOATING BASES DESCRIBED Worries Only Begun When Machines Are in Air, Admiral Moffett Decl BY REAR ADMIRAL W. A. MOFFETT, Chief of the Navy Bureau of Aeronauties. By the Associated Press Extraordinary efficiency, and at the | same time very simple organization, is | necessary for the complicated opera- tions of airplanes from their “floating | bases” with ships of the flect. It is not enough to put single air- | planes into the air merely to fly around | and return to their base. They must | be able to do something useful once | they have got into the air; they must | be capable of proceeding long distances out of sight of their base ship, and of keeping track of their own position and that of the base ship which is constantly moving during their absence. It must be remembered that at sea there are no convenient landmarks or farm meadows where if the pilot loses his way he may land and proceed to the nearest country store for directions | as to his destination. ‘Werries of Officers. The principal worries of a command- ing officer of a flying fleld on shore are getting his airplanes ready for flight, seeing them safely into the air and | safely Jjourney. landed at the return of their He knows that while the planes are gone there is nothing he can | do to add to their safety. The commanding officer of a floating figing fleld at sea has only begun his | worries when he has got his airplanes into flight. Upon his handling of the ares. . ship and upon constant communication between him and his planes while ab- sent utterly depend the safety of his {flying equipment and the lives of the g personnel in peace and in war. Co-ordination of all the varoius ac- | tivities which must be carried on from an aircraft carrier at sea, where there | are so many planes and so many types | of planes all operating together in such | close quarters, entails necessity for | enormously efficient and at the same | time simple organization to avold pos- | sibility of confusion and disaster. | Dificult Problrm. There is far more to efficient employ- ment of an air force from ships at sea | against ships at sea than one might guess in making a cross-country trip over land from one fixed air station |to another; also far more than the mere | construction of a few flying machines. Although the development of the air- craft itself as an efficient flying machine has been a matter of no small difficulty, the development of service facilities, the | development of co-ordinating methods, | the training of pilots to meet such difficult conditions and the close co- ordination of aireraft operations with the movement of ships at sea into a well cf:anized offensive team is an even more difficult problem. i The daily flights from carrier decks {and the efficient way in which fleet problems are carried out give ample assurance that the solution of these problems is well under way. FLYER PILOTS PHYSICIAN TO SICK MAN AT NIGHT' ‘Wins Race Against Death by Rop Over Unlighted Course and Landing Safely. MIAMI, Fla. ) —Flying a physician over am unlighted course of the Atlantic Ocean to the honie of a man dangerous- Iy i, Eddie Nirmater, veteran pilot landed his amphibian plane on the beach of West End Island, 90 miles from here, and won a race against death A telep in the & physician 1o attend a sic land Twenty a ne message at 43 advised N was needed man on W nutes heading End In plane r the irmaier flew 40 mir anding his plane | b tended the tiek mar fo They returned to e Bexl moining by au. es through EFLYlNG AMBULANCES INCREASING SERVICES| International Flights by Physicians| } Followed by Handling of | Patients. | MIAMI, Pla. (#).—The recent expan- |sion of international flying has been accompanied by several international | fiights by physicians answering the eall of duty, and In at least two instances airplanes have been used as ambulances The first case occurred during the in- iguration of air service for mail and ssengers to San Juan, Porto Rico 1 A newspaper correspondent was t to Miami from San (th after he had become ill in the Cuban The seeond recorded case air liner flew to aith Moward Seott 4 % yoeht Areagie 1 das suffering ym & steel splinter in his eve. and wa: brought 1o Miami by piane for med | Weatment, was when Bimini to return chief engineer of fr | individual casting is stamped with a “0. K.s" to Col. Charles A. Lindbergh before his transatlantic flight and to Comdr. Richard E. Byrd before his North Pole and transatlantic flights, is one of the country’s most noted avia- tion motor experts. The present first-class aviation motor manufacturer, Kinkade explained, be- gins his inspection at the furnaces. In- spectors check every operation in the preparation and casting of the rough parts, guarding especially against im- proper heating and pouring and watch- ing to see that no stresses are set up in the castings through improper cool- ing. Analyses of Castings. From each casting a plece is cut for | chemical analysis and the casting it- self is given an acid bath to cut off the surface skin and reveal any surface flaws which may have developed. Each number and marked to show its In- dividual quality and the purpose for which it is to be used. This inspection | is carried out for such small items as bolts and nuts, he said. Inspectors check each step in the machining of the castings, watching for defects and measuring for size and ac- | curacy. Before assembly each part goes through a fourth and most rigid general inspection. More inspectors watch the assembly, and the finished motor then goes to the test roqm for running tests. Each motor is given a three-hour block test at normal running speed for two hours and at almost full capacity for one hour. The motor then is com- pletely torn down and each part is ex- | amined separately for wear or defects. If any part fails to come up to speci- fications it thrown out and a new part installed, the motor reassembled and put through a “penalty” run. It then is torn down again and examined. After the three-hour run and the penalty run, if this is necessary, the re- assembled motor is given a final block test, the final half hour at its maxi- mum speed. At this time a check is made of the gasoline and oil consump- tion of the motor and it is checked out for the market. Motors Followed Up. The work of the inspectors does not stop with the sale of the motor, how- -ever, Kinkade stated. Inspectors are sent out to keep track of each motor sold. Should some engineering defect appear in the type of motor, such as a weak crankshaft, which is common to all motors of this type, all owners*of such motors are notified that a stronger crankshaft is advisable and are asked to lay up the engine until the new part can be sent and put in by a mechanie, “All this means a great amount of work and expense,” Mr. Kinkade said, “but it is necessary if pilots are to have confidence in the motors they buy. Aviation motors must be as reliable as it is humanly possible to make them, and unceasing inspection is unescape- able if this is to be achieved.” “WINDMILL” PLANES TO BE MADEIN U. 8. Pitcairn Satisfied That Perform- ance Shown in Tests Warrants Further Development. The peculiar-looking Cierva autogiro, or “windmill” plane, is to be manufac- tured in the United States by Pitcairn- Clerva Autogiro Co. of America, or- ganized by Pitcairn Aviation, Inc., of Philadelphia. ‘The autogiro first attracted world- wide attention last Summer, when the Spanish inventor, Juan de la Cierva, flew one of his machines from London to Paris and around the British Isles. Harold F. Pitcairn, president of Pit- cairn Aviation, has been interested in Cierva's plans, however, since 1925, when he visited the Spaniard at Madrid. “Last Summer,” Mr. Pitcairn said, “I met Senor de la Cierva in England and after flying his machine concluded that the autogiro had reached a stage of development that warranted thor- ough investigation. So I ordered one and had a Wright J5C motor sent over from this country to be installed in the machine in England. ‘““The machine was test flown in Eng- land and shipped to us in December. Since it was first flown in this country at Pitcairn Field last December we have made frequent test flights, as a result of which we are satisfied that the performance shows sufficient prom- | ise to warrant further development. The aeronautical engineering and de- signing staff of Pitcairn Aviation, Inc., will immediately start to work in co- operation with Cierva on the develop- | ment of the autogiro into a commer- clally practical mm(‘hine o COMPLETE AIRPORT OPENS AT GLENDALE California Area Claims Equipment + Not Surpassed for Efficiency Anywhere in U. §. What is said to be one of the most efficiently designed and completely equipped airports in the United States has just been opened at Glendale, Calif, as a terminal for Transconti- nental Air Transport, the Maddux Air Lines, air mail lines and other aerial transport lines. The airport, located about six miles from the business center of Los Angeles, has fireproof airplane hangars, air- plane salesrooms, mail, express and passenger depots, weather and radio services and complete flying equipment. A large administration building is under construction. The buildings form a sin- gle architectural group, embodying Spanish and Mexican architectural de- signs. A concrete runway 3,000 feet long and 72 feet wide in the direction of the prevalling winds affords facilities for the heaviest planes now built. A sec- ond concrete runway, crossing the first diagonally, is to be built soon. The eastern border of the airport, along which the hangars and bufldings are erected, is paved to serve os a taxi-way and loading platform. All “joy-hopping” and student train- ing will be forbidden at the port, which |will be used exclusively as a central | | depot for the trafic of big planes work- | ing on regular schedules across the | country, up the Pacific Coast and into | Mexico. Floating Docks to Be Built. | A system of 11 s along the | route of a proy from Lon don to India. 1« this vear ned by th it ministr dock would ha omplete shop 'or work on flying boats and each will be manned by 10 men. Appointment of Luke Christopher, one of the country's foremost test pilots, as secretary of the contest committee of the National Aeronautic Assoctation, to |succeed Carl F. Schory, who has re- signed to enter commercial aviation, was announced last night by Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut, president of the association. Mr. Christopher, a captain in the Army Air Corps Reserves, has nearly 5,000 hours of flying to his credit and has been a pilot for 12 years. He has been engaged in all types of aero- nautics, from military and commercial to highly technical work as a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Born at Cookeville, Tenn., May 31, 1896, Mr. Christopher learned to fly at North Island, San Diego, in June, 1917 As an Army officer during the World War he was detailed to duty with naval aviation, and after completing courses in seaplane flying and areial navigation he flew coast patrols with the Navy until the close of the war. Discharged from the Army in 1919, he engaged until 1925 in all types of com- mercial and exhibition day and night flying. He then engaged in crop-dust- ing work and in 1926 became test pilot for the Keystone Aircraft Corporation. He joined the piloting staff of the Na- tional Advisory Committee for Aero- nautics at Langley Field, Va., in 1927, While serving as test, ilnt at Lang- ley, he achieved the dlsllncuon of being the “heaviest man in the world.” Dur- ing & series of test flights to determine ' | 8 Dupont Circle D. . TIRCH 3, LUKE CHRISTOPHER. Amncla(ed P the strength of a pursuit plane when pulled into a sharp climb from high speed level flight, the acceleration was so great that the weight of the plane was increased in efTect eleven-fold, as was the body of the pilot. Durlns the brief change of direction at top speed, Mr. Christopher's body pressed on the seat of his plane with a weight of 1600 pounds. The physical effects of his experience included hemorrhages behind both eyes and a general dis- ability requiring 10 dayes of careful ob- servation and treatment. The test, which he conducted is regarded as the most se- vere ever made in determining the abil- ity of an airplane to hold together in the air during violent maneuvers. The experiment has had considerable effect in the advancement of aircraft con- struction. Mr. Chrictopher holds Department of Commerce transport, pilot's license No. 175, and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale license No. 6,377. He has plloted virtually all types of military (DIVISION .| have been tested. Of this number 4 | 1929—_PART Z2.° ESTIMATES 10PPED BY TEST ENGINES Bureau of Standards Intends to Install Additional Facilities. The number of airplane engines in- | tended primarily for commercial usl’,‘ which are now under development in‘ | this country exceeds all estimates made | y the test section of the Bureau of | tandards and the bureau is planning | to install additional testing facilities in the near future, i% % announced in a | report issued this week. Since the work of testing new com- mercial airplane engines as a basis for | the granting of approved type certifi- cates by the Department of Commerce | was begun by the Bureau of Standards in March, 1928, 21 types of engines | engines were withdrawn, 11 failed to pass the tests and only 6 completed the tests successfully. “The results,” it is stated in the re- port, “show that the average manufac- turer should do more development work | before going into production and indi- cate the importance of type testing as a protection to the public.” Thirteen other engines, including some of the best known types produced in this country, have been approved on the basis of Army or Navy tests and have received commercial ratings rec- ommended by the Bureau of Standards. ‘The type certificates issued authorize the use in licensed aircraft of any en- | gine conforming to the specifications | of the engine submitted for type test and commercial planes in existence. As secretary of the contest committee, of which Orville Wright is chairman, he will have supervision of all aircraft con- tests and world record trials in the United States. P OF CHRYSLER | ficial test. Letter From Seattle Reaches Washington In 65 Hours by Plane ‘The recent speeding up of the transcontinental air mail service as a result of development of faster planes and better ground connections makes possible com- munication by air mail between this city and Seattle, Wash,, in less than three days. One Washington business man received in the 10 am. delivery on February 23 a letter which was postmarked in Seattle at 5:30 p.m. February 20. This letter had to be carried by air mail from Seattle to San PFrancisco. trans- ferred there to the Transconti- nental Air Mail Line, relayed from plane to plane across the coun- try, transferred at New York to the Atlantic Coastal Air Mail Line and flown to this city, in addition to the ground handling. Despite these transfers, the total elapsed time of the letter's jour- ney from mailer to addressee was less than 65 hours. and specifies the speed and power rating of such engines. A new nine-cylinder radial air-cooled | motor now is undergoing rigid tests | prescribed by the bureau and 10 more manufacturers are ready to submit en- gines for test. No fee is charged the | manufacturer by the bureau for these | tests, but he is required to furnish the gasoline and oil for use during the of- His representatives are lowed to adjust the engine to their sa isfaction before the test starts and to make necessary adjustments between test perlod.s Butler 3ets Speed Record. A new world speed record for light two-seater :l'“'anes has been granted | by the Feder.tion Aeronautique Inter- nationale to Alan S. Butler of England. Butler, on December 7 last, with his wife as a passenger, flew in a De Havi- | land two-place plane at a speed of 192,864 kilometers per hour, or 119.84 miles per hour, over a 100-kilometer course between Edgeware and Reading, England. PLYMOUTH Motor Corporation CORPORATION) announces the appointment of SEMMES MOTOR ' COMPANY, Inc. Open Sunday and Nights RAPHAEL SEMMES, President Main 6660—Night Phone Main 1943 613 G Street N.W. AIDS FOR ALTITUDE FLIGHTS DEVELOPED New Types of Heated Gog- gles, Gloves, Oxygen Ap- paratus Are Designed. New types of heated goggles, gloves and oxygen inhaling apparatus for use in flights to extreme altitudes have been developed by the aerial photo- graphic unit of the Army Air Corps | materiel division at Wright Fieid, Day- ton, Ohio. Much tgouble has been experienced in the past by goggles frosting over at A temperature between 60 and 80 de- grees below zero. To prevent this g- gles have been constructed having ble glasses for each eyepiece. Thua glasses are separated nearly one inch and an electrical heater warms the air space between. The amount of energy required to heat the goggles is 24 watts, | which is tapped off the 12-voit atrplane generator circuit. Electrically heated gloves have been constructed. using a different type of resistance than previously had been used. The resistance units are semi- | flexible and constructed of resistance wire that is not brittle and has ap- proximately four times the tensile strength of copper. Four small units are used in each glove and all are con- nected in parallel, so that the failure of one unit will not affect the opera- tion of the others. A small double throw switch is provided, so that in one position the two gloves are In series | using 10 watts, and in the other posi- | zlgn the gloves are in multiple, using watts, An electrical oxygen heater has been constructed for warming the oxygen gas just before it passes to the face mask of the aviator. This consumes 22 watts. The amounts of energy re- quired for these various units are small, \belnl less than that consumed by the cundueent As Plymouth Dealer in addition to H. B. LEARY, JR. & BROS. Executive Offices and Service, 1612-22 You St. N.W. Salesrooms—lGlZ 22 You St. N. Snu. further extending Plymouth sales and service facilities in this territory, we are pleased to announce the addition of the above well-known dealer to the nation-wide Plymouth dealer organization. Joining with the present efficient Plymouth repre- sentation in this city, this new Plymouth dealer will devote every effort to promoting the satisfac- -tion of Plymouth owners. The addition of Plymouth to our well-established line of Dodge Brothers Cars and Trucks broadens lhe range of our sales possi interested in a connection that will be kindly apply by letter. All applications will be treated confiden ally, Plymouth sales and service expansion here as else- where, is made necessary by the increasing public acceptance of the Chrysler-built Plymouth as a new and greater value in the field of lowest-priced cars. ., Connecticut Ave. and Que St. N.W. and 10th and H Sts. N.E. Used Car Salesrooms—1321-23 Fourteenth St. N.W. and 1612-22 You St. N.W. No other car at anywhere near its price gives Ply- mouth’s bcauty and style, its marked economy, the safety of its Chrysler weatherproof hydraulic and its characteristic Chrysler power LPLYMOUTH A CHRYSLER MOTORS 4-wheel brakes, and smoothness. Now, at new lower prica—with full adult-size and with quality and luxury of equipment unmatched —Plymouth presents even more vivid contrast with other cars in its price group. We invite you to ride in or drive the new Ply- mouth to' prove to your own satisfaction that .Plymouth alone combines the completely rounded qualifies of style, size, performance and value which buyers of lowest-priced cars have a right to expect. ATTENTION SALESMEN Salesmen of SEMMES MOTOR COMPANY 8 Dupont Cirele PRODUCT us a car to sell in every ties, therehy creating new and greater opportunities for Automobi big as they ean mak: ular class and the right caliber. Those it and a chance to grow with Washington's numlndml Aummbllo Agency will