Evening Star Newspaper, April 14, 1929, Page 76

AVIA BY JOSEPH OUGH sorely hampered by | lack of funds, the Army Alr Corps is completing ar- rangements for a demon- stration in Ohio next month which will be somewhat in the nature of a report of progress to the American people. As an Air Corps and general Army training feature, the demonstration will be o}tl great value, as &Ix‘e ex l'ess(l:on to the people 5 the . Air _Cor] aspirations. df,;should be helpiul to the Army and to‘thepeople as a whole, and as'a.spectacle it will be unrivaled by any aerigl event in recent years. More than 400 Army airplanes of all types will be concentrated from all parts of the country and divided into two almost equal “hestile” forces with their bases at Norton Field, Columbus, and at Wright Field, Dayton. The two opposing aerial forces will act in co-operation with ground armies su? ied by the:Fifth Corps Area, under command of Maj. Gen. Dennis Nolan. Military Problems to Be Solved. Pursuit, attack, observation,! bombing and transport pilots will | work out military problems in- volving aerial combat; attacks on hostile-ground armies and co-op= eration with the vartous units of their own ‘ground forces. A num- ber of very definite problems are to be attacked by the Army’s fore- most aerial experts, and it is ex- pected that some maost interesting conclusions will b¢ -reached--so- lutions which may. have a.direct bearing upon the’ future of ‘the Nation’s aerial deferise, The maneuvers will test plans which have been' worked out in the service schools, but which heretofore have not been put to the acid test of performance be- cause of the lack of opportunity for a gathering of the units of the Air Corps. Unfortunately, the Army -Air Corps has been forced for lack of adequate appropriations to cancel plans for what was to have been | one of the greatest series of Spring maneuvers @nd tactical | demonstrations in the history of the corps. The Ohio maneuvers were to have been merely the giulmimtlon of the demonstra-| ons. Kelly Demonstration Barred. Maneuvers which were to have| been held during .the first. two| weeks of May at the various Army service schools have been cancel- ed. Demonstrations at Kelly Field, Tex., the Army Air Corps training center, in which 400 Army fighting planes were to take art, also have _been stricken rom the program.” That a mere lack of funds should block such a program is unfortunate. It is a blow not only to the flying serv- ice but to the Army as a whole and, even more, to the Nation. Representative ., British people claim that in the,royal-air force they yossess the, finest military air defense in the world, and this may very well be so. The excel- lence of the British air force, which is an independent. arm of the nation’s defense, is 'due in large part to the. fact that the royal air force at-least once each year makes a concerted effort to show the public how its:money is being spent for aerial defense by givlng a huge aeronautical pag- eant involving all the military air activities. 1 Britain Realjzes Worth. The pageant is in the nature of & public report rhade by the air force, not through the medium of cold-blooded bulletins of progress, but by actual demonstration. The theory is that if the public has an opportunity to see in action and to understand and talk about the relative merits of the Bristol Bulldog Fighter, the Westland Wapiti, the Hawkers Horsley Condor, the Fairey Fox and other popular types of military planes, this enlightened public will be more willing to stand for additional appropriations for building up the air force. And it} certainly seems t0 “work out. that i way. R T This country . in.’the ‘past hds not had an o;?onunity to see its air forces on di British citizens. The av el American taxpayer has very little splay as have the|* TION S. EDGERTON. demonstrations which were' "tp have been held at:the service schools not only would have given throughout the country an ng- portunity to get a picture of the state of aerial defense, but they were planned primarily to ac- quaint the officers of the various branches of the Army with the work of the Air Corps and the method of co-operation between the flyérs and:their 'own units of The Air Corps has been forced to "cancel maneuyers which were to have been given by ' war strength squadrons of pursuit, bombardment and attack avia- tion at the Infantry Schocl, Fort Benning, Ga.; at the Artillery School, Fort Sill, Okla.; at-the Cavalry School, Fort Riley, Kans., and at the Command and General Staff School, Fort -Leavenworth, Kans. Other demonstrations were to have been given at Langley Field, Fort Bragg, N. C, ahd Kelly Field. At these schools selected officers of the various arms of the service are gathered for further training in the science of the branch with which they are connected. The operations of the Air Corps have a direct bearing upon each of the other arms and it is of the utmost importance that the Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry officers should know what the Air Corps is doing and how they are ‘ex- pected to.work together. . Actual aerial _demonstrations naturally would bring the lesson home with greater ‘vividness and effect than could any amount of classroom schooling. Obviously there is no place where such demonstrations could be held at better advantage than at the service schools. Co-operates With Artillery. The Air Corps is co-operating with the Coast Artillery Corps in the training of two anti-aircraft regiments at Fort Story, Va., this month. For two weeks, planes from Langley. Field have been sent out to act as targets for the gun- pointers. The gunners have spent many days of practice in sighting and following the moving targets without the use of ammunition. The gunners should be ready this week for firing with service ammunition and the Air Co: again will furnish the targets. In addition to the conventional real first hand information ‘about |- - the military flying services. There are tactical units scattered throughout the country, it is'true, but these outfits, rarely ,get -to- gether for co-operafive action as they would have to do in time of ‘war. 3 Washington Fields Cited. This_city, for example, is the base for two miitary” aviation posts—Bolling Field ard the Ana- costia Naval Air Station. They are listed as non-tactical posts and each has comparatively few planes and those not at all repre- sentative of the various arms of air forces. Important test flights are made here and much training work is conducted but the average citizen cannot go to either of the posts and get anything like. an adequate idea of what either the | Army or the Navy flying services are attem| Virginia eitizens who live in the | vicinity of Hampton, where Lang- ley Field is located, are more or less familiar with the work of the | - - second bombardment group, which is stationed there and which trains and holds its maneuvers in that section. - They know little, however, about pursuit or attack planes and the manner in which theiy work. . 8i ing with and upon the automobile industry arqungd. Detroit are ac- quainted . gou which’ has its base at 1fridge Field, Mount Clemens, and the Texan .resi near Galveston, hears a close range about the which/ carries .on down .ok place ‘do the people get. hfi knowledge of their own abonfi"tze activities| of the Air Corps as & whole. They never see the tactical units work- ing together as they should for their own good. Would Have Helped Service. milarly Michigan ' people’ liv-|" “the first pursuit|. High-com the public at 10 scattered points | the service. 9 E IMPORTANT “400” FEATURES High Turbulence Lovejoy shock absotbers Salon Bodies . o) Aluminum alloy pistons (Invar Struts) New double drop frame” Torsionalvibration damper World's easiest stéering THE 'SUNDAY STAR, IGROUP CONTROL AIM IN AIR TRANSPORT EAero 'cammerge_. Chamber Says Days of Individual Ef- fort Have Passed. The trend in air transport in the United States has passed from indi- vidual experiments to corporation ef- fort and now is undergoing transition corporate effort to group control, he .- Aeronautical Chamber of Com- merce stated in’ annoincing the issu- ance. this week of the eleventh annual edition of the Aircraft Year Book. * In its publication the chamber pre- sents facts which indicate that the present year will witness an even greater expansion of American aero- nautics than that of 1928. which was the greatest in transportation msun'.. t:!i':'l 1928, the clumb;;" o'-‘?:flbfl 8 , “t] pe! an average of five tans of mail daily, and at the end of the year the average daily tonnage was more than seven tons. Alr transport lines in the United States carried five times the number of passengers in 1928 that they did in 1927. Total of 48 Listed December 31. “On December 31, 1928, there were 48 airways in the United States. They had 8 combined length of 20,000 miles and linked together in cne Nation-wide at the end of the year mu- nicipal alrports jn various stages of development. “Along 19 of the main routes 7.566 of their total length of 9,135 miles had been lighted and otherwise made avail- able for night flying.” * In the chapter on military and naval aviation one finds that “aviators o A “sleeve” -target towed behind an airplane, ‘the air service will furnish an entirely new type of target—a glider resembling an airplane in its movements. The gliders will be towed to high alti- tudes by airplanes and then will be cut locse and permitted to lide to earth. B{ adjustment of he controls the gliders can be set for straight glides, spirals, dives or other maneuvers, providing elusive and tricky targets for the gunners. Air Corps units also co-operate with other units of the ground forces-in the execution of various tactical problems. The affair in Ohio next month, however, will be one of those rare occasions when all units of the air forces will be able to co-operate with all units of the ground forces under service conditions. Deluéred network of flying routes 368 cities which | com| in all branches of the defensive estab- lishment of the United States accom- plished 33,681,940 miles of flying in "“'themt was & third more than dur- year. “As in former years, the military and naval aviators had more fi than all the commercial and private in the United States. But their lead was nowhere that of the past. In 1927 the cervice mileage had been about double the civilian. In 1928 it was less than 7 per cent larger. Newspapers Influential Agents. “Newspapers and meagazines credited with being the most influential acencies toward making people air- minded. Motlon pictures are pro- ncunced the second lcading medium. ‘The chapter on education divulges a number of interesting facts. It is not generally known that more than 200 public schools in this country are teach- ing aeronautics, and that the teachers themselves ‘are taking extra courses in the subject. < o “The development of alr-mail service, wliereby the railroads and air trams- port lines are co-cperating to pro- vide exceptionally fast transportation throughout the United States: is ex- plained at considerable length. The position of aircraft stocks in the finan- cial market is analyzed, as is the reason for the merging of companies and their control under powerful financial groups. The status of lane and engine manufacturers is fairly well explained, as is the remarkable increase in the number of large industrial concerns which . have established .aviation divi- slons to purvey accessories and auxiliary equipment to the thriving industry. Among the interesting developments in recent months has been aircraft radio, which must have considerable influence on the proper navigation and cperation of i'lvlnd1 machines. The manner in which .the Commerce Department is safeguarding civilian flying, through a strict inspection and licensing system ble to that by which the States regulate motor car operations, is ex- plained in detail, Glant Airships in Prospect. “The development of lighter-than-air and the possibilities of seeing glant air- ships plying over vast distances forms & complete chapter in the Year Book. are | Not the least interesting and valuable to one seeking comparative facts is the 40-page review of aeronautics through- out the world, giving in detail status of aviation in every country. Here we read that the French aircraft industry is practically supported by the government through subsidies and orders for service equipment; likewise in Great Britain, where the subsidized air lines and the Royal Air Force take practically all the output of the fac- tories. In Germany which has no air force we find the government and the individual tes subsidizing alr trans- port and making it grow.” French Plane Production Gains. Production of French aircraft in- creased slightly last year, as compared with 1927, according to a report re- celved here by the Department of Com- merce. Last year 1,440 airplanes and 1,800 motors were produced, as com- pared with 1,150 airplanes and 1,800 motors during 1927. These figures rep- resent totals of commercial and -m! hl tary planes. 400 Standard Six 4-Door Sedan 1040 WASHINGTON. 1929-PART 4% Lieut. Carl B, Harper, “wing slot” expert of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, startied old-time pilot. this Navy Curtiss F7C t the Philadelphia Navy Yard a_few days ago by pulling plane off the grow his tail skid across the ficld as he did so. of the wing, made the freak maneuver into a 45-degree climb, dragging slots, seen on the upper Lieut. I::Lrper stopped edges i briefly in this.cify with the plane, en route to Cleveland this w AIRMEN IN FLOOD RELIEF WORK, FORCED DOWN, Forced down by & bad motor while engaged in flood relief work in South- ern Alabama during the recent floods, two Army airmen from Langley Fleld lived through an experience which in- cluded an escape from their submerged alrplane, a long struggle through the flood waters and, for one of them, an encounter with en infuriated polecat in a tree top where he took refuge from the water, according to their re- pun“just received by the War Depart- menf The plane was piloted by Lieut. H. ‘W. Higgins, with Corp. Woodward as observer. They had taken off with a load of 400 pounds of relief lu&plhs and were on their way to distribute the supplies to marooned parties when the motor quit and the plane hit the water in a glide. As it whipped over, Corp. Woodward was thrown clear but Lieut. Higgins was carried under, hanging upside down. While under water he succeeded in unclasping his safety belt and partly unfastening his parachute and then climbed from under the plane and came to the surface. Struggle Toward Higher Ground. Using for life preservers the kapok pads gmvided for this purpose in Army parachutes, they started out for higher and drier parts. Lieut. Higgins reached a house part of which projected above the water, but the corporal, caught by the current, floated 6n by. The officer was picked up by a rescue party in a boat and directed the search for the corporal, who soon was located by sight and the sense of smell. “The corporal,” said Lieut. Higgins in BATTLE FOR LIFE describing the rescue, “was much dis- turbed as he had had a fight with a polecat over his jcular tree top. We realized somet! Ekad happened before we got to him. Good comfort- able tree tops were scarce in that vi- cinity and the polecat would not re- | lease its squatter rights without a | struggle. The air was full of the fight for a quarter of a mile around. Corporal Is “Set Apart.” “Attempt was made to find & boat for Corp. Woodward to occupy alone, but it could not be done, .so the rest of us got in one end of the boat and paddled in a direction where the wind would blow in the right way. We had with the shifting of the wind, all be- cause a polecat tried to assert legal rights in a State where they have none. “After considerable wandering we | the finally came to the town of Andalusia, Ala. We shall never forget this town because there was not a girl in it that we could see who was not beautifel. ]And the postmaster there was a bache- or. for no man could make up his mind and center on one girl in such a place. We finally got back to Montgomery and joined the rest of the flood relief fly- ers from Langley Field.” Lights to Aid Bay City Pilots. ‘The power company at Bay City, Mich.,, plshs to light its high tension transmission line near the municipal alrport to aid aviators. flying at night. Flashing red lights will be placed at the apex of each tower. It was easy to see how that was, | TESTING AIRPLANE MOTOR Experts at Bureau of Standards Handling New Type. Official tests of a nsw type of in- verted, four-cylinder-in-line, air-cooled aviation motor are now being conducted :'{0 éfhe&urle:u oéq Butndndx at its borat at College. Park, | Md. The motor has been subitted by {'the Michigan Screw Co. of Lansing for }r;s‘:mu of an npqmd moter certifi- ‘The Allianice Alrcr;n Corporation also INGALLS APPOINTED { ON ADVISORY BOARD Assistant Seeretary of Navy Suc- ceeds Warner on- National Aero Body. Appointment of David S. Ingalls, As- sistant Secretary of the Navy for Aero- nautics, to the advisory board of the National Aeronautic Association to suc- ceed Edward P. Warner, former As- sistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics, was announced last night by Senator Hiram Bingham of Con- necticut, president of the association. ‘The advisory board is composed of the following:” Col. Charles A. Lind- bergh, F. ‘I'rubee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War for Aviation; William P. MacCracken, jr., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics; W. Irv- ing Glover, Second Assistant Postmaster General, in charge of air mail; Rear Admr. William A. Moffett, chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics; Maj. Gen. James E. Fechet, chief -of the Army Alr Corps: Dr. Joseph S, Ames. chair- man of the National Advisory Commit- tee .for Aeronautics; Dr. Charles F. Marvin, chief of the United States Weather Bureau; Harry F. Guggen- heim, president of the Daniel Guggen- heim Pund for the Promotion of Aero- nautics, Inc., and Miss Amelia Earhart, fln;m“m to make a transatlantic to change directions and destinations | fiig] Mr. Ingalls became & member of the National Aeronautic Association in June, 1924, and has been very active in e affairs of the Cleveland chapter of the association. VOICE AT AIR FIELD. Le Bourget Crowds Kept Informed by Loud Speaker. PARIS (#).—Four groups of loud- speakers installed on the roof of the main building at the Le Bourget Flying Field ‘announce the approach of air- planes about to land. ‘The name and number of the plane. hour and plate from which it started and the part of the airdrome in which it is about to land, can be heard clearl, in all directions three-quarters of a mile away. ARUWNEMAD N FLOOD RELIEF 300 Flights Made ‘by Army Aviators Distributing ‘Food and Medical Supplies. Nearly 300 flights were made by Army airplanes engaged in flood relief work in Southern Alabama last month, resulting in the distribution to isolated flood sufferers of between 20 and 25 tons of food, medical supplies, blankets and clothing furnished by the American Red Cross, according to a report re- ceived by the War Department. The supplies were dropped by Army fiyers to the submerged towns of Elba, Geneva, Riverfalls, Brewton, Flomatio: Pollard and Keego, Ala. boat motor was dropped suspended from a parachute, to a relief party on Hlle Nl’lilkmo( the rlver’ at !]'hh: to bfe u.l;: y Tesct rom. the roofs tops of buldings. : Flights Began March 15, * Flights over the flooded districi were started March 15 in response to an ap- peal from the Governor of ' Alabama. On March 15 the Army planes at Max- well Field, Montgomery, made 34 flights. On March 16, Saturday, 49 flights were made; on Sunday, 54; Monday, 76; Tuesday, 56, and Wednesday, March 20, 27 flights. The Maxwell Field personnel was as- _sisted by pilots and observers with six airplanes from the 106th Observation Squadron, Alabama National Guard, who reported for duty March 15, and Air Corps pilots and observers with eight airplanes from Langley Pield, Va., who arrived at Maxwell Field the morn- ing of March 17. American Red Cross ground panel signals were used as a means of com- munication between flood victims and the planes. The code was developed by sistant chief of the. Aminy AlrGarpe cl of the A and used in the New England flood in 1927, subsequently being adopted by the Red Cross. Communication Code Established Prepared panels, with instructions for their use, were dropped by the planes on their first trips and in sev- eral instances within five minutes after the panels and code had been dropped communication was established. In one instance the panels and code were dropped on a flat-top building occu- pled by more than 50, persons and in approximately three minutes the first message was received stating the needs of the stranded party, the necessary supplies being dropped on the building later the same day. The work of Army and Navy airplane units was credited by Ernest J. Swift, chief of Red Cross operations in the district, with having saved hundreds of lives and preventing much suffering. - the Salesman this Question: pression motor VERY prospective motor car purchaser should ask every salesman be talks to, this question: “What is the price of this car, delivered to me, fully equipped with all the equipment?” You should als6 ask what the difference is between the factory (f.0.b.) price and the delivered price — and then ask what that difference buys. Heretofore it has been customary for factory prices to cover only the bare: LE WALL Hawkins Nash Motor Co._ ' 1529 14th St. N.W. _.Robert J. Nash Motor Co. © 1419 Irving St. N.W. ADS THE WO ACE MOTOR CO. v Retail Salesrooms, 1709 L Street N. W, car. This permits the dealer to sell you your bumpers and the other accessories, at retail prices. Nash, in introducing the new “400” Series, pioneered a new practice, by in- stalling this extra equipment at the factory, at no extra cost to you. The Nash way of selling. a motor car gives the buyer greater value. It gives the Nash “400” owner the tremendous advantage of factory purchasing power. RLD ASSOCIATE DEALERS. 650 Wilson:Boulevard, Clarendon, Va. Hall-Kerr Motor Co. © 131 B E When you ask the suggested question you’ll find most salesmen, (not Nash sales- - men) reluctant to answer. They would rather not say how much more there is to pay, or what the extra money buys. And you’ll also find that by reason of the Nash policy, Nash *400” delivered, . Decatur 2280 Birvon Nash Motor Co. ‘Patterson-Nash Motors 3110 M St. N.W. fully-equipped prices are much lower than those of other cars with the same factory(f.o.b.) prices,and lower thansome cars with even lower factory (f.0.b.) prices. 10 Sedans from 8970 to 82,108 delivered, 8 Coupes, Cabriolets, Victorias firom 8970 to 81,887 delivered IN MOTOR CAR VALUE NO OTHER CAR HAS THEM ALL 7-bearing crankshaft Exterior metalware chromeplatedovernickel Short turning radius Longer wheelbase One-piece Salon fenders Clear vision front pillar posts Nash Special ded;p front , and rear bumpers 98