Evening Star Newspaper, September 29, 1929, Page 75

AVIATION BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON. NE of the significant steps in the trend toward stabil- ization of the air transport industry is the construc- tion of larger and larger airplanes. The past year has witnessed a succession of huge airplanes and there is no indication that the limit of size has been approached. The giant transport plane is the answer to the ery of the transport operator for more efficient equip- ment. The per-passenger cost must be reduced if the airplane is to compete successfully with other transportation systems, the opera- tors say. The large airplane per- mits a large increase of pay-load over the non-profit-making load represented by the structural ;vellght of the plane, motors and uel. The marked movement toward the huge transport plane, ap- parent in all parts of the world, must come as something of a shock to the skeptics of a few years ago who declared that the large plane was impracticable, if not impossible. Germany Blazes Trail. Germany is blazing the trail in the big plane movement. The im- essarily must be subordinated to military necessity, the peace-time Army Air Corps is taking a posi- tion as a powerful factor in the campaign for reduction of air- plane accidents due to errors on the part of pilots—the greatest single cause of aviation fatalitles. Sixty-three per cent of all fatal airplane accidents in the Army Air Corps, Reserve and National Guard during 1928 were caused by errors on the part of the pilots, according to a survey by the office of the chief of the Air Corps. The result of a study and analy- sis of military aircraft accidents will be published at intervals by the Air Corps and circulated among military pilots as a means of discouraging carelessness and to set the pilots to thinking of means of preventing accidents, it has been announced. The national advisory commit- tee for aeronautics, through a special committee on aircraft ac- cidents, has been engaged in a similar study since February 18, 1928. Two officers of the Army Air Corps are members of this committee. The Air Corgs study of military air fatalities shows that accidents mense Dornier Do-X, carrying 100 due to spins and stalls resulting ‘I'his “worm’s- i senger fiving boat, gives an impression the motors on top of the main wing, on view of the gigal the ground and on the tail afford a_comparison. horsepower to propel the monster at 135 States is planned in the near future. passengers and depending upon i2| motors and a wing span of 164 fect to lift its 50-ton bulk into the air. | is the undisputed queen of large | planes—to date. The large sea-| plane also is prominent in the Italian aeronautical world. In this country the trend has been toward the development of large landplanes. The Nationa! Capital has been host this week to the largest of these new ships, a four-motored Fokker, which is de- signed to carry 30 passengers and a crew of four. This is the largest | transport plane so far built in the | United States and is one of the| largest landplanes in the world. Despite its huge size the F-32, as the new Fokker is known, flies beautifully, is amazingly fast and | appears to handle well in the air | and on the ground. During| demonstration trips here Lieut.| Harry Johnson, Army Air Corps, has been flying the ship on two motors, with 20 or more passen- gers aboard. On cne flight, when the writer was a passenger, he throttled down both left motors and not only flew on the two right motors alone, but actually turned | against them, apparently without | great difficulty. Capt. Eddie Rick- enbacker is authority for the statement that the plane will maintain altitude with partial load on a single motor and will climb with full load on the two rear motors or fly level on any| two engines. Factory for Huge Planes. Satisfied with the performance | of the giant, the Fokker Aircraft | Corporation will begin construc- tion immediately of a factory ad- joining the Alhambra Airport of the Western Air Express in Cali- fornia, where the four-motored planes are to be built at the initial rate of one plane a week. Orders for six of them already have been received. This city also was visited re- cently by the first commercial Curtiss Condor, a transport ver- sion of the new Army heavy bombardment plane. This plane carries 18 passengers, with a crew of three. A new tri-motored Boe- ing transport of similar size is expected here soon. This country’s largest domesti- cally designed and produced flying boat has just been accepted by the Navy as a patrol plane. It is a twin-engined monoplane of 100- foot span, with an all-metal hull approximately 70 feet long. So successful were the Navy test per- formances that construction of a commercial model of the same plane is to be undertaken. In England Handley Page is at work on a four-motored biplane to carry 40 passengers for use on the London-to-India passenger, malil and express line. The motot arrangement is somewhat unusual, two of the engines being faired into the upper wing and two into the lower, all four driving tractor air-screws. " There are many large planes in the world today, built in re- sponse to a well-defined necessity for this type of equipment. There undoubtedly will be many mote of | certain type of motor develops weather data to pilots them in the future. « . Army_Safety Study. While the safety of ‘Plluu in . war-time military operations necs ntic tail of the Do-X, German 100-pas- of its size. The figures of men beside the right of the picture, and figures on Twelve motors provide 6,000 miles per hour. A flight to the United —Underwood & Underwood Photo. from faulty piloting are decreas- ing, while the number of collisions seems to remain fairly constant. The number of fatal crashes due to errors on the part of pilots has increased steadily in proportion as other causes decreased. In 1926 only 323 per cent of accidents were due to pilot’s errors. In 1927 the proportion increased to 44.13 per cent and last year to 63 per cent. Of the 63 per cent of crashes caused by the “human element,” 24 per cent were due to error of judgment, 30 per cent to poor technique, 3 per cent to disobedi- ence of orders and 6 per cent to carelessness or negligence. For the past year approximate- ly half the fatal crashes due to pilots’ errors may be traced to overconfidence, Air Corps officere stated. Overconfidence Blamed. “Inasmuch as 85 per cent of pilot fatalities occurred among officers with less than two years’ experience,” it was reported, “it would indicate that our young pilots are overconfident and over- zealous. “During this year 46 per cent of the pilot fatalities occurred with pilots of less than 200 hours of fly- ing, 17 per cent had from 200 to 500 hours to their credit, 25 per cent from 500 to 1,000 hours and 12 per cent from 1,000 to 1,200 hours. “The successful pilot of today is the one who eliminates unneces- sary hazards, when the taking of such hazards is not mandatory in the proper performance of the military mission. He learns from the costly experience of his pre- decessors. With modern equip- ment, the well-trained and alert pilot of today, who always uses good common ‘horse sense’ can expect to live a long time. Ask the old-time pilot with over 2,000 hours to his credit.” In connection with its study of airplane fatalities. the Army Air Corps also has undertaken a study of forced landings, including those | which do not result in damage tc equipment or injury to personnel. The inspection division of the Air Corps has ordered that pilots sub- mit detailed reports on all forced landings. defined as being un- premeditated landings. whether caused by adverse weather condi- tions, failure of the airplane or its power plant. To Study Forced Landings. In the past it has been the olicy to forget forced landings. f the plane or motor needed ad- justment the matter was attended to and no more thought was given the affair. The inspection divi- sion now is requiring that all these minor flight difficulties be re- ported. accompanied by ah analy: sis of the cause of the landing. By gathering and studying sta- tistics concerning such landings the insvection divisien hopes to be able to recommend action lead- ing to the reduction of forced landings, If the statistics show a magneto trouble, the materiel divie sion will be called upon to remedy the evil. If persistent fogs or ba weather cause forced landings ‘: . more than average freguency THE SUNDAY U. 5. NAVY AGCEPTS BIG FLYING BOAT Nine Months of Experimental Work Tested Giant Craft for Service. Nearly nine months of experimental work by the flight test section of the Anacostia Naval Air Station on the new consolidated patrol boat, the largest flying boat yet bullt in this country, have resulted in the formal acceptance of the big craft by the Navy Department. ‘Test work on the XPY-1, which, since its acceptance, will be known as the PY-1, has formed one of the most im- portant assignments of the flight test section during the past Summer. The plane has been operated with two and three motors and, as accepted for duty, is powered with two radial air-cooled motors mounted on either side of the hull under the big monoplane wing. Changes Made in Tail. Several structural changes, chiefly in the mounting of the tail assembly, have been _made as a result of the work of the flight test pilots. The plane, as a result of its work during the tests, is expected to be a worthy addition to the famous line of Navy patrol boats. The latest addition to this line, the PN-11, now under test at Anacostia, also is a twin-engined flying boat. In addition to its work with the PY and the PN boats, the flight test sec- tion has completed the full flight test- ing of the new TG6M all-metal Martin diving bomber and torpedo last tests were made with skid, which operated satisfactorily. All test work has been completed on the F4B-1 Boeng fighter and a final report is being prepared. Trials have been made of three deep V-bottom floats for the O2U obe.rva- tion plane. These floats are being tested for water characteristics by pilots of the local station and the Navy Bu- reau of Aeronautics. Tests on the F8C-2 Curtiss fighter have been completed and & final report is being prepared. Test Wing Slot Plane. ‘The big PN-11 flying boat has been climbed to service ceiling, carrying full military load as a patrol plane, and re- cently was ferried back to the Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia. A _new XJ2Q-1, transport plane, a Fairchild seven-passenger plane equipped with a Wasp motor, was put through its acceptance tests and has been transferred to the operations de- I partment. Following spinning tests, a roduction N2C-1 plane also has been gransm-red to the operations depart- ment for regular service. Flight tests are in progress on an 02U, two-place observation plane equipped with wing slots. The Navy has conducted tests with a number of various types of standard Navy planes equipped with the wing slots, which are intended to restore maneuverability after the plane has reached the stalling point or has gone out of control in & spin. TRIANGLE PARACHUTE MAY BE ARMY CHOICE New Equipment Being Tested by Pilots Is Believed More Maneuverable. Experimental work with parachutes which has been in progress for more than a year at the materiel division of the Army Air Corps, Wright Field, Day- ton, Ohio, may_result in adoption by the Army’ Air Corps of a new type of triangular parachute to replace the pres- ent standard circular type, according to a report in the Air Corps News Letter. ‘The new triangular chute, devised by Maj. E. L. Hoffman, Air Corps, is rounded at two corners, while the third, is sheared straight across and, having no shroud lines across the sheared por- tion, acts as a taillike vent through which the air escapes from the para- chute. This system decreases oscillation and shock upon the jumper when the para- chute opens and also makes the para- chute more maneuverable, it is claimed. Many live jumps and dummy drops have been made with the parachute, including & number of live jumps dur- ing the recent national air races at Cleveland. Another feature adding fo the safety of operation is a new type of springless. non-foulable pilot parachute fastened directly to the main parachute. Better arrangement of the pack is sald to pre. vent bunching of the folds of the main fi;rnchute and tangling of the shroud es. MAJ. BRADLEY JONES RESIGNS FROM ARMY IAeriul Navigation Expert to Take Charge of Aviation at Cincinnati University. Resighation of Maj. Bradley Jones. engineer in charge of the development of aerial navigation instruments at the Army Air Corps materiel division, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, has been announced by the War Department. Maj. Jones, who holds a commission in the Air Corp§ Reserve, has been as- sociated with Capt. Clyde V. Finter and Lieut. Albert F. Hegenberger in con- ducting the Navigation School at Wright Field. With Lieut. Hegenberger, Maj. Jones has planned a number of unusual flights and has participated as navigator in a number of hazardous pioneer flights. He was navigator on the bombardment plane which made a long-range refuel- ing attack on New York during the Air Corps maneuvers at Dayton last May. Maj. Jones will take charge of the aeronautical classes at the versity of Cincinnati. | IQUESTION MARK FLIES TO MONTGOMERY, ALA. Famous Army Endurance Craft to Be Used in Transfer of Persotinel. ‘The Question Mark, fathous Army Fokker C-2 transport plane, in which the Army Air Corps started the late epidemic of refueling endurance flights by remaining in the air 160 iours, has been trlrg‘lefmmm hu%fl _to Maxwell Field, Montgbmery, Ala. 3 tri-motored ?me is to be used at Max« well Field Ine tlusl transportation of personnel and supplies. |, The éfl:‘e w£ lfluwn'tm tis clty o ntgore: WA} | Witk Cabr. Donata B huse ap pilot and | Corpl. T. H. Moore as mec] €. Irs ing jts endurance flight, -which stood :fQD]l" sgmeamekn s ¥ d x:'eywm 'l'-{t; 3 iestion [ar] as a c irom Bolling P‘ler'd \mda:h command of Maj. Carl Spatz, Army Air Corps. | !tween two points, efforts will be 'made to provide more_frequént H fiying the {bad stretch. e Army pllof cannot but be DERROGIAL %0 AViAtion in geners STAR, 'WASHINGTON, D. C. SEPTEMBER FLYING BOAT HELD LOGICAL FOR USE ON William P. INLAND WATERS MacCracken, Retiring Aero- nautics Secretary, Much Impressed by Craft in Regular Service in Europe. boat ply! along the il o ST o S n—the steam| - liam P. Mac ken, retiring Assistant Becretary 6f Commerce for Aeronautics, as a logical m‘a in air transportation in_the United States. The thousands of miles of navi- r!fle streams and lakes are potential ing boat routes where space for alight nd taking is unrestricted and where emergency landing places always Are at hand. Impressed in Europe. MacCracken, who recentl from & thrée-month trip abroad, said he was much im by the use of }; ying boats on various air lines rope. “Europe is far ahead in the de- velopment of fying boats,” the former Alr Becretary said, “And theére should }”Q ‘:te de:re}!onment along that line In country.” With unlimited space in which to take off and land, huge flying boats could carry heavy cargoes between the waterway cities, which formerly relied on the steamboat as the principal means of transportation. - ‘They could carry heavier loads than land planes, aeronautic experts point out, bécause their runways for taking off and landing ‘would not be restricted as it is on land. Detroit-Cleveland Line. ‘Translake service already is in oper- tion across Lake Erie betwéen Detroit and Cleveland. This soon will ex- tended by the Stout Lines to mflllo returned with two Dornier super-Wahl flying boats, purchased in Germany. ‘To stimulate development of the fly- ing boat in the United States, the Na- tional Advisory Committee for Aeronau- tics has undertaken the building of a l!lflln! test channel at its laboratories at_Langley Fleld, Va. | In the 2,500-foot channel, expected to be completed next year, models of flying boat hulls will be studied in the development of hull types which will have a minimum drag in the water and which will require a minimum of horse- rflva:r to get into the air with heavy loads. RITCHIE IN CAMPAIGN FOR ANNAPOLIS AIRPORT Governor Sees Pressing Need for Landing Field at the Mary- land Capital. BALTIMORE, September 28.—ATter | & visit to him by two aviators as good- | will ambassadors from the State of Michigan, Gov. Ritchie this week an- nounced that he would join in a move ment for an airport at Annapolis. One of the greatest demands at the Maryland State capital, the governor sald, was an adequate landing field, and he indicated his intention to confer with | the Annapolis Chamber of Commerce on the subject. ‘The flyers were Gerald F. Beane and Wynn Bradford. 29, 1929—PART 4. ARMY ORDERTO AID AVIATION SCHOOLS Air Course Cadets Must Re-| main in Service Two Years After Graduation. ‘The decision of the War Department to require graduates of the Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School to re- main in the service for two years as officers of the Alr Corps Reserve on active duty or as officers in the Reg- lar Army is expected to prove a boon to the better grade civilian flying schools. In the past a large number of Air Corps cadets upon completing their training at Kelly Field have left the service immediately to accept posts as commercial pilots. The new rule will shut off the flow of graduates from the school to commercial positions for a period of at least two years and will make necessary the filling of pilot va- cancies from the civilian schools. ‘The new War Department regulations require that candidates for admission to the Advanced Flying School shail sign articles of service for three years, one as a flying cadet and two as a sec- ond lieutenant, Air Corps Reserve, on active duty, or as a commissioned offi- er in the Regular Army. ‘The War Department holds that while graduates of the Army Training School are in great demand in commer- cial aviation, they are equally valuable as Army pilots upon the completion of their Army training. The rule was promulgated because of the difficulty of keeping abreast of the five-year pro- gram for the expansion of the Air Corps, which places a quota of 1850 officers Aviation Industry Inspires New Words To English Language “ Meet two new words, added to the English language by the aviation industry. They are “en- lane” and “deplane” and they ave been approved by the chief lexicographer of one of the larg- est dictionary publishers. If you ever have embarked or debarked or were one of those war veterans, who were entrained and detrained with all the dis- comforts attending those opera- tions you will appreciate just how necessary those new words may be during the next few years. of the Regular Army Air Corps and 550 Reserve officers on active duty. PFunds for carrying on the training of new flving personnel are limited, it was explained, and it is felt that the Army, having trained a pilot, should ha prior claim on his services for at least two vears following the completion of his flying training. Moreover, it is the ogmlun of Army Air Corps officers that the commercial schools should be en- couraged to develop, since they wiil form a great reservolr from which trained pilots may be drawn in event of future natlonal emergency. « Hotel for Air Travelers. An alrport hotel has been opened at Oakland, Calif. It is well patronized by airport personnel and passengers who arrive at night ready to board early morning planes. The hotel has | 37 rooms, an air ticket office, restaurant | and restrooms. Cadmium Resists Corrosion. Experiments with various types of | metal plating made by engineers of the | Boeing System have led to the conclu- | sion that cadmium has the highest re- | sistance to corrosion. ANNOUNCING a special showing Of ForD CARS THE TOWN SEDAN—one of the newest Ford cars 11 U..5.T0 BE CHARTED FOR AIR NAVIGATION Coast and Geodetic Survey to Prepare Data on Plan Used for Ocean Travel. By the Associated Press. ‘The United States is to be charted for aerial navigation, much the same &s oceans are charted for ships. The Department of Commerce and Coast and Geodetic Survey has laid plans for preparation of the charts to guide aviators to any part of the coun- try. For the purposes of the work, the country will be divided into 89 sections, each covering 4 degrees of longitude and 3 degrees of latitude. The first of these air maps takes in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and will be known as the “Detroit sheet.” In addition, the Coast and Geodetic Survey will rush the completion of strip maps for the commercial airways, 50 or more of which have not been mapped. ‘The navigation charts, showing main railroads and highways, principal cities, altitudes and outstanding landmarks, will be compiled from various maps available and from data obtained on flight work. The work will involve much flying to select landmarks from the air which do not show on maps available now. B e Use Planes to Buy Horses. CROWELL, Tex. (#).—Huge trans- rt planes frequently bring Army horse uyers from San Antonio to Crowell, leading Southwestern horse markét, Horses are inspected and purchased, just as any other business deal would be conducted, and the fiyers depart. Starting Monday, September 30 THE FORD BUILDING 451 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. - When the Ford car was first introduced, there were but six body typés. In the past year, this numbet has been increased to twelve, in keeping with the public’s wishes and the Ford policy of constantly improving the car, mechanically and in beauty of line, color and finish, - . Today, the Ford body types include the Roadster, Phaeton, Business Coupe, Standard Coupe, Sport Coupe, Tudor Sedan, Two-window Fordor Sedan, Theee-window Fordor Sedan, Convertible Cabriolet, Town Sedan, Town Car—an unusually wide selection. So that you may see all of these body types, in all the new cole ot$, a Special Ford Showing will be held in the Ford Build- ing, 451 Pennsylvania Avenue N:W. The houts are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. This showing is of particular interest because it is the first time it has been possible to obtain all the new Ford cars, in all the new colors, for display in this city. Ford dealers will bé glad to send a car to your home or office to take you Ia‘tli.r special showing. this service. Just telephone the nesrest Ford dealer, There will be no charge