Evening Star Newspaper, February 23, 1930, Page 57

Model Aircraft BY GEORGE W. WATERS. TRUE scale model contest for workmanship for flyers from the ! District, Maryland and Virginia, to be held in connection with National Museum officials, will get under way Friday and Sat- urday, March 7 and 8, at the museum. Contestants will be divided into two groups, one for those not yet 16 years of age and the other for flyers over 16 years-old. Pilots who wish to enter their . deliver their given a contestant’s button. Receiving Group Listed. sving committee is com- pose Hugh I. Du Bose, Walter A. Roun, E. L. Cooney, H. S. Har- bour, F.. 8. Williams, Esther Scott, Helen E. Blackistone, Myrtle E. Moore and Susanne Mellichamp. ‘The contest is being staged under the auspices of the District of Co- lumbia Model Aircraft League. A dogzen boys have started the und school courses being af- orded them by the District of Columbia Air Legion. John -Arthur Shaw, who is su- Th })ervmng the junior unit of the“ egion, announced yesterday that | he is working out a model build- ing course for the boys in the junior unit. The boys will first be given simple plans to follow in the construction of miniature craft and then will be given grad- ually more intricate patterns to follow. When the planes are completed and In shape for flying a contest will be staged between the boys and they will be given ratings ac- cording to their respective skill. Cups will be awarded the win- | ners and those who capture sec- ond and third places will be given medals. An interesting contest which brought out the ingenuity and| ative skill of young avia- tion. enthusiasts was inaugurated at the St. Louis Aircraft Exposi- tion by the .Curtiss-Wright Air-| ports. Corporation at its model | urp;m construction contest last| week. As part of its exhibit at this international show, the corpora- tion displayed a model of Bettis Airport, a Curtiss-Wright port, and gave contestants the neces- sary plot plans, artists’ perspective drawings and decorated the back- | ground of its booth with a giant| reproduction of Curtiss-Steinberg | Airport, St. Louis, the initial air- port which opened the model con- test. Contest at Airports. 1t is plarified to run these con- | tests at each center Where there is a Curtiss-W t port, and run the contest in t locality when some event warrants enough in- terest in the local airport to justi- 1y the contest. lanes not later than 9 o’clock the evening of March 6. Planes will then be placed before the receiving committee at the museum, and after the flyer certifies that the model was produced by his own hands and is a reproduction of a real plane, he will be !light rays and reveal the proper planes in the contest are urged to Very few realize the interest, both instructive and educational, attached to planning and con- | structing models of an airport, the | ingenuity necessary to devise life- like miniatures and effects re- | sembling actual conditions and situations at a modern air termi- nal. | There is the erection of han- ars, hotels, terminal buildings, gying schools and dormitories, the realistic runways and field construction and the lighting fix- |tures that go to make up the { modern aviation field. Miniature Port Described. In this particular contest of Curtiss - Steinberg Airport, the building group contained two large repair base hangars, four service hangars also used for school purposes and four large |hangars for transcontinental air |lines and other services. School buildings with a campus and group of instructors’ residences and a dormitory were another group of buildings which the modelers may construct. ‘The terminal building was an| outstanding feature of the air-| port. and was located at.the end of a plaza leading to the. exhibi- tion hall, where aviation manu- facturers exhibited products. Lighting fixtures, such as revolv- ing beacons, floodlights, boundary lights and obstruction markers, are all left up.to the imagination and -ingenuity of the ‘'model- maker, using glass beads to reflect effect of lighting. Making Ports Is Interesting. The making of model airplanes has held the imagination and in- terest of many model-makers, but the variety of detail, planning and construction of the various necessary items in a model air- ‘port are just as interesting and much more so to many in the model-making field. ‘When model terminal features begin to take shape and the real- istic features take on an almost lifelike appearance in miniature, then much of the patience and ingenuity is rewarded with the thrill of accomplishment for the | model airplane pilot. VIDLATION OF AR LAWS INCREASE Aeronautics Branch of Com- merce Department Dealt | With 523 Cases in 1929. The number of violations of the air commerce act. air commerce regulations | and air traffic rules and the number of penalties imposed for such violations | showed & steady increase during the past year, according to statistics pub- lished by ‘the Department of Commerce seronautics branch. During 1929 the aeronautics branch dealt with 523 violations of the act, regulations and rules. Fines aggregating $4,755 were imposed for-179 of these violations. Pifty-five cases were dis- missed for lack of sufficient evidence, 163 pilots were reprimanded, 110 li- censes were suspended and 16 licenses were revoked altogether. The figures were compiled quarterly, GRAF’S TRIP POSTPONED. | Dr. Eckener Delays Flight to Arctic Indefinitely. The propased Arctic irip df the ‘Ges- man dirigible Graf Zeppelin has been definitely postponed by order of -its commander, Dr. Hugo Eckener, accord- ‘ng to reports received here. Postpone- | ment of the flight is a result of faflure | to solve the problem of insuring the créw against the ‘special polar risks which would have to he faced, Thé flight had been fostered by the Aero 'Arctic -Society for special ‘studies, of the ‘ice movements and for ‘ocean soundings in the polar seas. The Graf Zeppelin is to fly to Geneva for the next assembly of the League of Nations. e s 79 OF CADETS FAIL IN AIR CORPS TESTS 211 Graduates of West Point Are Examined for Commissions by Flight firgecnl. each quarter showing an increasin, number of offenses, as follows: First| quarter, January 1 to March 31, 96 vio- lations; second quarter, April 1 to June 30, 114 violations; third quarter. July 1 to September 30, 129 violations, and fourth quarter, October 1 to December 31, 184 violations. The greatest number of violations listed for any single cause were for low | flying, 102 offenses being of this type. | ‘There was a steady increase in this type of violation during the year, the total low-fiying cases by quarters being 8,| 12, 37 and 45. Fines totaling $275 were assessed for low flying, 38 of the of- fending pilots were reprimanded, 20 had their licenses suspended. and the license of one pilot was revoked. Violation of the regulations against acrobatics was second in number, with 95 cases, as a result of which 46 fines, totaling $1,227.50, were assessed; 19 pilots were reprimanded, 22 licenses were suspended and 2 licenses were| revoked. ‘There were 94 cases involving viola- tion of the laws prohibiting unlicensed pilots flying licensed airplanes, for which 47 fines, totaling $1.262.50, were' as- +sess.d; 41 reprimands were made, and § licenses were suspended. | Fifteen cases involved flying without | identification numbers and six for flying without navigation lights. There were 211 cases invclving miscellaneous Jf- fenses, in which 68 fines, totaling $1,790, were imposed; 51 pilots were reprimanded, and 63 licenses were sus- pended and 13 revoked The two largest flying clubs in Great Britain are the London Aeroplane Club, with a membership of 520, and the Na- tional Flying Service Club at Hanworth, with 534 members. This device enables the pilot to adjust his radiophone set fos variol tances from ground stations with merely the touch of a heavily gloved hai ! is placed above the throttle on the new Boeing System mail and passenger pianes flying the San anelm-,c-hlun‘ route. stmen required- to make a minor radio a This Seventy-nine of two hundred and eieven cadets in the graduating class at the United States Military Academy, West Pomnt, N, Y., who have been ex-| amined - for ¢ommiesions in “the Army Alr_Corps next June have. failed to| reach the rigid Alr Corps physical re- quirements, it has been announced by the board of fiight surgeons. pused. the physleal examinations o d examinations for. admission mpwm Point, which showed them to be above normal all-around physical condition. There were only 36 of the 247 members of the class who | did not take the Air Corps examination. Those who failed to meet the Air Corps physical requirements, as well as those who falled to take the examina- tion, will be eoi ed in other branches of the Army upon graduation Ninety-one of the two hundred and eleven cadets examined were found to be qualified for flight training, 10 were accepted p ly and 31 minor defects, which must be waived by the chief of the Air Corps before they can be admitted to the Air Corps training schools. Servicing of Planes Facilitated. ST. LOUIS (#).—A 12-foot platform, | calculated to save two and one-half or | three hours in servicing tri-motored planes, has been designed by D. E | Garrett, mechanic for an air line here | Plane Hn; Tv_vu Cabins. * Two cabins and a large salop are in- cluded in the fuselage arrangement of | & new 28-passenger all-metal airplane | built in France. All engines in the plane are accessible during flight. Every 10 miles the the position of the device is the simplest and most effective yet designed, it is cl B | master ‘General and 45 days allowed for t | & THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., FEBRUARY 23, 1930—PART FOUR. AIRMAIL FUTURE HELD IMIPERILED Brown Indorses Watres Bill as Offering Solution of Menacing Situation. Utter collapse of the air transport passenger industry in the United States is. threatened unless the Government comges to the rescue with some form of airmail passenger line contract service to stabilize the industry, Postmaster General Walter F. Brown told members of the House Post Office committee this week. Speaking in support of the Watres bill, which incorporates the proposal of the Postmaster General for revision of the airmail contract regulations, Mr. Brown said: “Unless the plan in this bill is adopt- ed, we will junk the invaluable experi- ence the industry has obtained with the material progress it has made at a great cost to the United States and the investing public.” Bill Is Radical Departure. The Watres bill would authorize he Postmaster General to contract for mail transportation by air on a space weight ( basis and to sign contracts for the car- | rying of the mail with operators of air passenger lines as well as with the op- erators of airmail lines. In many respects the Watres bill is | regarded as a radical departure from existing Government policies governing contract relations between the Govern- ment and private industry. The bill is an amendment to the airmail act of 1925 and is intended, according to the preamble to the measure, “further to encourage commercial aviation by au- thorizing the Postmaster General to establish_airmail routes.” The bill provides that mailable mat- f ¢ ter of any description may be trans- ported by aircraft and that airmail shall Se any class o(ldmngl\g:n{whu;h airmail postage is paid. of post- ge on airmail are to be prescribed by the Postmaster General with the sole limitation that the rate on airmail of the first class shall not be less than 5 cents for each ounce or fraction of an ounce. This is lower than the present rate, which'is 5 cents for the first ounce and 10 cents for each additional ounce or fraction of ah ounce. The bill provides that whenever space contracted for in an airmail plane shall not be filled with airmail, the Postmas- ter General may authorize the use of such space for the transportation of any other mail matter. This means that he may fill up the mail planes with any class of mail, regardless of whether or not it bears special postage for that purpose, it is contended. Provides for Contract Awards. Another departure from existing pol- icy is an authorization to the Postmas- ter General to award contracts for car- rying of the airmail “when in his opin- jon the public interests shall so re- quire,” without advertising for or con- sidering bids. In this respect, there is the following injunction: “In awarding airmail contracts, the Postmaster General will give proper consideration o the equities of airmail and other aircraft operators with re- spect to the routes which they have been operating and the territories which they have been gerving.” The bill permits "the Postmaster General, upon the expiration of any airmail contract, to renew the contract by issuing & route certificate for a pe- riod of not exceeding 10 years from the date of the opening of contract service. Such certificate may be canceled at any time “for willful neglect on the part of the holder to carry out any rules, regulations or orders made for his guidance,® notice of such cancella- tion to be given in writing by the Post- arguments. ‘The measure authorizes the Postmas- ter Gleneral to make any extensions or airmail routes which MINISTER TO BOLIVIA JOINS AIRWAYS FIRM Evan ' E. Young Resigns After _|TEST PILOT TELLS RESULTS OF SAFETY Guggenheim Competition woh by Curtiss Tanager After Close Checking. Standards Flying Club Is Ad- dressed by Lieut. E. W. Rounds. | Flight tests applied to competing planes in the recent Guggenheim safe airplane competition, said to be the most accurate flight' tests so far ap- plied to any airpl ne, were described by | Lieut. Zdward W. Rounds, flight test section, Anacos. + Naval Air Station, one of the three official test pilots for the competition, in an illustrated lec- ture durl dards Flying Club at the Bureau o Standards. The minimum speeds of the two planes which completed the tests were checked within a range of error of three-tenths of a mile per hour or less, Lieut. Rounds said. Other per- formance characteristics important to the contest board were as carefully checked. The competition was won by the Curtiss Tanager, equipped with wing slots and flaps, full floating ailerons and unusually large tail surfaces. It is powered with a 176-horsepower air- cooled Curtiss Challenger engine. This plane won the first p! of $100,000. Held to Improve Safety. ‘The competition was held to improve the safety of aircraft through increases of aerodynamic stability and efficiency There were 27 entries, of which only 15 actually appeared at Curtiss Field Three of these were withdrawn without ing tested two were damaged in trial flights and eight failed to pass the rigid qualifying requirements. The two which passed the qualifying tests and entered the final rounds were the Curtiss Tan- ager and a Commandaire. - The British Handley Pflz did not pass the qualify- ing tests, Lieut. Rounds said, but was allowed because of its good qualities to remain in competition until the final selection. Of the 15 planes which reached the test field, only 10 actually were given some form of performance tests. Seven of the 10 failed on the maximum speed tests, a speed of 110 miles per hour being required, leaving only 3 which qualified in this and other preliminary | Quarter ‘of ‘Century in Dip- lomatic Service. E. Young, in the diplomatic service of the United States for 25 Yem, has resigned as Minister to Bo- ivia to join the international relations department of Pan-American Airways, it has been announced here. Young's diplomatic career included five years in Turkey and several years in this city as chief of the division of Near Eastern affairs. President Taft appointed him Minister to Ecuador in 1908. He then became economic ad- viser to the State Department and then went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, as consul general in the maritime provinces. After the war he was sent to Russia and in 1920 became American commisisoner to the Baltic provinces, now Esthonia, Lat- via and Lithuania. Returning to Washington, he was chief of the Eastern European division. In 1925 he was appointed by President Coolidge as Minister to the Dominican Republic. He served there four years and then was appointed by President Hoover as Minister to Bolivia. FELLERS WILL EXPLAIN - PLANE CATAPULT USE Expert Will Address Meeting To- morrow Night of Standards Flying Club. The origin and use of the catap.lt designed by the Navy Department for the launching of airplanes from the decks of warships will be explained by Lieut. William M. Fellers, Navy Bureau _|of Aeronautics, at a meeting of the Standards Flying Club at 8 o'clock Tuesday night in the Bureau of Stand- ards’ east building, Connecticut avenue and Van Ness street. The public is invited, Lieut. Fellers, recognized authority on the subject of catapuits, has made a g;;cm study of these devices for the 10 years in connection with ‘his work in the Bureau of Aeronautics. The tatapult also has been ada) to commercial practice for the launch- ing of airplanes from ocean liners for the delivery of important mail and to land passengers in advance of the dack- ing of the steamer. Prof. Langley and the Wright brothers made use of the catapult for the launching of the earli- est airplanes. RECORD FOR MAIL PLANES. Airway Corporation Registers Total of 1,286,766 Miles in Alr in 1929, Airmail planes of Eastern Air Trans- port. formerly Pitcairn Aviation, operat- ing over the New York-Atlanta-Miami airway, passing through the Natlonal Capital, flew a total of 1,286,766 miles in 1929, it was announced here last ' week. They' carried a total of 463267 Pounds of mail. ‘The routes flown by Eastern Alr ‘Transport, under Government contract, 1,572 miles long and cut down mail time between New York and Miami to 24 hours, mail posted in New York in the afternoon being delivered the fol- lowing afternoon in Miami. the week before the Stan<i PLANES' FLIGHTS LIEUT. E.'W. ROUNDS. tests. These planes then were given safety tests and demonstrations. To meet the | safety requirements they had to be able | to fiy at a minimum speed of 35 miles | per hour, glide at a minimum of 38 | | miles per hour, stop in 100 feet after | landing, take off from a standstill in | | less than 300 feet, land over an ob- | struction 35 feet high and come to a| | stop within 300 feet of the base of the | obstruction, take off over the same ob- | struction from a standing start 500 feet | from the base of the obstruction, de; onstrate ability to recover from ab- | normal altitudes without the aid ot the pilot, demonstrate maneuverability on the ground and get in and out of a field 500 feet square surrounded by ob- | structions 25 feet high. At the close of these safety tests such planes as remained in the competition were to be eligible for point competitions for the award. | Closest Checks Made. The Curtiss entry demonstrated a | minimum flying speed of 30.6 miles per hour and the Handley Page of 33.4 miles. These tests were most carefully made. Each of the three official pilots made two minimum speed runs each with each of the planes and the pilots | of the companies which entered the planes in the contest also made runs. | The results checked within three-tenths | >t a mile per hour, said to be the closest | cneck ever made. These runs were made with full power on, slots and flaps open and the stabilizer in the full | “tail heavy” position. No other planes | | the best plane won. tested” were within 9 miles per hour of the 35-mile-per-hour mini- mum, Lieut. Rounds said. In the minimum gl speed tests the flights were made with engine off. The Curtiss entry showed a:speed of | 37.1 miles per hour, while the Handley Page was 1.7 miles over the required 38 miles per hour. In the landing tests the Curtiss stopped within 90 feet of the plage where the wheels first touched (r.het ground and the Handley Page in 82 eet. Landing over the obstruction, the Curtiss stopped 293 feet from the base of the obstruction and the Handley Page 320 feet. The Curtiss required a take-off run of 295 feet and the Hand- ley Page 290 feet. In the take-off over the obstacle the Curtiss required the full 500 feet, while the British entry, of lighter wing loading and power loading, got off in 440 feet, ‘The gliding angle tests were the most difficult of all to determine accurately, Lieut. Rounds sald, and, after repeated | variations in the figures, it was deter- | mined to announce no definite figures. | though both remaining competitors were well within the required limits. Pilots Enjoyed Arguments. “The part of the tests which were enjoyed most by the test pilots,” Lieut. Rounds said, “were the arguments cver stability and control of the competing planes.” Neither of the planes, he sald, was entirely satisfactory in demonstrating its ability to recover from unusual attitudes without assistance of the pilot. Referring to the ultimate victory of the Curtiss entry, Lieut. Rounds said that he believes without question that ‘Those who de- veloped the plane, he said, deserved great credit for their work. In addition to conducting the official tests, Lieut. Rounds said, tests were conducted to determine the precise ef- fect of the operation of the slots and flaps on the Curtiss plane. With the slots open, lowering of the flaps de- creased the speed of the plane 4 miles per hour, he said. With the slots closed, moving of the flaps up and down caused a variation in speed of 6 miles per hour. Opening and clos- ing of the slots gave a difference of 5.7 milés per hour. The slots and flaps, Lieut. Rounds said, undoubtedly are de- vices which permit lower landing sj A A second of the three official test pilots, selected as being the finest test fiyers in the country, was Capt. Thomas Carroll, former chief test pi of ‘the National Advisory Committee for Aero- nautics, who now is in charge of the de- velopment ‘of ‘Washington Airport from the safety standpoint. The third was Lieut. Stanley Umsted, Army Air Corps. Asphalt Used on Pontoons. Asphalt is being used to coat the in- side of seaplane pontoons. The asphalt is emulsified with ‘water and applied. | by fog. 9 Louis fiyer, who successfully executed ., three outside with a Eugene Stevens of ‘The feat, unpreceden nautics, was undertaken e PROBLEMS OF AIR NEARER SOLUTION Scientific Conferences at St. Louis Exposition Bring About Results. in sero= of | bergh at the Army School, Kelly Pield, Tex., weighs 200 nds. He dec he experi- enced no ill effects except for unusual warmth about the temples and extreme pressure on the head. Glider Interesting Exhibit. One of the interesting planes exhibit~ ed at St. Louls is a tiny powered glider, which has a two-cylinder air-cooled en- 5[:3: noceloping 30 horsepower _and | uf ul 3 N Many of the most pressing problems | plane w'eluhx but 380 ;m:nun-;: he:l; of modern aviation have been brought | be stored in any il mo; : | average home. es closer to a solution during the past) o OC TIETEER O run, according to week as a result of technical and scl- | reports received here, and has a land- entific: sessions in_connection With the | ing speed of 25 miles per hour and & - mu‘:mzmml Aircraft Exposition at 8t.| top speed of about 85 miles per hour. uis. ' | It A A day when the airplane Will be the | on B ey or ng pour, OF about 35 miles, safest mode of transportation was en- | *"Am . Visloned by -Lieut. James H. DOOIIE, | was o Mant of & et canss Of the week *° famed pilot, who has just resigned | plane with a Guernsey cow n'-"“" po! . g“. from-the Army Air Corps, in an ad-| senger, dress at one of the sessions of the avia- | beosed somethine Tme a0t PAYS the :g tion seection of the Soclety of Automo- | horteq. {ive Engineers at St. Louls. fovy M o BB o T “Hundreds of blind landings have | smail romriiens rogay o the ground been made,” he sald, according to As- | The. eon iery arhed 1o parachutes. soclated Press dispatches received here, | milkmen who watched. the Stume Teom “to show conclusively that it is possible | the ground, it is reported, were mfl': rm- to l;nd“by Instruments alone without | tained but not alarmed by the " an reakage. pros: p Yrests have covered a period of sev- | PO Aerial competition. " eral months, but the procedure still 38| planes, which filled e recently at a cost of $3,000,000, to continue the tests and develop thi e r:‘l - oo o e % from St. Louis show. The value of air a point\planes, "engines flying ment mm is can be applied to commercial \gn exhibition the-rn!dia mm’ofi"w b: “When this is brought about the air- 0 ¢X°¢8S Of 2,500,000, plane will become the safest known o o means of transport, as it will be the | Plan to Bomb Fish. only one that can operate-unhampered | pish off the coast of Norway are to | be treated like enemy submarines in war time, Experiments will be made | with special bombs, to be dropped from * | airplanes. The stunned fish are ex- pected to float to the surface, where they may be gathered in easily. Must Learn to Fly By Instruments. “The time has already come when no airplane is_thorugohly equipped that cannot be flown by instruments alone, s0 the pilot can direct it to any point regardless of weather conditions. By the same token, no pilot has completed his training until he has learned to fly by instruments alone, without the need nL any reference point outside the air- ne.” Doolittle represerited the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, the agency for which he made the first totally blind flight, taking off, fi and landing by means of an “artifici " and a combination of visual nndum-sl radio signal receiving squip- ments, The famous flyer, who is credited with making the first outside loop in an airplane, was gone one better dur- Aircraft Show Dates Set. The second ‘annual Pittsburgh air- craft show will be held at Motor Square Garden March 6 to 15, it has been an- nounced here. e Distributors Perfect Circle Piston Rings CREEL BROS. 11811 14th St. N.W. Decatur 4220 - - ing the exposition by Phil Love, St. SEE THE NEW HUPMOBILE - LINE 90, 80, and 70 velvet miles per hour. 133, 100, and 70 horsepower, silky controls, vibration-free smoothness, extraordinary quiet. No wonder Hupmobile is confi- dent that these new cars will set new units of measurement in the motor world. SIXES AND EIGHTS 133 HORSEPOWER HUPMOBILE EIGHT, 90 MILES AN HOWR . . . . $2080 100 HORSEPOWER HUPMOBILE EIGHT, 80 MILES' AN HOUR $las !'. 1745 70 HORSEPOWER HUPMOBILE SIX, 70 MILES AN HOUR . 1095 Prices quoted “‘at factory” . « « Custom equipment avallable at slight extrs ecet.’ » » DISTRIBUTORS [ MOTT MOTORS, INC. 1518-20 Fourteenth St. N.W.—Decatur 4341 ASSOCIATE DEALER NORTHEAST HUPMOBILE SALES S0 H Street N. o « Metropolitan