Evening Star Newspaper, April 6, 1930, Page 64

AVIATION who watch the twin-|still remained a heavy load, there u{x:"t;oxmc night air-| was hope of getting it all in one 2 e sliding along|plane. ine* the black sky sel-| The teletype then recorded the the struggle which|following orders, assigning pilots on to make it possible for|to ships for the evening and night that plane to be where it is at the | runs: “Then Potts will take 60 on $ime it should be there. thru on schedule No. 3, and There are many varieties of |[Brown will bring the first one up. griet which can occur in the oper- | Treat will bring the 9:10 out of ations office at an airmail field on | WK (Newark), and Kytle will 2 y busy line. Through the news|bring it on thru. The ship used ‘ ‘columns of any daily paper you|will be No. 94. For the NB (north- may hear of the difficulties which |bound) we have available in RM the airmail guot faces; generally | (Richmond, Va.) Armstrong and + only when he fails to overcome |Sieve: ‘these difficulties. You seldom| “Thanks. How is the weather?” hear anything of the trials and|Richmond asked. A .tribulations of the ground crews.| “Looks OX. to me. Think it There is a saying among air-|will To through O.K. Might get mail people that airmail progress|a little bad on the north end late must be made on the zrrtl)und. 1&'3 tonight.” R L e e New Poundage Record Set. when you watch what happens in The teletype then conveyed the a busy operations office you real- ize that it is as true as any saying |information that new airmail poundage records had been set on can be. Much Ground Work Necessary. |the East Coast run during March, with a total of 34,987 pounds on Before an airmail plane can be put into the air an enormous|the New York-Atlanta line and amount of work is necessary on|13,160 pounds on the Atlanta- the ground. When the plane has| Miami, or a total of 48,147 pounds taken off there is no cessation of |over the FEastern Air Transport system. Paul A. Miller, chief of this work. There must be team- work between the pilots and the |the Boiling Field weather station, ground crews every minute the|reading these figures off the tape, line is in operation or there will| commented that he remembered be trouble somewhere. when a total of 2,400 pounds for A glimpse of the activities at|a month on the transcontinental the Eastern Air Transport office|line was cause for rejoicing. at Bolling Field at any hour of| Messages such as that ordering the day or night is sufficient to|Potts to take over Pabst’s plane show the need for t:amwork all the time. The section of this line between Washington and New York is the heaviest tiaveled air- mail line in the country, with six lanes operating daily. From ashington south four planes travel the line every 24 hours on regular schedule, and others must be pressed into service whenever unusually large mailings are re- celved at any point along the line. A record of what went on at the Bolling Field office one afternoon during the past week may serve as an example. There were no weather complications other than a strong wind from the south and southwest, holding steady at all altitudes. It was the day the “double-header” schedule, which has been in operation irregularly during the past six months or more, was replaced by a regular schedule. A new airmail stop at Charlotte, N. C., also was added.| More tape came out of the tele- The operations, however, were Q?ane"er, The message stated routine as far as the functions of | that Pabst had brought No. 3 into ground and air persennel are con- | Camden, N. J., airport, the Phila- cerned. < &a.lglhu m;huuntop, o?etll:ogrhwt of oz . A 4 Wi 1t is just before 4 o'clock in the [Aghting strong head winds. Wil afternoon in the little operations|)is immediately began to compute office at Bolling Field. G. A. Wil- | fiying time on the remainder of lis, in charge during this shift, 18| the trip to this city, so that he how much mail will be ready for to have the mail truck at the fleld. the southbound plane which has Pilots’ Autograph Desired. ‘Willis then got out a package ::tt End!eyt!;lel i t.hke New York rminus, at 3 o’clock. In the office of the Bolling Field [Of letters sent to him by collec- ! weather station, the Eastern|tors of “first airmail covers” in Transport teletype station, con- Charlotte, who wanted cancella- necting all flelds along the line, is | tions on the first airmail flight clicking away. Message after|into Charlotte. These letters were message appears on the narrow |to be autographed by the pilots ribbon of paper. on whose planes they were car- ried. Messages Are Decoded. At 5:35 the mail truck arrived from the post office, bringing Decoded, these messages run i ething like this: three pouches of mail for Pabst “There is considerable mail here, and we will have two ships each way,” comes a message from . g_llnrmt flAner s&mo dugunm: e general operations office attayjed up.to a new refueling pit the New York end asks Charlotte|sunk at the edge of the field. for information as to the welght|while Willis and the truck driver of the mail to be flown north and ‘opened the two combination locks + south from th'"-m be about 18| 0D the mail plane compartment, ‘So far there wi al 80| to0k out one pouch of mail for or 190 pounds to Atlanta and|thiscity and put in the three new more geing north. The local mail pounches, Wade Todd, who will has not been worked or collected | take over'a new third shift as field yet,” the reply goes back. manager, gassed the plane. I think that the first ship out; gave Pabst the packet of of Ne;vark can handle louf:p- letters requiring autograph . bound,” New l““‘ replies. g and the latest weather informa- ou can't get it all on arrange 10| tion and five minutes after he had ave second southbound stop at landed, Pabst was off in the gath- Charlotte and pick up the rest. ering dusk for Richmond. His Will you have extra ship there for | trjm, yellow-winged pl 'y the northbound?” the dull disk of a missh: While this message was on the |ghich was just disa; way south Charlotte was Wiring s dark bank of New York that there would be five | 59y across the Potomac. pouches of mall, weighing 400, In the meantime, Champe C. pounds, northbound from there. |majjaterro, the youngest pilot on “How about extra ship there?” New York repeated. justing the rigging of the shuttle lane he was to fly to New York. “I have one and can use that it necessary,” Charlotte replied. | e took off for a short trial flight, “Are you going rself?” you “I will if it is O. K.” “All right with me. Then with other ship from AN (Atlanta), and also the second can if necessary, that should it. You want to have second ship stop in both cases and not use extra ahig if we can get out of it. Is that the dope?’ “Second ah!lf i oride,” eame the|tnose letters, but to have them lomll from T ette - q|returned to him later” * * ® ' “Better try to use your ship and |« ! try to get it all on that one and .w.“oth"’ S the first northbound in.” “OK. Will try to do the best I can and hold down overhgad.” Ferrying Is Avoided. i All this chatter on the wire had oni o e routing of ohips 0 and the rou of ps s0 that each plane could be used to ur?ll:filmwifilc‘h i about the the best ble advantage. The it he will think & matter of keeping planes evenly distributed uo‘nzn;l;; line wlthou: unnecessary “ferrying,” or ing storms, clouds and fog or ri of em| lanes back and forth, ] | R Do simost &8 intricate sy |8 serenely, beneath & stiff problem in chess. cordas ‘Then the tele goes on schedule No. 3, brought from Willis the explanation that it has become necessary, in view of the keavy airmail schedules on the coastal route, to number the schedules just as the railroads have done. On the New York-Washington line No. 1 is the southbound shut- tle plane from Newark to this city, No. 2 the northbound regu- lar night mail plane from At- lanta, No. 3 the regular afternoon mail plane out of Newark for the South, and so on through the day. “Many people along the rail- roads come to know the trains by numbers, elfiecmly the com- muters,” Willis . “Maybe some time le along the air- mail lines will remark, ‘There goes No. 4, and those who follow such things will know that the malil is %n tk e wing from Atlanta to New ork. later, so closely had Willis fig- ured the progress of Pabst’s fight against the wind, the plane came in for a landing on the line and and was off, navigation lights glowing against the darkening sky, at 6:50 pm. - There would not be another 1 o'clock that night. meantime, however, the clattered on and on: “Potts He is behind schedule. ” Details of all descrjp- unceasingly, tirelessly, so that the planes might move on schedule ut it at all. the pilot, alone in the dark, buc! began pound- | of this new service. | Ing out the fol message| ~ Others, however, will see ro- from Hadley Field: “GG V WK 3-1|mance in the untiring labor of | —Pabst 60 out 1,500 on 8 pouches | those unknown and unsung fig- 3 packages weight 132 pounds 12| yres at the fields below, bendin ounces.” This message, the code|their every effort wwnig the :ofi showing it to be from Newark,| s interrupted service—that every- { Phakthe fhird pikne over the ting | Ch10E TWAY be ready for the pilot TR ApH 1, ptloted by Larry Pabst shove o out a moment’s LA T .m., carrying el 2 of mail three packages Fhanay to carry on South. Five minutes | 82 d | the use of anti-backfire devices. and headed | | to take it UD|janded, received his load of maii |l e ¥Ians at Bolling Field unt}ln atter | teletype s is running against head | || may have heavy|mell him not to stop to autograph || “Hold ship tions. The ground work went on | |i and the line might function |l } $17.00 | one may feel{fll - th the best traditions | delay and that no emergency, ||| however unexpected, may find ||l prepared. BRITISH DIRIGIBLE 10 CROSS OCEAN iFlight Planned * for. This Spring Step Toward Air- Linked Empire. By the Associated Press. LONDON, April 5—The British diri- gible R-100 will attempt to bridge the Atlantic this Spring, the first step toward the English dream . of an air- linked empire. Meanwhile the Graf Zeppelin will start on its sixth transatlantic trip. The United States, focal point of former air liner crossings, will be neg- lected, for the R-100 will point for Canada and the Graf for South Amer- ica. Weather conditions will govern the time of departure, probably late in April or May. For the R-100, ntic dlrvtfifi:la com- pleted last November, this be the acid test. It was built at a loss of $950,000, the total cost being $2,500,000. The performance of the R-100 may de- termine whether Britain will carry out its plans for a fleet of dirigibles linking the far-flung units of the empire by air. Subject of Controversy. Controversy has dogged the R-100 ever since it was bullt. In Parliament recently, F. Montagu, undersecretary of state for air, refused to reply to the question whether it would not be best to admit frankly “that neither the R-100 or R-101 would be of any value for commercial 'mxrnm.' The R-100 gin its flight at Cardington, where it is housed with its sister ship, the R-101, and its destina- tion will be St. Hubert airport, near Montreal, where a 200-foot mwflnfi mast, higher than any in the Unite States, has been erected. Later the R-101 will head for a moor- ing mast that awaits it in South Africa, while other masts have been erected in Egypt and India. Scott May Be Skipper. Either Squadron Leader R. S. Booth or Maj. G. H. Scott, who commanded the R-34 in 1919 on the first transat- lantic crossing by a_dirigible, will be the skipper of the R-100. Dr, Hugo Eckener again will command the Graf. The R-100 holds 5,000,000 cubic feet of gas. is 709 feet long and 133 feet wide. The Graf's gas capacity is 3,- 708,000 cubic feet, and it is 766 feet d 100 feet wide. savings expected by dirigible on British empire mmncludc: LAKEHURST, N. J. (®).—Twenty Route. . | years ago an 18-year-old lad, Vincent England-Egypt ... Arthur Clarke, jr, dreamed 2s a 82 :: Pneor",nhh " ¢ “middy” of being a skipper on the seven seas. el S o ‘Today, with rank of lieutenant com- Vis But Aion, mander and service on Uncle Sam's battle cruisers and submarines to his sions, Sea Duty Will Relieve Wiley, Present Commander, of Post at Lakehurst. Lieutenant Commander Has Had Five Years’ Experience in Naval Aviation. Australia-New Zealand India-Australia ... India-Canada-Englan of b Navy flfl.’:m TELLS How To cUR Sea duty beckons PLANE FIRE HAZARDS Herbert V. W of the unm:” Technical Memorandum Stresses "hmm oIl take the heim. & His experience with afreratt ‘began Proper Design and Building and _Choice of Material. eles. five years ago, when he inted I S L uty involving actual fiying in dirigi- bles, balloons and airplanes, : MARYLAND AVIATION EXEMPT FROM GAS TAX Flyers Must Pay Duty When Pur- chasing Fuel, but Are Given Re- fund on that Used in Planes BALTIMORE, April 5.—The freedom of the air for aviators does not include freedom from the 4-cent road tax for the gasoline purchased for their autos, according to an official of the State' controller’s office. An spplication for the refund must be made 3 While very few airplanes use Mary- land roads intentionally, the gas tax is with every gallon A “The line tax in this State is not lfpfl:%le to aviation,” he ex- pl . “Operators of planes, whether their lines are inter or intra state, are allowed a refund on the gasoline bought to the extent of the State tax. “When gasoline is bought in Mary- land, however, operators _Ky the full price, including the tax. The us rice, including the ta: tax thi collec is refunded to them on direct lmuuun to the State controller’s office The danger of fire in airplanes may be greatly reduced by proper designing and building, choice of building mate- rial and even the action of tie pilot in flight, it is stated in a technical memo- randum of the National Advisory Com- mittee for Aeronautics, reprinted from & paper by Henri Brunat, based upon an investigation undertaken for the technical commission of . the French Committee for Aeronautical Propa- da. ‘While his recommendations for re- ducing fire hazards in the aircraft may seem many and complex, Brunat says, “as a matier of fact, they are very few and simple and will naturally come into one’s mind, provided the causes of accidents are clearly understood.” ‘The application of his methods, he points out, involves no new technical problem and can be accomplished in s very short time. It is, he points out, merely a question of will on the part of those in charge of designing, build- ing and using airplanes. In his paper Brunat discusses the causes of airplane fires and methods of prevention or reduction of the hazards, such as the use of fireproof bulkheads, proper shielding of the ignition system against chance ks, ventila- tion of the cowling, gasoline er ofl vapors may collect, choice of plglng and connection materials noi subject to vibrational breakages, and Airport Areas Set Aside. PANAMA, April 5, (#).—Circular areas of land with a radius of three miles, have been set aside in the vicinity 4;( every city and mn in !.hn‘ count for new airports lecree of the ge’pubun of Panamas. OFFICIAL/l If For Every Car I And a Break for You SAVINGS | ‘We need your Business. YOU have use for 'the dollars we save you. Our. up-to-date equipment is to help us give you better brake service, Not an excuse to charge you more in the name of scientific service. A WEAVER AUTOMATIC | BRAKE TESTER at our K ‘ Street shop for the use of those desiring a machine test. I dangerous ramps for you to |f drive up; no flickering dials for 1 I Use This - Machine to Give You No || you to watch. The answer to your brake problem is before your eyes. Relining Prices for I 4-WHEEL BRAKES ‘Chevrolet . *Pontiac up to 1929.. } $15.00 | | | | | $16.00 For some it will be the thought of ||| Equally l"NPHm on Other Cars *Bpecial fiber fining Tor Chevrolet, Pontinc and Nesh front ' shoes. LININGS: STOCKED AND SERVICED Ambler -Autobestos — Johins-Man- ville, Raybestos ‘Where Moulded Lining is in ted - T e SPECIAL Something others do not GIVE you. A true-dram job without extra labor charge. Pay us only / d by the Graf Zeppelin (upper right). CLARKE WILL BE NEW SKIPPER OF DIRIGIBLE L RIVAL AIRSHIPS TO SPAN" ATLANTIC e Proposed R-100 Flights snmm Proposed Graf Zeppelin Flight . The next few months are to be featured by Important airship flights by the world’s two largest rival airships. The map shows the routes to be followed by the British R-100 (upper left) in linking Great Britain with its foreign posses- From South America the Graf will come to the United States. | ‘There are a number of instances of successful one-wheel landings having been made in emergencies by small air- planes, but the Army Air Corps has Just received reports of two such land- ings made by large planes, one a C-1 Douglass transport and the other a twin-engined LB-7 bombardment plane. The transport plane was brought down to a perfect two-j Lieut. Richard E. Cobb, Air Corps, at Fairfield Air Depot, Dayton, Ohio, re- cently. The wheel was lost soon after the plane had taken off from Selfridge with three passengers aboard. The story of their plight was telephoned ahead and officers at Fair- fleld signaled to Lieut. Cobb before he landed to call his attention to the miss- Fleld, Mich,, Wheel. ~ ANGELES NEW D Equipment days ago of & ficials of the nounced that the Packard sustained speed mean speed), hill- 3 , and comfort, the }'Qa’u‘i‘ the equal of any car Its smart appearance attracts attention , and I have yet to hear an unfavor- car, a thess who haue driven — igrslioterh performance. b G Northeast Oldsmobile Sales & Service 64 H Street N.E. - Telephone Metropolitan 5260 FORD PLANES TO USE tional Following Success Following successful test flights a few ered with the new Packard Dicsel ra- dial air-cooled ofl-burning engines, of- after will be optional equipment on the Ford 4-AT transport, now regularly powered by Wright J-6 engines. ‘The test flights of the Diesel-powered Ford were made with Leroy Manning, chief pilot of the Ford Motor Co., at the controls. He was accompanied by Capt. L. M. Woolson, designer of the Packard alrcraft engine. ‘The three Diesels deliver a total of 660 horsepower, as against a total of 900 for the three Wrights. Despite the | pilot on the Boeing mail and passenger difference in. power, however, it was | f announced, the plane left the ground after a very short run, climbed rapidly and handled well. This is the first time ything but single-engined planes. Hereafter to Be Op- a serious crash. of Tests. Ford transport plane pow- Ford Motor Co. have an- | to the Packard Diesel here- officers reported major accident. Omaha, Diesel has been flown in |miles a Des Moines, Io e bomber is thought to be the larg- est plane ever landed on one wheel. feat was accomplished by Lieut. ‘William Groen, jr., Air Corps, at Rock- well Field, Coronado, Calif., saving his Hfe and that of five enlisted men com- posing the bomber crew. In taking off, one of the wheels was wrecked without those in the plane be- ing aware of the fact. Officers on the ground saw the accident, and Capt. H. M. Elmendorf and Lieut. I. ring took off in pursuit of the bomber, By diving and other maneuvers they attracted the attention of the occu- pants of the bomber, who discovered | speed of landing. the useless wheel. Lieut. Groen circled down over the I I | field and signaled that he was about I. to land. All precautions for an accident | glme without a tail as somethi were taken. The Army ambulance and fire engine took up stations at the in- dicated landing place and with sus- pended breaths those on the ground waited for what they feared might be Lieut. Groen, however, skillfully and coolly brought the big one wheel, tilting the plane so the damaged wheel was high in the air. As the plane lost speed the bad wheel set- tled and there was a crash and ripping of fabric as the ship spun aroun settled in a cloud of dust. Ambulance and fire engine crews ran to the A‘)ot find the pilot and crew scrambling out uninjured. One wing of the plane was wrecked, but neither the motors | nor propellers were damaged. Fellow that Lieut. Groen's landing was one of the most perfect of its kind of which they had any knowl- edge and that his skill alone averted what might otherwise have — Airway Beacons Effective. The effectiveness of the standard De- g:runent of Commerce rotatini acons is attested by Robert ne between Chicago Prom an altitude of 7,000 feet above to shed its tail. and int landing by | Of Motoriess fiying. ile craft with no lift and raises the fuel cost. less ship. ‘The tailless A. Wood- poses tailless. bomber down on and A former aeronautical headquarters in Atlanta. been a airways hrane, and Omaha. | 13th and E Sts. My friends invariably praise the Viking and are most enthusiastic about its performance” People who use their cars the most have the greatest enthusisem for the Viking. . Such owner good-will is the natural heritage of a car that is designed progressively — built faith- fully—and priced reasonably. The Viking is a fine car. It has an 81-] r 90-degree, V- type eight-cylinder engine. Its beautiful Fisher Bodies are gener- ous in size and luxurious in ap- pointment. It will deliver speed, power, and acceleration to-warm the heart of any owner, These things ave important. But they are not more important than Viking’s enduring stamina—un- usually long life—and day-in-end- day-out dependability. These are the things that give estisfaction. ‘These are the things that make up value. These are the things you want in your motor car. And these are sound and im- portant reasons why you should see and drive the Viking—soon. Wisconsin Motor Co. . 726 17th Street N.W. Telephone Metropolitan 4314 lingly new. In fact, it is posite. ‘The early gliders nf brothers were to all intents and pur- AVIATION NEEDS AIRCRAFT DRAFTSMEN COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF DRAFTING Enroll any time—Day and Evening Classes. Continued throughout , Cochrane said, he saw a chain | year. Correspondence Instruction. of the beacons, which are located 10 rt, including several t of l 150 miles Pohanka Service 1126 20th Street N.W, Telephone Decatur 0206 BIG PLANES MAKE (TAILLESS PLANES -WHEEL LANDINGS Lieut. Richard E. Cobb Sig- naled and Brings Craft Safely to Earth. TESTEDINGERMANY Long Fuselage Regarded as Dead Weight—Bigger Wings Are Utilized. BERLIN (#)—The airplane is trying Tn]luu experimental planes already have been flown, and eventually a tail may be as hard to find on an airplane '.?l & buggy-whip on a modern automo- bile. Wh{ the trend is toward more wing less tail is explained by Robert Kronfeld, one of the foremost exponents So long as airplanes were small, frag- paper-thin wings, Kronfeld, the development of a fuse- lage capable of carrying passengers and cargo seemed highly desirable. Now, however, in the days of huge planes with hollow wings, such as the recently built Junkers G-38, the long fuselage is losing its excuse for exist- ence. 1t is dead weight; it contributes it means costly resistance that cuts down speed and ‘The G-38, of course, is not a tail- less plane, but the design, by wings functions formerly performed by the fuselage, points to an entirely tail- “Storch” demonstrates that the all-wing airplane can fly with less power and land on a smaller fleld than its tail-carrying contemporaries. The 8-horsepower craft showed aston. ishing speed, yet its descent was almost parachute-like in buoyancy and low lving the g What strikes Kronfeld as the strong- est part of the trend toward tailless planes is that most people look on & e Wright SHUMAKER IS ADVISER China has appointed Floyd N. Shu- maker, a former American naval cap- tain, as its air advisor, and has instl- tuted a two-year meronautical develop- ment program for which several lion dollars has been Irpmprllwd. advisor to the Chinese Gevernment, Carl H. Dolan 1 now assistant operations manager for Western Air Transport, operators for the government of the New York-At- lanta-Miam{ airmail route, with his Send for Free Catalogue Metre. 56368 ] Oldsmobile-Washington Co. 1515 14th Street N.W. Takoma Park, D. C. . . Telephone Decatur 5516 Telephone Georgia 3782 / ,Olds Motor Works Factory Zone Office, 1515 14ih St. N,W. Murphy Motor Co. 226 Carroll Street, " J. B. Monroe Waldorf, Md. Brn_ndywina 10-F-4 NEW PARACHUTE TESTED (| B e n T o " glon of the problem of handling| STOCKHOLM, Sweden mm SERW CE co itnou; Salling out Turther re- | een ied uecestly s Swsden ou ou er re- . nrnphnu,:hencm re-| It ’gfllflfl:‘lfiwmbfll Qorted that word had just eoms g aoned t&}u A _that snd auto-