Evening Star Newspaper, July 20, 1930, Page 45

AVIA TION BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON. no fireworks display has been complete for lo, these many years, may be the model for aircraft of the not so far distant future, if the dreams of certain scientists and experi- menters come true. The way for the rocket-plane is being cleared in Germany, where actual flights of this character have been made with more or less dubious success, and in this country. In the United States the chief champion of the rocket principal for useful propulsion is Prof. Rob- ert H. Goddard of Clark Univer- sity, Worcester, Mass. The Bu- reau of Standards also )s Inter- ested and is making a study of some of the purely scientific prob- lems raised by the jet system of {)ropulslon, which is the secret of he brief, but glorious flight of the skyrocket. Jets, it is hcped by those at work on the rocke\ plane idea, also may be the secret for not so brief and even more glori- ous flights of the airplanes of to- MOrTow. Few of those generations of ‘Americans who, on successive an- niversaries of Independence Day, have marked out the path of some bustling and aggressive skyrocket have made any effort to apply the principles of its exquisitely simple and effective “works” to the transportation of men and goods, we are led to believe. Rocket Action Studied. When the little rocket bought from the nearest fireworks stand —in some parts of the country with legal sanction—is ignited and pops off its handle for the biggest moment in" its hitherto musty career, it rises with a fiery hiss, emits a booming cough and expels its little stars of flaming powder, to the astonishment of night-ily- ing bats, owls and assorted ncc- tural fowl. Little Johnny is d>- lightei for the moment, then tucks the memory of that particula* rocket into the cubbyhole in his mind reserved for ancient history and clamors for the next burnt sacrifice. To littie Johnny's papa the rocket, probably seems to say, in the language of the college cheer leader: “Sis, boom, another 25hcem.s gone to hallelujah, yah, ah!” To the mind of Prof. Goddard and others of his ilk, ho®ever, the rocket has much more to sav. “I'm more than just a -.ss and a flash in the night,” says the rocket to Prof. G d. “I am a most efficient example of the old get-up-and-go spirit. Look at me! I've got mo complicated mo- tor, no driving shafts, no gears, no propellers, no wheels. I am Old Man Motion reduced to his essence. I require no lubrication and 1 run my whole career with- out mechanical attention or the replacement of any parts. I am the simplest piece of transporta- tion machinery you ever saw. My mission is to transport into the| air those little powder balls which | become stars when_ I burst and give up my life for whoopee. I am a carrier of goods and how! Think upon me and get some- where.” Prof. Goddard hearkened to the giren song of the rocket many years ago and has been hard at work for 15 years in the develop- ment of the rocket as a useful carrier for the attainment of ex- treme altitudes. So valuable has been his work that Daniel Gug- genheim, who established the Guggenheim Fund for the Promo- tion of Aeronautics, has made a grant for continuation of the ex- gerimenm program undertaken y the Clark University professor. Began Work in 1912, Prof. Goddard, according to a review of his rocket studies sent here by Clark University officials, began his present series of experi- ments in 1912-13 while at Prince- ton University. The work orig- inally was carried forward with assistance from the Smithsonian Institution and Clark University and later the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Goddard rocket, it is ex- plained, i3 propelled by the thrust produced by expelled gases cre- ated by igniting powder or by the combustion of two liquids. It works on the ernclple of a shot- gun which shoots gases rather than shot. Basically it is much like an ordinary Fourth of July skyrocket. Propulsion is produced not by & push against the air, but by recoil due to the gases. “While experiments with powder rockets have been successful,” it is stated in the Clark University review, “indications are that the liquid propellants are much more efficient and are capable of greater development. “The rockets used so far have been very small, but have been uniformly successful, and Prof. Goddard feels that the prospects for improvements are much the same as those which have been achieved in aviation since the original flight by the Wright brothers, who flew only a few feet in their first plane, but demon- strated conclusively the practica- bility of their idea. No immediate experiments with large rockets are contemplated. Prof. Goddard has experimented for 15 years and expects to continue work for a number of years on the same problem.” Will Aid Study of Air. Scientists today are fairly well acquainted with the air and its contents up to 20 miles above the surface of the earth, it is pointed out, although no man ever has risen to more than eight and a fraction miles above sea level. Beyond 20 miles all present data are theoretical. Perfection of Prof. Goddard’s rocket, it is believed, will make possible the carrying of thermom- eters, barometers, electrical meas- uring apparatus, air traps to col- lect samples of air, and other in- struments to extreme altitudes to bring back much-needed infor- mation. It is planned to shoot the instrument-carrying rocket straight up until the propulsive fuel is exhausted and then to con- trol its descent by means of an automatic parachute. Since the greatest weight of the rocket will be In the liquid propellants, which will be exhausted in flight, the SKYROCK!.'X‘B, without which weight to be lowered by parachute will be very little and the instru- ments can be brought down with entire safety. It is believed that the results to be obtained from the shooting of instruments to great altitudes by rocket will be of far-reaching value in the fields of meteorology, astronomy, radio broadcasting, aviation and scleince in general. It is expected, for example, that | much will be learned of the spec- trum of the sun above the ozone layer, from 50 to 75 miles above the earth’s surface. Further knowledge may be gained of radio broadcasting waves, which are known to follow an electrical “ceiling” known as the Kennelly- Heaviside layer, which is assumed to be a layer of air charged elec- trically. In the field of meteor- ology, as a particular aid to avia- tion, it may be possible to prepare high elevation weather maps. First Report in 1916. Prof. Goddard's first report on his experiments was made in 1916 and was published by the Smith- sonian Institution three years la- ter. He has developed a new method of reaching high alti- tudes, shown to be operative in theory, which is regarded as so valuable that the experiments are to be continued under the direc- tion of a committee composed of Dr. J. C. Merriam, president of Carnegie Institution, of this city; Dr. Charles G. Abbot of the Smith- sonian Institution, Charles F. Marvin, chief of the Weather Bu- reau; Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, Dr. R. A. Millikan of the Cali- fornia Institute of Technology, Dr. Walter S. Adams of Mount Wilson Observatory, John A. Fleming, acting director of the Department of Terrestrial Mag- netism of Carnegie Institution, this city, and Henry Breckin- ridge. In the opinion of Dr. Abbot, Prof. Goddard’s inventions, his development of ¥roper gas orifices and continuously burning liquid propellants and his mathematical theory forme the foundation on which important events in the ex- ploration of the air will depend. “Goddard’s rockets,” Dr. Abbot said, “will enable scientists to ex- lore the air from sea level to its ighest layers. Studies will be THE SUNDAY NEW TRANSPORT PLANE MAKES ITS BOW HERE STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JULY 20. | | The ! —Star Staff Photo. AR RESIGNATIONS MAY BRING PAY AD Move in Congress to Improve Army Flying Promotions Expected. Renewal of the fight for a separate promotion list for the Army Air Corps is expected when Congress reconvenes as a result of the recent announcement that resignations of Air Corps officers during the past year reached the high- | est total since the close of the World ‘War, although resignations from the Army as a_whole were lower, with one exception, than in any year during the past decade. The resignation of 27 Air Corps of- ficers during the year is attributed to growing dissatisfaction with promotion conditions in the corps which compel officers of junior rank to assume the responsibilities and duties, without the pay, of officers of higher rank. Better Private Jobs. ‘The growth of commercial aviation makes it possible for the trained pilot to obtain in private life the proper living conditions which are denied him in the Army because of failure of the promotion system in the Air Corps, in the opinion of many of the officers who have resigned. Congress has had before it for sev- eral years legislation designed to cor- rect the injustices to Air Corps officers in the matter of promotions, but has taken no action until toward the close of the past session, when, instead of made where the air density is less than in our most perfect vacua. Hydrogen and helium may be found more plentiful than oxygen and nitrogen here, samples for chemical composition will be brought down, temperatures and pressures will be determined, the electrical and magnetic properties of the higher atmosphere will be measured and light will be thrown on the idiosyncrasies of radio transmission. Will Photograph Spectrum. “Even the spectrum of the sun will be photographed beyond the bounds of the violet, where its most interesting part is forever cut off to all observatories by ab- sorption of the traces of ozone, which always exists in the higher atmosphere. “These things we have been speaking of relate to the atmos- phere 25 to 250 miles up. They are of absorbing scientific inter- est. Of greatest value to the avia- tor of the future will be the mod- erate-height measurements of temperatures, pressures, wind ve- locities and electrical conditions, which rockets at all principal air- ports will be making daily. At present our measurements for the aviator’s air chart must be made by watching drift balloons, by sending up planes, by flying kites and captive balloons, or by esti- mating from observations made on the ground. It is impossible to get quickly results on the air con- ditions at considerable heights in these ways. With the parachute- rocket, however, we may expect that automatic instruments will be sent to any desired height and will bring back their records safely within a few minutes. Thus, by means of a network of stations, the Weather Bureau will be in ition to map the weather of he air as successfully as now it maps the weather pf the earth’s surface.” For use as the propulsive me- dium in aircraft, however, the rocket pfinclgle presents prob- lems which have not yet been worked out fully. It is regarded as possible that jet progumon by the emission of expanding gases may be replaced by the emission of air through jets from a turbine or blower. In Germany the emis- sion of gases from explosion of powder and liquids has been em- ployed for propulsion of railway carriages, automobiles and air- planes, German Rocket Plane. In the case of the German rocket plane, the take-off was made by means of the ordinary aviation engine and propeller, after which the rockets were fired to continue flight. This method is employed in a unique plane de- signed by Maurice Poirler, which employs ordinary engines to take off and climb to safe altitudes and then contemplates the use of rocket jets for high-speed flight. At any rate, the humble sky rocket at last seems to be coming into its own and it seems likely that whatever possibilities it may hold for the future transporta- tion of mankind will be thorough- ly worked out by practical experi- ments. Even should the “trans- portation” go no further than the carrying of recording instruments into the regions far above the earth’s surface, the rocket will have proved itself an exceedingly ixserul as well as ornamental fel- ow. Shell Runways Succeed. Seashell runways are used for land- ing at the new half-million-dollar San Francisco Bay Airport. It cost $60,000 to prepare and lay the shells for the landing strips, but the result is said to be the most perfect landing surface yet obtained. Concrete and asphalt are used for the take-off runways. Airport Memorial to Pilot. GRAYLING, Mich, () —Grasling alr Reserve aviator, who was killed during active duty with & fighting squadron, acting on the legislation, Congress ap- pointed a joint committee to give the matter further study. Among the 27 officers who submitted their resignations are some of the finest military pilots the country ever has de- veloped, chief among them Lieut. James H. Doolittle, regarded as one of the world’s 10 greatest flyers, and. Maj. John Jouett, commandant of the 3d Attack Group. Others of the group are known among flying people throughout the Na- tion for their ability. Nine Resigned In 1921. In 1921 there were but nine resig- nations of aviators from the Army. Since that time the number has in- creased steadily each year, though resignations in other branches of the ice, with the single exception of the Engineer Corps, have decreased. The situation in the Naval Aviation Service also is regarded as bad and a number of the foremost naval aviation pilots have resigned during the year, among them Lieut. Alford J. Williams, jr., premier Navy speed and aerobatic fiyer, and Capt. Holden C. Richardson, Navy ploneer aviator and aircraft de- signer. Reports that the wholesale resigna- tions from the flying services are inter- fering seriously with the building up of these increasingly important arms of the national defense are expected to play an important part in forcing a final congressional settlement of the situation at the earliest possible op- portunity. AIR TRAFFIC RULES OBSERVANCE SOUGHT Department of -Commerce to Issue Posters to Instruct Flyers on Regulations. In an effort to reduce the number of violations of the air traffic rules of the Department of Commerce, which con- stituted more than half the total of 523 violations of the air commerce reg- ulations during 1929, the aeronautics branch of the department is preparing to issue two posters for display at all airports throughout the country and other places where flyers congregate. Stricter observance of the air traffic rules will bring about a reduction in accidents as well as prevent the sus- r-mlon or revocation of Federal pilot icenses, officials of the aeronautics branch declare. One of the two posters will set forth in large type the complete text of the air traffic rules. The second poster will bear line drawings showing the most frequent causes of accidents and the percentage of the total accidents of each type during the past year. During the past year, statistics of the seronautics branch reveal, 16 licenses were revoked, 113 were suspended and 163 reprimands were meted out to vio- lators of the air traffic rules. The rules are divided into the following five major groups: Flying rules, take-off and landing rules, lights, day marking of masts and other obstructions to air traffic and signals. probably will be duplicated before the o an THis PhotogTaph shows an improvement over the old war song. * nafned in honor of ' Planes of e 2n¢ mbardment Group—the nine big fellows down B o wiiam ¥ McMullen, Naval single seaters of the 94th Pursuii Squadron. Selfridge Fleld, Mich, during recent Army Alr Corps exerelses. This scene = The official marking for a licensed thousands of spectators at the National Air Races in Chicago next month. DONALD D. MILLAR, Tllustrator of aviation subjects, who broke the D. C. Air Legion record by soloing after seven hours of instruction. Millar, who lives at the Broadmoor, Con- necticut avenue, learned to fly one month and one day after starting his course. He is after a private license. AVIATION SCHOOL RULES SOFTENED Flying Training Standards Expected to Be Raised by Relaxation. Relaxation of some of the rigid re- quirements surrounding the instruc- tion of student airplane pilots has been undertaken by the aeronautics branch of the Department of Commerce in the case of civillan schools which have been officially approved by the Depart- ment of Commerce. ‘Though the strict letter of the law 1s softened in the case of these schools, the high standards surrounding flying training in.the country as a whole expected to be improved by the move. The requirements have been amended to permit approved schools to accept students for instruction without being obliged to graduate them within any specified time limit, it was explained by Gilbert G. Budwig, director of air reg- ulation of the department. ‘These schools also will be allowed to aceept students on an hourly or part- time basis and they need not necessarily be graduated. Both new procedures are made possible by the waiving of certain parts of the department’s school regulations, Mr, Budwig ex- plained. “In the light of the excellent re- sults we have obtained from approved schools and in line with the depart- mental policy ®f granting concessions when justifiable,” Mr. Budwig explained, “we feel that material assistance can be gven approved schools by permitting ggmm waivers of the school regula- “The parts of the school regulations which are being waived have required that the entire course, both ground and flight, be completed in & maximum time of four months for private school, six months for limited commercial school and 18 months for transport school. They required that 662; per cent of the students accepted for in- struction graduate from the course for which they were enrolled.” Students who are graduated, how- ever, must in all cases have taken the entire course as lald down by the reg- ulations, Mr. Budwig explained, and nine out of ten of these graduates must successfully pass the examina- tions specified for the grades of licenses for which they apply. Students who do course are not entitled to make appli- cation for license unless they have had the minimum solo experience, as pro- :'})dm in the air commerce ns. Sows Grass From Plane. Confronted with the problem of sow- ing grass seed over 2,000 acres of stump-strewn land too rough for seed- ing by teams or hand, D. G. Earl Low, Coquille, Oreg., aviation enthusiast, turned to aviation for help. With the aid of Willlam Richardson, transport pllot, seed was scattered over the 2,000 acres in Coos County and the grass is coming up abundantly to furnish pas- turage for large herds of dalrying cattle. nts. 15| "Laira will fiy a Laird Speed spe- not take a full WONENS AR RACE| WL START HERE Famous Pilots to Be Among Group Starting Au- gust 23. Several of the most famous woman pilots in the United States are expected to flash across the starting line at Washingon Airport next month on the start of the Eastern women's derby race which will end at Chicago during the National Air Races, August 23 to September 1, inclusive. Though the en- try lists have not been completed, it is anticipated that approximately a score of woman flyers will start from the local field. ‘The pilots are expected to be in this city for several days prior to the start of the race, soon after the middle of next month, and arrangements for their entertainment are being made by the Aero Club of Washington, chapter of the National Aeronautic Association, and officials of Washington Airport. If the arrangements made here for the woman pilots are satisfactory, it is believed, the National Capital will be the starting point for one of the derbies each year in connection with America’s greatest air classic. This is the first time the Capital has had the oppor- tunity to witness one of the derbies, which have become an outstanding avia- tion feature in this country. The woman contestants are to fly in placement or less. The first lap of the race will be from this city to Atlanta, Ga., where the first control point will be located. From Atlanta the course will be to the West and then up the Mississippi Valley to Chicago. 8o successful was the women's derby last_year in connection with the races at Cleveland that it has been divided into two races this year, The Western women's derby will start from Long Beach, Calif., and will be open to planes of 800 cubic inch displacement or less. The first entry received by Maj. R. W. Schroeder, _contest director for the Thompson Trophy Race, the new speed classic for land planes, is that of Matty Laird, veteran pilot and builder of fast ‘commercial airplanes, according to word received here. The race will be timed by officials of the contest committee of the National Aeronautic Association under direction of Maj. Luke Christopher, who has gone to Chicago from this city to take charge of all contest arrange- ial, similar to the one in which Charles W, “Speed” Holman made the first out- side loop executed & civillan pilot. As the first official entry in the Thomp- son race, Laird’s plane will carry the number 1. 235 WOMEN HOLD AVIATION LICENSES Private Pilots Total 181, with 25 Entitled to Fly Trans- port Craft. Following the addition of 12 names to the list of licensed woman pilots in this country in one week, there now are 235 American women holding De- partment of Commerce licenses. They are divided as follows: Private, 181; industrial, 1; limited commercial, 28, @nd transport, 25. Alicia Patterson Simpson, who owns two Laird planes of her own, and who is known for her magasine articles on flying, has changed her rating from private to transport. Beryl T. Hart, who worked up to a limited commercial status within eight months after her first flight, is having the Travelair, in which she won a prize in a women's race at the Allentown Airport dedication recently, overhauled and streamlined for further racing ac- tivities. Isabelle Chappell, private pilot, of | Akron, Ohio, has just qualified for lim- ited commercial, and is working for & transport license. Beulah Unruh, New York waitress, who learned to fly out of tips received, has qualified for the lim- ited commerci ine Miller, 19 years old, the first Tulsa, Okla., woman to qualify, is a private pilot, and is on the way to a limited commercial rating. Helen Richey, daughter of the super- intendent of schools of McKeesport, Pa., passed her test for private license be- fore a crowd of 10,000 persons at Cur- tiss-Bettis Airport, Pittsburgh, and be- came the first woman in that city to qualify. Louise C. Yamos, who formerly played in the Ziegfeld “Follies,” has passed the private pilot examination at Cleveland. Carol R. Taylor of Balti- more is among the new private pilots to qualify for license. , THE BOYS ARE F mp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marchi low—are being convoyed on & combat mission Alz Corps Photo, planes of 500 cubic inch cylinder dis-| 1930—PART FOUR. INEW TYPE PLANE STUDIED CLOSELY Craft's Operation May Bring Direct Competition With Railways. The first of the new Stinson tri- motored monoplanes delivered here dur- ing the past week for operation on the New York, Philadelphia, Washington Airways Corporation system, beginning ! late next month, has aroused more in- | terest among aviation people than any The first of six new type tri-motored Stinson transport planes ordered for service on the New York-Philadelphia- | of the many new planes seen here in Washington Airways Corporation line beginning late next month, was demonstrated here during the past week. photograph shows the plane on the operations line at Washington Airport, terminal of the line. several months. ‘The new plane is designed from nose to tall for economical operation, and upon the success of the project, which promises to be the first direct competi- tion between air and rail transporta- tion over an important operating divi- sion, may depend much of the imme- :l.'.‘: future of air transportation in the ! Operating Costs Cut Half. Operating costs on the new plane are said to be approximately half those on the older type tri-motored planes carrying the same number of passen- gers, with an increased factor of safety on short runs. Six of the ships are to be delivered before service is inaugu- rated on the line. As a result of the low operating costs, the line will be able to carry passen- gers on a round-trip basis between this city and New York at less than the cost of railroad fare plus Pullman, though the single-way trip will be greater than on the railroad. The planes are to be equipped with| the new type of aircraft radio in- vented by C. Francis Jenkins of this city, which does away with the compli- cated and expensive bonding of the plane and shielding of the engines against high-tension electrical interfer- ence. Tests of this type of installation were made while the plane was at ‘Washington Airport a few days ago, and messages from stations as far distant as_Detroit were received clearly. Mr. Jenkins bases his radio system on the discovery that there exists be- hind each airplane a ‘shadow,” in which there is no electrical interfer- ence from the engines. Even in the case of tri-motored planes it was found during ' the tests here the ‘“shadow"” exists. Merely by towing the antenna in this shadow the effects of engine disturbances are eliminated. Antenna Neutralized. For the tests here the antenna was neutralized for a distance of 50 feet behind the plane by grounding through a second wire, greatly improving the clearness and sensitivity of the outfit. One of the interesting features of the new plane is an adjustable fin, which may be set to enable the plane to fly on any two engines without counteracting control by the pilot. He may set the fin by turning a crank so that the plane will continue to fly in a straight line Without use of the rudder. In tests here the plane climbed at the rate of 200 feet per minute on two engihes as a demonstration of ability to fly in case of engine failure. The plane has been taken off with full load on two motors, it was stated by Paul Collins, noted airmail ploneer and former oper- ations officer of the famous Transconti- nental Air Transport line, who is opera- tlons manager of the new line. ‘Though it carries 10 passengers, the plane weighs but 8500 pounds fully loaded and will fly at a cruising speed of 112 to 113 miles per hour and a top speed of 138 miles per hour. The three Lycoming engines give a total of 630 horsepower at top speed. The plane is 20 designed that Diesel engines may be installed if this is found advisable later. Gasoline Is Different. Beparate grades of gasoline are car- ried in the fuel tanks. Aviation gaso- line is used for taking off and landing where maximum power is required for safety. For cruising, however, the pilot switches to a tank containing ordinary automobile gasoline. On the automo- bile fuel, which is cheaper, the engines lose about 3 horsepower each, but this is of no importance, as the engines never are operated at full power except on the take-off. As another item of economy of opera- tion and saving of weight, the plane carries no electrical generator, using storage batteries for ignition, starting the engines and lighting. The engines were started 60 times on one charging of the battery, though in regular opera- lt_‘llul;“the batteries will be charged each ight. All of the maintenance, overhaul and repair work on the planes and engines is to be done in the big new hangar at ‘Washington Airport, and it is probable that within a short time the entire hangar will be given over to the pas- senger line. Twelve Pilots to Be on Duty. A staff of 12 pilots is to be on duty when service starts, and while their names have not been announced, it is known that the staff will include some of the finest large plane pilots in the country, including two or three men known in aviation circles around the world. These pilots are to be on duty & half-day at & time for five days in succession, and then will be given a day off. Their pay schedule is being planned on a aysf new in air trans- portation operation in this coun It is planned to operate the m hour on the h’ngr ml:h!‘;:th dlr:lx‘:- daly, over the line each day, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 5 pm. The es will make direct connection wif Colonial Air sport planes operating from New York to Boston three times a day, giv- ing four-hour direct service between this city and Boston. FIRST GLIDER GIVEN FEDERAL APPROVAL Certificate Indicates Satisfactory Characteristios of Construc- tion and Flight. After a thorough study of glider de- sign and safety factors, the le’mnluuc. branch of the Department of Commerce di Wl week lssued a certificate of ap to the first glider to meet the department’s airworthiness juire- ments, it has been announced by Gilbert G. Budwig, director of air regulation of the branch. The approved type certi- :lcmldgr 'l:l.lnl\:‘!‘tl:? fod ";e Duelttolt Gull 3 ure e Detroit Alreraft Corporation. o he approved type certificate, Mr. Budwig explained, denotes that the glider has been examined and tested for hines | & Model Aircraft BY GEORGE WATERS. OHN PENDLETON took a swa! the othen day and emerged a n dive into a pool of printér’s ink successful penman. John, the model building instructor of the District of Co. lumbia Air Legion, has written an article about his air trip tq the Detroit model plane contest for the Legion’s official publication, the Take Off. The article will appear in the next issue. Just to show you that John's swim in the ink pool was worth- while, here’s a few excerpts from hi America, the Beautifr.\, In his article John says, 1 part: “I do not believe that any person can really feel that they have seen the beauties of America until they have taken a cross-country flight in a plane, and I cannot imagine any stretch of scenery more beautiful than that be- tween Washington and Pittsburgh. First we haye our view of Washington, look- ing like the model city that it is. Then we get out in the farming country of Maryland, with its stretches of plowed and planted land, a cube of green, then one of brown, and then another shade of green. It is a beautiful futuristic design and one that is worth a lot to see. “The real thrill comes, however, when we get to the foothills of the mountains. ‘This rolling territory is really a land- scape of beautifully molded curves and I just sat there marveling at it. The mountains themselves look alive from | the air, whereas from the ground they always look dark and forbidding to me. Rivers, sometimes a string of silver, sometimes red looking, and sometimes green, add to the beauty of the trip. All in all, I believe that I shall treasure this first cross-country trip as the most :endutmxl adventure that I have ever nd.” A Word From Cardon. Page! Jack Cardon, page. Say, young fellow, my name is not | Williams—that's my middle monicker, but it's singular. It's a good name any- way—your letter found my desk at any rate. Thanks for the news, Jack. If you want to make an effort to qualify your scale model bring it to one of the contests of the District Model Aircraft League. The officials there will let you know whether or not the plane is satisfactory. You say you won't be able to get to the next contest. Well, there will be many more before the Summer is over. Jack, you know, is a Senate page and was the only local boy to win a medal at the Detroit contest. ‘What?—A New Reader. Here's his letter: “I am writing to let you know that I am reading your column every Sunday ;nfl was very much surprised to see hat you said something about me. It is article: was very nice of you to say something about me, since I do not belong to the District of Columbia Model Afrcraft Llcnbgue or any other model airplane club. “I would like to explain why my scalq medel did not place any higher. It wi because it was damaged almost beyon repair in sending it up to the contest, I am not bragging that it was an excels lent model, but there was naturally § handicap. “I would like to join at the next con. test, but the Senate is in session and 1 will have to work.” Well, Jack, we don't mind sa; anything about you. Send in everything you have to say and read it the follow+ ing Sunday. Models in Japan. Here's some interesting news aboul plane building and flying in Japan that Jd““ reached the writer's desk yester- ay. The amazing ingenuity of the Japa- nese in making cheap toys is well dem. onstrated in their latest achievement in the fleld of model airplane construction, While the average model airplane to be bought in stores, says the New York ‘Times, has no motive gwwer other than that provided by catapulting it intq space, and costs more than a dollar, a new Japanese toy not only has sufficient motive power in its own “engine” ta 1ift it off the ground by the revolution of its propeller, but sells for the sum of 50 cents. The model is about a foot long, and is made of silk stretched on a wire framework, with thread struts. Therq is a genuine wooden propeller and movable rudder. The power is suppllca by virtue of the static energy in ordi- nary golf-ball elastic, several thick strands of which are stretched like 8 “driving shaft” from the propeller tq the tall, so that by turning the propeller in a reverse direction the elastic be+ comes twisted and wound up like a spring. When released the propeller revolvey with sufficient force to drive the plane into & “take-off” when placed on a smooth surface, preferably out-of-doors, facing into a light breeze. By setting the rudder the plane can be made a perform turns and even loops, and thus give its youthful operator real instrucs tion in air navigation. WILL TEST RADIO LANDING DEVICES Federal Aeronauts Improve Receiving Set Control Adjustment. Flight tests of the new blind landing radio system now under development by the aeronautics branch of the De- partment of Commerce and the Bureau of Standards at College Park, Md., may be undertaken before the end of the Summer as a result of progress made recently on the apparatus. A number of improvements have been made, chiefly in the use of the radio beacon beam, which marks out the landing runway, it has been an- nounced by officials of the aeronautics branch. This beam guides the pilot along the axis of the runway so that he may land under the guidance of a sec- ond beam which marks out the gliding u:%le for a correct landing. he use of the runway beam has presented difficulties, to the ne- Cessity for accurate adjustment of the receiving set volume control by the pilot as the plane approaches the transmit- ting station, This has imposed a heavy burden on the pilot in tests and, it is believed, would make use of the beacon impracticable for ordinary operations. One of the most important of the re- cent improvements, therefore, has been a device for automatically controlling the volume of the si as the plane approaches the beacon station. Many ground and flight tests have been made with the new device and have demonstrated the practicability of the system, it was announced.--To use the runway localizing beacon now, the ilot need only change the tuning of is radio set as he approaches the air- port from the main radio range beacon frequency to that of the localizing bea- can and then follow the new course as marked out by the runway beacon. 'he runway beacon signals may he received on the same vibrating-re in- dicator used for recelving the airway range beacon signals or means of a_pointer-type indicating instrument which !"‘llluh?et:- gweloped lo’r the pur- pose. Flig] now are in progress at College Park to determine Qge rela- tive advantage of the two types of in- cators. . AIRWAYS RADIO PORTS WILL \BE INCREASED The number of airways radio sta- tions established by the Department of Commerce for the broadcasting of weather information to pilots will be increased by nearly 50 per cent during the fiscal year which has just started. ‘Twenty new stations are to be con- structed, bringing the total to 65. All these stations broadcast weather infor- mation to pilots each hour. ‘The new stations will be located on ‘Western and Midwestern airways ex- cept for three Eastern stations to be lo- cated at Pittsburgh, Memphis and Nashville, Tenn. The department also will install new automatic wltglllh typewriter circuits for the handling of weather and air- ways information between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, Fort Worth and Chicago, Atlanta, Ga., and Chicago, and Birmingham, Ala., and Richmond, connectin, ing ecireuit through the National Capi- tal to New York. design, materlals, workmanship and flight characteristics by enflnee‘;s and inspectors of the department. Other gliders manufactured exactly similar to the approved design will be eligible for Department of Commerce license. Though the Gull represents the first type eligible for license, there are ap- proximately 400 gliders in this country which have been issued identification numbers by the aeronautics branch. Gliders which are identified only are not examined as to airworthiness. The identification numbers serve merely to indicate the craft's ownership. “An unlicensed glider,” Mr. Budwig sald, “may or may not be safe, but a gllder bearing a license means that it as been carefully inspected and tested a5 to airworthiness in a manner similar to that employed in the approval of wered aircraft.” followed lider consists of the letter “ umbes opthe liocness . the “BEST OIL IN THE WORLD" Autocrat Motor Oil is “Pure Pennsylvania Oil—and more!” It is 100% super - P - vania Motor Oil, be- cause it is skillfully " refined from the cream of Pennsylvania Crude —the highest grade troleum found on his continent. TRIALS OF LATEST SEAPLANE FINISHED | New Corsair Equipped With Im. provements Over Earlier . Observation Pla ‘Trials of the latest type of Navy ob- servation and scouting planes, the |03U-1, equipped as a seaplane, have been completed at the Anacostia Naval Air Station. The plane is a Vought Corsair, which embodies several impor= tant improvements over the older ‘. it the local station, under Lieut. Ralph Ofstie, alsq is conducting flight tests on several other planes. The first PM-1 Martin patrol plane of & series of 30 to be builf at Baltimore has undergone flight tests, Performance trials have been coms Biane. e Bristol Boidor. sandas 3 e ulldog, a tish pursuit plane, has been climbing tests. Tests also have been conducted on a standard Navy single~ seat fighter equipped with air wheels, NAVY FLYING SAFETY REACHES NEW MARK Fiscal Year Ending June 30 Shows Approximately 100 Per Cent Casualty Drop. More hours and miles were flown with fewer fatalities in naval aviation during the fiscal year ended June 30 than in any year in the history of the service, the Navy Department hss announced. There was an approximate increase of safety in aerial operations of 100 per cent over the previous fiscal year. Though all reports have not yet been tabulated, Lieut. S. C. Ring, naval aviator and member of the statistical section of the flight division, Bureau of Aeronautics, was able to gather ap- roximate figures, which show that dur- ing the past fiscal year naval aviators flew a total of 18,150 hours or 1,270,500 miles for each fatal accident, as com- pared with 11,289 hours in 1929. During the past fiscal year Navy ilots put in 260,000 hours of flying ime. Counting all deaths in the avia- tion service, including those on the ground, they flew 14,500 hours or 1,015,~ 000 miles per fatality. “During ‘the fiscal year 1920 the Navy Department announced, “the total hours flown were 203,000; the hours flown per fatality were 6,773, and the hours ‘per fatal crash ‘were 11,289, Therefore, rdless of the increase in total hours flown during the year just ended, the figures show an approximate increase of safety in aerial operations ©of 100 per cent over the previous year.” Funston Studies Aviation. Frederick Funston, jr., son of the fa- mous general who captured Aguinaldo, breaking the thprme insurrection, has chosen commercial aviation for a ca- reer and is taking the advanced master pllot course at the Boeing School of Aeronautics, at Oakland, Calif. The course includes 200 hours of flying and 924 hours of ground school instruction. Indiana’s Youngest Flyer Is 18, ANDERSON, Ind. (#).—Robert Kees- ling, 18-year-old flyer, is Indiana's ul transport pilof MODEL AIRPLANE SUPPLIES amboo, Bear- Cellophane, ent, Pla Nothing is more important than thorough lubrication, DIFFRENT Fomu ALL O e S Beware of Substitutes Try Autocrat the next time you need oil, and judge its advantages for yourself. At the Better Dealers