Evening Star Newspaper, May 9, 1937, Page 60

F—6 Motordom Is Attracted To Indianapolis Races Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker, Corpora- tion President, Announces Rule for Use of Regular Commercial Gasoline. By G. Adams Howard. tomorrow, automotive eyes all over the world will be turned to the Indiana course, hopeful of new records and thrills. Besides W!TH the great annual automobile race scheduled three weeks from the motor, gasoline will be up for a new test, different from that of previous years. Performance and power behind most of the commercial gasolines used by the motoring public face the acid test of America’s huge automotive labora- tory—the Indianapolis Motor Speed- | way—in the 500-mile race on Monday, May 31. Under a mandatory ruling of the Contest Board of this spectacular race, the silver anniversary field must use fuel obtainable at any filling station; | gasoline that has been available to the public for at least a year prior to May 1 of this year. This decision was announced by Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker, presi- dent of the Indianapolis Motor Speed- way Corp., noted aviation official and former speedway driving star of pre- war days. “The 500-mile race has heretofore been the testing ground of improve- ments or inventions of the automo- tive industry before they were adopted in general use,” Capt. Rickenbacker said. “In turning to a rigid test of commercial fuels we will attempt to define the improvements that have been made by the gasoline industry. Undoubtedly, the performance of the various fuels will prove of consider- able value to gasoline refiners. “It has been possible, in the past, for cars competing in the annual 500- mile race at Indianapolis to use spe- cial preparations of highly volatile gasolines. While these fuels produced great power, there has beerr a growing belief that automotive research would gain through the employment of the =ame standards of gasoline purchased by millions of motorists at road sta- tions. This appears to me to be a logical move as the objective of the contest, in the last analysis, is to demonstrate the worth of motor vehi- cles to the general public. “Under the present plan a tech- nical committee will have jurisdiction over this particular phase of the race and samples of gasolines to power the racing cars will be submitted. The capacity of the fuel tank to top of filler neck, including fuel, fuel lines, carburetor bowl and fuel pump will be 15 gallons. However, a tolerance of not more than two quarts will be allowed. This capacity may be di- vided between the main tank ang = reserve tank as desired. Fuel tank | and system must be constructed so as to permit complete draimage.” Pointing to the benefits that will be derived from this requirement, Capt. Rickenbacker continued: “Among the advantages to be passed on to the pub- lic will be definite proof that com- mercial gasoline, as manufactured to- day, can assure highest performance. Careful record is to be kept of accel- eration, carburetion and power quali- ties. The industry is bound to re- ceive some valuable pointers in con- servation as well, for while the amount of gasoline to be consumed by the racing cars will be unlimited, economy wiil be stressed in every phase of the competition.” Last year, it will be remembered, the A. A. A Contest Board in- voked an economy ruling apportion- ing 37!2 gallons maximum gasoline supply for each contestant, and that Louis Meyer, in winning his third 500-mile race at a record speed of 109 miles an hour, used 34!; gallons. The triumphant driver of 1928, 1933 and 1036 had three gallons of gaso- line left in his pit when the race was concluded. All those who fin- ished in the first 10 likewise had com- fortable margins of gasoline remain- ing when the race ended. Meyer and the others used high- test gasoline which had been doc- tored with benzol and efhyl, and an amazing observation has been made in recent tests by Harry Miller, fore- most designer and builder of Ameri- can racing cars. Affiliated this year with one of the large gasoline companies, Miller com- pared the results of “doped” fuel with those obtained from commercial gaso- line sold at all filling stations and ascertained that a 15 per cent advan- tage in speed and horsepower were available with the regular fuel. “Improvements in refining gasoline during the last several years undoubt- edly had a great deal to do with these astonishing results,” Miller comment- ed. “It is an indisputable fact that a higher degree of stamina would have been obtainable from the racing en- gines had regular fuel been used.” While the gasoline limit has been lifted, Capt. Rickenbacker stressed that, as engine lubrication also is a factor of outstanding importance, the oil supply for the entire engine lubri- cating system must not exceed six gallons and two quarts, including ex- pansion space. Virtually every large gasoline refin- ing agency in this country, as well as several from abroad, will have experts at the Speedway to make an exhaus- tive survey of performance during the qualifying runs two or three weeks prior to the race, and during the 500 miles of competition. Thus, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which tested and approved four-wheel brakes, modern cooling, belloon tires, streamlining and many other improvements long since passed on to the motoring public, takes up the average driver's most important problem today—gasoline. A round-up of States which have misused road funds by diverting the money to purposes other than high- way financing is being pushed vigor- ously by the United States Bureau of Public Roads. According to reports reaching the American Petroleum In- dustries Committee, Thomas H. MacDonald, chief of the bureau, has issued orders reducing Federal high- way aid grants made to Maryland, Georgia and New Jersey. Under the Hayden-Cartwright act of 1934 any State using for purposes other than highway financing more of the income from special additional automotive taxes, such as registration fees and gasoline taxes, than was provided for by State law at the time the Federal act became effective may . be penalized one-third. Under this ruling Georgia stands to lose about $3,000,000, Maryland $341,000 and New Jersey $558,000. Prior to 1929 the States spent vir- tually the entire income from gasoline taxes and registration Yees for high- ‘way financing, the purposes for which these special additional taxes were imposed. During the last few years, however, & number of States have diverted highway funds to general purposes and relief costs, with result- ing depletion of highway funds and, in some cases, curuilm‘enb of highway | work. 1t is estimated that in 1936 more than $150,000,000 in highway funds was spent by the States for other purposes, the diversion amount- | ing about to one out of every seven tax dollars paid for roads. With last week’s production of cars and trucks estimated at 136,655 units, total output for April in the United States and Canada is placed by Auto- motive Daily News at 539,145 units, the second highest April in the in- dustry’s history. Despite curtailed operations during the first part of the month, due to labor difficulties, April production nevertheless ranks next to the 663,811 units turned out in April, 1929, the high mark of the industry’s history. The 539,145 units produced during the last month displaces the 495,778 turned out in April a year ago as the second ranking total. Output for the week ending May 1 also will establish a new post-1929 record, according to A. D. N. figures, exceeding the aggregate of 134,622, units which had been the previous high since the record year. It is like- wise more than 18,000 units above the total production in the corre- | sponding week a year ago, when 117,- 811 units were run off the assembly lives. N Planes (Continued From First Page possible. It is to have a bullet nose, with windshields set flush, and the pilot's compartment is to be a part of the cabin unit so far as pressure arrangements are concerned. We ex- pect to carry about 2'. pounds of pressure at 20,000 feet, and we prob- ably won't use this ship above that |level, as it is really an intermediate | step to definite sub-stratosphere flying. | We could go up to 30,000 if necessary, | but we prefer to stay below that for the time being.” | As this was being written, word came that Pan-American has just released definite information about its huge new flying boats, which have been | secretly under construction at the | Boeing plant for some months. They are giants indeed, designed to carry | T2 passengers, plus eight in the crew 'and a cargo of 5,000 pounds. Weigh- ing almost 50 tons, they will still have an air speed of close to 200 miles per hour, and the most powerful motors on any ship flying—1,500 horsepower each—a new design in double-row, 14- cylinder Wright Cyclones. Many here- tofore undeveloped features are being incorporated, of which the most inter- esting is the use of three decks. On top is the fiight bridge, posting six flying officers, the captain's compart ment, and, within the wing, the crew's sleeping and living quarters, with sep- arate galley. Aft will be a cargo com- | partment, larger than the cabin space | on present land transports. The mid- private state rooms fore and aft, din- ing and lounge cabins and the regular | ones between, with a galley forward containing many cooking facilities. Provision is even being made for hot water as well as cold throughout the ship. Underneath, in the third deck or hold, are to be watertight compart- ments running the full length of the ship and giving space for heavy cargo. In the wings and the aponsons tanks will carry 15 tons of gasoline. The cruising range is expected to be 5,000 miles. A VIEW of the operation situation behind the scenes was given in a oanversation in Chicago with C. R. Smith, president of the American Air- o e | dle deck is for passengers and will have | THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 9, YOUAND YOURCAR | D~ e ROAD—A og Lie. THE LUCKY STIFFS. FREE TO RUN ROUND ALL THEY LIKE! AIDEDBY RUSSELL Extra Weight on Rear End Valuable in Auto-Trailer Combination. BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL. ‘The spanking new car would proba- bly keep to a safer course if its driver were first put through the same process. A great many motorists who have consulted me on the matter of the draw bar load on the rear end of the car, when attaching a trailer, seem to be worried over the added weight on the car. Some of them consider using heavier rear springs; & few even pic- ture the car so weighted down at the rear that the front end points up- ward! All of this is borrowed trouble. That extra weight on the rear of the car serves a valuable purpose in the car-trailer combination. It pro- vides better traction for starting when the roads are slippery and particu- larly for pulling up long steep grades. One of the unfortunate features of the post-depression era is the attitude of millions of motorists to- ward the matter .of car ownership. Many of them, thinking for some time that they might never again be able to own a car, appear completely satis- fied with the ability to purchase any- thing at all in the way of a car. Few look far enough into the future to aspire to ownership of something better. Psychologists tell us that this is a good way to deprive oneself of the opportunity to go up the ladder in car ownership. There was a time when every one who owned a car hoped to own a better one. That was one reason why every one who drove anything at all in the way of trans- portation eventually owned something better. Today this point has been sidetracked in favor of an acceptance of the theory that anything goes. When the public feared that it could no longer own better cars there was a definite downtrend in the class of car owned by the majority of people. Today that fear has passed, and most people are buying cars that satisfy them fairly well. What we need now is a return to the normal desire to have something better. We have it in home ownership; we should have it in automobile ownership. Every red-blooded mortorist ought to have some dream car to which he can direct his attention. No dreams— no better cars. Engineers and manufacturers are dreaming of amazngly better auto- mobiles. Why aren't you, too? “Have you ever wondered whether —_— e e lines, on the subject of these large land planes. “We have given a great deal of thought,” he said, “to the matter of the four-engine transport. As the size of our ships increases, it is necessary to increase motor power as well. These big ships are only suited to long-haul traffic and we wili have to use a larger crew, because of their complexity of ship will ever supersede the two- engine job on short flights. There are prectically no safety differences be- tween the two types, and the flexibility of the smaller planes is important when it comes to canceling out sched- ules because of weather—fewer people to be changed around. Everything, of course, will depend on volume of traffic, but we can make more mgney using two 21-passenger planes than one 40-passenger one and in the end give better rates.” Barhart’s round-the-world plane. the Lockheed factory, in the person of Carl Squier, explained to me a couple of weeks ago its new developments. The Lockheed 14-H sounds like a pro- mising member of the smaller trans- uses, and important ones, on feeder lines, on short hauls and for execu- tive service, while the giants do the long-range work. This is only a partial view of what is going on in American aircraft fac- tories. Small transports and light craft for private flying are fairly shooting ahead in production. But it is funda- mentally in the large transport field, both land and water, that world im- portance lies. \'LLGEY Yoo For THA ARTHUR < Mme \ GOTMY CINGERS CROSSED INT L2 CAUGHT IN THISGRAME WITHOOY You .. EINGERS CROSSED OR “SOMP\N* (GREEN ON Yoo . = 2. HE FLOWERS THAY BLooMm IN operation. I doubt if the four-engine | At Burbenk, Calif., home of Amelia | port family, which still will have their | \'///‘”".‘%L”«‘w ) T n the condition of your car is normal for the make and model you drive? “If so, there is a handy way to find out. It is merely to try out some used cars like your own. You may be sur- prised to find that something you think normal is, inreality, way be- low standard. It will renew your faith in the idea that something, said to be incurable with your car, can be remedied. Perhaps you never should have had trouble with the particular unit. The fact that some other car of the same series hasn't the defect may suggest need for some improve- ment in driving.” New Meter Makes Bow. Welcome to the list of new equip~ ment for keeping cars up to concert pitch is the headlight output meter. This ingenious device fits over each headlight separately and quickly tells the operator just how the lamp is rating for light output. Rays from the lamp are registered on the dial in terms of volume and intensity, The device should put an end to many seemingly good headlights which really do a poor job of throwing a satisfactory light beam. Free Wheel With Clutch. To many drivers who used free wheeling legitimately there is no need to be morose over the present lack of interest in this development. It still is possible to free wheel by the simple experiment of declutching. Besides, | the modern clutch is better able to | stand more active use, especially if | the car is not used too much in close | traffic. Free wheeling by declutching is a safer process than the automatic type, because the driver thus coasts ' only at will. He naturally will not coast where there is danger, as in going down a steep hill, Coasting when slowing down from road speeds helps to save engine oil by preventing the pistons from sucking oil up from the crankcase when the throttle is closed. Free wheeling by declutching eliminates the danger of engine stalling because the engine can | be recranked immediately by the simple and natural process of engaging | the clutch. Drives Home Some Facts. One of the clever sales stunts of the | moment is that devised by a brake lin- ing manufacturer. It consists of a special brake test which the car owner can make himself on any smooth piece of paving where traffic is light, such as a dead end street in the sub- urbs. The most important lesson | learned from this stunt is the fact that | it takes about an hour to make the test. In any brake service station you not only can have the brakes tested | in that length of time, but in nine | cases out of ten, serviced as well. | Helps You See It. The stunt is intended to drive home the point that unless brake lining is balanced the car will not stop in a straight line. It isn't as effective proving this point on a brake testing machine because the driver doesn't feel and see his car sway out of line when making a test stop. Here the stunt 1937—PART FOUR. P |Program of Relay Races &/ WHEN YOU DRIVE for instance P -1 AT HIGH SPEEDS DANGER LOOMS! One second’s inaftention You travel 81 feet wlb!-saco to rd Add 59 feet 1 feet more needed fo stop Put this question to ten of your friends who drive: “When you are going 40 miles an hour on a dry, level road, what is the shortest distance in which y can bring your car to a full stop?” 1f they are average, seven will say they can stop in 40 feet or less; two will guess somewhere between 40 and 80 feet; and one will be so un- certain that he won't hazard a guess. It is surprising to discover how little the average man knows about the first principle of good driving. You can assure your friends that it they do stop their cars in less than 40 feet from a speed of 40 miles an hour, it will be because they have rammed into a brick wall or a tele- phone pole! Omly an automobile with very good brakes can stop in less than 80 feet from this speed, and 1t is impoesible for any ear to is both fun and profitable. A further lesson to be learned is that even with braking systems that THOSE WERE THE HAPPY DAYS! B MAN SIREE! ELLA You ReALLY - KEEFE| 72y N L1kE BOTTER, \ HOPE You LIKE \ HALF AS A THE soema-‘m-m;\:\ : CERTAINLY HAD THEIR. INOWIROAL SIGNIFICANCE BOTHIN LoVE, PROSE AND OETRY, TEMeMBER How You’® Ros'r; CorTman, ParLor ORGANS, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 9l2~F §7» NoW. &St YoorR LOVE For BOTTER WITH ‘WHE SWEET LITWLE BOTVER-COP ANO | MAYBE GET A LITTLE FRESH WTH Yoo BEST GirL WHEN Yo GAVE Yoo Pay TYENTION Yo ,ovR_WorK | ®iLLy” Raymono, VLL \‘(ELLYOO (€ \ LIKE YOO oR BOTTER MOsT,, L ATER WHo / QEMEMGEQS\ "\ WHEN WEHADYO 2ESORY Y0 DAN-) DELIONS FOR. OOR. FAVORWE —\ _HOME CON~ = CoctioN HeSTHETEST 2w arpreSuca ~uhj “May Reéolleclions." > =7 Minimum total 291 feet (Travelers Safaty Service) stop in 50 feet on an ordinary road because it will skid farther than that with all four wheels locked. The pictorial chart above shows the danger of driving at high speeds. At 55 miles per hour a car travels 81 feet in the single second during which the driver’'s eyes might leave the road to glance at a road sign or to look at an instrument on the dashboard. Once he sees a danger- ous situation ahead, the car travels 59 feet during the time it takes him to get his foot from the accelerator to the brake. And then, even with good brakes, he cannot bring the vehicle to a stop in less than 151 feet. Many drivers pride themselves on how fast they ean make their cars go; it is much more important for them to know how fast they can stop. are supposed to be inherently equalized a bad set of brake linings will make equalized braking impossible. Goes Yoor,) N gTERs Q = - ) (FTE Planned for Langley Day Air Derby Association to Hold May Flying Event May 23 a Airp t College Park ort. By Joseph S. Edgerton. N AFTERNOON of airplane relay A noon, May 23. races for the afternoon’'s program—one g¢ races is being arranged by the Wash~ ington Air Derby Association in observance of Langley day. The races which also will constitute the May flying event of the association, are to be held at College Park Alr_port, College Park, Md., Sunday after= J. Earl Steinhauer, president of the association, is planning three relay for women pilots, one for men pilots | and the third a race between the win- | ning men’s and women's teams. It also is planned to hold a contest for gasoline-powered model airplanes as a part of the Langley day meet, Steinhauer announced. The relay races include both foot- work and flying. Starters in each team receive the batons at the edge of the flying field, run to their airplanes—a process always complicated by para- chutes—climb aboard and take off. They fly a fixed course, come back, land and run to the second members of the team, passing them the batons —By Dick Manstfield | f MusTeeT € T\LateRs, (o WHAT Do You Qsmemgse? ONSWER YO LAST WEEKS CRUOEST(ON, N AND WHERE WAS'THE 'élE\'ZS“\‘ ELECTRIC STREET LIGHY PLACED IN WFSNNGTON whereupon the scramble begins all over. It is a procedure making for | enjoyment on the part of racers, offi- | cials of the meet and spectators alike. Better Weather Sought. Although Langley day traditionally has been celebrated during the first week in May, it was postponed this year to the last Sunday in the hope of find- ing better weather. ‘The April flying event, an aerial fox hunt, twice postponed, finally was held | last Sunday. That was the fourth | “flyable” Sunday sinece New Year da}‘.l it was pointed out. | The fox hunt proved a very satis- factory event and probably will be repeated. It afforded the zest of an actual hunt, the spice of a bit of aerial bombardment on a living target—the fox—and of an aerial chase compli- cated by aerial photography and wind- | ing up with another bombardment. Steinhauer, last Sunday's fox, was given a 15-minute flying start from College Park Afrport. He was permit- ted to hide anywhere within a 10-mile radius and chose the old intermediate landing field near Bowie, Md., where he | landed and concealed his airplane in the shade of trees at the edge of the field. There he was found by a team com- posed of Gertrude Chesnut, pilot, and George Kalick, hound. and by a sec- |ond team composed of Mary Benson, | pilot, and Horace Landers, hound. | The pilots flew over and the hounds | pelted Fox Steinhauer with small| sacks of flour. Club House Bombed. At the expiration of 30 minutes | Steinhauer took off on the return to | | College Park. Hounds who had been | unable to find him on the ground had | the privilege of trying to win prizes | by photographing him at close r: | clation club house, the combined ac- | | curacy of photography and bombing | determining the winner. Miss Helen | Frigo, acting as pilot and hound, took | third place on this basts. Pilot Ches- nut and Hound Kalick took first place and the Benson-Landers team second. Three other hounds enjoyed the flight. They were Charles S. Johnson, Harrison “Buddy” Somerville and a | team composed of Miss Lydia Clem- ents and Miss Harriett Sackett. SE’ITING aside of May 28 as Na-| tional Aviation day is provided in |8 Joint resolution introduced in the | House by Representative Shanley of | | Connecticut. The measure was re- | ferred to the Judiciary Committee. | | The purpose of the measure, it was | | explained, is “to further and stimulate interest in aviation in the United | States.” The resolution was proposed by the Army and Navy Union, ac- cording to John J. Crim, national | legislative chairman. The bill would provide for the May | 28 observance this year only and would not supplant the annual ob- servance on December 17, anniversary of the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, N, C. it was explained. The December anniversary has been na- tionally observed annually since 1928, the twenty-fifth anniversary, under the auspices of the National Aero- nautic Association. o . ONSWER, | airplane engine, ENTA & CAAVEN.W. OCTOBER, 152 —188(. EXYT WEEK: W W/ W . L b3 Tty Wi Toe o I)F‘SPITE a request from the Nae tlonal Aeronautic Association for postponement until 1938 of the pro- posed New York-Paris race, com- memosating the tenth anniversazy of the flight by Col. Charles A. Lind- bergh, plans still are going forward for the event, and three well-known American pilots already have filed entries. In requesting that the event g0 over for a year, the N. A. A. expressed a fear that pilots would attempt to fiy the Atlantic in unsuitable types of airplanes, exposing themselves to needless hazards Accidents which might result from such a race, it was argued, probably would prejudice the public on both sides of the Atlantic against regular air transport service, soon to be pioneered between the United States and Europe. N. A. A. officials also expregsed the belief that within another year new typgs of air- craft suitable for such a venture would be available. The race is scheduled to be held during August for $134,700 in prizes offered by the French air minister, The American pilots who have filed entries with the N. A. A. are Henry T. “Dick” Merrill, James J. Mattern and an unnamed aviator who has en- tered under the pseudonym of “Ben Hill” All three have already flown the Atlantic. Merrill has cr d twice and is about to attempt anot round trip to attend the coronatinn of King George VI and o fly back motion picture films. He will carr with him as co-pilot J. S. Lambie, his regular flying mate on Eastern Alr Lines. Mattern and “Hill” h not yet announced the identity of th co-pilots. All three are plannin fly Lockheed airplanes, which w required to pass stringent exami tions for airworthiness by the Bureay of Air Commerce before the er will be approved. Although the N. A, A."is rece entries for the race, as it is req to do as the American represe: of the Federation Aeronav ternationale, dertaking the race this year, accord ing to Charles F. Horner, president of the association, THROL‘GH the addition of a sma oil-cracking device to an kerosene was used successfully as a fuel during a twon- hour flight by the chief pilot of the Aero Club of Czechoslovakia, accorda ing to a report received by the Com mgrce Department from its co: mercial attache at Prague, Any gasoline engine can be adapted for burning kerosene by installation of the device, which reduces mineral oil to a dry gas, it was explained, Complete combustion is effected with. out resulting smoke or odor and with greater fuel economy and lessening of fire hazards, it was stated in the re- port. “’ASH!NGTON soaring pilots at- tending the eighth annual n tonal soaring contest at Elmira, N beginning June 26, expect to find soaring facilities unsurpassed by any- thing in Europe Since last year, permanent bu ings with modern conveniences have been constructed on isolated Harris Hill, near Elmira. There is a large administration building, including a dining hall and dance floor, which will serve as a social hall during bad weather and in the evenings. A large fireproof hangar will house the gliders and comfortable sleeping cabins and bath houses have been provided for the pilots. A swimming pool is be constructed There are offices for contest officials the meteorological hureau, the med: staff and administrative officers. Sleep- ing quarters for 100 persons are avail- able in 10 cabins. The narrow, winc- ing dirt road so well remembered Py contestants in past years has been widened, straightened and paved i a 1,500-foot runway has been grade on the take-off site. (GASOLINES of five different ant:- knock ratings will be provided | under an order for 10,000,000 gallors | placed by American Airlines to me. its requirements for aviation fuel dur- ing the coming 12 months. The h octane ratings, ranging from 80 to 05, indicate the great advances made i1 the airplane engines used on the ma airlines. The quality of aviation gasoline. measured by the octane rating, alwavs has been a great deal higher than au- tomobile fuels and the tendency been constantly toward more and more rigid requirements. Two years ago 100-octane fuel was a laborator product and it virtually was impos- sible to obtain fuel rated much above 80. For world records, 87-octane was used. Today 87 is standard airline fuel and in the near future 100 may become standard. American planes are now flying 50,000 miles a day and the average consumption is 91.3 gallons per hour, or about two miles per gallon. R IS Field Honors Boy. AMES KAMAKAIWI of Hawall is probably the only boy in the United States for whom an aviation field has been named. The large flying field on H .nd Island, 1,650 miles southwest of Amer- ica's Territory of Hawaii, has been named Kamakaiwi Field in honor of the 19-year-old Hawaiian youth who was the first to step ashore on the island two years ago and colonize it for the United States. Howland is but 3 miles long and a mile wide. It was toward this spot that Amelia . Earhart Putnam was heading on the second leg of her equatorial globe-girdling flight when her plane crashed in an attempted take-off from Honolulu. James, a husky youth from Kame- hameha School at Honolulu, was one of three schoolboys selected to estab- lish a “colony” on the island. The lads were chosen for their skill and dexterity at seafaring and aquadics, also because, having been born in Hawaii, they were American citizens and able to establish Uncle Sam’s ownership of the tiny island. They constructed several frame buildings, laid out . walks, planted trees and flowers and oconstructed three airplane runways, [