The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-04-03
Av|ATORS MANY
MACHINESFEW
Volunteers For Training outnum-
Der Facilities ~ Aeroplanes
Are Almost UnobtaInable

According to adyiccs received by
Capt. John r Curry, Signal Corps, de.
partment aviation officer, from the Of,
fee Of the chief signal officer Of the
army, the war department has re,
ceiyed nearly thousand applications
from civilians for training and instruc.
ton in aviation work. % ,
The communication also contained o
Photographic advance copy Of an ar.
ticle published by the department in
the Army and Navy Register of March
IL, which sets forth the difficulties OF
the department to secure the necessary
paraphernalia to conduct the training
and Instruction which IL has planned
to give.
IvfoYing is the substance of the
photographic copy from the, Army and
Navy Register:
Aviation Training In the Army
1.-THE war department is receiving
applications from civilians for assign.
ment TO instruction in aviation in in,
creasing numbers and the total now on
file, is about q thousand Several OF
, tho big universities of the country each
have sent in about a hundred applica
tions of their students, and they arc
considered to represent the best class
of young men that could be obtained
for, the. air service The distressing
part of the situation is that the milf
tary establishment is without facilities
Tor training any more men than il nov
has under instruction. This is because
# the back of aeroplanes and to d
lesser, but nevertheless vital, extent OF
the lack of qualified instructors.
approximately one hundred and
twenty enlisted men of the signal re-
serve corp and of the national guard are
under training at the army aviation
schools at Mineola, New York, and
Memphis, Tennessee, and at the Curtis
School at Newport News, Virginia, and
| Miami, Florida, and the facilities OF
these establishments will not take care
of any more at present. .s. F
Regulars in Training s.@i ~.
, "About fifty officers of the regular
army are under instruction at the sig
nal corps aviation school, at San Diego
: California, and this is about as many
as can be trained at one time by the
! available personnel and machines.
In other words difficulties in pro
viding the army with an improved ali
service do not lie so much in the pro
visions of personnel as in obtaining
aeroplanes. ~. aM ..i'.r,.s IL
Manufacturers Behind sd" !
q" Last year about three hundred and
sixty.twO aeroplanes were ordered by
the army from number of manufac
turers, but it so far has been impossible
! t. obtain delivery of about sixty Of
them, and there is only one concern
in this country that has made deliver
les in any appreciable quantities with
in reasonable periods. Every possible
effort is being made by the army avia
ton authorities to stimulate the aero
plane industry in this country, and Il
getting concerns to producing ma
j chimes, parts, and accessories in an ex
peditiOus manner and to such a degree
of perfection that they will meet tn,
rigid inspection tests prescribed in or
der that the greatest attainable factol
of safety may be made in the appa
ratus in which our men are sent OF
the hazardous missions of fight,
/. 1.-THE national advisory COMMITTEE,
for aeronauties is cooperating in every
way with the efforts being made to OBJ
tain adequate production of aeroplanes
In this connection board has been ap
pointed to speed up production. II i
made up of Captain Sidney b. Walden
of the aviation section Of the sigma
officers reserve corps, formerly a vice
president of the Packard Motor Ca
Company and production expert O
notes Henry SodthcF, a mechanical anC
i production expert who is well know
in the motor vehicle industry, who ha
been in the employ of the signal corp
for some time as consulting engineer
and William IL. II. Hutton, also wei
known in the motor vehicle industry
They will continue to visit factories il
order to point out faults in method
and to make suggestions us 10 improve
ments, so that production of aeroplanes
| and their paFts by these nlants NAV n,