El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-10-13

without any noticeable shock. and
then SKINNED over the road on the
tires until We reached the exact spot
from which we had started
During the same day my daughter.
who was with me, took a half hour
. flight in the same machine2 flying
this way and that among the clouds
and alighting with no perceptible pal
pitstion Of the heart
5000 Eager to Learn.
Ny machine was a military tractor
of the type chosen as,the training ma
chine for our army. It is about the
same as the standard machine now
used for Canada and Great Britain.
and it will be turned out IN great
numbers for training our aviators for
France. There is a large number of
students being trained here otuside
Of the men who have enlisted for the
purpose The head Of the school re
Gently sent out an advertisement for
men who wished to learn to fly. and
he received 5000 replies in the course
Of one week
Thousands have applied TO the gov
eminent to be taken into the service,
and training fields are being estab-
lished in different parts Of the coun-
try. There are now something like
500 students in the training schools OF
eight great universities and the gov
eminent expects TO graduate students
/ lLlAO AUE d4h aAAGEu H. AAAe- 44EAAAa a. AAAs
rate OF 200 per week. Several thou
sand men should be flying BY the time
this letter is published The age limit
for pilots is from p to q and the
head Of the training school here tells
me the best men are TO be found be
tween the ages Of Is TO %
The government is pushing the
manufacture Of airplanes for the war
( They are the eyes of the army, and
with enough Of them we can blind
the eyes Of the Germans About $780,
600 900 has already been appropriated
for aviation. and the program calls
for the immediate construction Of o.
600 airplanes, school machines and
battle planes, and $4,000 airplane
motors.
10000 AfrpIaues in a Year
At this writing there are about ten
airplane manufacturing companies at
work They are scattered all over the
United States from Nutley, \. J.. to
Los Angeles, Cal, and, in addition. the
automobile factories have been mob
ilized for the making Of engines and
motors. and the furniture companies
are turning out propellers and the
other parts made OF wood which viii
be put into the standard machines
More than 5000, 900 feet Of mahogany
and black walnut viii be needed for
the propellers alone. Seventy five
million feet OF spruce has 10 be cut
and QEAEQ LOE the al NAdLE UA4Aesn anu
1000 feet Will be used for every ma
chine II the plans now laid work
out, within a year from now We shall
be turning our 5000 airplanes per
month and shall have $4,000 in the
war zone within one year after next
The work going on IN the plant OF
the Curttss compay at Buffalo is an
indication Of what the United States
may expect from all the airplane
companies in a very short time Much
Of the Buffalo plant has grown up
in the last few months. although Il
was in operation before We entered
the war and had been making many
machines for the French and the
British. More than 100 Of its airplanes
are now in active service on the bat
tlefields Of France, and these include
flying machines for different pur-
poses The Curtiss company has built
altogether, 800 different types Of fly
ing machines. and the factory here IS
engaged upon several standard types
for the army and navy.
Owing to the restrictions OF the
government and the danger OF giving
points TO our enemies, I can describe
the machines only in general terms
I can say. however, that they embouy
the latest and best genius and inven-
ton Of the aviation of today and that
they are being made under the most
rigid Of government inspection Even
the smallest machine has some thou
sands OF parts. It is composed Of
metals Of many kinds, woods OF
special varieties and Of textiles and
other materials. each Of which, by
careful investigation and physical and
chemical analysis, has been shown to
be fitted for its own special place in
the machine.
In making the airpiane each and
every one OF these parts IS passed
upon again and again, both in the
81 ID
duct. and the machine is not accepted
without every part has the govern
ment stamp on it. This is so Of all
kinds Of machines from the small OBJ
servation planes, such as the one 1
rode in, to the great flying whales.