The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-08-09
AFTER THE WAR
 FLYING PROSPECT
Epeculations for Future Are Very Fascinating But
 Also Misleading.

Ehe old hymnal used to ask in ail' hS11ousness: Shall we ever bo able, ever be able to fly?" The pro- gress of aviation has answered the question in the affirmative. We not only shall be. We are ab!s.
 ghe thousands who have watched | the flying of Lieutenant Neal from the Country club in the last few days | have been wondering anew about the | use of aircraft after the war. There | will then be tens or thousands of | trained aviators, tens of thousands | or planes and numerous factories | equipped for the production of planes | and motors. With such a condition | there is certain to be a great devel- | opment of flying. How far will this | development go? The development of the motor car is sometimes compared with the de- velopment of the airplane, and it is suggested that just as motoring in the early days was hazardous and engaged in by only few persons and later became almost universal 50 there will be a. corresponding growth in flying. Instead of going out in the car in tho evening to cool off, the fam lily will get out the airplane and fly to Topeka and back after diner.
 These speculations are fascinating, but lead to exaggeration. Flying is bound to be more or less hazardous. The average motor car driver recalls how often he has made errors in driving that were inexcusable. He has started with the brakes on, or he has tried to make a hill in high and got into trouble, or he has let the water in the radiator get low and has found his motor sticking. The results were not serious He was on the ground, and if he could not go on at least he could stop without damage. The aviator faces a much more serious situation. A mistake may be fatal. < few weeks ago a skillful Italian aviator started from the ground at too acute an angle. When he was 50 feet up his machine stalled, just as an automobile might on too steep a hill. But the worst the automobile could do would be to back down the hill. The airplane fell to the ground and the driver was killed. So far as can be ascertain
 
 Mitchell the other day resulted from forgetting to fasten the strap that held him in. Occasionally a per sons mind slips a cog. In motoring such slip may be unpleasant. In flying it may be disastrous.
 It may be set down as certain that only a small percentage of persons who drive automobiles have the necessary qualities to make them successful aviators.
 That does not mean that there will not be a great expansion in the use of airplanes. There are large num- bers of persons who can fly with safety. They can use planes for va- rious special purposes. The mail route from Washington to New York is now operating successfully and at moderate cost. There ought to be great development in their post. It will be useful where large numbers of important letters require speedy transportation, and in inaccessible districts such as in Alaska and In mountainous regions.
 The airplanes may take the placa of the special train for persons who wish to reach a destination in a hur- ry. It now takes a business man twenty hours to go from Chicago to New York. He might go in eight hours in an airplane. It is quite pos sible that regular airplane routes might be operated between impor- tant business centres.
 Finally there undoubtedly will be a development of the airplane for sport. There are enough men and women with the requisite qualities to drive a plane safely to permit flying to become recognized means of re- creation; by no means on the scale of motoring, but like yachting
 In order that these developments shall be possible 1t will be necessary to provile landing fields every few miles on recognized air routes. There is always the possibility that some thing may go wrong with the motor and that theaviator may have to glide down to earth. He is all right if he has place to land. Orville Wright figures that there should be a. land ing field every fifteen miles. It is possible at a height of a mile at which most flying would be done, to coast with a dead engine about sev- en and a half miles. If there were a field every fifteen miles, we'll marked, the aviator would always be taken care of in the event of engine trouble.
 With the interest that will be taken in aviation there ought to be no diff ficulty in building up air routes with the necessary fields. Indeed. the Dayton enthusiasts were at work on such a plan before the outbreak oi the war.-Kansas City Star.