Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-06-13
The Flying Age


.
This If fascinating question which ia
being much discussed among the few
men who realize how great thing our
| progress in the air has become They
are agreed that the work Of fifty years Of
| peace time has been done in three or four
OF war; that the modern airplane is the
| hiRhest achievement Of mans rnechani al
genius; that IN our aeronautical training
schools thousands Of young men, who
| will be the leaders of the rising generation,
are gaining n conscious mastery Of the
air and that a great industry, with
varied ramihoations, has been created
The peace time uses Of the airplane
can be as yet only vaguely foreseen; but
| II In certain that none Of these things will
perish that the technical knowledge, the
/ industrial development, and the human
| sense OF conquest over new element are
| all permanent things.
Our new system of aerial coast guard
| patrols, for which provision has been
made in the current appropriation mea-
| sures, will absorb a large number Of the
machines and the skilled ayiators which
the government is now developing. 1t Is
/ not probable that any great number Of
| government planes will be placed upon
the market but some will, and these will
be eagerly bought up by enterpriqlng
men, and used for pleasure and industrial
| purposes.
/ AN ARMY or ExPUHTs
The greatest force in the developing
Of peace time flying will be thousands Of
| airplane pilots and mechanics who will
be released from service after the war
| These men will demand employment IN
| their new and fascinating profession
! and the demand will surely create it's own
4 T. l. f. Il 1gFsF4 aA 10
| felt human desire is after all one OF the
most irresistible forces in tho world
The carrying of mails by air, which has
! just begun in this country, will doubtless
see rapid development There are
hundreds Of out-of- theway places where
air mail service Is far more needed than
| it is between Washington and New York
| Aerial mail service. and passenger service,
too, could do wonders for Alaska. nc
government once asked for bids on a
contract TO carry mail bv air in Alaska,
and no bids were made After the war
with the country full OF ambitious young
avlators. and many used planes on the
market, no such offer will 70 begging
There are many places in tho west which
| need airplane mail service as badly ~
/ Alaska does
The men who are close 20 modern air
development Of passenger traffic IN the
| sir than the layman can imagine. Ihls
latter cannot get away from the idea that
| flying is very dangerous. lie reads con
tlnually Of accidents at the aviation
| schools. without realizing what very
| small percentage OF chance they represent
when the number Of men in training ~
| taken into account He never thinks
| about the automobile accidents which are
| rccounted in every paper, because ne has
become accustomed TO these and accepts
them ~ a matter of course lie will prob
] ably be surprised To learn that 3, $50 cadets
in our hying schools flew POI 300 miles,
| which IL ten times around the world, IN
one day, without fatality Do you think
that An equal number of beginning motor
! ists could run that many miles without a
serious smash-upY
MORE PREIUDICIAL THINGS.
The "ace" aviator OF the newspaper
stories, with MS tiny wasp Of an aIrpiane
and his daring halr-ralsing stunts, has
also preIudiced the conservative land
lubber against flying he likes to read
about those things, but he cannot Imagine
him elf doing them. But as matter OF
fact this lone scout Ii hls cranky little
speed plane ls passing phase OF the great
air game. The coming type OF ar craft
il the heavy battle plane, which Is Us
stable as horse and buggy, carnes
several men, and Is as easily controlled rs a
limousine Our Havland plane Is OF this
tvpe. These great aIrshIps IN squadrOns
of eighteen TO twenty are lighting the
war IN the AIR today and their develop
ment means the development OF q stable
plane which will carry several passengers
the kind of i plane We viii Use IN peace
time
The experts say that the thing really
needed 10 make civilian flying safe Is q
system OF landing fields. Most OF the
accidents are landing accidents, and
many OF them are due 10 the fact that the
aviator has no good place 10 land. OF
course, there is also danger OF falling if
the engine goes wrong, just as there Is
danger of going into the ditch II the
steering gear Of an automobile goes
wrong; but that danger Is small In both
cases. Ii it Is somewhat greater IN the
airplane, that is offset by the fact that
there is nothing TO collide with up in
the air-no telegraph poles, pedestrians
nor curves.
LANDING YIELDS EVERYWHERE.
In the near future, it is confidently
predicted the map of the country will be
dotted with landing fields Every mu-
| nieipality will probably be compelled to
maintain one, and there viii doubtless
| be many others IN connection with private
and commercial hangers. These will 90
a long way toward making mail and pas
senger traffic in the air as safe as on the
land The only other step necessary to
bring it into its own is the reduction of
the expense of flying, and that is sure to
come
Materials are being standardized. and
fuel improved every day. There is no
/ reason why the expense of the produc-
ton and operation of airplanes should not
be reduced as rapidly as it was in the
case of automobiles.
The place of the aIrplane in our national
life IS further assured by the number of in
| dustrles which are growing up around il
Nearly all of these will. after the war,
| find other uses for their products but
| they will also try IN every way to encourage
the use of airplanes. A large amount Of
money and brains are now engaged in these
| industries, and money and brains always
| get results.
| One of these industries is the making of
cotton cloth for the planes Before we
! entered the war, the allies were using
nothing but linen for the purpose We
could not possibly get enough of that
material for our own needs Accordingly
| the bureau of standards was put to work
upon the problem, and it devised a cot
ton cloth made from long staple cotton