The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-18
Of PLANE IS
BAR OAR TRAVEL
However, in European Busi~
ness Circles Planes Gain
Confidence.
tFrom the kansas City star.l


velopment of commercial aviation is the
fear by the public of the alrplane.
There is something a little uneanny in
the thought Of skimming through the
skies, and besides II is hard to shake
off the prejudice aroused in wartime
when almost every issue Of the news
paper carried the account Of some fatal
airplane accident in a training school.
And yet, even among learners-and it Is
in the primary stage flying has its
greatest dangers--the fatalities were
only one for every 100000 miles trav
eled
In the war period, $500 men were
trained for flying at American fields.
In their training they travelled 60,000,-
900 miles-or distance $50 times great
er than that from the earth to the
moon. Three hundred were killed In
training. Considered from the point of
mileage, this record of fatal accidents
is less perhaps, than that for motor
cars and railways trains in the same
period.
Airplane Racing.
And 1t must be borne in mind that
most of these men were novices. Many
of them were the victims of accidents
in the early weeks of their training.
Again, in the transcontinental all
race, seven men were killed-and COM
mercial aviation was given another set
back in the mind of the public. And
yet the three fatalities in the Indian
apolis motor car race represented
higher percentage, reckoned from miles
covered In the motor car race one
man was killed for every 1000 machine
miles. In the round trip race from
coast 10 coast the deaths were one to
every 1000 machine miles, Both were
races. Glenn l.. Martin, pioneer flyer
and builder of airplanes, believes a
failure to recognize the fact that air.
plane race casualties can be compared
with motor car casualties of the race
course only has been responsible for
much of the prejudice created by the
transcontinental trip.
Few Aids to Fliers.
Mr. Martin also points out that the
| airplane contest was conducted under
much more primitive conditions than
was the motor car race. In the latter
| there was costly banked speedway
| for the cars. The drivers were attended
| by skilled mechanicians with full repair
| kits. In the transcOntinental air derby
| the men were travelling most Of the
| way over country with which they were
| unfamiliar. They were dependent en-
| tirely upon their compasses for their
course. In case of anything going
| wrong in the air, and thet ability to
find a suitable landing field, they had
| only UNITED loOl XII WITH WhlCn "
| make repairs.
"Out Of 80 starters in the Indianapolis
| motor car race" he says in an article
| in q recent bulletin of the United States
| air service, three were killed In the
| 500 miles. In the transcontinental air
| race, with 62 starters, over course OF
| 2,710 miles, seven lives were lost" And
as final argument for the comparative
| safety of the airplane in racing, Mr..
| Martin points to the record of the New
| York Toronto race, over a course OF
| 1,042 miles, in which no fatalities oc-
| CURED among the So starters. Thirty
machines finished The total machine
miles, or the total number of miles
| covered by all machines in the race
was 42,722.
| Passing to civil flying. it is necessary
| to turn to Europe. for the United States
has not progressed as far as have Eng
land and France in this field Here
there have been many short passenger
| trips, but no collected record of them
has, been kept.
| In England reports for six months
| from May to Nov. /, this year, show
| So 900 passengers were carried tota
distance of 100000 miles in $1,000
flights of an aggregate time OF 4,OOC
hours. In these flights there were IL
accidents, only two of which were fatal
according to the London Telegraph. OF
1.-the So, 900 passengers none was killed
land 10 were injured. or the pilots who
handled the planes in which they flew
two were killed and six were injured
| The small casualty percentage is con
| sdered especially remarkable by the
| Telegraph in view of the number of
| flights, as 1t Is in taking off or landing
| that most accidents occur. However,
| these figures do not constitute com
plete record of all civil flying Eng
land during this period, for the records
of some commercial fields were not ac-
| cessibe.
| Insurance companies in Europe are
| offering policies to airplane passengers
| which differ but slightly from those is
| sued to travellers in other carriers, And
| Answers the London periodical, which
| long has maintained promise to pay
| Sc, 900 to the heirs of any person killed
in a railway accident in whose pocket
is found a copy of the magazine, mas
| extended the same insurance to air pas
| sengers
That business men of Europe are
placing confidence in aircraft Is indt'
| Gated by a cabegram from Paris to the
| Philadelphia Public Ledger to the et
| feet that big firm Of Paris art deal
ers has made arrangements to send by
air from London to Paris painting by
| Romney valued at 100000, and some
antique Chinese jars that are priceless.
Richard Spillane says, in the Public
Ledger that the dealers have been
| quoted as saying that hereafter they will
| use the air vessel wherever possible, as
they consider it safer than transporta
ton by railroad train or boat.