The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-16

New York, July 13.--Manufactur.
era az airplanss, professional pi-
lots Ind III o3herD connected With
The industry firmly believe that
including the airplans. the
Tying boat and the airigible Gas
bax arp about to come In for .. de-
velopment like that q the automo-
bile ten years ago. The airplane
industry, now struggling under Va
rious handicaps, u indulging In
brilliant and confident dreams Of
the future. It Il also going In for
. great deal OF practical activity.
Sales territory Tor various makes
Of planes 10 being divided mp;
agencies are being established.
To the average American citi-
zen today an airplane 10 . thing
away on in the sky which he still
stops to look at with curious inter
est. In \ few years that plane will
come down and the pilot viii ask
permission to demonstrate It's pos
sibilities as a safe, cheap, and
pleasant means OF transportation
for the citizen and his family.
There have been two great din
culties In p0pulArixing the air
plane. One of these is cost and
the other is danger. Now there
seems to be no doubt but what the
cost is coming rapidly down. GUAM
tity production of airplanes IL
scarcely stared yet, and the stand
ardixation Of materials Is Just be-
ginning, yet already many air
planes are advertised for 5000.
and some for $500. That IL. Q
good airplane does not now cost
more than q good car. It certain
ly looks as though flying might ulti-
mately be cheaper than travel BY
road.
Now All Metal Plane.
In this connection the new Lar
sen all-metal airplane, which is
the current sensation in the aero
nautic world, is significant. The
success OF this plane is revolution
AIRY In effect; authorities say It
means nothing less than the scrap
ping Of all wood and fabric planes.
Presumably the all-metal plane,
when thoroughly standardized and
produced in quantity will be much
>cheaper than the present wood and
fabric planes to build. and 1t has al
ready proven much cheaper to op-
crate. This all-metal plane, equip
ped with 165 horsepower engine.
carried eight persons with baggage
and fuel. The next most efficient
passenger plane uses 400 horse
power to do the same work.
The factor of safety il not so
simple. 1t may be argued that the
relative number of accidents is not
SO much larger than In automobile
ing, but the fact remains that q
man $1,000 feet in the air feels
much less safe than one on the
ground, and that in case of acct
dent his chances Of getting out
alive are much, smaller. No doubt
it will take generations OF educa-
ton, as well - mechanical devel-
opment, to make man in general
feel ct home in the air. But great
progress toward making flying safe
is being made. Various safety de-
vices have been patented, including
a parachute which Is fastened to
the back Of the aviator all the time,
SO that he may open it and drop to
safety ON very short notice. Sew
eral companies are Offering insur-
ance against all kinds of accidents
in the air. covering damage both
to the flier and to his machine,
1t would appear that the great
est difnculty here lies In the fact
that a man must be in fine physical
condition and must have some spe-
cial aptitudes in order to fly q
plane. Colonel Hiram Bingham OF
the air service says that the ex.
perience OF the government durinl
the world war showed that q large
proportion Of accidents were due
to the physical condition Of the
pilots. The fiers were subject t.
nervous and digestive disturbances
and were under constant care d
physicians ct the flying schools
Every man before being allowed t.
ny was tested By being spun arount
in q swivel chair. Only those whit
overcame the resultant dixsines,
promptly were considered capabl.
of flying. A machine known as thu