The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-07-19
LANDING FIELDS
Are IN DEMAND
AIR SERVICE DIRECTOR CALLS
ATTENTION TO THE NEED IN
ESTABLISHING COMMERCIAL
ROUTES.

The Air Service News Letter says:
Two announcements recently made
in the press advise the public of two
large transportation companies that
have been organized, one to do gen.
eral passenger business over short
routes in the middle west, while the
other intends running a line of giant
alrplanes from New York to the coast
with ten trunk lines operating from
the Grand Trunk and expects to do
general express and mail business.
Again we face the question of ade-
quate municipal landing fields and
naturally enough the question is
rightfully asked: What has been
done by the municipalities towards
solving the question: 1t has been
proved beyond a doubt that the air
plane and airship has any other mode
of travel outclassed by so per cent,
in many cases rs per cent, in speed.
A great deal of Illuminating inform
alton has been compiled regarding the
performance of the airplanes. Refer
, ence need only be made to the post
office departments operations report
to verify all that has been said re-
,garding the practicability of CONNER
clal aerial transportation.
Here we face a situation in compa-
MES under the process of formation,
who at least on the face have every
intention of putting their projects into
operation. What will the cities on
their routes do? Will they take time
, by the forelock and make immediate
arrangements for landing fields, or
will they let it pass by? These cities
could lease these fields to good adj
vantage and make commercial avia-
ton an assured success from the
, start.
There may also be emergency land
ing fields between stops. Airplanes
will stay in the air indefinitely and
have not reached the stage where they
will stay in the air indefinitely, and,
from time to time it will be necessary
! to make forced landings although such
landings are not often in these days.
Commercial companies on long hauls
will no doubt use twin or four mot
ored planes. Such planes will cost in
the neighborhood of from $4,000 to
100000. 1t is certainly unreasonable
to expect concern to invest this
money into equipment and have the
chance of having them smashed in a
forced landing and equally as unrea =
landing fields in every city
across the continent. A corporation
! undertaking a landing field project in
addition to its equipment would have
to be capitalized at a billion dollars.
+. Surely the examples provided by the
English government in providing land
; ing fields for commercial service
throughout England have been the
! means of their huge success in es-
tablishing a number of highly sue
cessful and profitable air lines ex-
! tending all over the island and to
Paris and Brussels. Then, certainly,
our cities should see to it that we
are equally as well provided for.
1t is to be remembered that land
ing fields mean the successful pro-
| motion of aeronautics. Active COM
mercial aeronautics means highly
| trained personnel-special equipment
! adding them all together it will spell
success or failure in the next war
should there be one.
This is the point of view all trade
organizations should see, and realize
that in cooperating in the establish
| ment of municipal landing fields they
are materially adding to our country's
national defense.