The New York herald., 1921-10-16
AVIATION NFRANCE
!. SAFER Than TRAVEL
BY RAILROAD TRAIN
Only Three Accidents in
Eighteen Months in Com
mercial Flying.
LINES ARE EXTENDED
Million Francs Offered for Re-
liable Light Engine With
Absolute Safety.
LINES ARE EXTENDED

Special Cable TO THE NEw York HERALD.
Copyright, 1921, by THE New YORK HznLp.
New York Herald Bureau.
Paris, Oct. Is.
Only three accidents in eighteen
months Is the record made by French
commercial aviation, which has been
extending it's air lines in all direc-
tons and asking for more extensive
credits than the budget makers of
France want to grant until the COM
merciaI balance sheet shows that a
fair share of the commercial COM
panies' profits are being shared with
the Government
But apart from the financial inter-
ests in French aviation. the remark
ably low fatality record speaks well
for the future of civilian flying. as 1t
is now considered safer to fly across
the Channel to London, or even as
far east as Prague, or across the Med
iterranean to the French colonies, than
to risk ones life in an ordinary train
SAiP ia liiC ~ CoCAl oldtC VI tAO L iGACn
railroads.
Hardly day passes without an acci-
dent on some French railroad. usually
with at least score of persons killed or
injured. but in the last year and half
French airplanes. not counting military
flights. have made more than $500 voy-
ages, covering 216s.436 miles, with
20,260 voyagers and 5000 tons of bag
gage. mall and freight shipments.
In three accidents only seven persons
have been killed. and II Is notable that
four OF these deaths occurred when
| pilot at Bourget airdrome failed to obey
| landing regulations and crashed to the
| ground with a party when by merely
| circl.ng the field once he could have
| reached the ground safely. The only
other accident during the period under
review occurred at the time of forced
descent when one passenger was slightly
injured.
The average newspaper reader. how
ever, will recall numerous accidents In
professional flying and Is likely to point
to these as evidence that aviation has
not yet reached the stage where flying
| is safe The manager Of one OF the
| biggest trans-Channel companies. how
| ever. holds different view.
| SUCH 6CClOeDLS are merely SHcrlflceS
in order to benefit future flyers" he
said Men like De Romanet, who are
| willing to give their lives in order 10
| study the results of certain mechanical
| changes, take chances with which the
| ordinary flyer never has TO contend. If
| II costs an experimenter his life to find
| an engine which will develop a speed OF
$50 miles an hour under the severess
| circumstances, the world must not COM
| Ill f,x - 81 fat,
for that one life gives to the science OF
| aviation the knowledge which will per-
| NIT flying in absolute safety at at least
| three-fourths the speed at which the
| flyer was travelling when he lost his
| life"
| While this seems 10 be cruel reason
| ing, II is what IS behind the long series
| Of experiments which have been con-
| Quoted in France since the signing of
the armistice, and which have cost more
money than Is being used TO train future
military pilots.
| That the race for supremacy In COM
mercial aviation Is only in its first
lapse Is shown by the fact that a fund
of 100000 francs Is now at the dis
rosa OF the French Aero Club for the
| inventor who will construct n reliable
light engine capable Of developing
speed of 100 miles an hour. and which
will give absolute security to passen-
gers on long flights. This 1000, 900
francs will OF course be used TO subsi-
dize the manufacture Of such an engine.
Similar grants are always open to In
ventors OF safety appliances for air
planes. especially TO an inventor of a
compact parachute which can be at
| tached TO a passenger during a flight
and which will open fast enough II a
passenger using II Is forced TO jump
from a burning or a broken airplanc.
One such parachute was proposed last
month. Inspiration Of It came from tho
hoopskirt OF the last century. Men and
women alike were supposed 10 don a
skirt which. by the mere pulling of a
string. would cause a collapsible hoop
to spread out, and this would form q
natural parachute.
The inventor expressed his willing
ness to prove its efficiency, but when
he was shown the danger Of a passen-
ger falling 70 jump feet first he do
cided TO go home and work out the idea
| further hefora sacrificing hfa veniua