The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1921-10-14


assured In consequence, Omaha Is proudly claim
ing to be Americas most progressive aviation
center
The purposes of the congress are praiseworthy.
The congress itself Is likely to be Of great I'M
portance.
One purpose is TO bring the flyers together for
N big reunion the first since the World War An
other is to show everything In connection with
aviation, In order to interest the people of the
nation In flying. third is to form national
air body for the advancement Of aviation In Amer
lea. The big purpose is: Aviation supreme for
America
The formation OF national air body appears
to be well under way, through preliminary organi-
Nations in the states. At this writing twenty-five
stats forming state organizations of the con-
gress sud will be represented by delegates
That tNere is necessity for the formation of such
a body see.qs hardly open to argument. Rudyard
Klpling, yearN ago, wrote of aircraft; 1--WE are
at the opening verse of the opening page of the
chapter of endles> possibilities" We have read
far beyond that no X and the march of events
forces us TO keep on Srning the leaves, II we
would keep our place in tbs forefront of the pro-
cesson of the nations.
In the opinion of those who seem best qualified
TO know, the United States has not kept abreast
with other countries In the development Of avia-
tion, especially In the matter of development of
airways, For example, the best we can show in
the way of transcontnental route is that follow
Reno and San Francisco, The experts declare II
to be not more than 40 per cent complete In organi
EatiOn.
An essential of the success OF big business IL
imagination Imagine II you can what the part
OF aviation in the life of the nation will be five
years from now. 1t is no wonder that men of
large affairs want the organization of a national
| air body and want II now.
0mahas slogan was inspired by the Aero Club
Of omnhn an organization Of 100 former pilots
and observers of the World War. Nevertheless
all the city is talking aviation these days. Three
months ago, of course II was not so. Omaha was
no more enthusiastic over aviation than any other
city When It's citizens heard an aIrplane droning
overhead they gazed skyward for moment. 9th
erwise they were uninterested.
Then Earl w. Porter president of the Aero
| Club of Omaha. conceived the idea of the con-
gress and went to work on 1t. Now aviation is in
the blood of the citizens. They talk OF the many
phases of air travel with the nonchaance of aces
In other cities the people may call anything that
trayerses the air an arship. But not so In Omaha ;
they rightly use the word aircraft Do you hear
blimp In Omaha? Well hardly Omaha knows
that blimp is not only slang but obsolete slang
whereas people in other cities are still applying
the word indiscriminately to all balloons rigid
ard nonrigid airshps and ghter-than-air craft
You never catch 0mahan these days saying
\ hydroplane when he means seaplane: he knows
| that the former never leaves the water. And you
4 find him correctly using airplane, seaplane and
! airship Instead Of aeroplane, hydro-aeropane and
/ dirigIble. You may even oyerhear conversation
| about the captive helicopter In short, everyone
in Omaha appears to be enthusiastic about ayIa-
tion in general and the coming congress in par
ticuiar
President Porter went to his fellow clubmen.
They indorsed his idea and his plans and pledged
their support. They also fixed on him as the logi-
cal head of the movement and he was duly made