Middletown transcript., 1922-11-04
ARMY IN need
Of MORE FLYERS
Secretary Of War Says United
States Is Tagging in March
of Aviation.
STUDIES AVIATION IN EUROPE
General Mitchell Reports Result Of
Two Months' Investigation Abroad
-Legislation Needed Requir-
inQ Inspection Of Airplanes.

Washington.-For the time being at
least the United States is tagging be-
hind the march of aviation progress.
must and will be remedied If Secre-
tary Of War Weeks has anything to
say in the matter-and he has.
The secretary of war lately declared
that the European nations, particn-
larly those Of them like Great Britain
and France, that have attained the
utmost degree of efficiency in the fly
the commercial side, are spending
much more money in the development
of aviation, are developing superior
types Of machines and in general are
quite a few steps in advance Of the
United States.
Studied Aviation Abroad.
The secretary Of war is making a
study of the status of aviation here
and abroad with view to putting
the United States in the forefront of
the march. He received lately from
Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, assistant
chief of the aviation service, the re-
suit of two months investigation the
latter has made Of conditions in Eu-
rope.
incidentally Bill Mitchell, one of
the veteran flyers of the country, told
the secretary of war of unique ex
perience he had the other day in the
vicinity of Detroit when making a
flight from Chicago. General Mitchell
ran into thunder cloud which had
length of at least 120 miles.
General Mitchell had never In his
previous experience ran into storm
of this size. Thunder clouds, always
deterrent to aviators, usually meas
ure about twenty miles and by flying
on the edge of them the aviator can
| get into the open in short time. After
skirting the edge of this cloud for
some eighty miles General Mitchell
| found that It extended still forty
miles.
Discussing his visit with General
Mitchell, who had just completed a
trip from McCook field Dayton o..
| to Boiling field, Secretary Weeks said
that General Mitchell believes that
| stricter examination and licensing is
| the great prerequisite to the develop
ment of commercial aviation in the
United States.
Before the general public can feel
assurance regarding commercial air
| routes the secretary said there must
be legislation that provides rigid In
| spection of airplanes and the llcens-
ing of pilots. Federal regulations are
deemed the most appropriate, as these
| would eliminate discrepancies in laws
and conduce to uniformity.
Encourage Commercial Aircraft.
From the standpoint of the War de-
partment the development of COM
mercial aircraft should have every en-
| couragement for the reason that II
would provide for the army great
reserve of competent pilots and Off
GERS in any national emergency.
At the present time there is no law
| providing for the inspection or regu.
lation of pilots or their machines
when engaged in commercial service
and this fact, the secretary of war be-
lieves, has given rise to many of the
accidents that have occurred.
AS an example Of the degree OF
safety which may be attained In com
mercial flying the secretary of wal
instanced the fact that one CONNER
cial line operating between Miami
Fla. and Nassau has carried $4,000
to 100000 passengers without an ac
cident. The same company that op
crates the Miaml-Nassau route is now
interested in developing an air routt
between Detroit and Cleveland by
way of the lake