San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-10
.D|R|G|BLES To
aFLY HERE SOON
SAYS PATRICK
Predicts Both Freight and
= Passenger Lines
4 for U. S.
NEED MORE SHIPS
Air Service Chief Says
sR There Is Need of More
Army Fliers. n
NEED MORE SHIPS

~ "The greatest need Of the army ali
service today is more men and more
ships,r Maj. Gen. Mason NJ. Patrick,
chief of the air service, said at Eighth
Corps Area headquarters Monday
afternoon. General Patrick, accom-
panied by his aide. Maj. Fl. A. Dargue.
is spending three days in San Anto-
Mo making an official inspection Of
the flying fields here.
Il am strongly in favor" the air
chief said, "of getting into operation
some system by which We can retain
in active service cadet filters for few
years after they have learned TO fly,
and then have them subject TO call in
case of an emergency so long as their
flying efficiency lasts. In this way
we would always have a large num-
Der of young fiiers in the air service.
We must have enough" he continued,
. for the air service to expand prop
erly and quickly in case of an emer-
gency, and at the same time have
enough to form an air force equal TO
that of any enemy that could put one
in the field against us. Nobody who
has studied the question denies now
that the only way TO fight air forces is
with an air force"
AS for the need of more ships, the
general said that he had told the War
Department that it will require S15,.
100000 a year for the next six years
10 put the air service on a plane where
2 1t will be commensurate with our
size. BY the first of July there will
be less than 1000 planes in active SER
vice and half of these were war built
and fast deteriorating. As to what
an adequate peace time air service
would be, the general did not talk in
figures, but stated it should be several
times what it is now.
I, May Fly to Panama.
"As a means of coast defense, the
air service and the navy cannot be
compared" General Patrick said. 1.-The
navy belongs to the high seas while
airplanes must remain on land and
protect the shores. The airplane is u
gun with 100 mile range and we have
proved that it can carry enough
bombs to sink anything that floats.
"The Panama canal is peculiarly
vulnerable TO attack from the air."
the air chief explained, "and the re-
cent successful flight to Porto Rico
of twelve aviators that took off from
your home field here has proven the
feasibility of an insular base in the
Caribbean Sea from which we could
operate to protect that canal zone
That was a wonderful trip and we
gained much valuable information
from il. Since that flight was so sue
cessful we plan to send in the near
future both airplanes and airships TO
Panama. and are contemplating even
longer flights"
When asked what he thought was
the greatest development in American
aviation during the past year General
Patrick said there are three things
that stand out in his estimation as the
greatest single developments. One is
/ the helicopter that is being perfected
Mt McCook Field at Dayton, Ohio. 1t
is so designed that it will rise straight
in the air and hover over one spot.
Predicts Dirigible Lines.
at is not practical as yet" he said,
, @but We expect great developments
from it."
"The other two things Of greatest
development" the general continued,
"are speed and endurance. The speed
of the airplane that has recently been
developed at Dayton is nothing short
Of marvellous while the endurance rec
ords set by the Liberty motor are
none the less so. Both will have a
great effect upon aviation"
. General Patrick was extremely op-
timistic about commercial aviation. He
stated that it is his belief that within
Z two years there will be in his country
regularly operating dirigible lines car
rying both passengers and freight. In
time, he said, these dirigible lines will
spread all over the country. These
dirigibles, he said, will use helium
gas.
Airplanes will come in for quick
mail services between distant cities.
the air chief said. The aerial mail SER
vice new expects to have ship soon
! that can fly between San Francisco
and New York in SO hours.
Commercial aviation will be one
Of the greatest aids to military avia-
ton that we can hope for" was a
further comment. "At present there
is not enough commercial aviation to
justify aircraft factories TO keep OPP
Grating on large scale. Should we