Evening star., 1924-01-13

tion in the Department. of Commerce
of bureau of civil aeronautics.
Action by the House on this meas
! ure will bring about renaissance in
aviation in America, and If the bu-
reau of civil aeronautics does not
| stimulate flying 1t will at least curb
the 'ten-dollar- -a-hop gypsy" who,
with faulty equipment in the major
! and the lives of his passengers at
! carnivals, fairs and other gathering
places. His equipment will be thor
oughly inspected. at intervals. and
certain regulations which he does not
| now have to do, because there are
none.
Depend on L. s. Contracts.
The aircraft industry in this coun-
try, composed of about six COM
panies. would die tomorrow were 1T
not for government contracts, and
these contracts are not large enough
! to bring about reduction in the
prices of aircraft because they are
| not produced in quantities. Guam
| tity production means lower prices.
and the airplane in short time
/ should be within the reach of every
| one.
! With the exception of one or two
| companies that are succeeding at re-
| sorts frequented by the wealthy and
sport lovers, civil aviation exists In
|
! the scene Of the national airplane
races, what is believed to have been
ja presentation of Americas civil
flyers startled and shocked experts by
the equipment they had. Planes that
some of the most daring Army and
| take off the ground-planes that
| were built five and six years ago,
abounding in patches, rust. broken
parts, planes that looked as though
Coll
even climbed aboard-were flown
about the airdrome, stunted and
maneuVered to the horror of the
nervous, and invariably would land
with a dead motor. or dead stick"
In airplane parlance. In the COM
mercial plane race a very small per-
centaSe or the starters finished, the
remainder crashing along the route.
Model Plane Here.
Coincident with the passage of the
Wadsworth bill there came into
Boiling Field during the week an air
cruiser similar to those operating In
Europe as daily passenger planes.
row easy II would be to convert this
SiX-passenger transport into q heavy
bomber was emphasized by officers
of the field. The plane is known as
the T-3 and was built by the L. w. F.
Aircraft Corporation of New Jersey.
twelve-cylinder Liberty motor and
weighs about 1900 pounds. Six COM
Portable chairs are arranged tandem
in the enclosed cabin, three on each
side OF an aisle In the open and
directiy pehlhd the motor are quar-
ters for the pilot and an assistant
pilot. making eight persons in all
the plane can comfortably carry. In
addition, there is abundant space for
baggage IN the rear of the cabin.
Ioperation throughout the country.
or planes of similar type. not oniv
would expedite travel and business.
declared one officer, but would build
up a reserve of bombing planes. in
addition to establishing an aircraft
industry that could be turned over
INN ediately to the government in
!+i-ne of need" The plane was helms
flown to McCook Field. Dayton, Ohio
by Lieut.. T. S. Ven Veghten, where it
will be put through severe tests be
fore being accepted by the air service
as military machine.
The famous transcontinental non-
stop monoplane T-2 today stands On
hangar No. at Boiling Field minus
being knocked down for transport
to the National Museum. where it will
he reassembled- and placed in the
front rank of all aircraft there. The
IT-2 has covered thousands of miles
of travel and has flown hundreds of
hours and still is in excellent condi-
tion, but the air service knows n
is not foolproof and decided to give
the ship its place Of honor before un-
known elements took command of it.
Mai. C1agett In Command.
| After many months OF operation
under temporary and acting COM
manding officers. Boiling Field now
B. C1agett, who took command OF
the Army post during the week. Col.