Evening star., 1925-08-28
VANDERBILT PLANS
ATLANTA AIR BASE
Land Secured and Plant to
Be Opened About Christ
mas, He Says.
By the Associated Press. J..

By tn. Associated Press.
ATLANTA, Ga. August 28.-Plans
to establish a large commercial air
base in Atlanta, from which lines will
tend to Cuba, today were announced
by Cornelius Vanderbilt, jr.
Eleven thousand acres OF land near
the city have been purchased, or are
under option. and planes probably will
be placed in operation by Christmas.
The development program for this
section of the country will require
about five years and involve the ex-
penditure of several million dollars.
fen Planes on Line.
Mr.. Vanderbilt arrived here yester-
day from Detroit. where he held con
ference with his associates. whose
names he did not reveal, and will re-
main until next week. He then will go
to California to superintend the open
ing of an air line between Los Angeles
and Salt Lake City. Ten planes will
be operating on this line by September
!, he said.
MANY local men have been working
with him for a period of six months,
but he said their names will not be
made public until a conference within
the next 30 days, when construction
will begin on the fields. The group of
men associated with him, he con-
tinued, represent the leading engineer
ing and financial interests of the coun-
try
They plan to make Atlanta the third
largest commercial air base in the
United States.
1T would be impossible to give any
thing like an accurate estimate of the
amount which will be expended in this
development, but regardless of what
it may cost, there is sufficient capital
interested to insure it's success, MIR.
Vanderbilt said.
There are now four we'll financed
and managed commercial air COM
panies operating in the country and
one is in process of formation. There
probably will. be 90 In the next five
years.
Open by Christmas.
I'VE have had engineers in Atlanta
four months making surveys and
drawing plans. We hope that we will
be in position TO begin flying out of
Atlanta to New Orleans and points in
Florida by Christmas of this year.
Our planes will carry freight, ex-
press and mail, but no passengers.
We are building two airships a
month and should be in position to
have 10 planes in Atlanta before the
first of 1925
The plans, as outlined by Mr.. Van
derbilt, include facilities for the opera
ton of dirigibles as well as airplanes.
The land we have secured Is all
within a 20-mile radius of Atlanta,
with the main operating base within
four miles of the city limits, but 1 do
not want to announce the exact loca-
ton until another conference with the
Eastern members of the group" he
continued.
Plan "Air City"
I'VE expect to put in shape three
separate fields, each a mile square.
and to encourage real estate develop
ments around them. We will eventu-
ally develop what we want to be an
air city somewhere in the metropol-
itan area of Atlanta"
After stating that the advantages
which developed Atlanta into one of
the railroad centers of the South had
Influenced the selection of the city as
the site Of the air base, Mr.. Wander
bilt said that another favorable point
was the 1,000-foot altitude here which,
he remarked, made it an ideal loca-
tion for a base for dirigibles.
Mr.. Vanderbilt expects to return at
an early date and will spend the Win
ter here directing the operations of
the company.