Evening star., 1925-09-11
AviatiOn's Future
By Senator Hiram Bingham
of Connecticut.

We all want to see America first in
the air. European travellers tell us
that there are comfortable cabin air
planes plying regularly between Lon
don and Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam,
Berlin. Moscow, Bucharest and other
leading cities of the continent. We
realtze that no such service exists be-
tween New York and other great
American cities. Furthermore, we
hear on all sides that our military and
conduct of aviation affairs by the War
Department and the Navy Depart
ment Commercial aviation has for
the past few years been unsatisfactory
and relatively dangerous. Evidently
all Is not we'll with aviation in the
United States. How can we provide
for a brighter future? How can we
help put America first in the air?
Combined Ministry Opposed.
do not agree with those who be-
lieve the answer to be found IN an in
dependent air ministry where Army.
Navy and commercial aviation are
combined under one head. / do not
believe you can mix war and COM
merce successfully. The problems OF
the Secretary Of Commerce are far
different from the problems Of the
Secretary OF War. We do not expect
the Secretary of the Navy to provide
aids to ocean navigation. They are
furnished by the Secretary Of Com
merce through his Bureau Of Light
houses, his Bureau of Navigation, his
Steamboat Inspection Service and his
Coast and Geodetic Survey. He should
be required by law TO provide similar
services for air navigation. No one
expects ocean navigation to be sue
cessfully and safely carried on with
out these important aids. How, then,
can we expect commercial aviation to
be successful and to have a brilliant
future when the United States Gov
ernment fails to provide aids to air
navigation similar to those 1t grants
ocean naUgation? This, then, is the
first step which should be taken to
promote the future Of aviation. Make
the Secretary of Commerce respon-
sible for promoting and protecting the
navigation OF the air. This can be
done by establishing a bureau OF air
navigation in the Department Of Com
merce and either giving it very wide
duties and adequate powers and suf-
ficient appropriations or by supple
menting its efforts by increasing the
duties of the Bureau OF Lighthouses
and the Coast and Geodetic Survey
and requiring them TO extend their
activities so as TO include the lighting
and marking Of airports and the
charting of airways.
This seems to me a reasonable and
efficient way to promote commercial
aviation. The air ports themselves
must, with few exceptions, be pro-
vided by States and municipalities
as Connecticut and Hartford have
already done on the banks Of the
Connecticut River at Brainerd Field.
The States will have to lend further
aid In the matter of navigable air.
ways. Ocean commerce depends on
harbors and on the way they are
made into seaports. Air commerce
depends on airports conveniently
located and adequately provided with
shops, hangers, lights and hourly
weather reports.
Specialization Needed.
The future of successful air de-
fenses depends on a recognition by
the Army and Navy of the necessity
for specialization in aviation and Of
the extreme importance of this little
understood art which can render such
ships. My interest in military aero
nautics began nine years ago about
the tiDe ! learned to fly. My studies
have led me to believe that as land
birds and sea birds use the air only
for purposes of fighting and hunting
and depend upon land and water for
nesting and resting, SO our land and
water aviators using the air for
fighting and scouting must eventually
use land or water for their bases.
These essential and important bases
must be protected by infantry and
battleships. If they are captured and
held by enemy infantry or enemy
battleships, the military aviator. no
matter how energetic and daring he
may be, will find his bcasted inde-
pendence of little avail. On the
other hand, I do believe that the
future of military aviation would be
greatly promoted were the Army Air
Service given a separate budget and
separate promotion list. / also
am firmly Of the opinion that the
progress of naval aviation depends
on prompt recognition by the Navy
of the Importance of specialization
in aviation. The best solution would
be a separate corps like the Marine
Corps. We cannot expect proper de-
yelopment of naval aviation as long
as non-fiying officers are in COM
mand of naval aviation schools and
of naval flying squadrons. The
Army learned during the World War
that those who were responsible for
commanding the training and opera
tions of aviators should be them
selves aviators. The Navy has not
vet reached this conclusion. 1t ia
to be hoped that land luboers" and
"sea lubbers" will soon be willing
to give "air lubbers' more RESPONSE
bility and greater freedom of COM
mand. as well as greater assistance
in covering the dangers and OBJ
stacles which must necessarily beset
an art so new as the navigation of
the air.
Copyright. 1e26.)