Evening star., 1926-09-07
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

is going along 'the strait and mar
row way"
But the landing field will he still
invisible il he is above a cloudba nix
Tomorrow" the field will have a bal
loon above the cloudba NIX 900 or
5000 feet up-carrying a star Of cleo
trio light. attached TO earth by wire
cable. No aviator will he needed In
that lookout balloon. The elsctric
light will get it's current through the
cable. and so the heavens. above the
clouds. will be marked out as clearly
as Broadway.
The flyers own instruments tell
him the strength and direction Of The
wind, which will give him the angle
OF that balloon cable. and so he will
know the location of the andng field.
though darkness and thick clouds he
round about him.
Furthermore. the radio telephone
even now enables him to talk with
earth without slackening his speed
Radio will pick up the dash a nd dot
guidance as tugs pick up incoming
steamers and bring them safely to
the docks
There are radiOdirected airplanes.
which, with no aviator aboard. may
be navigated hundreds of miles, and
by radio control their carSoes Of ex-
plosives may he dropped upon the
enemy. How puerile in compa rison
becomes the famous big Bertha Of
the German army. which fired small
shells 20 miles and affrighted Paris.
Today great cargoes of INT may he
sent from Paris "On to Berlin" and
dropped by the touch Of a key IN
Paris at just the right moment. IN an
nihilate a city. Such radio controlled
torpedoes have flown 81 miles and
hit within 500 meters Of a small tar
get.
Tomorrow's airplane will he equip
ped with gyroscope control. which
will relieve the flyer of nervous strain.
for when the gyroscope is set to fol-
low a certain path, due allowance be-
Ing calculated for the drift Of the
wind. the aviator's troubles may hs
packed in his kit and he may smile.
smile, SMILE" at the danger OF stray
ing at random.
*s+ ~
Somehow there Is an impression
held by the average man on the street
that the United States is laCginS he
hind Europe in commercial and mail
aviation. Not so. We already operate
1856 miles OF airways. of which 2.n41
miles are lighted and 1.2s7 more miles
are now receiving their lighting equip
ment. At next session of Congress ad-
ditional appropriations will be asked
for lighting the rest Of the 1929 miles
and much more Of new mileage. With
the exception OF France, the United
States has the lead in aviation mils-
age.
At the last session of Congress, a
bill was passed to place the control
of commercial aviation in the De-
partment of Commerce. and to create
assistant secretaryships for aviation
for each of three departments-Corn-
merce, Navy and War Departments.
Those assistant secretaryships have
Just begun to function. In due course,
the Department Of Commerce will
take over the handling of the air mail
contracts for the Post Office Depart
ment, and will encourage the estab-
lishment Of private air routes for
passengers and traffic. including CON
tracts to carry the mail. similar to
present contracts with railroads and
steamship lines.
The Department Of Commerce, by
the new law, Is authorized to make
recommendatiO to the Department
Of Agriculture as to necessary meteor-
logical service Of the Weather Hu-
reau, and as the Bureau Of Stand
ards Is connected with the Depart
mont OF commerce. tne ASSlSldIi SSC-
retary OF Aviation will have In his
control all facilities for development
of practical commercial aviation.
The Army and Navy are indepsnd.
ent in their command of their own
aviation. but will confer with the De.
partment of Commerce az to possible
improvements.
The greatest need at present Is the
cheapeninR OF the cost Of engines.
The present cost OF 200-horsepower
engines Ia s.. 900 each. and the large
plane requires three engines. for
safety and efficiency. A plane like
those in commercial service today
represents an Investment of soma
$25. 1000.
Even with such cost Of outft. tho
passenger paws rate Of about 10
cents a mile and travels $50 miles an
hour. instead of rail fare Of 3is cents
to travel 40 or so miles an hour. He
NAV fv from New York to Chicago.
overnight, in hours-saving IL
hours en- route. How long will bust
ness men whose time is valuable. con-
tinue to save the difference between
an and 10 cents, q mile at q cost OF q
whole day out of business? When
improvements come-as are coming
rapidly-in comforts, safety and less
ened overhead cost. including equip
ment. aviation will come into com
mon use. not gradually. hut suddenly,
according to the considered views Of