Imperial Valley press., 1926-07-21

this work, and the two departments
viii cooperate closely in carrying
on the service. The weather bureau
is to =" furnish such weather re-
ports, forecasts, warnings and ad-
vices as may he needed TO aid the
safety and efficiency Of air naviga-
ton in the United States and above
the high seas, and particularly along
the civil airways designated by the
secretary of commerce. IT will
therefore "observe, measure and in
Vostigatc atmospheric phenomena
and establish meteorological offices
| and statiOnS.'
The service desired is. first. in.
formation as to current conditions.
both surface and upper air along
the section Of the airwav over which
flight is to be made; and second. a
forecast as TO conditions over that
! same route for tho next four to six
hours. IN others words pilot
wants to know what the weather
and wind conditions are now at all
points over which he is TO flv. and
him, what changes win occur dHrinr
the time required for his flight.
This time averages three or four
hours. but is occasionally five or
six, when there is strong head
wind. Forecasts for longer period
are not essential in aviation. If n
| pilot il +" leave ut two for four
hour Hi a general forecast is
sued a = a. IN. is Of little use 10
him; WHIT Is experience has shown
that he ps is information at 1:45
u. IN. as +. conditions then prevail
] ing, and = prediction. based uDon
| these curd tons for the next five
hours. Thie means Of course that
! observations viii not be taken stimuli
tancousIv at all points along an air
way, but nj varying times depend
( lhg upon He aviation schedules.
! Special observations will be rpquir-
! ed Of surface and low. level condi-
tions, such as visibility. fog. SQUALLS,
thunderstorms, and other unfavor-
able phenomena. Wind direction and
velocity and heights Of clouds will
be determined by pilot balloon OBJ
servations.
\ glance at the post office ain
mail map shows the chief routes that
will be helped by the new service
Commercial aviation i'm general j.
most active over these designated
airways. because of the convenience
Of landing places. fuel supplies
available upper air information. and
other considerations. The transcon
! tinental route from San Francisco
to New York is the only route nov
operated by the post office depart
mrnt. Feeding into this are - cen
tract routes which include all the
points where stations will be open
ed by the weather bureau and Spc
cial service maintained during thi
first year. The stations ere as fol
lows: Chicago. Cheyenne. Salt LAX,
City. Cleveland, Reno, New York
Dallas, Minneapolis, Kansas City
hSt. Louis, .JacksonviIlc. San Fran
cisco, Seattle, Los Angeles. Detroit
Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Portland
oklahoma city. Cincinnati. The frs
ten will probably be in operation
within month Of two after July |
and the others, depending ON tn,
success of the weather hHreau il
procuring Suitable equipment, it i
hoped viii be in operation by No
vrmbcr. Eight Of these stations ar,
located along the tramscontincuta
| line, the remainder ON the cOntrac'
lines.
Commercial aviation of many kind
in addition to mail carriers Will b,
benefited by the safeguarding of the
airways through the new service
Passenger traffic is relatively un