Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-15
BY FREDERICK r. NELLY

| cad& dtlGtfon
BY FREDERICK II. NEELY.
Before the public can fly with safety
and profit, there must be airways Il
! fly on, good planes to fly in, gooC
pilots to fly the planes and modern
| facilities to combat the ever-threaten
ing and treacherous weather.
This problem is just as forceful II
the United States as in Europe, Asia
Africa, Australia or South America
where broad eXpanses open up to the
people an inducement to travel by all
and annihilate time and distance.
And this problem has been tackled
and grappled with by the aeronautics
| branch of the Department of Com
merce, acting under the provisions OF
the air commerce act of 1926, which
| called upon the Secretary of Com
merce ito encourage and regulate the
use of aircraft in commerce and fol
other purposes" 1t has not beer
solved in it's entirety in the nine
| months the branch has been in ex
| istence, but the act has contributed
to the cause of commercial and pr1
vate flying to such a degree that the
| branch offers the prediction that T.,
| 900, 900 miles will have been flown by
the end of the present calendar year
Difficulties Overcome.
As a result of the act no longer
| does the \Mlitious but skeptical
ea'oundman ia,Se to stick to the earth
because he has no confidence in either
| pilot or plane for even hop around
his city. No longer does he have to
fear that he will get lost, which prob
ably will end in disaster, If he goes
out cross-country in the hands of a
commercial pilot who Is making his
first trip No longer need he fear that
the weather at the end of his desti-
nation will preclude landing or the
successful completion of his trip. And
, if he wants to fly at night it will not
be an expedition into inky darkness,
as the airway is lighted and facilities
are available for an emergency land
ing.
The menace to civilian flying in the
last few years was the honorable and
honest yet reckless and careless
gypsy" pilot, who brought his war
time built airplane down on the coun-
try fairgrounds and took up passen-
gers at S. or SO a hop. That night
he would leave it exposed to the ele-
ments and the next morning the
patched-up craft and the often green
and inexperienced pilot would shove
off to the next city or town and re-
peat the operation. Sometimes his
plane fell apart or became disabled
in the air and crashed, bringing seri-
Gus injury or death to himself and
passenger.
The accident would be broadcast and
people would shake their heads and
say: "Oh, those deadly things. Don't
ever let me catch you going up in
those death dealing contraptions."
But aeronautics has been freed OF
that parasite on it's good name, and
now, or possibly it would be better to
say after the first of July, the skeptic
can board a plane, see certificate
of airworthiness in the cockpit, de-
mand the presentation of the pilot s
license, both of which are issued by
the Department of Commerce only
after rigid examinations, then permit
the pilot to give 'er the gun" and
rush off the ground in peace and hap
piness for an enjoyable first fight.
Danger Element Cut.
The danger element has been re-
duced to the minimum by the drastic
regulations. They went into effect
December 81, 1926, but that part call
ing for licensing of pilots and registra-
ton of planes has been extended to
July /, provided application for the
tary of Commerce by May 10. That
means that every pilot and plane does
not have to produce the necessary Gre
dentials until July 1 if they already
have been applied for.
Granted that public confidence in
the safety of civilian flying has mount
ed in leaps and bounds since the pro-
mitigation of the regulations, and that
the public honestly believes the air
plane is safe providing the pilot COM
plies with the regulations which are
obligatory, then the next task for the
department is to make it profitable
vehicle to the operators and to the
people.
The question of acquiring proper
aircraft to fly for all purposes is no
longer surmounting. Planes and en-
gines, both reliable and dependable,
are on the market today, and the only
interest the department has in them
is to see that they are airworthy.
So to encourage and regulate the
use of aircraft in commerce" the de-
partment must provide airways for
individuals and companies to fly over.
Imagine the task ahead of a company
originating in Washington for the
purpose of carrying passengers to
Georgia on a 24-hour schedule. 1t
would mean the company would have
to lease intermediate fields for emer.
gency landings and light the airway
between the two places. If the com
pany did undertake this task, what
would prevent another company or
Individual from taking advantage of
this work and expense and using 1t
without cost The air is free and moth
ing could prevent encroachn1erlt on
the airline.
Always Are Opened.
Therefore the department has
opened airways, leased emergency
landing fields, lighted them, charted
them and issued maps for navigation.
In addition ii has provided radio and
telephone facilities for the dissemina'
ton of weather information. To date
| it has charted seventeen airlines, ex.
| elusive Of the Postoffice Department s
transcontinental air mail route.
True, most of these routes are be-
| ing flown over regularly by contract
air mail companies, both day and
night, but the invitation is standing
\ to the public to come on up, the
| clouds are fine" At any rate, those
anyways are in existence and the pub
| lie would be wise to use them in pref
erence to uncharted wildernesses.
The routes and the companies or in
dividuals operating over them or
schedule include: Boston-New York
| by Colonial Air Transport; Chicago
| st. Louis, Robertson Aircraft Corpo
ration: Chicago-Dallas, National Ali
| Transport; Salt Lake City-Los An
| geles, Western Air Express; Pasco
Elko, Walter r. Varney; Detroit
1 Gu o., n