Evening star., 1928-12-31
30 AND AVIATION PROGRESS SHOWN IN 1923 REVIEW
4O,OOO,OOO MILES FLOWN
BY CIVIL FLYERS In YEAR
Demand for Planes Exceeds Supply
'Limitless Possibilities Seen by
American Leaders.

| from the water
| Shortly afterward Bert Hassell and
| Parker D. Cramer decided to fly from
Rockford ILL.,, to Sweden. They got as
far as Greenland when their gas ran
out. A party of scientists saved them
Something of the travel possibilities
of the future were revealed on August
20, when Art Goebel, with Harry j.
Tucker as passenger. took off from
Los Angeles in the Lockhead Vega plane
Yankee Doodle on a nonstop flight to
New York. The distance was negotiated
in l8 hours and So minutes-a record.
Then in September, wilkins set off
for the South Pole on one of the last
great pioneering adventures. ComGr.
Byrd, with the most completely equipped
expedition in the history of exploration,
left in October to peer into the secrets
of the Antarctic.
Something New in Thrills.
After these events the world was
treated to something new in flying
thrills. The German dirigible Graf
Zeppelin, started out across the Atlantic
from Friedrichshafen, Germany, with
20 passengers and crew of 40. After
travelling over 5000 miles in HE hours
through almost continual weather dis
turbanceS, the giant ship landed at
Lakehurst, N. j. Then at the last of
October the ship returned, making the
trip in record time of II hours.
This accomplishment was followed bv
the announcement that the Navy De-
partment is to build two dirigibleS-aI-
most twice as large as the giant Graf
Zeppelin-to add to its fleet There
was talk OF competition between dirig-
1bleS and airplanes, but flyers of both
llghter-than-air and heavier than-air
machines admit that the great field for
the ZeppelinS is in making long flights
over the water jumps. The airplane
holds its sway for land travel.
The last of the years transatlantic
attempts by alrplane was made when
Lieut.. Comdr. H. c. Macdonald took off
from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, on
october II. He never was heard from
again.
Twenty-fifth Birthday Anniversary.
Then, to cap the years climax. on
December II the twenty-fifth birthday
anniversary of the flying machine was
celebrated on Kill Devil Hill, near Kitty
Hawk, N. G. It was here that Orville
wright New the first airplane, after
Wilbur had cut the restraining line
ana had guided the plane down its
runway.
For four seasons the Wright brothers
had tested out their ideas of soaring
tight on the hills near Kitty Hawk.
They had evolved new principles of
aerodynamicS, which they were con-
vlnced would solve the problem of fly
ing. And their dreams were realized
when the rather rickety kitelike plane.
weighing $50 pounds anc powered by
12-horsepower engine, few for 120
feet on its first trial
1t was five years later before Ameri-
can officials or the American public
would become interested in the Wrights'
accomplishment. Foreign capital had
to finance the first development of the
alrplane. twenty-five Years later Amer
leans are pouring their money into air.
plane stocks, while wealthy Americans
finance holding company after holding
company designed to back the manufac-
ture OF planes and to finance operating
companies
''The Wright brothers original invest
ment was few thousand dollars" Col.
Paul Henderson, president of the Amer
ican Air Transport Association, SAYS.
The aeronautical industry in the
United States now represents a capital
investment of $100,000,O0O in airplane
factories, commercial air transport
equipment, lighted airways and i'm
Just as the train extended trade
areas. opened up new markets and
speeded up business generally when it
silenced the hoofbeats of the pony ex-
press, SO the airplane is being utilized
by business in increasing measure"
Civil Flying Holds Attention.
This years developments have con-
centrated public attention on civil fly
ing rather than on military and naval
aeronautics.
The development of the two branches
of aviation are correlated AS Admiral
W. A. Moffett. chief of the Bureau of
Aeronautics Of the Navy, says. 1T is, of
course, automatic that civil aviation
bears the same relation to naval and
military aviation as the merchant ma
rine bears to the surface Navy. The
bureau is proud to have contributed its
share to the advancement of CONNER
clal aeronauticS, particularly in the de-
ve!opment of the air-cOoled aircraft
engines which are so widely used COM
mercially"
The Army flyers are handicapped by
OLD promotion restrictions that keep
them from a high rating in the service,
but those in the corps have year of
accomplishment to their credit Ma
chimes are being developed to a high
point of efficiency, with obsolete equip
ment rapidly replaced.
In the Navy aviation is considered an
integral part of the fleet 1t is being
developed to high level of perform
ance with equipment of the most mod
ern type.
Both services in the time of trouble
would have great reserve of pilots
and ships to draw from in the CONNER
cial field. Many of the best commercial
pilots, including Col Lindbergh, have
come from the Army training schools,
and before the year is out West Point
of the air may be an actuality at San
/ Antonio.
Copyright. 192S.l