Evening star., 1928-11-25
AVIATION
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

most complete ever held in this
country. Seventy-four manufac-
turerS of aircraft and aeronauti-
cal instruments in this country
have reserved exhibition space
and a number of foreign exhibits
will be received.
Air Trip on Program.
The visiting delegates are to be
flown from Cleveland to Chicago
and from Chicago to Dayton,
weather permitting. At Dayton
they will participate in a civic
celebration in commemoration of
the achievements Of the Wright
brothers before continuing their
trip by railroad to this city.
The conference here will be held
December IL, 13 and IA in the
United States Chamber of Com
merce Building. The program
calls for three plenary sessions in
the mornings, to be devoted, re-
Spectively, to air transportation,
airway development, including
meteorology and communications,
and trade in aircraft and engines.
Three Sub-SeSsionS each after
noon, or nine in all, are planned.
There will be one night session,
December 13, devoted to pioneer
ing flights. 1t is hoped that the
air pioneers of all nations who
actually have participated in
pioneering flights will be present
and will take part in the program.
Motion pictures from the archives
of the world showing these
pioneering flights will be shown.
A White House reception, a re-
ception by the Secretary of Com
merce, visits to the aeronautical
laboratories at the Bureau Of
Standards and an air circus by
Army, Navy and Marine Corps
pilots will round out the program
in this city. The foreign dele
gates will visit the Langley Me-
mortal Aeronautics Laboratories
at Langley Field, Va, December
16. On December II, the twenty
fifth anniversary of the first
flight of the Wright brothers, the
visitors will witness the unveiling
of two monuments on the scene
Of that flight, at Kitty Hawk, N.
c. They will return to this city
before being diSbanded formally.
U. S. Near Leadership.
The silver anniversary of the
Wright brothers first flight will
find the United States well along
the road to world leadership in
commercial aviation. This Ma
tion'S air mail lines now are far
out in the lead in mileage flown,
amount of mail carried and eff
cheney of operation. Germany
holds the leadership in air trans
port flying, but the plans of the
great American commercial air
combines for next Spring promise
to put this Nation we'll toward the
top, if not actually in the lead, in
this field as well.
America today is doing a tre-
mendouS amount of commercial
flying. The air mail network has
been extended to all parts of the
country and, with the establish
ment of Southern tranScon-
tinental route, a fairly compre-
hensive system will have been
realized. Passenger and trans
port operators are doing a
f1ouriShing business in many
cities. Business executives are
flying their own planes in the reg
ular conduct of their daily busi-
ness. More than 1000 airportS
are in existence and the airplane
manufacturing industry is behind
on its orders, although nearly
1000 planes, having a total value
of $14, 100000, were produced dur
ing the past fiscal year. Today
approximately 600 airplaneS are
being built in American factories
each month. Planes of COM
mercial aviation companies in
this country, including the air
mail, fly more miles than any
other nation. The records for
1927 show that the mileage flown
last year in this country totaled
100000 miles, as against $780,
900 in Germany, 3,5OO,000 in
France and 100000 in the Brit
ish Empire.
On the twenty-fifth anniversary
of the first power driven airplane
fight, therefore, the United
States may play host to the avia-
ton leaders of the world with
the consciousness that by actual
achievement in this new field of
air commerce it has established
an enduring memorial to the men
who short quarter century ago
opened the door to a new era in
| human progress.