Evening star., 1928-10-28
, sketched the picture with swift, sure

| atmospheric conditions. We must 0e'
velop a weather-reporting system tt
warn pilots of bad conditions ahead o.
them The Post Office Department
| transcontinental route has such aid'
now, but on the new contract routes thu
mail pilots are fighting their way
through without any such help, anc
those are risks we must eliminate a.
soon as possible.
I'VE shall have to secure sufficient
landing fields all along these airways
OF course, they must be marked and
| what is more important, they must be
| lighted. If We can fly only by day we
shall not convince business men that we
are saving any time for them. After
the airwayS are established they will
have to be charted so that pilots car
easily find their way across the country
He paused for moment in contem-
plation.
Those are the high points. I think
that the most important things are pro-
vision Of the airway aids and the crea-
ton of an inspection system for planes
and pilots. This will not only protect
human life, but will establish public con-
fidence, which has been seriously under
mined by accidents in unsafe planes
and with poor pilots"
AA4OoC WCAO. 0CNACVo4y 11OONCK ukEECS
tions. There were no suggestions as to
how the aeronautics branch should be
formed. I was free to carry out this
program. Men we're selected with both
practical experience and theoretical
knowledge of aviation, and we set to
work putting Mr.. Hoover's ideas into
effect.
ClamOr for Lights.
A dozen matters claimed our atten-
tion at once. Operators who had con-
tracted with the Post ONCE Department
to carry mail were clamoring for lighted
airwayS. Their pilots were gamely tight
ing their way through, keeping up a
fine record, but at the expense of per-
Sonal hazards and with occasional acci-
dents. This had to be changed quick
ly. We assigned the establishment and
maintenance Of airwayS to the Bureau
Of Lighthouses, which had had valuable
experience in solving lighting problems
for years in guiding maritime commerce
along our coasts. An airways division
was developed, built up around experts
who were both pilots and engineers.
The department at that time had no
airplanes, so We borrowed them from
the Army, Navy and Post Office Depart
ments. Airway extension superintendents
were soon flying over the contracted
routes hunting for intermediate field
sites and beacon light locations. This
work was. by no means the safest in
the world. Hopping over forests, hills
and other obstacles, frequently at neces-
sarily low altitude, the airway men care
fully searched for places where the
mail pilots could land in emergencies.
When conditions prevented landing to
check up on tentative sites. these pilots
dropped markers and later came back
to hunt for them. Sometimes they
dropped messages near farmhouses,
making appointments to talk over the
leasing of ground. The farmers would
be instructed to mail a reply to a GER
tain off1ce, for finding on the ground a
field which had been located from the
air was by no means simple.
In barren and mountainous country
good sites were sometimes non-exiStent.
In such cases the airway men built
fields-clearing trees, removing rocks
and filing ditcheS-so that the great
chain Of airplane ports would not be
broken.
All along the night routes, at 30-mile
intervals, safe fields for airmen began
to appear, with their white boundary
lights showing outlines Of their land
ing areas and powerful rotating bea-
cons to guide pilots along their course.
Between the lighted fields the airways
men established other beacons.
No Power Available.
often in the outlying regions no
power lines were available and gas en-
zine generator sets had to be used, with
caretakers who switched the lights on
at dusk and of at dawn. Sometimes
not even caretakers could be persuaded
to 70 out into the more desolate Sec
tions, and then sun relays were used. so
that the faithful beacons were auto
matically turned on at nightfaH.
Treacherous mountain passes had 10
be conquered when routes twisted
through them, as false turn would
send brave pilot crashing to his death
against a rock wall. Here the alrWayS
men placed flashing lights, or pink
ers," at each turn in the pass, SO tnat
the air-mail slogan. "The mall must 30
through" would be carried out. -
we asked the Weather Bureau Tor
helm and. using the forecasts obtained,
huiit I'D a communications section In
the airway division which flashed re-
norts by both radio and telegraph 10
pilots waiting to fly the mail routes.
Before that time, except on the post
ofice transcontinental route, pilots
usually wondered what lay ahead OF
them-whether fog lay beyond the
mountains they must cover, or wnetner
they would encounter Sleet TO force
them down in some dangerous section.
Now. the mail pilot taking on from ms
lighted airport heads his speeding plane
into the night with little uncertainty
or doubt. Tucked in his jacket Is a
report assuring him Of clear run TO
&c" 200 miles away, where he VIII get
another report.
Beneath him he sees the first rotating
beacon, sending its 100000 -candlepow-
er fash to welcome and guide him on
his way. Looking beyond he sees anotner
beacon, for 10 miles is but step when
seen from the air. And still farther, as
he climbs to a higher altitude, he sees
the beacon of an intermediate field, and
in few minutes Department OF Com
merce caretaker checks" the plane or,
in case of some sudden emergency, sig
mails it down and transmits to the pilot
his new orders.
Regulation Stressed. 4.
While all of this was going on and
the staff of airway engineers, super1n-
tendents and maintenance men was
being assembled, the problem of regula-
ton had not been forgotten. After
preliminary consideration conference
was called, to which representatives oi
the industry and experts from the all
services of the Post Ofice, Army anc
Navy Departments were invited.
A tentative draft of regulations was
broadcast and the industry gave it:
views. Standards were finally set re-
ouiring 200 hours Of solo flying fol
transport pilots who were privileged tc
carry passengers for hire in interstate
commerce. Fifty hours were required
for limited types Of flying and 10 hours
| for private licenses. Medical exam
| iners were appointed throughout the
United States to test applicants fol
licenses and the dangerously UNIT were
at once eliminated.
To test the thousands who imrnedi.
ately applied for licenses it was neces'