Evening star., 1929-06-30

4 \ cities on the waters edge
Seaports, those meeting place!
between the land and ocean, have
been indispensable to the pros
perity of men and nations.
Today every city and town is 2
port on greater seas than mar
ever sailed in the past. Tit
smallest community, by the con
Structicn of an airport, may be-
come port of call on the ocear
Of the air.
Eight centuries ago one of the
powerful Doges of Venice, appre-
ciating to the full that the prouc
city along the Grand Canal owec
its glory to the sea, instituted the
picturesque ceremony of wedding
the city to the Adriatic, custom
which survives today.
With no pomp or ceremony hun
drews of American cities anc
towns are being welded to the sea
Of the air through the construc-
ton of municipal airportS
Whether on the Seacoast, on in
land rivers or on the dry plains
each one of these cities and towns
ocean man ever has sailed.
Fields Number 1850.
Today there are nearly 1.50C
airplane landing fields in actual
operation in the United States
with 1000 more under construc-
ton or proposed for construction
before the end of the year. BY
next Summer it is regarded as
certain that more than 1000 air
ports will be in operation.
The most recent airport survey
completed by the airports section
of the Department of Commerce
Bureau of Aeronautics shows that
on May there we're in the United
3 States 1,439 airports, operated by
the Army, Navy, municipal gov
ernmentS, commercial organiza-
tions, or the Department of Com
merce, which maintains interme-
diate and marked auxiliary fields
along the airwayS.
There were on May 1890 muni-
cipal airports, financed, construct
ed or maintained in whole or In
part by American cities and
towns. There were 387 COM
mercial airportS operated exclu-
Sively as commercial propositions
The Department of Commerce al
that time had in operation 282
intermediate fields and 20;
marked auxiliary fields along the
various national airways.
The Army Air Corps has ir
operation in various parts of the
country a total of 20 flying fields
several of them among the great
Naval Air Stations, including
Marine Corps and Coast Guarc
stations. The Department OF Agri-
culture also has two flying fields
one for the Forestry Service ir
Idaho and one in Louisiana fol
crop busting and other agricul-
tural work, much of it OF an eX-
perimental nature.
On May ! work was in progreS:
or about to be started on 100:
additional airports, practically al
of them municipal or commercial
fields.
Airports Survey Begins.
Classification of the airport
! facilities of the country under the
! new rating regulations of the De-
, partment of Commerce has beer
! started by the airportS section oi
| the aeronautics branch, under
Col. Harry H. Blee. More than q
Score Of cities, proud of their air
! port projects and eager to bt
! placed on the official air map o1
the country, have applied FOL
( ratings and have been given the
! necessary application forms anC
instructions. Within a few days
Il is expected that field workers ol
the airportS section will be busy
In all parts of the country inspect
ing the various airport projects.
An "A1A" rating will be the
highest given by the Department
of Commerce and preliminary in
Spection has indicated that few
airports in the United States will
merit such a rating. The rating.
will be made strictly upon thu
basis of findings by the Inspector
and airports must meet exactly
the regulations laid down by thC
department before they can merit
the prize rating.
In cases where cities have ap-
piled for Ala ratings for their air.
ports and inspection reveals &
failure to comply with the re-
QuirementS, lower rating will b'
granted. if desired, until such time
as the higher rating is justified
Many of the larger airport prof.
ects in the country, which
eventually will rate the All
marking, still are under construc.
ton.
Field facilities, landing are;
and night lighting equipment will
govern the rating of airports. Th'
first letter of the rating will desig
. nate the type Of general equip
ment. This will be followed b.
a numeral indicating the size o
the field. The final letter indi
Gates the kind of lighting equip
ment.
Rating Requirements.
To obtain an A rating on gen
eral equipment the airport mus
have at least one 80-by- 100-foo
hangar with provisions for protec
ton against cold; wind-directiol
indicators, obstruction markers
repair equipment sufficient to per
NIT changing of engines and land
ing gear and equipment for majo
engine and plane repairs; weathe
observation and reporting facili
ties; radio receiving equipmen
for receiving Department Of Com
merce airways reports; snow-re
moval equipment in climate
where needed; f1rst-aid equip
ment, including an ambulanc
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