Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-15

| the rotor and work 1t up to the speed
| necessary for taking of.
The aeronautical engineers present at
| yesterdays meeting we're unanimous in
| agreeing that prevention of the fiat or
| abnormal spinning of an airplane,
which places it beyond the control of
| the pilot and results in a large proper
| ton of the serious accidents of today,
constitutes the most important aviation
| problem.
The national advisory committee for
! aeronautics, 1t was announced, already
| is working on this problem, and is pre-
| pairing to construct a vertical wind tun-
mel in which the causes and effects OF
| spins may be studied with view to
their elimination. A small-scale tun-
mel of this type was demonstrated to
the visitors yesterday.
The closing session of the conference
yesterday afternoon was devoted to the
presentation of aviation problems for
| investigation by the committee during
the next IL months. Edward P. War
ner former Assistant Secretary of the
Navy for Aeronautics and now professor
Of aeronautics at the Massachusetts, In
stitute of Technology. who was ap-
pointed a member of the committee
during the past year, opened the discus
sion. He stated that in his opinion the
! greatest aviation problem of 1928 was
to increase the speed and efficiency of
the airplane without increasing the
horsepower of the motor or the cost of
operation. This problem was effectively
solved. he said. by the creation OF the
N. A. G. A. cowling for radial air-cooled
engines.
He expressed the hope that the COM
mittee's work on the development of
strong, light and efficient landing gears
would be carried to successful conclu-
sion, especially as regards the light type
of plane for private use.
Motor Streamlining Discussed.
Among the problems presented by
other speakers were the Streamlining OF
cupboard motors, when used in tan
dems. with one engine behind the other,
one driving a tractor and the other
pusher propeller: the further refinement
of pusher propellers; the development
Of cowling for in-line air-cooled motors:
the determination of drag of minor fit
tings, especially of strut fittings, and
the gearing down of aviation engines to
drive larger and slower propellerS.
Capt Holden c. Richardson, U. S. N,
retired, who now is engaged in CONNER
cial aviation designing. declared that
better methods of testing the efficiency
of seaplane floats and flying boat hulls
are much needed.
DR.. George w. Lewis, director Of re-
search of the N. A. C. A., announced
that the committee is preparing for the
immediate construction of test chan
ned $500 feet long in which speed of 40
to so miles per hour may be obtained
for the testing Of model floats and
hulls.
William P. MacCracken, jr., Assistant
Secretary Of Commerce for Aeronautics,
suggested the deSirability of giving the
I'd Inf q n NJ
detecting the presence of another plane
in the air as means of reducing the
danger of collisions. He said this prob
lem might be worked out by increasing
the visibility from the pilots cockpit
and by the development Of an instru-
ment somewhat similar to the Subma-
rine detector, which could pick up the
hum of the other planes motor and
indicate its direction and approximate
distance.
Pitcairn Tells Of Plans.
Harold F. Pitcairn Of Pitcairn Avia-
ton. developers of the autogiro plane
in this country, said that the peculiar
windmill plane appears to have many
safety factors not enjoyed by the or
binary plane. He said that 1t can drop
almost vertically and still be. aerody-
namically stable. While the rate of
climb is not as great as that Of the Or
binary plane, the angle Of climb is
greater, he said, pointing out that this
meant greater ease in getting out of
small field. His engineers now are
working on the problem OF starting the
rotor without running around the field.
Following the flights of the autogiro
and the new DieSel-motored plane,
Lieut. AL williams Of the Navy, who
had flown from the AnacoStia Naval
Air Station, Washington, put on dem
ing the outside loop" one of the most
difficult and dangerous of aerial ma
neuvers. On several occasions he dove
then rolled the plane over on its back
and completed the first half Of an OUT
side loop.
number of planes few from Wash
ington. Capt. Luke Christopher, former
chief test pilot for the N. A. G. "A. and
now chairman of the contest commit
tee of the National Aeronautic ASsocia-
ton. and Frederick r. Nicely, general
manager of the National Aeronautic
Association, few in an Army Oil OBJ
servation plane. Lieut. w. G. Tomlin-
son, U. S. N, brought the Navy tri-
motored Ford and returned with David
S. ingalls,, Assistant Secretary OF the
Navy for AeronauticS, and other dele
gates. Several other Anacostia Naval
Air Station planes were on the field and
there were several commercial planes
from the Capital.
The delegates returned to Washing
ton this morning aboard the steamer
District of Columbia.