Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-22
AVIATION
BY JOSEPH S. EDdERTON.

the Weather Bureau now are CIV
ing practically continuous service
In addition to hourly broadcasts
Of weather information from 10
terminal" stations along the
tranScontinent&l airway, broad
cast on the half hour from inter-
mediate stations on the airway.
This results in practically con-
tinuous flying weather service
along the transcontinental line.
Pilots may obtain concise weather
information at least every half
hour at any point along the trans
continental line. Owing to- the
fact that some Of the hourly or
half-hourly reports are too long
for broadcasting in the period al
lowed, information often is broad
cast on the quarter hours, when
the broadcasting stations call out
the course as laid by the directive
radio beacon.
The weather information and
forecasts are broadcast from a
chain Of Always radio stations
established by the Always division
of the Department of Commerce.
There now are approximately 80
of these stations handling either
radio-telephone broadcaSts to air.
craft and ground stations or radio
telegraph broadcastS. The larger
stations handle both telephone
and telegraph broadcasts. In ad-
dition, the department operates
seven radio beacon stations and
eight marker beacon stations.
Shortage Of Men q Handicap.
The Weather Bureau is expert
encing difficulty in obtaining the
services Of sufficient trained mete-
biologists to man the scores Of
new stations necessary to properly
serve the Always of the Nation.
The practice has been followed Of
selecting and assigning to airport
stations younger Weather Bureau
employees who show promise. Many
of them have met the test and are
giving excellent service, according
to Mr.. Gregg. The demands, how
ever, are increasing out OF all pro-
portion to the supply and, in this
field, there are no outside sources
on which to draw for new ma
terial.
In commercial life there has
been until recently no demand for
the meteorologiSt. There are in
dicationS now, however, that this
condition is changing and some
of the colleges, notably the MaSsa-
chusetts Institute of Technology.
are organizing courses in meteoro-
logy, which will provide a supply
of trained men so much needed
for aviation weather service.
For aviation weather purposes
a somewhat specialized form OF
observation is required. The wea-
Their elements of most vital con-
Germ to the pilot are general con-
dition of sky and weather, ceiling,
visibility, wind direction and veloc-
ity, temperature, dewpoint, baro-
metric pressure, miscellaneous
such as thunderstorms, squalls,
conditions of field as affected by
rain and snow, and the character
and velocity of the upper winds.
Certain of these factors, though of
vital importance to the flyer, play
small part in conventional weather
forecasting and must be made
especially for the purpose OF avia-
ton forecasts.
Other Stations Operated.
In addition to the great chain
of regular Weather Bureau sta
tionS and the new aviation sta
tions there are a number Of other
federally operated or private avia-
ton weather stations in operation
in the United States. The Army
Signal Corps has aviation weather
stations at fields where the
Weather Bureau has no establish
ments. The Navy has eight COM
plete weather stations at sea and
IA shore stations. TranSconti-
mental Air Transport established
72 weather stations or observation
points in a broad band along its
tranScontinental route and other
large air transport companies also
operate their own systems, all in
cooperation with the Weather
Bureau.
The fight against the pilots
worst enemy, bad weather, is be-
ing fought along a broad front
and, while the enemy is yet far
from beaten, he is losing one Of
his greatest factors of attack-the
element of surprise. 1t soon will
be possible for any pilot to be so
we'll posted on weather conditions
that for him to be caught I'M
warned by any major weather dis
turbance will constitute ineXcus-
able negligence.