Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-23
D|R|G|BLE FACTOR
IN DEFENSE SCHEME
ingalls, Pictures Craft as
ATpIane Carrier of Sky
in Radio Address.


night by David S. ingalls,, Assistant
Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics,
in a National Radio Forum address
over Station WMAL and chain of
associated stations. The address was
arranged by The Star and sponsored
by the Columbia Broadcasting System
The two giant zeppelins being built
for the Navy at Akron, Ohio, he said,
will be capable of launching from
within their hulk six or seven fighting
and bombing airplanes and then of
taking them aboard again while in the
air.
THE Zeppelin" he stated, provides
not only the greatest scout OF the pres
ent day, but also small carrier Of ex-
traordinarily destructive power"
Reviews History of Aviation.
Mr.. ingalls, reviewed the history of
aviation and told of the vital part 10
be played by air forces in the protec-
ton of the country's coast line. His
address in full follows: i
During mans triumphal march OF
progress he has passed many m1lestones.
These mark the boundaries of periods
which we have formed the habit of call
ing the lagos" of mankind's develop
ment. Uncounted years ago man passed
through the Stone Age. Then came the
Bronze Age, and more recently the Age
of Steam. Today we are living IN the
greatest age of all--the Air Age.
From the very dawn of history man
has dreamed of this age. He has always
looked upward toward the sky with the
hope and yearntng. In the clouds he
has enthroned his gods. And he has
dreamed of dwelling in some remote,
high heaven after leaving his earthly
home. AS he continued to think Of the
boundless world above him, man dared
to hope that he might travel in the sky
while still alive. Indeed, we must go
back to the mythology of the ancients to
find the first hint of mans ambition
to fly. This ambition has persisted
through the centuries-today it is re-
allied.
Primitive man soon learned to travel
by land. Later his descendants con-
quered the sea. Both elements finally
became the highways over which he
journeyed with ever increasing speed.
But the most extensive element Of all
def1ed him The air-greatest of all
years ago, came a great change. The
Wright brothers made their first flight.
We had entered the Air Age.
Astounding progress has been made
since the first flight at Kitty Hawk.
Travel by air was not merely another
step forward in a familiar means of To-
comotion. It was a step away from
to man. The fundamental principle of
the revolving wheel was common to the
wagon, the locomotive and the automo-
bile. The buoyant hull bore both the
sailing ship and the Diesel liner. All
used the familiar highways of the land
and sea; only the means Of propulsion
and minor details Of construction
changed. But the aeroplane had moth
ing in common with any known vehicle.
It involved new problems of buoyancy,
new problems Of traction, new problems
of propulsion. It travelled in an unex-
.plored elenent-the air-along q high
way that had thyee dimensions instead
OF two.
Age Of Amazing Improvement.
Centuries elapsed between the horse
drawn cart and the modern automo-
bile-between the sailing ship and the
modern liner. But in q years we have
as far ahead of the early Wright model
as the automobile is ahead Of the
chariot.
The Air Age has not been a time of
gradual progress-it is an age of amaz-
tngly rapid improvement
In the short space of ~ years the
training Of the human being in the ac-
complishment of this feat has been COM
pleted. Man now knows how to fly.
The development of the vehicle itself
and the engine have been completed. We
have the plane, the airship and the men
TO run them. And now that all this has
been accomplished we face new prob
lem. How are we to use this revolu-
tionary means of transportation?
Much has been done during the last
few months, much more lies upper
formed. Just as the highways were
the true reason for the great develop
ment of the automobile, so the high
ways OF the air became the critical fac
Tor IN aviation development today.
Rapidly, but not nearly RAPIDLY
enough, we are progressing along these
lines. Our aviation fields are few and
lar between. Many of them are totally
unsatisfactory in size. Many of them
are poorly maintained and insufnciently
equipped In many respects, and not close
enough to the centers of our various
communities. Our pressing need, there
fore, is the development of large. well
equipped fields, close to the centers of
population: and these should be con-
nected by lines of smaller auxiliary fields
where the pilot may land in any emer-
gency-always with no danger to pas
senger or load. Somehow, too, the coun-
try must be marked in order that the
wandering pilot, temporarily lost, NAV
easily re-establish his position. Travel
oy air cannot stop when the sun goes
Gown, and we must, therefore, have the
fields and routes properly lighted
Weather cannot be permitted to inter-
fere. and so we must provide ourselves
with instruments that will enable us to
ny in any weather.
Government Is Responsible.
Something has already been done
along these lines and much more will be
done. The Department of Commerce,
primarily, aided by many other organ
1zations, is doing a great job The day
Is not far distant when man may use
air transport in any weather in which
other means of travel can operate and
with as great measure of safety.
Larger, quieter, safer, and far speedier
planes viii soon be bearing large mart
our transportation. Not perhaps re-
placing older methods of travel, but
greatly augmenting them
The responsibility for the great COM
nerc1al development Of aviation in this
country lies for the most part in our
Federal Government. The Army. NAVY
and the Postal Department-each has
contributed great share in this Won
derful progress. The Postal Department
mas paved the way by giving life blood
10 commercial aviation. The ARMY and
Navy have developed the material and
provided most of the personnel. Our
Army Air Service has given us an inland
air force worthy of our country and
capable of sustaining our Armies. Naval
aviation has given us a flying feet. as
suring the protection of our coastal wa
tiers and supremacy in the air in any
future naval engaP ,ment.
The development of naval aviation
since the World War has been astound-
ing. Spurred by necessity, aviation
above the land and with the armies was
almost fully developed during the war