Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-29
Three Club Speakers Favor
Temporary Substitute for
GraveIIy Point.
PLANNING BODY FEELS
SERIES OF FIELDS BEST
Walter Hinton, G. of C. Aviation
Committee Head, Ends Opposition
to Support Washington Airport.

Acceptance by the people of the Dis
trict of Columbia of the proposed Bing-
ham Airport on the Washington Air
port Hoover Field site was urged By
three speakers at joint dinner meet
ing of the aviation and city planning
sections of the Women'S City Club last
night.
All three speakers, Charles w. Eliot
I'd, city planner of the National Capita
Park and Planning Commission; Law
renee Williams, chairman of the avia-
ton committee of the Washington Board
of Trade, and Walter Hinton, chairman
of the aviation committee of the Wash
ington Chamber of Commerce, agreed
that the proposed Gravelly Point air
port area would be the ideal site for a
model airport for the National Capital
but stated that in view of recent de-
velopmentS at the Capitol it would be
better to support the proposed combina-
ton site, with Gravelly Point reserved
for future expansion.
Hinton previously had opposed the
sit In favor of the Gravelly Point held
Mr.. Eliot said that his commission
had made a thorough study of 48 pos
sible sites within is miles of the Capt.
toll Building, half of which were elm
mated by field inspection.
System of Fields Advocated.
The commission, he said, then de-
cided upon q system of fields located
in concentric rings around the city,
with two major airports in the center,
one for seaplanes and one for land
planes. In the first ring, closest to the
central airports, would be series of
emergency landing areas. In the case
Of the Gravelly Point site, which was
selected by the commission for the CEN
trail field, he said. such areas as East
Potomac Park Golf course, Hoover
Field, Washington Airport and Boiling
Field would serve for emergency pur-
poses.
The second ring would comprise
auxiliary airports used for shops and
schools and would take in such fields
as Hybla Valley. near Alexandria, Va;
Camp Springs, Md; Chillum and the
Congressional Airport.
Some Areas Already Developed.
Still further out would be inter-
mediate fields, located on the main air
lines out of the city. It was not
planned to spend great sums of money
for such development, he pointed out,
but merely to designate these sites for
future use as circumstances might
make them necessary. Several of the
areas already are in use as flying fields.
From three to five years would be
required to develop the Gravelly Point
area. he said, and in its last annual
report the commission recommended
development of one of the emergency
fields in the first concentric ring as a
temporary site. At its last meeting
last week, he said, the commission APP
proved the Washington Airport Hoover
Field area.
There is legal uncertainty as to the
precise limit of Federal holdings in this
area, he said, because of the difficulty
Of determining where the high-wateI
mark was located in 1871, when tbs
boundary line was located. For this
reason, he said, the Bingham bill, now
pending in Congress, should be amended
to give the National Capital Park and
Planning Commission latitude in nego-
tiating for the use of the property.
District Must Share Expense.
MIR. williams pointed out that the
District must expect to share in the
expense of developing any airport which
may be selected and predicted that II
would benefit in accordance with the
development which it makes to care fol
future air transportation. He said that
there would be an advantage in the
Federal Government retaining title tc
the Washington Airport-Hoover area
to prevent taxation and regulation Of
the area by the government of Vir.
ginia.
At a meeting of the aviation COM
n1ittee of the Washington Chamber o.
Commerce yesterday afternoon the COM
mittee adopted resolution inviting DR.
Hugo Eckener to locate his proposed
transatlantic dirigible line terminal field
in the National Capital area.