The Washington times., 1930-12-26

BIG ADVANCE
|SMADE BY
INDUSTRY
Commercial Flying Is Firmly
Established, Department Of
Commerce Reports, in U. S.

Commerce Reports, in U. S.
Aviation leaped forward with
giant strides during 1880, both
in the realms Of the aeroplane
and the dirigible.
Commercial flying was firmly
established and the romantic side
was given new impetus by Dieu-
donne Coste and Maurice Bel
lonte, who in September flew
from Paris to New York in the
first completely successful west
ward flight from Europe to the
United States.
Endurance Record Set
Picturesque achievements are to
be found in almost every month
Of the dying year. There was the
endurance flight of Red" Jack
con and Forrest O'Brinc. who in
their "St. Louis Robin" set a
new world record of CAT hours.
In April Col. Charles A. Lind
bergh inaugurated air mail Serv-
ice between the United States,
BuenOs Aires and MOntevideO.
A new woman star, Miss Ruth
Nichols, eclipsed all women'S
croSs-country marks. Her one
stop flight to New York from
the West was faster than Colonel
Lindbergh's and nearly as fast
as that of Capt. Frank Hawks.
DirigibIes Cross Ocean
The Graf Zeppelin made an
other trip to the United States
from Germany. and the R-100,
British dirigible, made a trip
from England to Canada. The
0ne great air tragedy Of 1880
befell the sister ship of this
dirigible, the R-101, when it col
1apsed in France in October and
cost the lives Of all on board.
Washington was the focus of
American aviation progress. In a
report made to President Hoover,
the Department of Commerce de-
clared:
"The time is at hand when
air transport organizations are
ecOmin an indispensable
factor in the transportation
scheme Of the country"
It was pointed out that 20O,O
passengers had used the air lines
during the year.
In the Federal laboratories here
valuable assistance was given the
commercial flying world by a
steady stream of inventions and
improvements, some Of which
promise to be of the revolutionary
type.
Some Accomplishments
Here are some of the things
that have been done:
Development of the slotted
wing assures more stability.
Progress is made in cOOrdi-
mating erodyna m iCal and
structural phases of plane de-
sign.
Air-coOled engines are de-
velOped.
The autogirO comes forward.
MOnOplanes increase in
favor over biplanes.
Startling progress Is made
In development Of metal planes.
Hyblum, a new alloy claimed
to have high resistance to cor
rOSiOn. comes into use. .os
The com rr sion as9aition
heavy oil engine is seeaNs the I
engine Of the future.
In this last connection d
plane '4Gi1g fuel oil instead 6f
gasoline flew, on March 8,
from Detroit to Miami, 1900
miles, and the fuel cost $3.50.
The Capital is still looking for
an airport worthy of its place
and name. Hope revivesl that
within another IL months. Con-
gress will take action to provide
1t with flying station that will,
rank with the best in the world.
Fatalities Fewer
In general flying fatalities were
fewer than last year. In the first
six months of the year 27tfN we're
killed, compared to 282 ii rEIsast
half of 1929. ~
The autogiro !. deServesI atten-
ton. The public has shown a
lot of interest ina this method Of
increasing security in air travel.
Since the safety Of the autogiro
was demonstrates a faw years
ago the matter Of performance
has been perfected.
The latest machi1h he's are
equipped with a self-stalrter and
brake for the rotor, sol 1t is not
necessary to taxi to start the
blades before the take-off and the
rotor can be stopped immedi-
ately on landing.
"J