Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09

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hold in this country, It Is rapidly
becoming q most popular one, with thousands
of advocates Col Charles A. Iindbergh ana
his wife are among the latest to become giloer
enthusiasts.
Iindbergh's recent flight over the Mojave
Valley nearly ended in disaster when the motor
less ship lost an aileron, but the "nyinS colonei
came through smiling-just another expert
mental fight and no harm done. The incident
has in no way dimmed his interest in gliders
and he is laJing plans TO make an endurance.
record glider flight.
Can't Frank M. Hawkes. distinguished air.
man, plans to pilot glider from coast to coast.
The motorless ship he VIII use wan De toweo
by an Enthusiastically an AIR trailer.
While it is primarily sport one that calls
into play numerous faculties and satisfies long.
latent primal yearnings. It also serves the very
practical purpose Of preparing potential pilots
for the more arduous training OF powered nights.
IN short, every glider pilot Is potential arr
plane pilot.
Then TOO. gliding in its present stage of
DEVELOPMENT has proved Of considerable value
in aerodynamic research work in connection
with experiments for which the motored ship
would be altogether out Of the question.
Recently at the Lakehurst IN. j. Naval Air
station chen lieut. Ralph s. Barnaby, q. s. NJ,
gIided rsfely from the dirigible Los Angeles to
the field another important sphere of useful
ness Of The motorless plane was discovered.
Lieut.. Barnaby, who is the only licensed
glider pilot in the Navy Air Corps, is enthusi-
astic over the possibilities Of the use OF the
glider in connection with dirigibIe flights.
THE experiment proves the feasibility OF
descents from dirigibles by glider" he declares.
~In this regard the glider has great advantage
over parachute, in that it makes possible
landing at definite spot
'If dirigible commander wishes to send
man to the ground to assemble and direct
landing crew or to perform some other mission
the glider may be used with virtual certainty
the man will reach the spot he aims for. Con-
siderable time and expense may be saved by
sending men to the ground in motorIess craft
instead Of brigfng the dirigible to earth"
THERE are a number of features which rec
ommend gliding as . sport. In the first
place, it is not expensive. The initial expense
of q club, including glider and all, need not
exceed 81 900. elders completely built and
ready to launch may be purchased for about
$500 or may be built for as low as $50. The
latter practice is not encouraged however, ex-
cept in cases where the construction Is super
vised by some one thoroughly familiar with the
principles OF aerodynamicS.
These motorleSs planes are seldom purchased
by individuals for the simple reason that one
person alone could get about as much use out
of glider as he could out Of . irst-class
battleship. Which brings up another score for
the sport; 1t calls for teamwork.
The glider aside from its rich possibilities
for development. has proved to be valuable
and essential factor in the advancement OF
aviation Germany, restricted In her aero
building program by the Versailles treaty, has
been using soaring planes with marked success
for IL years The restrictions placed upon
Germany by the treaty led to the rapid adj
vancement of gIiders which the world Is now
witnessing and which, in turn, were made
possible by the wartime evolution OF the power
atrpiane. Thus, the Germans, more than any
other people. are responsible for form OF
aviation that is fast becoming q worldwide
sport.
The world record In duration was established
in Germany wher Lieut.. Dinort remained in
the air IA hours 43 minutes in his soaring plane.
Another German established . world record for
altitude when he went ATS feet alOft. Arneri-
can records do not approach these figures, the