Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
AVIATION
BY JOSEPH s. EDdERToN.

service out of Washington for sew
eral months and then, on August
II, 1929, Clifford Ball of Pitts
burgh, extended his Cleveland
Pittsburgh line across the Allie
ghenies to the National Capital,
using Hoover Field as his local
terminal. This line now has been
operating daily for a year and
forms the Capitals connecting
link with the great air transport
systems of the Middle West. The
present operating company is
Pennsylvania Air Lines.
The Observation-Disclosures line
is not an easy one to fly. Weather
is a more disturbing factor over
the Eastern mountains than in
any other section of the country.
Despite the almost consistently
bad weather, however, the line has
been operating between Washing
ton and Pittsburgh with COM
mendable regularity and with
steadily increasing numbers of
passengers.
Passenger Planes Filled.
During the past month or six
weeks the Seven-paSSenger planes
used on the WaShington-PittS-
burgh run have been filled on
nearly every trip and often it is
necessary to turn away passengers
or postpone their trips until an
other day. A policy of making
flag stops on call at Baltimore
and cities near the route in Penn
Sylvania was put into effect earlier
in the Summer, but few flag stops
have been made lately owing to
the fact that the planes almost
always are filled with passengers
going straight through from this
city to Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
The flight from Washington to
Pittsburgh is one of the most at
tractive in the East from a scenic
standpoint. From Hoover Field
the route lies to the northwest out
of the Potomac River valley. Great
Falls and the gorgeS of the Poto-
mac below are seen to wonderful
before the plane heads
away from the river. If weather
conditions are favorable the plane
will pass almost directly over the
prominent head of Sugar Loaf
Mountain, rising above the beau
tiful Monocacy River valley near
Frederick, Md. Sugar Loaf was
used as a signal station by both
armies during the Civil War, as it
commands view of all the river
fords between Harpers Ferry and
Great Falls during clear weather.
Several brisk skirmishes were
fought for it's possession. The
plane flies almost over the Monoc-
acy battlefield, where Gen. Lew
Wallace and his hastily assembled
army STAYED off the first rush of
Gen. Jubal Early in his dash on
the National Capital in 1864, hold
ing the Southern forces until
troops from Grants army could
arrive to save the Capital.
From Frederick on west the
course lies over range after range
of the Blue Ridge and Appala-
chan Mountains, each more rug
ged than the last until the east
ern divide is passed and the rivers
begin to flow west into the Ohio
and Mississippi system.
Service to Pacific.
Flying by way of Pittsburgh the
air traveller may make direct con-
nection with airliners to the west
coast or down the Mississippi VAL
ley to the South and Southwest.
It is possible to leave Washington
airport at noon any day in the
week and to arrive in San Fran
cisco at o'clock the following
afternoon-lunch in Washington
one day, early supper on the
shores of the Pacific the next.
New York Always, said to be an
subsidiary of the great
Pan-American Anyways system,
once-a-week service
between this city and Atlantic
City, N. j., during the Summer,
apparently more for the purpose
of establishing a service for fran
chise purposes than for the carry
ing of passengers. Passengers
wishing the make the Atlantic
City trip may board the plane at
Washington Airport, local term
inal of the line. New York Air
ways operates daily between At
lantic City and New York.
After its exceedingly successful
operation of the New York Miami
airmail line, Eastern Air Trans
port went into the air passenger
business on August Is last, when
the first passenger fight was
made with a tri-motored Ford
over the New York Richmond sec
ton. Washington Airport also is
the local stop for this line. There
was no advance publicity or adj
vertising, though the service was
the result of more than two years
of planning; the pilots merely got
out and went to work. Neverthe-
less, in the first five days of serv-
ice LOG paying passengers were
carried, among them Sir Hubert
Wilkins, Arctic explorer, and
Elmer A. Sperry, jr., of gyroscope
fame.
The New York Richmond pas
Senger line, according to Eastern
Air Transport officials, is merely
the foundation upon which future
expansions are to be made. The
passenger line is tied in directly
with the airlnail line, using the
same teletype communication
system for weather and operations
information and in most cities
using the same field.
"Nypwac" Pioneering.
The latest and, in many re-