Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
r NHERALDED by the blow
ing of civic trumpets or the
] din Of patriotic oratory,
the National Canital has

found itself, much to its surprise
elevated during the past two
months from position of dim
obscurity in the air transport
world to a post of no little prom
inence.
Whether the National Capital
will hold its new found glory is a
matter to be determined in the
future, but, for the present at
least, the Capital is the center of
more aviation activity than it
ever has known.
Today there are 80 scheduled
air transport plane movements in
and out of the airportS of the Ma
tional Capital in each "a hours.
There are % tri-motored pas
senger planes landing or taking
of on regular schedule every day
except Saturday, when there are
"a tri-motored ship movements.
Often this number is increased by
special trips. There are six air
mail plane arrivals and departures
scheduled every day; this Sched-
ule is departed from almost daily
by the addition of one extra plane
and sometimes two extra planes
are required to handle the bust
ness.
This city now has direct air pas
senger connection with New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pitts
burgh, Cleveland, Atlantic City
and Richmond, Va, and direct
connections may be made with
air passenger lines to every part
Of the United States. A year ago
the National Capital did not have
O single air passenger line; two
months ago 1t had only one, to
Pittsburgh. and Cleveland.
For several years residents of
the National Capital who have
taken an interest in the growth
Of aviation have watched the
growth of great air passenger
lines, especially on the West Coast
and in the Middle West. They
have envied the ability of resi-
dents of other cities to travel by
air when the state of personal
finances warranted.
Air Service Unequaled.
Now the tables have been re-
versed. The National Capital has
an air passenger service which
has no duplicate in the United
States. It is connected by air with
Philadelphia and New York on the
most frequent schedule of flights
ever attempted. 1t is possible to
catch a plane at either end of
the line every hour on the hour
from O'Clock in the morning to
5 o'clock in the evening. Four
planes are in the air on the line
constantly throughout the day.
It is an experiment in air trans
portation which is attracting the
attention of the entire aviation
world.
In addition to this service there
Is new passenger line operating
daily between New York and
Richmond, Va, with stop here.
This line eventually is to be ex-
tended down the Atlantic Coast.
There Is another line connecting
the District of Columbia with At
lantic City once a week, making
connection there with a line to
New York. This line also is to be
extended southwark eventually
and increased to a daily service,
according to present tentative
plans. Still another line operates
from the National Capital to
Pittsburgh and Cleveland, making
close connections there with
planes to Chicago and the West.
First Airmail Here.
The first scheduled airmail
service in the world operated be-
tween the National Capital and
New Yor. The service, inaugurated
by the Army during the closing
year of the war, may be regarded
as the ancestor of every transport
lire in the country today. The
success of the Army in maintain
ing this service in the face of the
most discouraging hardShipS re-
suited in the establishment by the
Post ONCE Department Of regu-
lar airmail service, which later
was ''farmed out" by the contract
system to private operators, re-
sulting in the sound establishment
of the air transport industry in
this country.
When the Post Office Depart
inent established its first trans
continental airmail service the
New York Washington line, pio-
neer of them all, was abandoned.
There was no air transport serv-
ice to the National Capital until
May /, 1928, when contract air
{oI hn-
tween New York and Atlanta.
In the absence of a municipal
airport or adequate commercial
airport, the War Department de-
parted from its regular policy and
issued temporary permit for the
airmail service TO operate from
Boiling Field. The airmail has
been operating under this permit
Tor more than two years.
The original contract mail Serv-
Zee operated once a day in each
direction except Sunday. Today
Eastern Air Transport, operating
the contract line, flies six planes
a day between this city and New
York regularly and four planes
between this city and Miami, Fla.
So heavy has been the growth OF
the mail business, however, that
almost every day a seventh plane
must be pressed into service be-
tween this city and New York and
it Is not unusual to find eight
plane movements a day from the
Capital to the North. There is no
airmail line In the world with such
frequent service as that found be-
tween Washington and New York
today.