Evening star., 1931-06-21
ua.AzVVIATION
BY JOSEPH s. EDoERToN
BY JOSEPH s. EDdERToN.

/ the building and will'be appropriately
| labeled.
By the time all the cases, propeilers,
photographs and other equipment have
been installed the building Will De
] crowded to It's utmost, with only little
more than half the seronautical collec-
tion o. the institution represented. In
the arts and industries building there
are nine planes, including Lindbergh's
Spirit Of st. Louis and the first Army
| airplarie, and IL large models, includ-
| ing those Of Prof. Samuel p. Langley.
To them must be added the original
American autogiro, soon to be delivered,
II is true that all departments Of the
museums coming under the wing Of the
Smithsonian are overcrowded, but with
aviation now emerging from its pioneer
ing state, there are exhibits which must
be acquired now or lost for all time
These exhibits should be acquired, even
though they must be placed In storage
until space can be made available. This
should be taken into account in the
building plans now being made for the
National Capital.
Aerial Tunnel Completed.
Airplanes flying between, Portland
Ore, and Pasco, Wash, now may
travel at night through what is virtu-
ally q tunnel as q result of lighting
by the Department Of Commerce air.
ways branch Of so miles Of the ColuTn-
bia River gorge.
The lighted tunnel is bounded or
two sides by rock walls and trees, on
the bottom by the raging Colunnbis
River and the rock canyon floor and
frequently on top by fog which
blankets the surrounding area and the
upper portion Of the gorge. making II
impossible to route planes over tht
the gorge usually is swept by wind,
which keep 1t free Of fog.
When fogS form q roof over thu
gorge. frequently resulting in 250-foo
ceilings, beams from the regular lonl
range revolving beaconS in the higher
land are blotted out. A special system
of low altitude lights has been devel'
oped along the walls to mark out ar
air lane below the fog free from obOtruc
tions, extending from Cape Horn, 2:
miles east Of Portland, Ore. to Lyle
Wash, so miles farther east.
Flashing code beacons are mounted
at IL sites on both sides of the gorge
so that airlnen need only follow th'
course outlined by the two lines oi
lights to negotiate the gorge in safety
Air Law Study Planned.
Coordination of the legal and legis.
lative activity Of the aviation indus
try by cooperative action of nationa
organizations such as the Aeronautica
Chamber Of Commerce, the American
Academy Of Air Law and the Air Law
Committee of the American Bar AsSo-
citation has been undertaken.
Under q policy just approved by the
board Of governors Of the Aeronautica
Chamber Of Commerce, the organiza'
ton will act as a clearing house for the
collection and dissemination Of infor'
nation on State and national legis'
lation and important judicial decisions
j The industry will be kept informet
on the progress Of every new bill af
fecting aviation and on every new reg
ulation or court case which arises, !
was announced by Charles L. Law
rance, president of the chamber. Elk
perts in the chambers new Legal ant
Legislative Committee may work will
counsel Of member corporations Ia tn
preparation of legal cases.