Evening star., 1932-06-05

oo VI II4c uIIHOSL importance TO
IN though the organizations thus
n, the nucleus Is provided in oper-
air force OF greater strength than
ron 5B. Lieut.. Ring will see duty In
VI Squadron 3A, aboard the U. S. S.
Langley
Lieut.. Ralph A. Ofstie. chief of the
night test section at the Anacostia
Naval Air Station, has received his
orders for sea duty and will Join the
fleet toward the end of the month,
Lieut.. Ofstie has been in charge Of the
section which conducts all of the Navy's
nlght test work on new planes during
the most important period of its growth,
and has built up reputation for eff
clency and application to duty which
Is recognized throughout the naval
aviation service
Lieut.. Comdr. Wilbur NJ. Lockhart
Will be detached from the Bureau Of
Aeronautics about July IS and will be-
come astrological officer Of the U. S. S.
Saratoga. Lieut. Truman J. Hedding
now on duty at the Anacostia Naval Ar
Station, will leave about June Is for
duty aboard the Saratoga
Lieut.. Thomas H. Robbins, jr, oper-
ationS officer at the Anacostia Naval Air
Station, has just been transferred from
that station to duty in the Navy Bureau
OF Aeronautics.
Army Changes Also Ordered.
Boiling Field will lose two more
ofticer-pilots through transfer this
month. Capt. Ira c. Eaker, one of the
best known of Army pilots, is to leave
the local station for duty on the Pacific
Coast He has engaged in many spec
ton 1l1r irYhf trix lit 80 A,,&-
here, among them the famous refueling
endurance record flight of the Ques-
ton Mark, several transcontinential
speed attempts and an attempted record
speed flight from Washington to Pam
anna and return. He was handicapped
by repeated engine failures. one Of them
nearly costing his life. and has gotten
away with number of landings in fast
planes with retractable landing gear
Jammed in the closed position. He has
served, while here, as personal pilot TO
Maj. Gen. James E. Fechet, retired
chief Of the Army Air Corps, and
other Army leaders. The second local
pilot to leave Boiling will be Lieut.
Leland 8. Stranathan, assistant oper-
ations officer.
New Aviation Insurance Planned.
Following four years of study and eff
fort by John S. Reaves, founder Of the
United States Amateur Air Pilots Asso-
citation, which is to aviation what the
United States Golf Association is to golf,
arrangements have been made for issu-
ance Of insurance policies through any
broker in the United States which will
provide unprecedented protection 70
sportsman pilots and which are expected
to serve as a powerful stimulus to prl-
vate flying
The policies will contain none OF the
drastic flight restrictions heretofore i'm
posed and will make coverage Of all
kinds available at rates which for the
first time equal or are less than those
for corresponding nOn-aeronautlc risks.
ReaveS estimated that the premium saw
ing to existing private airplane owners
will amount to approximately half
million dollars a year.
Mishaps experienced by amateur
flyers who carried no insurance because
of excessive premiums hitherto charged
not only have deprived them of equip
ment they had no money to replace,
but in many instances have resulted
in public losses which could not be re-
covered. These evils. Mr.. Reaves be-
lieves, will be alleviated, if not COM
pletely eliminated, by the new rates.
| Under the new plan pilot Of 200
or more hours Of experience is able to
protect himself against accident for
minimum of $3.50 per $1,000 annually,
| the first standard premium Of the kind
ever established. Public liability in
surance up to $4,000 can be had for
| $40 year. less than half the premium
paid for the same coverage by an au-
tomobile owner in New York. PaSsen-
ger liability rates are now computed
on a percentage of the face value OF
the policy. not upon seating capacity.
practice which in the past has
forced owners very often to pay for
| insurance on empty seats. For $50 a
year an airplane may be insured for
$1,000 against fire. windstorm, theft,
tornado and ground damage, including
collision. The same amount OF COL
lision insurance alone for an automo-
bile would carry premium OF around
$50. it was stated. The policies en-
brace flying in any part OF North or
South America. flying at night. over
water hops and flights by approved
pilots other than the owner. The plan
is underwritten by Barber & Baldwin.
The new insurance plan is hailed by
aviation leaders as being a great in
centive to increased private flying.
Charles L. Lawrance. president OF the
Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce.
characterizing it as "a great contribu-
ton to the cause of private flying
Hard on Targets
Owing to the difficulty of devising
a floating naval aviation target which
may be towed without diving and
bombed without sinking local naval
officials were much interested in a
recent report from the naval base at
Pearl Harbor. Hawaii. that the gun
merry officer had produced a target
which neither sinks nor dives and was
offering Stool odds that the target
would still be afioat when he finishes
his tour of duty.
The target was a condemned 30-foot
motor launch. which was caulked,
housed over completely with old air.
plane crates, covered with canvas,
sealed with tar and painted white,
red and yellow. To make it tow bow
high I,5oo pounds of cement was
placed in the stern, and to keep IL
afioat II some one should be so un-
pleasant as to hit it with bomb nine
sealed oil drums were lashed inside
Eight days later came the report
| that the target was badly damaged by
direat hit with a water-filled bomb.
Six ribs were broken and some of the
side planking carried away. Local Of
ficers are wondering whether the odds