Evening star., 1932-09-18

| The proposed chimney, In the opin-
ion Of Department of Commerce au-
thorities, will constitute a positive haz-
ard to air navigation. If the chimney
Is constructed as planned, the airport,
/ in order to meet the requirements of
;he Department Of Commerce for safety,
would be forced to cut 500 feet of the
end OF the most heavily used runway
in order to preserve the l0-to-1 ap-
proach angle required for air transport
operations. To cut this much away
from q runway already none too long
would be well-nigh fatal in airport
efficiency and safety.
| If the chimney is constructed. the
airport faces the very serious danger
Of having the Department Of Com
merce, as q safety measure, revoke the
certificates Of operation Of every air
transport line using the field: This
all the lines, in the absence Of any
other airport, but also would result
unquestionably in the closing Of the
airport.
Air Passengers Increase.
For another six months, while vir-
tuaLy every other form Of transportA-
ton felt the pinch of reduced passen.
ger traffic, the airlines Of the Nation
were able to report increased passenger
trafic and greatly increased express
traffic for the first half Of 1882.
During the six months. reports to the
aeronautics branch of the Department
of Commerce show. the American OPP
Grated scheduled airlines carried 248,-
a54 passengers. The total IS an increase
of SIS, 900 over the number for the first
six months of 1881. In carrying these
passengers, planes Of the airlines few
q total of "a, ,668, ,414 miles, an increase
Of 1000, 600 miles over the total for the
same period last year.
Not only did the airlines increase
| their passenger tramc In most whole.
the dependabillty Of their service. OF
the 60,850 trips scheduled during the
period. $3.50 trips were completed, or
approximately 95 per cent.
| Airman showed the effects OF ad-
verse business conditions. During the
first six months Of this year the total
mail poundage flown was 4,342,507. Is
compared with 1853, TOT pounds during
the corresponding period last year. .
Air express business, however. picked
up from 417,30o pounds for the first
half of 1881 to 712,638 pounds for the
first six months Of this year.
The airlines employed a total Of $50
aircraft in carrying on their operations
turing the six months and gave employ.
ment to 5,46l persons, including $50
i,522 field personnel and 1,2s5 ONCE
personnel The planes consumed IL
l78,807 gallons Of gasoline and 3l7,656
gallons Of oil during the six months.
The peak month Of the six-month
period was June, final month Of the
period, during which the transport
planes carried 51.87l passengers and
I v,Sla q arf~E
was the leading month for express. with
| lac, sos pounds and also for airmail,
with 76s,22s pounds.
Capital Air Traffic Heavy.
The National Capital shared heavily
| in the swelling air traffic Of the coun-
try during the first six months of this
year. Four airlines operated OUT of
the Capital though one of them. Con-
tinental Airways, closed after only one
month of operations during the period,
| between washington ana Cnlcaso. .
These four lines carried 8 total OF
1892 passengers in or out Of Wash
ington- Hoover Airport. the Ludington
Airlines accounting for 22,467 Of this
total: Eastern Air Transport for 1899,
Pennsylvania Airlines for 1856 and
Continental Airways, during its single
month Of operation, for 90.
| The four airlines handled total OF
| 80 GA pounds OF air express during the
six months, Ludington flying 29,640
pounds and Pennsylvania Airlines 2,s74
The airman poundage handled at
the local airport totaled $40, ,S68 pounds,
Of which 473,40 pounds was flown by
Eastern Air Transport and 57.266
pounds by Pennsylvania Airlines. The
Ludington Airlines hold no airmail con-
tracts.
Airline Operators Large.
American air transport lines, inside
and outside the territorial boundaries of
| the United States, are operating over
airways totaling 48,775 miles in length,
| of which 29,724 miles lie within the
United States and 19,051 miles are flown
by American companies throughout the
Western Hemisphere.
According to records of the Depart
| ment of Commerce, there are 123 Amer
ican air transport services in operation.
| lot Of which are domestic and 10 for
eign. As a result of wholesale mergers
and consultations of the past few
! years, these 1xs services are operated by
only SO COMPANIES, 80 operating do
mestic services, 5 foreign services and
| l both domestic and foreign.
The United States mails are flown on
| 44,276 miles of the vast network OF air.
ways over which American pilots and
planes fly every day. Virtually the en-
tire foreign system operated by Amer
| leans Is covered by planes flying the
United States airmail flag, only IA miles
of the 19,051 outside the country not
being operated as mail airways. The
mail planes within the United States
drone their way by day and by night
over airways extending total distance
of 26,2ao miles, or approximately the
distance around the globe ct the Equator.
| Passengers may ny today over nearly
all Of the airways along which this
countrys transport planes are operated.
| They may travel over 27,465 miles OF
| airwAys in the United States ana 1887
miles outside the country, q total OF
| 1852 miles, in planes wnlcn opefate on
regular schedules, day In and day out
Express Is carried on practically all OF
the lines.
OF the 1913 services which are oper-
ated in and out Of the United States
passengers are carried on ITO, mail on
88 and express on 90, many services
handling all three types OF tranlc.
Element of Doubt Removed.
For years those interested In the de-
yelopment Of aviation have been at-
tempting to remove the element OF
mystery" from flying. They especially
want to remove any lingering doubta
regarding the causes Of accidents, II and
when they may occur. They have be.
neved that many people have refraineo
| from riding in planes because OF . 1ear
that mishaps beyond the power q man
| colonists by the French and the sturdy
battles with the British.