Evening star., 1932-07-17

licenses, though there are not sufficient
jobs in existence for large proportion
of them.
Under the Department of Commerce
regulations pilots must renew their
licenses every six months by passing
physical and flying examinations. Those
who do not put in prescribed amount
of flying during the six months and
who are unable to pass the examinations
at the end of that time are not issued
renewals. The lists of licensed pilots
therefore, are up-to-date at all times
They contain little or no dead wood. y
On January l there were 17,7Ol pilot
licenses of all types active. This number
had increased on July to 1904, gain
of $40, according to the files OF the
aeronautics branch of the Department
of Commerce.
Though the total number of licensed
pilots gained slightly, the gain was made
at the cost of l, ,568 student licenses.
showing that the ranks of flyers or
these learning to fly as a whole de-
creased slightly. There were on January
l a total of 1866 student permits
active. This number by July l had
decreased to 1879.
The number of licensed aviation ne
chanics reflect the effects OF the de-
preston in the aeronautical industry
to a small extent the ranks OF the
mechanics having decreased from
8,977 at the beginning of the year to
1851 at the midyear, a drop of 326
The number Of licensed parachute rig
gers increased from 223 to 265 during
the six months. This is new license
The number of licensed aircraft fell
off slightly in six months, from a total
of 7,547 on January l to 1910 on the
first day of this month. This loss OF
II licensed planes, however, was bal
anced by a gain of 76 in the number OF
unlicensed but active aircraft, from a
tctal of 3,l26 to 1902.
Aviation schools which teach stu.
dents to fly may apply for the approval
of the Department of Commerce
There were 28 approved schools at the
beginning of the year, but one of them
fell by the wayside and there were q
on July /. The number Of approved
aviation repair stations, however, showed
an increase of 90, the total on July
being ia The number of approved
flying instructors increased from 2ll to
229, but the number of licensed ground
instructors fell off from 165 to 103.
In the main, the figures for six
months show that, on the basis of per-
sonnel. the aviation industry is man.
aging to hold its own through the gen
eral period of slack business.
Autogiro Versus Combat Plane.
Since the United States Navy pur-
chased several autogiroS for expert
mental purposes, the question often has
been asked as to the autogiro's chances
for escaping an attack by a faster
enemy fighting plane.
So far as is known, no actual COM
bat demonstration has been made of
the autogiro, but light has been shed
on its combat possibilities by a mock
battle between an autogiro and con-
ventional airplane, as 81 part OF re-
cent British flying show.
The autogiro used was powered with
a 100-horsepower engine and was flown
by r. A. c. Brie, noted British autog1ro
pilot. It's competitor was a 120-horse-
power Moth, flown by Flight Lieut..
Christopher Clarkson. The combat
is described by c. c. Grey as follows:
The former could turn SO short that
Flight Lieut.. Clarkson only once man
aged to get his imaginary forward gun
on it at all. The plan Of vertically
movements with the nose Of the Moth
might have worked if there had been
more time to outclimb it, but Mr.. Brie
handled his mount so cunningly that
several service pilots were heard to re-
mark that an autogiro observation
plane would not be such sitter for
enemy scouts as had been thought" j"
American service pilots who have
flown autogiros have observed that the
windmill planes" would have the ad-
vantage in an aerial dog fight Of being
able to turn inside the airplane and
SO bring its guns to bear more quickly.