Evening star., 1932-04-24

! flying personnel make no objection that
is not made in common by all the en-
! ployeS affected. If the Congress de-
cides such cut is necessary to the ma
tional welfare, the flying personnel Will
accept the cut cheerfully. The reouc-
ton Of base pay, however, carries with
it also q corresponding reduction OF
flight pay, which Is a percentage OF the
base pay. On top Of these two reduc-
tions Congress now Is proposing to
slap a third direct reduction OF night
pay, making three pay reductions In all
for flying personnel.
Flight pay already has been subjected
| to one reduction since the close OF the
World War. As originally planned,
flight pay consisted of so per cent CT
pay and allowances. This has been re-
duced to so per cent of the base pay
/ alone.
Flight Pay Deserved.
"I have no hesitation" said Admiral
Moffett, lin saying that the extra COM
pensation for the hazards OF flying mas
been well deserved and has had much
to do with the success ne have gained
in naval aviation. The equalization OF
materiel naval strength by treaty agree
ments means that superiority must be
sought In personnel. 1 believe that we
now possess that superiority ana tnat
It would be grossly unw1se 10 sacrlnce
or to do anything to lessen the hlgn
morale, and with 1t the emclency OF
naval aviators. IN an attempt 70 enect
a comparatively small monetary saving:
an recent wears since the advent OF
fving. we have built up in the Navy
great organization based on sound prin-
cinles. The most important part OF
this organization is not the material
but the personnel-naval aviation per-
sonnel.
sound foundation Why do anything,
especially anything OF q doubtful ma
ture. to shake this foundation, 70 upset
and undo all we have 30 carefully ana
laboriously built up?"
The same situation applies to the
Army Air Corps.
All thinking men are agreed that
governmental economy must be prac-
ticed If the Nation is to recover from
the ills Of the day. Hysterical economy,
however, can be more harmful than
good. There are places where econo-
mics can be more wisely effected than
in the wrecking Of the very foundation
Of national security.
Ont Of the Drifts.
After their long Winter Ngils on the
peaks Of mountains along the trans
continental airway, the "landlubber
lighthouse keepers" of the airways, who
have been snow-bound ali Winter, now
are preparing to come down to civiliza-
ton on skis and Snowshoes.
Some Of the keepers Of airways bea-
con and weather stations in the high
SierraS and Rockies have been shut of
from the outside world by snow for six
months except for tnei1 communica-
ticns with the outside by radio and
teletype.
The average yearly snowfall at one
mountain station near Reno. New. dur
ing the past 40 years is 420 inches, or
IS feet, and a maximum fall of 1872
inches, or IS feet, has been recorded
at one station in the Sierras where the
weather and radio stations have been
constructed on steel legs raised above
an exposed pinnacle of rock.
A Lonely Existence.
"The snow-bound keepers Of the air
ways lights have been living for months
on supplies carried with difficulty into
their lonely watch houses before the
Autumn SHOWS began last year Since
then they have been cut OF from man
kind, except in one or two instances
NIlcIc OilC IIldI1 Ol Lt1C USUAL LWO-U1hn
crew has made his way laboriously on
valleys below for the mail. medicine or
other necessities.
Air transport pilots who fiy their
mail-passenger planes along the air
ways, passing above these isolated and
lonely beacon stations, have been called
upon more than once during the past
Winter to aid the marooned tenders by
dropping food to replenish exhausted
supplies. One bundle, pushed out of
the door OF tri-motored United Air
liner, contained so pounds of beef, po-
tatoes, turnips. coffee. sugar, canned
milk and bread. 1t dropped within 100
feet of the keepers quarters
The lighthouse keepers Of the noun
tains and deserts live apart from the
rest of the world. Often they have a
waving acquaintance with pilots whose
faces they may never know. The air
ways hghtkeeper must also be weather
observer, radio mechanic and operator
and, in some cases, an airport operator
and occasionally host to wayfarers Of
the air.
Long Autogiro Flight Planned.
The autogiro, emerging from its early
experimental period, is beginning to
figure in aerial undertakings of increas-
ing importance. Capt. Lewis A. Yancey,
who fiew the Atlantic with Roger vii,
hamS, recently made a remarkable au-
togiro flight to Cuba and Mexico, giving
those countries their first glimpse of
the windmill plane"
Yancey few from Miami to Havana
and, following successful demonstra-
tions Of his machine there, turned west
TO the tip OF Cuba and then made the
longest ocean flight ever undertaken In
an autogiro from Cuba to Mexico. He
did a great deal Of "gyroing" in Mexico.
among other things demonstrating the
use OF the autogiro for such specialized
purposes as the detailed study and eX-
ploration of the Mayan ruins.
Now there comes information from
abroad that an even more ambitious
autogiro fight is TO be made. The De-
partment OF Commerce has been in
formed that long-distance flight be-
tween England and Tanganyika will be
undertaken soon in an sutogiro powered
with q lo0-horsepower motor, putting
II In the Tight airplane" class. The
flight will be made by way of the North
African coast and the Nile River VAL
ley, and may be continued to Cape
Town.
Stevens Scores Again.
Capt. A. w. Stevens, world famous
aerial Photographic expert, of the Army
Air Corps, again extended the limits of
terrestrial photography recently when
he photographed Mount Shasta from a
point near Salinas, Calf, 1912 miles
away.
The photograph covers an area of
California bewildering in its sheer i'm
mensity. The actual ground area Wis
ible in the photograph totals approx
mately 1900 square miles, by compari-
son with maps of the area. The curva-
ture of the earth creates a horizon
line about half way between the cam
era and Mount Shasta, which thrusts
its snowy peak just above the horizon
Were 1t not for this curvature, the area
covered in the sector between the cam
era and Mount Shasta would cover
some $4,000 square miles Of terrain.
The area actually visible in the nho-