Evening star., 1932-11-13

The air-transport industry, quite
frankly, is deeply concerned with the
effect of the change Of administration
on the airmail set-up. Powerful Demo-
cratic elements in Congress are at work
to bring about changes in the method
of administration by the Post ONCE De-
| partment OF the airmail system. Sew
| eral Investigations of the airmail situa-
| ton were held by various congressional
| bodies during the past session under
Democratic auspices, as result Of
charges Of favoritism in the handing
out of airmail contracts. Certain Demo-
cratic leaders are known to be in favor
of drastic cleaning up, which 1t Is
feared would result in the wiping out of
some of the contracts upon which the
airlines virtually are dependent for their
livelihood. The air is full Of alarms and
rumors.
The aviation industry also is con-
cerned with the attitude to be taken by
| the incoming administration toward the
aeronautics branch Of the Department
of Commerce. There Is almost certain
to be pressure brought to bear upon the
new administration to continue in office
Clarence M. Young as Assistant Secre-
tary Of Commerce for Aeronautics
| While, as member of the Junior
cabinet" he is a political appointee, it
| is the feeling of the industry that he
| holds technical position which should
| be divorced from politics. and that any
| change of administration during the
| present critical period in the life Of the
industry would be dangerous.
Young. 1t was pointed out, has never
engaged in politics in any way and has
| made his Job as nearly non-political as
| possible. EIe took no part in the presi-
Dental campaign. made no speeches and
even failed to accompany the President
on his campaign trip to Des Moines,
Iowa, Young's own home town a fact
which had no little significance in
| political circles.
Leaders of the aviation industry are
said to be reconciled to all the other
impending changes in Federal Offices
! having to do with aviation, even though
! they mean the injection Of an unknown
| quantity into the mathematics of avia-
! tion. Among the changes which will
most closely affect aeronautics are those
/ in the offices of the Secretaries of War,
Navy and Commerce, the Postmaster
/ General, the Assistant Secretary of War
| for Aviation. the Second Assistant POST
master General and the Assistant Sec
retary of Commerce for Aeronautics.
The Office Of Assistant Secretary Of the
Navy for Aeronautics vacated by the
resignation of David S. Ingalls, defeated
/ candidate for the governorship of Ohio,
has not been filled and probably will
not be filled by the Democrats.
| The aviation branches of the Govern
ment are keenly interested in the atti-
! tude Of Roosevelt toward aviation. He
will be the first flying President and
| is expected to make use of the airplane
as Chief Executive. No other President
except his kinsman. Theodore Roosevelt,
! ever flew. Franklin d. Roosevelt has
/ flown number of times and is said to
/ be keenly alive to the uses of the air.
I plane in the everyday life Of the Nation.
/ The industry is looking to him to make
/ appointments which will aid aviation in
critical period Of its existence.
Robots Solve AIrway Problem.
The necessity for keeping airways
/ beacons burning often in the widest
mountains and deserts at points miles
| from civilization, has called into ex-
istence amazing mechanical appliances
which replace human hands at many of
the beacon stations.
At many of the remote stations, far
from electric power lines independent
generators must be installed to provide
current for lighting and rotating the
great beacons which guide night-hying
airmen to safety.
Not only the lights, but the gener-
atorS as well, are switched on and off
by astronomic time clocks or photo
electric cells, which operate when dusk
or heavy clouds cause the light to fall
below certain value and which switch
off lights and generators when the light
strengthens beyond the predetermined
minimum.
This, however, Is only the beginning
OF the mechanical wonders which make
possible the continuous operation. often
for weeks at time, Of isolated beacon
ligts unattended by human beings. To
prevent as far as possible the failure of
current, two independent gasoline
driven generators are installed at each
OF the isolated beacon sites Fuel is
stored in supply tanks for from two to
six months OF continuous operation, de-
pending upon the accessibility of the
site for refueling purposes.
When it it time for the beacon to
be turned on, the photoelectric cell OPP
crates a relay which closes the starter
circuit of one Of the generators and
the engine Is cranked automatically for
Is seconds. Should the motor fail to
start in this period, the second gen.
orator is cranked for Is seconds. If
this one fails to start, the cranking Is
resumed on the first and so on until
one is started. Rarely is diff1culty ex-
perienced in getting one of the gen.
orators started
This still is not the end Of the
mechanical wonders of the beacon sta
tions. At stations subjected to ex-
tremely cold weather. likely to make
the starting of gasoline engines diff
cult, the generators and engines are
installed in deep pits and provided
with thermoStatic controls which start
the engines, independently of the clock
or photoelectric cell impulses, when the
temperature of the cooling liquid in the
engine radiators drops below q certain
point and shuts them of when the
temperature rises to a certain degree.
This prevents an engine from getting
too cold for ready starting. Once started,
1t is allowed to run with no load for a
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