Evening star., 1933-04-02

railways, dlI vi IdllSpOIt SyoGclIlS, pip
transportation of men and goods.
Transportation must be treate
all the varied forms Of conveyanc
be utilized, each in its proper sph
gent, unified plan in which each n
It Is not the concern Of the man
who posts letter or who ships goods
by express or freight Just what form
Of carrier Is employed for the purpose.
What concerns him Is that his goods
be sent with the greatest possible dis
patch and the least possible cost. He
Is purchaser Of transportation and,
naturally, wants the best he can get
for his money.
The first really serious effort to
unity all governmental functions re-
lating to transportation now Is being
made. Should this plan go through,
aeronautics will be vitality affected. Air
transport lines will find themselves
treated no longer as purely an aviation
enterprise venture into q new field
which must be handled as a thing sep
arate and apart. They will find them
selves pooled for regulatory purposes
with other forms OF transportation and
may expect some form of rate making
similar to that applied to the rail-
roads-applied by the same agency of
government.
New Racing Policy Adopted.
In pursuance of q new policy re-
garding the holding Of nationally i'm
nortant air meets and races, the Ma
tlonal Aeronautic Association has sane
toned the holding at Chicago Septem-
Der Ia OF new major air classic In
connection with the start of the 1888
Gordon Bennett balloon international
race.
1t Is the purpose Of the association
to hold, as supplemental to the Ma
tional Air Races, which this year are
to take place in Los Angeles from July
to 4, inclusive, q Circuit" of air
meets and races in key cities. These
events will be somewhat similar to the
All-American Air Races now held in
January Of each year at Miami.
For the Chicago meet total OF
$35 900 in cash prizes has been posted
the association announced through the
chairman Of its Contest Committee
William P. MacCracken, IT,, former As
sistant Secretary Of Commerce for Aero
nautics.
The development Of the Nationwide
racing circuit contemplated under the
new policy, Mr.. MacCracken said, "can
be q very important stimulus to speed
development In this country" The Chi
cago races will follow the same group
ings established for the National All
Races and are expected to attract
racing planes now being built for the
Thompson Trophy classic and other
high-speed events.
Another step toward the creation OF
the proposed air racing circuit Is the
establishment Of a revised and liberal
lied international high speed seaplane
competition for the famous Curtiss Ma
rine Trophy. This race is planned to
replace the Schneider Trophy competi-
ton, which was discontinued perma-
nently when England gained perma-
nent possession by establishing new
world speed records in 1881. The British
Schneider races established records
which never have been approached Of
dcially. The Curtiss race, formerly re-
stricted solely to Navy and Marine
Corps planes, was flown annually In the
National Capital for many years.
Attack Policy In Doubt
OF the combat arms Of the Army
Air Corps that Of attack or ground
straff1ng" at present is the one for which
the War Department is having the
greatest difficulty fixing q definite
policy
Whether attack, the newest Of the
specialized forms Of combat aviation, is
to continue as q separate function, with
specialized airplanes, or whether it is to
be taken over by light, fast lombard
ment planes heavily armed with ma
chine guns, is one of the points which
must be determined.
Until definite policy is reached de-
velopment Of new types Of attack planes
Is likely to be slow. Though the stand
ard types Of attack planes now in the
service are thoroughly obSolescent, only
one new type is on service test status,
and that is likely to be discarded in
the near future.
The A-3 type, with its modified forms,
now standard in the Army's attack
squadrons, though a good airplane, Is
30 far behind the times in point Of speed
and other factors as to be out of the
picture Of modern military aviation
From the A-3 to the A-8, low-wing
monoplane of striking appearance, is
great step forward, but the Air Corps
still Is far from satisfied.
New Motors Needed.
The AS, named for the shrike, deadly
bird Of prey, Is Curtiss plane with a
are OF the opinion that nQuid-cooled
power plants are wholly unsuited to
work at the extreme low attitudes at
which attack aviation must operate.
They want air-cooled engines, but can
not fly behind an engine so large as to
block clear visibility directly ahead
since attack aviation must work on
its prey at close range. The answer. in
the opinion of some Air Corps officers, is
a double-row radial air-cooled engine
Of one Of the recent types, which COM
bine high power with smaller diameter
than the more powerful Of the single
row radials.
It is possible that a light. fast bonn
bardment plane Of the type represented
by the Martin Bio, the Douglas B-7 or
the General Aviation BIS may In time
replace the attack plane, in the opinion
Of some students of attack aviation.
These planes have far greater speed
than the present A-3s and can mount
far greater numbers of machine guns
and carry many more bombs. So greatly
increased Is their striking power over
the conventional attack type that one
Of them could do the work of q three
plane element Of the present attack
planes. probably with greater efficiency.
The A-8 type has been undergoing a
long service test at Fort Crockett, Gal
weston, Tex. present home Of the Sd
Attack Group. Preliminary reports in
dicate that the requirements for the
attack type have not been met, accord
ing to the report Of Maj. c. w. Howard,
chief Of the Air Corps engineering sec
ton.
The Air Corps Materiel Division has
been conducting tests on the YA-10,
similar to the 49," but equipped with a
Hornet single-bank radial air-cooled
engine. Tests have shown a loss in
speed Of IL miles per hour, though the
take-of characteristics were improved
Thus. the search for new types must
be continued or a new policy adopted
the most backward of the Air Corps