Evening star., 1934-11-04

hours.
Both day and night round-trir
schedules between New York anc
Miami will be operated with the new
high-speed ships and, in addition, five
additional trips between Washington
and New York will be scheduled. Or
the limited-stop high-speed coasta
service the big ships probably will be
flown customarily at very high alti-
tudes. These airplanes are designed
for maximum operating efficiency al
attitudes of from 5000 to 10000 feet
S800,000 For New Planes.
OF the ss5O,O0O made available fol
modernization of the line, 100000
will 60 into the new Douglases. The
remaining s50,0O0 will be used in i'm
proving night Condor biplanes. The
operations department anticipates ar
| increase of 80 miles per hour in the
/ cruising speed of these airplanes, II
was announced. and also an increased
| carrying capacity.
Following the speeding up of the
coastal schedules, new planes will bt
| put into operation by E. A. L. between
Chicago and Miami and New York ano
New Orleans. with schedules of 81.
hours for each route. One daily rounc
| trip Douglas schedule is planned fol
each of these routes. The New York
New Orleans route, through Washing
| ton, also is to have new high-speec
Condor daylight schedule.
Additional schedules which have
been announced will increase the miles
| flown daily by Eastern Air Lines from
10,44s TO 1868.
Trucks Replace Boats.
Airways mechanics who used to &c
by boat to service airways beacons or
Islands in the Great Salt Lake now
must go by truck as a result of the
| drouth.
In the past, it is explained by w. T
Bill" Miller. chief airways patrol
pilot, the island beacons could be
reached only by boat. Miller, who
/ was badly injured last Fall in a crash
at College Park, Md, while flight
testing a new landing beacon, fol
some time was in charge Of airwayS
: in the Salt Lake district.
There are three beacon sites on the
Salt Lake-Pasco airway on islands ir
the Great Salt Lake A rotating bea-
con on Antelope Island must be visited
at least once month for routine in
spection. The other two are blinkel
beacons, which must be visited each
six months.
AS a result of the continued dry
weather, Miller said, the Great Salt
Lake receded until there was very
little water between the islands anc
the shore Airway Mechanician L. P
Rose. finding his boat high and dry
put superballoon tires on his service
truck so it could operate over tht
bed of the lake and, in some places
ford stretches of water several inche!
deep. The truck, dubbed "the am
phibian." has made several trips Il
Antelope Island.
When time came for renewing thu
supply of acetylene gas at the Fremon
Island blinker, however, it was fount
that the water in places was Is inche
deep and it was decided the trucl
might not be able to get through. 4
wagon and horses were drafted.
Followed Boat Route.
with the tanks loaded on tn
wagon" Miller reported, the men lef
Hooper, Utah, proceeded to wha
should have been the shore line o
the lake, and then took approximately
the route they would have followed b.
boat had there been enough water Il
float boat. They had to cross abou
miles of the lake bed.
"At first the wagon rolled over /,
dirty white crust of salt and sand
Later, when the horses had to pull
the wagon through shallow water. tn
men proceeded with caution becaus
under these conditions there some
times are channels where the waite
is deep, occasionally underground
springs, and soft spots in the bottom
where wheels may become mired
However, no trouble from these source
was encountered.
Reaching the island. they installe,
the fresh supply of gas and loade,
the empty tanks which were to b
brought away. BY the time this tasl
had been accomplished it was lat
afternoon. They started back, again
over a salt and sand crust at first, ant
then through shallow water. Dark
ness overlook them when they wer
halfway to shore. They were in tn
midst Of an expanse of shallow water
with no land marks nearby, and witt
the possibility that the wagon nigh
/ drop into hole or sink into a sof
place in the lake bottom.
Nevertheless, they saw no caus
for alarm, since there is rotatin
beacon light, site No. on the Sal
Lake Great Falls Airway, in tn
vicinity of Hooper. BY heading tn
horses directly toward the light, the
could keep to the route they had fol
lowed in travelling to the island.
This method of navigation wa
very effective. They were able to keeI
to the trail they had broken earle
in the day, which they knew to b
safe, and eventually left the bed of tn
lake at a point near the place wher
they had entered It,"
Seek First Airline Passenger.
Who was the first airline passenge
to pay cash money for a ticket ant
where and when did he ny?
A Nationwide conflict apparently
raging over this question as a resul
of query put by Pennsylvania Air
lines. Claims for the honor of bein
the first scheduled airline in tn
United States have been received from
| widely separated points, dates rang