Evening star., 1934-03-11

have known. A definite plan has
e of legislative bodies which were
b. Promise has been given of an
e condition of uncertainty which
welding, carpentry and ordnance.
They also are trained as aerial free
machine gunners and observers. No
flight instruction is given.
Candidates for enlistment in VN-6R
may obtain complete information from
Lieut. M. M. Cloukey at the Anacostia
or personal interview.
Passenger Losses Seen.
Commercial air transport companies
in the United States during January,
the final full month before their air.
mail contracts were Cancelled, carried
28,170 passengers. according to the
latest monthly report Of the Commerce
Department aeronautics branch
Since the cancellation of the mail
contracts. most Of the lines have re-
have eliminated night schedules out
right. This. of course, reduces total
passenger capacity of the lines ma
terially and it is anticipated there
will be a heavy reduction in the
February passenger totals. 1t is pre-
dicted by some In the industry that
January will remain as the passenger
high mark for the year, unless mail
contracts are restored to the pas
senger lines, enabling them to resume
Cancelled schedules.
The January total Of more than
$4,000 compares with 24.366 in Janu-
ary of last year. although there were
80 companies operating a year ago
as compared with "a at the beginning
of this year.
Air express business more than
doubled during the year, the report
showing total of 155, ,726 pounds in
January this year as against 74,268
pounds year before.
Although volume air express has
been a development almost entirely
of the past three years, it is recalled
that the first transportation Of ex-
press matter by air took place more
than % years ago.
The first flight occurred November
II, 1910 between Dayton and Co.
lumbus. Ohio, a distance of IS miles.
and the cargo was five bolts of silk,
of total weight of between 25 and
30 pounds. The cost of the trip was
estimated to have been about $4,000.
The pilot on the first express fight
was Phillip Parmalee a pilot for
Wilbur and Orville Wright, and the
trip was made in the tenth airplane
built by the Wrights, a model which
still retained landing skids in place
of wheels Parmalee made the flight
at a speed of just under so miles
an hour, covering the IS miles in sc
minutes.
Pay Loss Is Heavy.
The extent of the blow the Nations
air transport lines suffered in the
cancellation of their airmail con-
tracts is exemplified in the annual
report Of United Air Lines, just made
public.
Despite the fact that last year this
line carried 1858 passengers and
500, 900 pounds of air express, it de-
pended upon airmail for As per cent
of its revenue, it was shown.
The lines passenger traffic in
creased 43 per cent during the year,
its mileage flown increased II per
cent and express traffic increased ITS
per cent. Airmail totaled 3,l82,l6
pounds and alone of all the forms Of
traffic showed decrease, the loss be-
ing 154203 pounds as compared with
the amount carried in 1882.
New Transports Shown.
Two new transport airplanes, de-
scribed as the best, in many respects,
the world has seen, have made their
appearance within the past few days.
One of them, the Douglas, has been
demonstrated here and has made a
great impression on those who have
inspected and flown in it. The Sec
ond, the Lockheed Electra, has just
gone through its test flights at Bur-
bank. Calf.
The two, like the earlier Boeing 247,
are -engined, low-wing mono
planes, with retractable landing gear
and resemble one another closely
from a little distance. The Boeing
has been in service for many months
and has become very well known to
the flying public in the northern
transcontinental area.
The Douglas is the airplane In
which Edward v. Rickenbacker estab-
lished a new transcontinental trans
port speed record Of 13 hours on the
day before the Army Air Corps took
over the airmail service. 1t was the
same airplane which was later ex-
hibited here.
Youngest of the trio of new high
speed transports, the Electra Is claim
ed to have a maximum speed of 215
miles per hour and q cruising speed
of 100 miles per hour at an altitude
of 5000 feet with full load, including
10 passengers, 2 pilots, baggage and
express.
Foreign manufacturing rights for
construction of the new Douglas have
been acquired by Anthony H. G. Fox
ker, the noted Dutch designer, for
all European countries except Russia
and all British dominions except Can
ada. Fokker's airplanes, marked by
adherence to wooden construction OF
the wings, are used in II countries
and are built in many Of them under
license agreements.
The German Lufthansa system has
purchased three of the Boeing twin
motors. Swissair, which has flown
American Lockheeds, has bought one
OF the new Curtiss Condors.
Pan-American Airways soon will
put the fast new ships into service
on its South and Central American
services. Six of the new Douglases
have been ordered for use in South
America and six of the Lockheed
Electras for service in Mexico and
Central America.