Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-06-10

largest remaining areas IN tne
transportation, and at the same
possible service to the Southwest
New Route Delayed Week.
Due to lack of airways facilities be-
tween Washington and Nashville,
Tenn, on the new route TO Texas,
the Post Office Department is delay
ing Inauguration of this section of the
route for another week or two. The
Nashville Forth Worth section of the
route, however, is being opened to-
day for airmail service. Service from
Washington to Nashville, all of 1t
through virgin airmail and air trans
port territory. will start as soon as
several of the airportS at which stops
are to be made are conditioned
The new routes to Chicago and to
Fort Worth are to be flown by Ameri-
can Airlines, which submitted record
low bid of Is cents per airplane mile
on the New York-Fort Worth route,
and low bid of 20 cents per airplane
mile on the Washington-Chica
Among the new airmail contracts
awarded by the Post Office Depart
ment is one granted to local group
which, while operating the former
Ludington Airlines between Washing
ton and New York, sought in vain for
three years to obtain an airmail con-
tract and, failing, was forced to sell
out to the rival Eastern Air Trans
port.
This group, headed by Paul Dog"
Collins, Samuel j. Solomon and Mrs.
Amelia Earhart Putnam, operates Ma
tional Anyways and has been awarded
a contract for airmail service from
Boston to Bangor. Me, and Burling-
ton. VT This service is all through
territory which never has had airmail
service and which, until the Wash
ington group went in, never had air
transportation on schedule. Solomon,
a native of the District, has signed
the Federal contract on behalf of his
company and expects to begin mail
service by the middle of the month.
Always Changes Planned.
Through a far-reaching departure
from its former airways policies, the
aeronautics branch of the Depart
ment of Commerce expects in all
future airways construction to greatly
improve the efficiency of the system,
at a considerable saving to the Gov
eminent. The plan contemplateS a
chain of completely self contained air.
ways units at intervals of so miles
along the airway.
Each of the units, developed around
an intermediate landing field COM
plete in itself, will include radio
beacon, weather station, beacon and
airport lighting, caretaker service and
other airway aids. Location of radio
beacon facilities at these fields, only
SO miles apart, marks one of the most
radical changes IN the system. Each
of the stations will be much smaller
than present stations, which are To-
Gated as much as 200 miles apart in
some cases. The little 50-mile sta
lions, each with range of but IS
miles, are expected to provide much
more accurate beacon courses, elimi-
mating the serious difficulty Of split
courses which now cause much
trouble in mountainous regions.
The increased interval between in
termediate fields, from 80 to so miles,
is made possible by greatly increased
speeds of modern transport planes,
which are always within 10 to IL min
utes' flight of an intermediate field
even on the 50-mile interval basis.
The new system is the result of
studies by Rex Martin, assistant di-
rector Of aeronautics in charge of air
ways, and his chief engineer, Charles
I. Stanton.
Reserves Prepare for Camp.
Pilots and personnel of VN-6R and
VJ-7MR, local Navy and Marine
Corps Aviation Reserve squadrons, are
hard at work preparing for their two
month. The squadrons will take
their field training in succession at
the Naval Air Station, Cape May,
N j., the Marines leading off on
July 6.
In preparation for the gunnery
training at Cape May, officers and
men OF the Marine unit are making
practice runs on a tow target at Ana
costa and are undergoing actual fire
training at the butts at the local sta
ton, according to the Marine OBJ
server. weekly paper of the squadron.
At Cape May the squadron's gun
ners will fire in flight at a 20-foot
target towed 200 yards behind a
training airplane. 1t is intended that
every man and those officers who are
not designated pilots shall fire prac-
tice and record free gunnery with the
Lewis machine gun.
Each man will fire for record" it
was explained by Gunnery Sergt.
Gordon, squadron gunnery instructor,
in an article in the Observer These
record scores will be carefully tabu-
lated and sent to the bureau, where
they will be compared with the scores
OF other Reserve units"
At Cape May planes will be TAXED
to the beach and those men who have
never handled nor fired the Lewis
gun will be checked out on the
ground for knowledge of safety pre-
cautions, use of the safety belt, posi-
ton while firing, operation of the
gun and scarf ring. actual firing, and
their reaction while firing, Sergt. Cor
don explained.
Record firing will be done with bull
lets colored by dipping the tips in
hot wax colored with oil paint. The
ball leaves a smear of the colored
wax on the target and the hits are
credited to the man firing that color
Australia Plans Air Growth.
Australia, treating civil aviation as
a direct adjunct to national defense,
is planning far-reaching expansion
of air transport service in co-ordina-
ton with rail transportation. accord
ing to Capt. F. w. Haig, one of Aus
tralia's outstanding aviators. who was
a visitor to Washington during the
past week
A well balanced plan of expansion
Is being worked out by a committee
composed of leaders of finance. civil
aviation, railroads and the postal
service, Capt. Haig said. This plan.
while intended primarily to build up
commercial aviation, will seek to avoid
injuring ground transportation and to
bring about the closest possible CO.
ordination between air and surface
transportation.