Evening star., 1935-12-29

the weather and the capturing of at
least 40 world aviation records are
listed as important goals for the new
year.
Diplomatic channels have been
cleared for the air transport service
between the United States and Europe;
experimental service probably will be-
gin during the Summer and may be
followed by regular service before the
end Of the year.
The General Headquarters Air
Force, created during the past year as
an answer to grave problems of aerial
defense, Is to receive during 1886 vitality
important additions to its material
strength as result Of recently
awarded contracts for new combat air
planes Of great speed and military
power.
In the civil aviation field. the Bureau
Of Air Commerce is leading the quest
for development Of suitable types of
aircraft for the use Of the private citi-
zen. The great hope for American
aviation progress is to be found in the
development Of private flying, as the
development Of the automobile indus
try was founded upon the desire Of
the average man for his own car, the
bureau holds. Far more general use
Of the airplane for business and pleas
ure is expected if suitable types Of
safe, inexpensive airplanes, easy to
operate and maintain, can be produced
in quantity. Several Of the expert
mental models built for the Bureau Of
Air Commerce show great promise;
others are being developed which are
expected to be Of even better all
around performance.
Great strides have been made in the
field of all-weather air transport op-
GRAFTON. The percentage Of scheduled
flights completed by airline planes
shows steady gains. Blind flights are
made regularly and are taken as q
matter of course, where, a very few
years ago, they were not even at
tempted. Blind" or instrument land
ings. the final great problem, are being
made by commercial and military pi-
lots under an approximation to service
conditions. Instrument landing ap-
proaches are q part Of the training Of
many airline pilots, and landings un-
der conditions Of restricted visibility
approaching closely the dread zero
zero" state may become a feature Of
airline operation before the close Of
1896.
Continuation of the national cam
paign sponsored by the National Aero
nautic Association to put the United
States into a position Of undisputed
world leadership in the holding of in
ternational air records is expected.
The United States, for the first time
since thn early days Of aviation. forged
into world leadership during the past
Summer. A see-saw battle for leader
ship developed, with France and this
country alternating in the lead. As
this was written the international
standings we're: United States, SO:
France, 80; Italy. %; Germany and
Poland, 8 each, and England, /.
The past year has been one Of out
standing achievement In the various
branches Of aviation; the coming year
is regarded as one of equally great
opportunity.
The hazard to all-metal aircraft
from lightning is small and probably
has been overestimated, it is stated In
q report to the Bureau Of Air Com
merce by ]. c. Franklin. communi-
cations engineer of Transcontinental
and Western Air, based on careful
studies In the laboratory, an analysis
of all available cases Of aircraft struck
by lightning and consultation with
leading electrical concerns and uni
versity research workers.
The study was made to obtain q
clear understanding Of the hazards oi
flying aircraft in the vicinity Of elec-
trical storms and to decide on meas
ures to reduce hazards, If found to bt
present.
Airplanes, it was found, probably
are never the subject Of a direct hit
In the sense that a lightning discharge
of any magnitude occurs between q
cloud and the airplane or between the
airplane and the ground" The reason
| for this is that the electrical capacity
of the airplane is insufficient to per-
NIT a charge Of great magnitude tc
build up on it.
The airplane. however, may be part
Of the path Of lightning discharge
from cloud to ground or from cloud tc
cloud, it was found, though it was
found that lightning will not travel very
far out Of its path to pass through ar
airplane. Since lightning discharges
through an airplane in or near tnC
path of a lightning discharge are liable
to occur, 1t was the object of the study
to find the results Of the passage oi
such o discharge through an airplane
It was found that the chance Of ig'
milton Of gasoline in the tank Of the
modern transport airplane during pas
sage through the plane Of full light.
ming discharge is very slight, since the
arc which occurs at the point where
the path of the lightning changes from
air to the metal of the plane is out
side the airplane, and so the outer
skin and other metal structure Of the
airplane, and not the gas tanks. viii
be carrying most of the current. More
over, the gas tanks are carefully bond
ed to the airplane structure to prevent
larged induced voltages in the tanks
To prevent the possibility Of ignition
of gasoline fumes in the vicinity Of the
tanks from heat generated by light
ming arcs on the outer skin, compart-
ments subject to collection Of fumes