Evening star., 1936-11-29


Establishment in the vicinity OF
Washington of the proposed interna-
| tional airship terminal and construc-
ton Of local National Guard armory
suitable not only for the needs of the
militia, but also for the holding Of ma
tional airplane shows, are among
projects being sponsored by the local
Aero Club.
Outstanding national aviation mat
ters also are on the N. A. A. agenda
Air defense will be given especial at
tention. Warned by aerial activities in
the italian campaign of last year and
in the present Spanish fighting that
the use Of airplanes against cities and
civil populations is apt to play major
part in any future war, the N. A. A.
has called a meeting Of all American
aviation interests to consider strength
ening Of American military aviation.
"The merciless bombing of Madrid
the first great capital in the history
of the world to be attacked persist
emily from the air." said Charles F.
Horner, president of the N. A. A, in
announcing a special air defense ses-
sion at Chicago, has given the pub
lie an illustration of what modern
warfare is. Every major nation in
Europe is arming with relentless speed
and it Is significant that the greatest
efforts are being made to strengthen
the air forces. Every military aircraft
factory in Europe is working at capac-
ity pace. Even American plants are
receiving rush orders from foreign
powers"
Among speakers at the air defense
session, Mr.. Horner said before leav-
ing Washington, will be Mai. Gen.
Oscar Westover, chief of the Army
Air Corps; Col. j. Monroe johnson,
Assistant Secretary of Commerce;
Comdr. Charles E. Rosendahl, U. S.
N. outstanding naval authority on
dirigible airships; Col. Edgar S. Cor
rell president of the Air Transport
Association; Eugene L. Vidal, director
of air commerce, Commerce Depart
ment: ]. C. Holmes, acting chief of
the Division of Protocol and Confer
ences. State Department, and Repre-
sentative Melvin j. Mas of Mime
sofa, a major in the Marine Corps
Aviation Reserve.
Local delegates to the Chicago con-
vention are Louis r. Inwood of the
airmail division, Interstate Commerce
Commission, and Joseph T. Shumate
and Richard Boutelle, both of the
Bureau of Air Commerce. Alternates
are William r. Enyart, secretary of
the Contest Committee of the N. A.
A.; Wayne Parrish. editor of the Ma
tional Aeronautic Magazine, and Maj.
Roy S. Whitehead, chief of the medi-
cal section, Bureau of Air Commerce,
and commanding officer of the 409th
Attack Squadron, Air Corps Reserve,
assigned to Boiling Field.
THE penalty Washington is paying
for failure to establish an ade-
quate airport became more apparent
today with the formal inauguration
by Transcontinental & Western Air
of new trancontinental terminal at
Baltimore.
1t was announced recently that
Pan-American Always has selected
the new Baltimore Municipal Airport,
created by filling in the Patapsco
River flats, as the terminal for trans
Atlantic service to be inaugurated
probably next year.
T. w. A. decided at once to extend
its transcontinental service into Bal
timore to connect with the proposed
airline to Europe. 1t is understood
that United Airlines also is consider
ing an extension of its New York
San Francisco service into Baltimore
to connect with Pan-American.
| Engineers have said that it would
be easier and less costly for Washing
| ton to provide a model combined
landplane and seaplane terminal at
Gravelly Point than it has been for
Baltimore to fill the Patapsco flats,
with their softer bottom and less suit
able material for dredged filling.
Had work been started at Gravelly
Point at the time the Patapsco project
was undertaken. it is more than likely
Washington would have been chosen
for the transatlantic base, and that
T. w. A. would have been inaugural
ing here instead of in Baltimore the
first transcontinental air terminal
south of New York.
TOMORROW'S air transport air.
plane for transcontinental serv-
ice will have luxurious overnight ac-
commodations for 20 passengers, and
will carry a total payload of 5.100
pounds at 225 miles per hour, it is
forecast by DR.. Jerome C. Hunsaker,
head of mechanical and aeronautical
engineering at the Massachusetts In
stitue of Technology, and George j,
Mead, vice president and chief engi-
neer of the United Aircraft Corp.
In a joint article prepared for the
M. /. T. Technology Review, DR.. Hun
saker, former Navy engineer and men,
Der of the Federal Aviation Commis-
sion, and Mead base their forecasts
upon more than a year of studies by
M. 1. T. and United.
The transcontinental airliner of the
immediate future, they forecast, will
be a four-engined low-wing mono
plane with a gross weight Of about
10000 pounds, range of 1850 miles
and cruising speed of 225 miles per
hour at 10000 feet. 1t would be able
to cruise with 20 passengers, their
luggage and a half ton of mail and
express without normally calling on
the engines for more than so per
cent of their rated total of between
5000 and 1000 horsepower.
In exterior shape, the fuselage would
resemble the hull of Zeppelin ex-
| cept for the forward windows for the
pilots and sufficient cross-section at
the tail to support the tail surfaces.
Wind tunnel tests at M. I. T. show
these deviations from the perfect
form would involve an increase of
! fuselage drag of only per cent. There
would be no external projections, such
as door handles, window lodges or
even rivet heads. Control surfaces
will be of conventional cantilever de-
la%1