Evening star., 1936-02-23

two flights around triangular course
from Washington to New York to
Norfolk, Va, last year, was delivered
to Hughes with the extra cabin fuel
tanks used in its record trips.
The big airplane, the only Douglas
Del ever constructed, was delivered
to the motion picture director and
speed flyer at Kansas City and he left
few hours later for New York with
Harlan Hull, T. w. A. chief pilot, and
Ed Lund, mechanic for Hughes.
Even more important to aviation
than its splendid record flights has
been the laboratory work conducted
with No. 300. Substratosphere trans
rtatlon, instrument navigation work,
testing of equipment of all kinds-the
work OF ushering in the present new
era of high speed air transportation
stand among the records of the plane.
Early in its career No. 300 estab.
lshed the transcontinental speed rec
ord for transport planes, flying from
the Pacific to the Atlantic in IL hours
and 5 minutes. In one of its instru-
ment test flights Tomlinson flew from
New York to Kansas City, completely
blind, under the hood" and after
LOO miles of flying without once see.
ing the ground, was headed directly
down one OF the runways at the
Kansas City airport, when the hood
was removed.
During its high altitude work the
ship was used in testing equipment for
both passenger and crew comfort in
the rare atmosphere of the SUBJ
stratosphere. Cabin passengers were
trled out and tests of devices to in
crease engine power at high attitudes
were conducted.
Hughes transcontinental speed
record of 8 hours 27 minutes was
established in a single-engined ship
"mle ne was negotiating for the big
transport ship.
The fuel tanks delivered to Hughes
with No. 300 were those constructed
Tor the Bureau of Air Commerce while
IL was conducting the much discussed
overWater tests off the Pacific Coast
last year. They provide a total ca.
pacity of 1900 gallons and give the
ship exceptional range for an airplane
of its size.
Expenditures by the United States
Tor Its military air forces for the cur
rent fiscal year have been exceeded
by from nearly 200 to more than 400
per cent by those of the five other
major air powers, it is said by the
JOINT Committee on Air Defense in a
plea for strengthening of the country's
air defenses.
Great Britain during the fiscal wear
which will END March 81 has allocated
Sl45 ,93o5O0 TO its air forces, according
10 tgures quoted by the committee
from the Congressional Record. France
tops the list with expenditures total
ing $l94,354,0O0. Germany has spent
S84, ,769,000 Italy's expenditures for
the fiscal year ending June 80 are
expected to total $116,404,250, and
those for Japan, whose fiscal year ends
March 81, will total $l82, 2,3O4 900, it was
reported.
1T Is estimated that during this
same period expenditures for air
forces by the United States were
SAT 7.507, ,440," the committee reported.
While European powers are much
stronger in air defense than the United
States" the committee said, they
actually have far less territory to pro-
tect. Germany has land area of
181,7l4 square miles and France
2l2,659 square miles. In the United
States the area that our present
meager air force is attempting to de-
fend is 3,026,7S9 square miles, with
an additional 7l1,606 square miles in
the possessions.
"The Air Corps act of 1926 author
lied 1900 Serviceable airplanes for the
Army Air Corps. Now, almost 10
years later, there are actually less
airplanes in the Air Corps than at
the time the act was passed, and on
June 80, 1887, according to the testi-
mony given before the House Appro-
priations Committee, there will be
but 779 airp,snes of all types, l21 of
which will not be fighting planes"
The present Air Corps procurement
plan for the fiscal year 1887, the COM
mlttee said, contemplates acquiring
442 airplanes. Losses due to obso-
lescence, crashes and the necessity
Tor retiring machines, according to
testimony before the House Appropria-
tions Committee, will be AIS.
ut was estimated that on June 80,
1886, there will be TIT airplanes of
all types in the Air Corps" the COM
mittee stated. "On June 80, 1897,
it was estimated that there will be
779 serviceable airplanes. Thus, In
the next fiscal year we will increase
our Air Corps by but two airplanes.
More than 1000 applicants for posi-
tions as air stewardesses on the air
liners of United Air Lines have been
examined and rejected and there still
are vacancies available for the in
creased Spring and Summer schedules.
OF the 1000 applicants, only a few
have been able to qualify.
Requirements for the position in
clude the qualification that a stew
ardess must be graduate registered
nurse. This is imposed, it was ex-
planned, because the carefully trained
nurse has an understanding of dis
cipline and knowledge of how to deal
with the public. Other requirements
are: Maximum weight of 100 pounds,
maximum height of feet 4 inches;
age, 81 to Is years, attractive appear
ance, good personality and ability to
discuss intelligently topics of the day.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AIRMAILi
we lnclude this beautiful Spanish Issue,
| along with a complete HUNGARIAN set;
lays Julius CAESAR Commemorative set; a