Evening star., 1936-09-06

an extreme emergency, and then their
use would be largely for the transport
Of personnel and munitions. Un-
doubtedly. air transport, rail transport,
motor lines and all communication
agencies, such as telephone, telegraph
and radio, will be administered by the
Government, but through civilian ac-
tivity, such as the War Industries
Board, and not by the Army
"The fighting agencies and the
agencies serving the civilian popula-
ton must be kept distinct. That is
the general plan proposed by the War
Policies Commission, of which was
member. I strongly feel. however.
that every encouragement should be
given to prepare private and CONNER
cial flyers for immediate military serv-
ice. AS soon as they qualify they should
be commissioned in the air Reserve,
and, if not qualified for commissions,
should be encouraged to enlist as
air reservists. This Is matter that
Is very near to my heart-it gets
OUR present Reserve officers are
largely man who were pilots dur
ing the World War, and their average
age today is around As years. Very
shortly they will be useful as ad-
ministrators on the ground, and our
principal investment should be in
young men who will be available for
the next 20 years or more. In Ger
many they start in the grammar
grades to arouse interest in aviation
and to give fundamental instruction
in aircraft. and they give flying in
struction at a very early date.
1.-The recent exploit Of Eugene Vidal,
ir., aged 10, in safely landing an
airplane, is indicative of what nearly
all youngsters his age would like to
do. I do feel that we should also
defray the expenses of our Reserve
pilots in order that they may keep
up their training. Now, out of their
own pockets, they are attempting
to carry on at an average annual
expense of $500 per man."
The emphasis which all of the
military experts placed upon the use
fulness Of commercial airlines called
for opinions from leaders in the
industry. Four presidents of COM
mercial companies contributed their
experience.
Said w. A. Patterson. head of
United Airlines, when I talked with
him in Chicago; I'VE are many times
superior In aviation to what we were
in the World War. Our part in
wartime now should be proper CO.
ordination with Government. In
order to do this we should continue
as at present but with our pilots in
uniform and under Federal orders.
There would be no dificulty in
achieving this, and the one disad-
vantage would be that commercial
activities would come second. But
we should stay in our specialized
field for the sake of efficiency. We
need q different type Of men to
run our ships from what the Army
does. Combat flying takes daring
that's exactly what we don't want.
Many Of our pilots have had Army
precision training, which Is q help,
but their outstanding value in war
time would be to transport materials
and troops safely and regularly"
THE president Of American Air
lines, @. r. Smith, not only
spoke Of the need for coordination
in wartime. but definitely challenged
the Army to present need for plans
In which the airlines could share
during peace. ''The first thing we
need" he told me, sis . definite
plan for coordination between mill
tary and commercial aviation. We