Evening star., 1937-03-07

Although no standardized types Of
airplanes have yet been acquired for
the long-range reconnaissance squad
rons, one of which was organized last
year at Boiling Field and later moved
to Langley Field, it is anticipated that
they will be equipped with airplanes
Of the same type as the bombardment
squadrons with which they will CO.
operate. In the cast of the recon-
nalssance ships, however, the bomb
load will be replaced by extra fuel
franks carried in the bomb-bay.
The new amphibians are to be
adaptations of the commercial twin
engined type. The order calls for five
airplanes and spare parts equivalent to
one complete airplane, and the con-
tract price is S633 1893. They are pow
cred with two Pratt & Whitney Hornet
engines of 750-horsepower each.
EFFORTS are being made to have
- the Soaring Society of America
qualified legally as an educational
organization, so that it may be in a
position to receive subsidies which will
be non-taXable.
The society, well represented in
Washington, is the only national body
in America sponsoring motorleSs fly
ing. 1t is working in competition with
the great European soaring and Gid
ing societies, which receive govern
ment subsidies and which are regarded
as invaluable adjuncts TO national
aviation development.
During the last week the Soaring
Society held its annual meeting in
New York and planned to make the
eighth annual soaring contest, to be
held next June at Elmira, N. Y, the
largest yet held in this country in the
number of attending pilots, prizes to
be awarded and, if possible, in out
standing glider and sailplane flights.
Harris Hill, Elmira, has been made
into the finest glider base in America
as result of $4,000 improvement
program, just completed. Competing
pilots next June will find cabins in
place of tents, a large administration
building replacing small temporary
structures which hitherto have housed
soaring field offices, a new glider
hangar, a newly paved road to the hill
and smooth-rolled takeof runway
1000 feet long. There is large
concrete swimming pool and running
water at the cabins.
Donald Hamilton of this city is ma
tional secretary of the society and a
member of its Board of Directors.
A THOUGH ships have been op-
Grated across the seas for hun
dreds of years, yet today. when the
weather closes in, the captain orders
the ship to proceed at five knots, he
says on deck night and day and he is
tremendously concerned about his re-
sponsibility. it is pointed out by
Jerome Lederer, national authority on
aviation insurance.
'Airplane dspatchers and pilots
therefore should not feel obligated
to get through" weather which still
hinders another system of transporta-
ton after hundreds of years of ex-
perience-remembering that an air
plane cannot slow down to five knots
once it is in the air." Lederer said.
Even train schedules suffer from
weather. and as train speeds increase
they will suffer more" he added.
The safety record of the airplanes
is very impressive. but trains will soon
be going from coast to coast in 48
hours (as against about 3l2 days
now. giving the airlines and the
travelling public something to think
about. Safety will probably be the
governing factor in the minds of the
transcontinental travellers, who will
evaluate the loss of two business days
against the relative safety of fast
trains and airplanes."