Evening star., 1938-05-22
By Alice Rogers Hager.
CURRENT motion

A CURRENT motion picture
~ Test Pilot" concerned with
~ the tragedy and triumph OF
a the developmental side of avia
ton. ends on note that is far higher
drama than its spectacular crashes
Through the fascinated eyes of a
little boy, the squadrons of the sky
sweep by, engines roaring. the blue
air open before them. Everything
fades out but the innocent. rapt face
and the drive of those tremendous
wings.
The seer of Hollywood who caught
that moment on celluloid wrought
more truly. perhaps, than he knew.
The men who took the first totter-
ing planes off the ground are grow
ing gray in service-those who have
lived to see the sleek giants of 1898
emerge from the wire and fabric en-
bryos of 1908.
1t is through the vision in the eyes
Of youth that the unimaginable fu-
ture Of the conquest of the air will
be written. Today, in the United
States. over million boys and girls
are setting their feet on the road that
leads into that future. From one end
OF the country to the other. under the
impetus of newly awakened interest
on the part Of Federal and State gov
ernments. of schools. of newspapers. of
sponsoring clubs and youth organiza-
tions. an American youth program for
aviation Is developing.
Not small part of the incentive for
such action has grown out Of the news
from abroad. AS the Nation that gave
birth to the man-carrying plane. that
has shown greater aeronautical gen.
iuS than that of any other, We have
been curiously complaisant. The first
great wave of popular enthusiasm that
followed Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing
in 1927, that built airports in every
COW pasture and city suburb and gave
the airlines their initial impetus, faded
out with the impact of other and
newer enthusiasms and the bitter
years of the depression. In spite Of
the Improvements in safety, in COM
fort. in speed and in availability, at
present not more than l per cent Of
our total population uses the airplane
for any purpose of transportation.
OTHER nations have not been so
laggard. Largely through fear
Of war. or in the totalitarian coun-
tries through the desire for conquest.
abnormal emphasis has been laid on
the military importance Of aviation.
After the primary job Of building
, fighting craft for immediate use and
training their pilots. the next step in
every case has been to educate a COM
pletely air-minded and air-prepared
younger generation.
In Germany, making Of paper mod
els begins almost in the kindergarten.
The three Rs are fruitful source of
information as the elementary school
work begins. It is far more absorb
ing to do q problem In arithmetic that
tells small boy how far an airplane
will travel between points A and B
than to find how many yards OF car
pet are needed to cover his mothers
floor. A little later comes real model
building, with the more promising
children being accepted as members
Of the national Deutsch Luftsport Ver-
band which conducts model work.
shops and extra-curricular activity up
to glider building and summer camps
for soaring instruction.
We have fewer than 800 soaring
pilots in the United States. Ger
many has nearly $4,000.
Russia has a national air organiza-
tion and is training parachute jump
ers by the thousand. 1taly's youth
program moves as rapidly as Ger
many's. France, last year. appropri-
ated 100000 francs for the purpose.
England has set aside f25. 900 for glid-
ing instruction alone, and boys in
their early teens are being put through
Q course under the tutelage of the
Royal Air Force.
II Is only in the United States that
We, have had no real national pro-
Sran With the exception Of the