Evening star., 1939-06-25

v ".
100 miles of the coast has been set aside
and that the only limit today Is the
operating radius Of the different types
of planes, placed at an average of about
1000 miles.
Normally construction of new bases
and enlargement of existing bases pro-
posed in the program would cost s128,-
100000, Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief
of the Air Corps estimates. For the
purposes of the program that was re-
duced to s62. 900 900. South of the Mason
and Dixon Line the only hangers con-
structed will be one per squadron and
one per base for maintenance work on
airplanes only. Airplanes, like naval
vessels, in the future are going to re-
main in the open air in all weather, even
those constituting the rotating reserve.
The proposed system of bases, Gen.
Arnold said, will form "the structure
around which the air-defense program
is built up" With the proposed bases in
operation, he pointed out, it will be
possible to throw more airplanes into
the Northwest or into the Southeast, or
down in Panama, than could be brought
in attack against us by anybody else"
Exact location Of all of the new bases
has not yet been decided. The one in
Panama probably will be at Brujo Point,
across from Albrook Field. That in
Alaska is likely to be in the vicinity
of Fairbanks, which is centrally located,
out of the heavy fog belt along the coast.
where the Navy is locating two air bases
for its long-range patrol flying boats
The Animals Are a Hazard.
The Alaska base presents many new
problems. Construction of runways in
a land where the ground never thaws
more than feet below the surface prob
ably will necessitate the use of some
sort of plastic material which can be
reworked dry, Gen. Arnold said. The
base will have to be fenced, he said,
because I'VE have all kinds of funny
animals running around up there, and
they get in the way"
For Hickam Field, Hawaii, Congress
already has appropriated $8,561 ,750; it
has been asked to appropriate $7,474,-
600 more under the expansion program,
and the total cost, Gen. Arnold esti-
mated, will be $4,000, 900, since it must
accommodate additional troops and is
expected to become one of the finest
air bases in existence.
Appearing before the committee later
Secretary of War Woodring said that
during his seven years with the War
Department there has been the most
rapid change in scientific development
in the instruments of war, both defen-
sive and offensive, of any period, be-
leve, in the past so years, and on that
basis alone 1t, has necessitated the re-
orientation of our defensive needs, be-
cause on the land, on the seas and in
the air there have been continuous tech
nical improvements in transportation,
communication and manufacturing
processes"
Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, appearing
before the committee in connection with
his survey for the Army Air Corps of
American aeronautical research facilities,
declared that during the past five years
the lead in military aviation has been
taken away from this country so that
today I'VE stand far from the top" In
the field Of applied and basic research,
he said, it probably will take from three
to five years to regain our leading posi-
ton, even though we push ahead as fast
as we can.
Planes Called Revolutionary.
Maj. George Fielding Eliot, whose
book, 'The Ramparts We Watch" last
year was hailed as an outstanding con-
tribution to the literature of national
defense, has just published new book
dealing with air power. in which he
characterizes the airplane as one Of the
three truly revolutionary military In
ventions or discoveries in the history Of
civilized mankind. The other two, he
said, were discipline and gunpowder.
The airplane is truly revolutionary
because it makes possible, for the first
time in the history Of human conflict,
striking directly at the seat and source
Of an enemy's power-at his citizenry,
his capital city, his industrial, CONNER
cial and political centers- without first
having to overthrow the armed forces
with which he seeks to protect them.
This constitutes the great threat Of
aviation-its power Of direct action On