Evening star., 1940-07-28
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,


BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,
Star Aviation Editor.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil by
AirmaiD brazilian Army and
Navy pilots. with whom the United
States air forces might conceivably
have to cooperate closely in case of
aggression against the Western
Hemisphere. yield to few others in
the world in professional attain
ments, which are based on expe-
rience of as long standing as that of
most major world powers.
Brazilian military aviation dates
back to the pioneering days of
human flight. On July II, the
Brazilian Army air service cele-
brated the 2lst anniversary of its
establishment. 1t started as an ex-
cluslvely French air service. due in
very large measure to the influence
OF Brazil's world aviation pioneer,
Alberto Santos -Dumont, in whose
honor Rio has named its splendid
new air terminal.
The Brazilian Army air force
today, however, is almost as ex-
clusively composed of United States
military airplanes as it was of
French at its inception. 1t is using
Vultee, North American, Waco.
Boeing, Vought- -Corsair and Stear-
man combat and training airplanes
in its school and tactical squadrons.
Study U. S. Manufacturing.
Both the army and the navy,
moreover, are sending pilots and
mechanics to the United States
aircraft factories from which their
airplanes are purchased to study
manufacturing methods, to gain a
thorough acquaintance with the
airplanes during the course of fab
rication and to learn our main
tenance and operations methods.
Four Navy pilots and as many
mechanics left Rio just a few days
ago for the North American plant
at IngleWood, Calf, to take delivery
of four new planes which they are
to fly to Brazil They made the
trip north as passengers of Panair
do Brasil and its parent company.
Pan American AirWayS. to look
over airports and operating bases
and aids employed by the inter-
national airline, with which they
work in close cooperation in Brazil
Brazilian Army and Navy pilots
not only are we'll trained, but they
are considered to be we'll disciplined,
capable pilots, rather on the daring
side. They receive schooling in
operations under all possible wealth
er conditions by carrying on airmail
service, in which all pilots of the
rank of captain and under in the
army or equivalent ranks in the
navy rotate for training.
The navy operates along the
Brazilian coast between Rio de
Janeiro and Rio Grande in the
southernmost Brazilian state. Rio
Grande do Sui The navy carries
only mail bearing regular airmail
postage and acts in some measure
as a feeder route for the interna-
tlonal air transport line. picking up
mail at points where the big air.
liners do not stop, and carrying it
to the main transfer point at Rio.
Serves Interior Routes.
The army, operating on far
more extensive basis, serves routes
far into the interior and along the
northern coast to Belem, in the
state of Para. The army does not
discriminate in the matter of mail,
but carries all regular mail UP to
the capacity of the airplane on the
route. Since 1t cannot carry all the
mail and does not discriminate, no
airmail postage is required on the
inland army routes. The sender
has no way of knowing whether
or not his letter will 60 by air.
The operation of the military
postal services has made possible
the opening of a large number of
airports along the coast and at
inland points which are of great
value in the future development of
both military and civil aviation in
the country. A majority of the
inland airports serve towns and
areas which never have had any
previous form of regular transporta-
ton and which have in many cases
been cut off almost completely from
the outside world.
From the international standpoint
these airports are of considerable
importance and so is the training
Brazilian pilots are receiving in op-
Grating from them. Should the time
ever come when the United States
must join with its southern neigh
bors in common defense of the
hemisphere these Brazilian fields,
planes and pilots may become vital
cogs in the defense mechanism of
the New World. The eastern hump
of South America, at Natal, Brazil,
is only 1,700 miles from the African
coast and probably would prove the
most logical point for an attempted
European invasion of the Americas.
The existence of network of
coastal and inland flying fields in
the vicinity of this exposed and
critical point and of a force of
trained, capable pilots who know
fhe rArinn In Avarv 6atet1 v,,icht