The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-23
AVIATION FINDS
GREAT INTEREST
Pennington Flying Service
Figures Show City Be-
coming Air Minded
BY ANNA FEENSTRA

BY ANNA FEENSTRA
Aviation is fast taking its place
as n of today's important enter.
prises in Wilmington.
During the past years Whining
tonians have shown only a mild
interest toward flying, but during
the past year, this interest has
shown a definite increase. People
come out to the airport to watch
the activities more often now, and
others manifest that interest by
taking an active part in the sport
Interest Increases
ANY day you 60 out to the field,
you can always see an interested
onlooker wandering among tn Ell
planes looking at the various onez
and noting certain features on each
model. Local people are begin.
nlng to know more about planes.
On Sundays crowds drive out to
watch the planes in the air. They
may look about the hangar at
the ships there or they may just
watch. Often they ask numerous
questions Of the students and the
pilots, proving that their interest
is increasing. When a strange
ship from another airport lads,
groups will drift over to the plane
to identify the make and model Of
the ship and discuss its charac-
teristics. These people r be-
coming curious about flying aad
are satisfying this curiosity by go
ing out to the field and finding
out things for themselves.
Some of these people will pay
the small cost and take a flight
over the city in one of the planes
to see just what everything looks
like from above. An estimate by
the Pennington Flying Service sets
the number of passengers flown
during the past year at approx
mately 5000 or 1000, in compar-
ison with the few hundred usually
flown in years before. More flights
have been made over town last
year than in several years before.
Training Program
Any day you may be at the
airport you will see the training
planes winging their way around
the field and over the county. At
the controls will be one of the
many student pilots who are mas
tering the art of flying under the
guidance Of a competent instruc or.
Many Of these are of the younger
generation, but lately several old
er folk have discovered the fun
of flying. Last year more students
made their solo flights than in
any two previous years. More
hours were logged by these stu
dents during the past year than
in the same time.
Encouraging these students to
take wings has been the Civilian
Pilot Training Program. Secured
for this city by the Junior Cham
Der Of Commerce in October, it
has done a lot to stimulate inter
est in aviation. Glasses in ground
school subjects have been taught
by an able instructor three nights
a week. These would-be aviators
learn all about the rules and reg
ulations that govern flying, about
weather and climatic conditions,
about aerodynamic principals that
explain what makes a plane fly,
about navigation from one pint
to another. After final exams, a
lucky few take to the air for their
flight training. Just as in other
parts Of the country, the c. P.
T. P. has done a great deal to-
ward waking up public interest to-
ward aviation.
Even the youngsters Of the city
are proving their enthusiasm in a
different way. BY building and
flying model airplanes, they learn
much about planes. have pleasure
in competition with these models,
and spread this to others who are
taken away with it. Thus the seed
is planted that may interest a
child in becoming another young
student pilot. The Exchange Club
is doing much in this way by
sponsoring a model plane club and
arranging for a statewide model
contest here in June.
And then the Aero Club h a S
shown progress. Increasing in
membership, the club has worked
harder during the past yea1 to
make Wilmington aviation con-
scious. and has been successful in
doing so. Members have put mare
effort into worthwhile projects and
have been rewarded by the in
creasing enthusiasm Of local cit
liens.
Progress in the construction of
49,