The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-19
Post-War Aviation

Post- War Aviation
 There are approximately 1,600 ,0OO per sons employed in aircraft manufacture in the United States. Speaker Rayburn told us the other day about the 64,000 plane increase in the Army and Navy air forces in the past 12 months. Uncle Sam has raised his sights" and expects to pro- duce more than 100000 planes year while the war lasts
 Let's pause a moment and pinch our selves and think about our brave boys and men in the military forces who are flying through the air these hot summer days. Aviation is a postwar problem equaling in importance the building of the railroads, the discovery of steam, and oil-burners, for ships on the seas, and will serve to remind us that the automobile was the successor to "old Dobbin" on the public roads
 Eighty years ago it was reported in the story about Darius Green and His Flying Machine" that the Would-be hero n1oaned: "The birds can fly, an why can't l." Today, American airmen are as thick as the birds in some countries round the world Of course we call the daily record of bombing and flying "won- derful" - and so it is. But in few years it will be even more wonderful as means of transportation that will become part of our daily life.
 You do not need to be told that air planes fly across the United States in much less than days time-around the world in few days. Some near-sighted interests suggest that the airways can be controlled by the States. Great news papers like the New York Times and the Herald-Tribune and the Washington Post have been advocating Federal control of postpost-war aviation conducted by pri- vate enterprise That is the only sensi- ble way.
 Congress has had the Lea-Bailey Bill under consideration and hearings have been held by the House Committee on Foreign Commerce. This bill will be re- ported favorably by majority of the Committee next month Chairman Lea of California recently made statement showing that he expected legislation to pass that would provide that all naviga- tion and air commerce would be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Government. He said "this is the air age" and added that for obvious reasons, there are no state lines in the air. Planes are flown at such speed that they often cross many State boundaries in single hour Landing fields used in civilian plane travel have already been cleared of Instructions. The air-lanes must become as definite to plane pilots as sea lanes are to navigators of ships. Let us suppose that million Americans are being trained in aeronautics-doesn't this mean that most of them will take up civil aeronautics when they are released from the armed forces?
 Men on Capitol Hill in Washington who have made study of flying say it ic as safe as any other method of trans portation. It certainly is so fast, and cheap, that it is attracting plenty of patrons We are told that it will not be long before passengers will be able to travel to airports in large cities, and "change cars,' and go on local planes to smaller cities and towns. That will be nice, too. Legislation now pending in Congress seeks to give concrete applica- ton of the lessons we have learned in the past or years and to confirm and elaborate our civil aviation program for the national defense as well as perform ing all the advantages that must neces- sarily apply to civil aviation.
 Congressman-a -at-large Hairless of Ari- zona recently made an important ad- dress in which he said that the develop ment of the airways will bring "untold benefits to enrich our lives as peace loving people," and he expressed his be- lief that aviation would open a new era for trade and travel and new opportuni- ties for investment. Congress, he stated, will join the industry in the fervent hope that we may push ahead with all speed in the inspiring conquest of the air for the pleasure, prosperity, and protection of our people,"