Evening star., 1945-11-18
New Era in Air Travel
Expected to Open Soon
Within Means of Ordinary Person Will Be
~, Available in Next Few Years
By George H. Hall

thermoStatic temperature control and
individual ventilation.
Electric stoves and refrigeration will
permit preparation of meals aboard, al
though precooked meals, about which
there has been a good deal of publicity
recently, may prove popular.
Windows will be larger and better ar
ranged for panoramic observation. Some
OF the largest planes will have double
decks. Radio, movies and telephone
service soon may be available for some
long trips.
The new planes will have greatly en-
larged compartments for cargo, includ-
ing express and mail, anticipating the
time when all first-class mail will 20
by air.
Radar and other electronic devices will
permit safer flying. Schedules rarely
or never will be Cancelled because of
weather. New radio-aided systems of
traffic control will facilitate landings and
takeoffs
Expanded fleets of 10 major airlines
are expected to include 975 planes seat
ing $4,000 passengers the Air Transport
Association estimates. Some 400 new
planes with seating capacity of $4,000
passengers are on order. Before Pearl
Harbor these lines had $50 planes with
5000 seats. The enlarged fleet will be
capable of operating six to eight billion
passenger miles a year. 1t will be made
up OF five main categories OF ships:
Long-range trunk lines, ross-continent
nonstop, international or overseas,
short trunk line and short feeder" line.
204-Passepger Plane Planned.
The new types "in the works" vary
from the 14-passenger Lockheed Saturn,
which has speed of 210 miles an hour
and range of 500 miles, to the Con-
solidated 81, 320,O00-pound craft with
six 5.OO0-hoursepower engines carrying
2o4 passengers 5000 miles at $40 miles
an hour. In between are dozen others
OF varying capacities, speed and range.
These planes have cargo space in adj
dition to that for passengers. Last year
the airlines carried 202, 900 600 pounds of
mail, express and excess baggage, while
the new planes on order will provide
total space enough to carry about
995 600 900 pounds. In addition. some
airlines are operating fleets exclusively
for cargo, and their numbers will in
crease.
The association said aircraft engineers
now are convinced they can build practi-
cally anything in the way of an air.
plane, the design and size depending
only on the purposes for which it is to
be used. The main criterion will be:
will it pay?"
This question leads to the reason why
there may be little or no use for sur
plus military transports and for the
larger part of the huge aircraft manu-
featuring setup.
Lower OperationaH Cost.
Figures obtained from the Aircraft
Industries Association of America. Inc.
show that the Army's Cat transport
plane costs about cents ton mile to
operate. The new Douglas DC-4, for ex-
ample, can be operated for SIS cents a
ton mile. This is the outstanding fac
tor to be taken into consideration by
commercial lines.
The association estimates that two
thirds or more of the aircraft facilities
erected during the war will be idle. The
reasons probably are not generally un-
derstood. What 1t takes to produce an
airplane is manufacturing unit de-
signed to do particular job plus an Or
ganization of skilled men. A plant de-
signed to produce a superbomber may
well have no other use because 1t can
not be operated efficiently. The same is
true of an engine plant designed for
a certain quantity flow of a certain
engine.
The future of the industry as such
depends on Government policy yet
(See AIRWAYS Page C.101