Evening star., 1949-03-06
By w. H. Shippen, Jr.

The huge, blunt nose OF Cne
first Stratocruiser to enter pas
senger service was generously
splashed with champagne by Miss
Margaret Truman yesterday at a
ceremony which packed almost A.
900 guests into a new hangar at
National Airport.
Bearing the blessings of official
Washington. the newly-christened
double -decked Clipper America" i"
was wheeled out of the hangar
with it's 38-foot tail brushing the
roof girderS for a demonstration
flight over the Capital. The
White House party did not make
the trip.
Miss Truman welded the tricky
bottle like a veteran. Many pres
ent recalled a similar occasion
when Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
hammered away at a new airplane
until 1t seemed her strength must
fail before the glass broke.
Takes Firm Stance.
Miss Truman, however, took her
stance like a batter at the plate.
She ran a gloved hand over the
armor plate hung on the nose,
picked a spot for the blow to fall
and swung Justify. There followed
q gratifying splash and much ap-
plause.
The 75-passenger, $1,500,oOO
forerunner of a new line of Boeing
luxury planes will 60 in regular
service for Pan American World
Airways next month between the
West Coast and Hawaii.
Pan Am will get 10 more such
planes this year. and some rs
others are on order by half q
dozen lines.
1t was the most elaborate cere-
mony of its kind seen here since
before the war. Guests remained
for a huge cocktail party set up
In space partitioned off from the
5uuxloO-1oot hangar.
Vice President Speaks.
Vice President Barkley told the
crowd that airplanes which dur
ing the war astonished persons
everywhere by their power to
create havoc can and must be-
come the most powerful messen-
gers of peace"
! With the increase in air travel
overseas, he said, "the plain men
and women of the world will be-
come their own best ambassadors
When they stand face to face and
talk things over, they can live
together as friends, and misun-
derstandings will disappear"
Without mentioning Russia
which refuses to allow tWo-Way
air commerce with other nations
the Vice President declared that
"only in free countries" can
aviation develop to such an ex-
tent" adding that slave labor
may build but cannot be creative. -
The fact that the giant aircraft
carries no guns or bombs" and
was designed to further peaceful
commerce between nations was
emphasized by Senator johnson
of Colorado, chairman of the
Senate Interstate and Foreign
Commerce Committee.
This Is the first of the great
passenger ships to be designed
since the war;" the Senator con-
tinued, land will help spread the
spirit Of good will to all men
throughout the world"
Developed for Military Use.
The fact, however, that the
basic design of the aircraft grew
out of an urgent need for long
range bombers was brought out
by William M. Allen Of Seattle
president of the Boeing Airplane
Co.
This new civil airliner." he said
"has the same engines and thu
same wing that carried the B-5(
bomber nonstop around the world
Our military services have thu
made a great contribution in de.
velopments which are adapted k
commercial use"
He added that the plane has
greater speed. greater range anc
"the ability to carry nearly twice
the number of passengers across
the ocean as existing equipment.
Juan T. Trip, president of Par
Am, predicted that improved flight
equipment will bring tourist
class" foreign travel within the
reach Of the average man.
There is no reason" he de-
clared, why a tourist-class air
trip to Europe this fall should cost
more than 1925. That is our OBJ