Flights & Flyers

Land of the Soviets, Russian plane making a leisurely west-to-east world tour, landed on U. S. territory last week, at Altu, westernmost of the Aleutian Islands, 7,000 miles from Moscow whence the plane flew one month ago (TIME, Aug. 19).

Army Air School. The Army's advanced flying school at Kelly Field (San Antonio, Tex.) heretofore has required only one year's enlistment. Thereafter graduates could choose between two years' additional service in the Air Corps or go into commercial flying. Private flying schools have complained, on the one hand, that the Army was thus hurting their business. On the other hand, the Army has complained that it is getting too few graduates from Kelly Field. Hence: new War Department regulations which require that flying students must enlist for three years-one at school, two in the Air Corps or its reserve.

To South America. Racing to stretch their air lines down the South America east coast last week were Pan-American Airways and New York, Rio & Buenos Aires Line (TIME, July 22).

P: For Pan-America President Juan Terry Trippe & wife. Technical Adviser Charles Augustus Lindbergh & wife, and others, flew from Miami for Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, by way of Florida and the Antilles. They were to return to the U. S. by way of northern South America and Central America. Mrs. Lindbergh asked fellow passengers to call her Anne. She calls her husband Augustus. Col. Lindbergh reported progress frequently by radio, beginning his messages "Lindbergh, pilot."

P: For N. Y., Rio & B. A., Senhorita Alicia Sampaio, daughter of the Brazilian consul general at Manhattan, christened a Sikorsky amphibian Pernambuco. It left New York for Pernambuco, its station, to be ready for the opening of its 8,500 New York Buenos Aires line on or about Oct. i. Formal opening depends on the start from New York of the 32-passenger Consolidated Commodore, biggest U. S. flying boat, which the company has just bought.

New York to Miami. Three loaded planes opened the first New York-to-Miami passenger and express line last week (Eastern Air Express).

Schwab into Aviation. Charles Michael Schwab, chairman of Bethlehem Steel Corp. (see p. 12), two years ago met with Orville Wright, Glenn Hammond Curtiss and other flyers, also with Henry Ford, and suggested ways of industrializing aviation. But until last week he did not enter the field himself. His present essay was to become the largest individual stockholder in the General Aero Corp. and to sell it the Atlantic City Motor Speedway, which he controlled, for a passenger airport.

Doolittle. Short and compact is the Army's best flyer, Lieut. James Harold Doolittle. Able was he, in a college boxing tournament at the University of California some years ago, to hold his own-and a little more than his own-against strapping Eric Pedley, eight-goal California poloist (see p. 64). At the Cleveland Air Show last month. Flyer Doolittle flew the wings off a ship, diving at 200 m.p.h. Floating down in his parachute he laughed at the episode and took up another stunting ship immediately. The Army Air Corps has a questionnaire which flyers must fill out after accidents. Last week, newspapers had fun printing Flyer Doolittle's report on his Cleveland mishap. The phrases were as short and compact as their author. His "description of method of leaving plane" was two words:

"Thrown out."

His "complete and accurate account of the causes for the jump," was two more words:

"Wing broke."

Air Traffic Conference

An aviator man, one in the industry, will tell you, after he has blown the booster thoughts out of his mind, that very, very few of the manufacturing or transport concerns have been making money. However, he will instantly add, if they do this and that, profits will ensue after a few years. To uncover some of the thises and thats in respect to transport problems, air traffic managers met at Kansas City last week.

Transport Industry's Size. Three-quarters of a billion dollars are now invested in the entire aviation industry. Forty-five companies are transporting mail, express and passengers over 75,000 miles daily. Last year they carried 52,934 passengers. This year the number will approximate 150,000. Only between San Francisco and Los Angeles and between New York and Boston do ships frequently have all passenger seats sold. Passenger traffic does not yet pay its way. Mail contracts, which represents the U. S. government's way of furnishing the transport companies their essential subsidies, almost pay the operating expenses of most of the air mail carriers. But not all the expenses. Said Universal Air Lines' Halsey Dunwoody, referring to this financial situation: "We cannot continue to pay operating expenses from capital reserve. In order to produce dividends, air transport lines must pay. We operators face certain definite needs which may be enumerated as public confidence, increased patronage, constantly improving service and better practical organization."

Air Mail. Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown sent word to the air mail operators that they must appear at Washington Sept. 30 to revise their contract rates. He must have revision because his air mail appropriation is $13,300,000 for this year and his expenses are mounting towards $15,000,000. He wants not only to get within his appropriations but to get below it. Dismaying was this call to the carriers who have been hoping to get all first class mail. However, Mr. Brown did not block that prospect specifically. Indeed his second assistant, Warren Irving Glover, volunteered that air mail routes would be extended.

Government Control. No one yet knows if passenger, freight and mail air rates are fair to both the public and the operator. To get a detached opinion and a disinterested rate schedule President Erie C. Halliburton of Southwest Air Fast Express resolved that the Interstate Commerce Commission or a comparable body prepare a schedule for the industry. Retiring Assistant Secretary of Commerce William Patterson MacCracken and President John F. O'Ryan of Colonial Airways System opposed putting the aviation business under Government control. Mr. MacCracken's effective point was that the Government did not assume control of the railroads until 35 years after they were in general operation.* The traffic conference did nothing about Mr. Halliburton's resolution. Conferees also ignored Mr. MacCracken's resolution that a single conference committee study the whole rate matter. If there is to be any industrial regulating (on rates and other aspects), the industry wants to do it itself. Hence eleven committees were appointed and assigned to study the many matters which are in confusion.

A corollary of Mr. Halliburton's idea of voluntarily submitting to Government control found adherents among the air men. Inevitably, they realized, there will be a Federal regulating commission. The industry's early willingness to submit would give it a "good face" in public opinion.

That prescience of inevitability was real. Last week in the Senate, Senator Bratton of New Mexico, where the first transcontinental transport crash occurred three weeks ago (TIME, Sept. 16), proposed that the Senate's Interstate Commerce Committee study the question of Governmental air-industry regulation. His committee, he knew, would approve such regulation. Air-minded Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut at once declared that "the Bratton resolution is merely a crack at Assistant Secretary of Commerce MacCracken. But MacCracken has done his job extremely well. He has built up a fine organization of trained engineers and pilots which makes a study of every airplane accident and already has done much to eliminate them." Senator Bingham wanted Senator Bratton's resolution referred to the Senate's Commerce Committee which, he knew, would pigeonhole it, thereby keeping "as is" the government's supervision of aviation, under the Department of Commerce. The Senate had so much to do squabbling and dickering over the Tariff (see p. 14) that it did nothing to the Bratton resolution.

Baggage. Air carriers dislike excess baggage. They want to restrict free baggage to 25 or 30 lbs. per person on single-motored planes, and to 50 Ibs. on multi-motored ones. High rates for excess baggage would make passengers limit their dunnage.*

*The I.C.C. was created in 1887.

*Mrs. Charles Augustus Lindbergh generally travels with only one evening gown and no extra wrap. Just after a recent landing Col. Lindbergh scolded her lor not wearing a petticoat.