Sea Picture

In Manhattan newspapers one morning last week burst a story romantic, unconfirmed, yet weighted with authoritative detail: potent Pan American Airways, Inc. was negotiating with Great Britain's Imperial Airways, Ltd. to form a three-day transatlantic air service via Bermuda and the Azores.

To the staff of Pan American it was pure news. To youthful President Juan Terry Trippe it was a headache. He did not want his plan known so soon. Closeted in his office on the 42nd floor of the Chanin Building, President Trippe reluctantly admitted that negotiations were "now practically completed, looking towards the early operation of a service . . . between Bermuda and the U. S." Of the route east of Bermuda he had nothing to say. But Major G. E. Woods Humphery, managing director of Imperial Airways, who arrived from England a few days later, promptly dismissed any notion that it could be opened in less than two years.

President Trippe's consternation was as nothing compared to the state of M. Andre Bouilloux La Font, managing director of France's Aeropostale, in Manhattan last week to work out with President Trippe troublesome details of their companies' routes in South America. (Pan American wants the privilege of a permanent base at Cayenne, French Guiana, where Aeropostale has exclusive flying rights.) M. La Font and his aides saw the newspaper story, rushed to the Chanin Building before even the Pan American office force had arrived, waited in an agitated huddle. President Trippe placated them, put in a hurry call for Technical Adviser Charles Augustus Lindbergh to take them to luncheon at the Cloud Club on the 66th floor of the Chrysler Building across the street. Then he telephoned Second Assistant Postmaster General Warren Irving Glover in Washington, requesting that the official confirmation of the story be sure to state that "Aeropostale probably would be interested" in the trans-atlantic project. Mr. Glover also said that his department was "prepared to give mail to the line whenever it is ready" which, according to reports, will be within a year.

If the plan goes through, Pan American will fly the 821 mi. between the U. S. and Bermuda, landing there by courtesy of Imperial Airways, which holds exclusive air rights on the islands. Imperial will fly the 3,699-mi. route between Bermuda, Azores and England in two daylight jumps, requiring an average cruising speed in excess of 130 m.p.h. At last report, Aeropostale had won from Portugal the exclusive rights at Horta, Azores (TIME, March 3). Observers last week predicted Aeropostale would gladly yield entry in return for a part in the transatlantic system.

With its equipment of Consolidated Fleetsters (capable of 150 m.p.h. with 2,000-lb. payload) acquired in the purchase of NYRBA Lines (TIME, Sept. i), Pan American is already in a fair position to operate a U. S.-Bermuda line. And if passengers are eventually to be carried, there are NYRBA'S 20-passenger Commodore flying boats. For its part, Imperial Airways has its new four-motored flying boat (first of a series) with a reported cruising range of 3,000 mi. But few airmen supposed that regular schedules could be undertaken before 1932.

With the new picture thus disclosed, incidents hitherto puzzling came into focus --the maps of Atlantic shipping lanes that have cluttered President Trippe's office since early this year; President Trippe's visit to Europe last May, his private meetings with bigwigs of air transport, his reticence upon returning; his flight two weeks ago to Charleston, S. C. and Nor folk, Va., possible U. S. terminals of the Bermuda line; the establishment by Pan American's infant sister company, New York Airways, Inc., of a summer service between New York and Atlantic City -- a service without apparent justification but for which two radio stations were built.

Easiest conclusion is that Pan Ameri can and Imperial are hurrying into action to capture U. S. mail contracts before the projected service of International Zep pelin Transport Corp. (TIME, April 7) can start. Against that, however, is President Trippe's close friendship with Director Martin Wrongsky of Germany's Luft Hansa and Luft Hansa's close alliance with the Zeppelin organization. But whatever the strategy involved, Pan American's 32- year-old president, by his silent, lone-handed maneuver, loomed larger than ever in world aviation.

Flights & Flyers

No. 365. In a drizzling rain one afternoon last week, Dr. John G. Brock.* Kansas City optician, took his plane off from Kansas City's Fairfax Airport, circled for a half-hour with an escort of nine Army planes from Ft. Leavenworth, landed to be handshaken and backslapped by civic leaders. The flight, according to the optician and witnesses, completed an unbroken series of daily hops, on business or pleasure, for one year. On some days last winter. Dr. Brock insisted on venturing aloft when wind, cold or fog held scheduled planes earthbound--even when a snowplow was required to open a runway for him. Explained Dr. Brock: "Every day I have a feeling that I want to take up one of my planes." He owns two.

Italian Triads. Italy's Minister of Aeronautics General Italo Balbo has insisted that the Italian Air Force perfect itself in long distance flights by large groups of planes. One was made with more than 60 ships in the western Mediterranean, another with about 30 in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Last week the Ministry announced a still -more ambitious project: a formation flight of twelve Savoia-Marchetti seaplanes from Orbetello, Italy, to Rio de Janeiro. First part of the flight, scheduled for Dec. 15, is to be in easy stages to Bolama, on the west coast of Africa; thence a single hop, in formation of four triads, 1,800 mi. to Natal, Brazil. General Balbo himself is to be flight commander, with Commander U. Maddalena, famed duration flyer, as adjutant.

"Fighting Three." For 18 planes to fly in a year 600.000 mi., much of the time over open seas and in wingtip-to-wingtip formation; for them to make 861 take-offs and 861 landings on the decks of aircraft carriers; for them to engage in all sorts of violent maneuvers, dog fights, bombing attacks, all without the slightest injury to any pilot--that, airmen will agree, is flying. And for that, squadron VE-3B ("Fighting Three") of the aircraft carrier Lexington was named last week 1929-30 winner of the Navy's Herbert Schiff Memorial Trophy.

"Fighting Three," known also to the service as the yellow-tailed "Striking Eagles," is made up of single-seater Boeing fighters flown by 18 officers and conditioned by 65 enlisted men. From President Hoover on Dec. 5. Lieut. Commander Samuel Paul Ginder (squadron commander, July 1, 1920-May 15, 1930) will receive the trophy for his mates. After a year, a replica will be his to keep.

Result of a Sales Plan

To "get people into the air," most air transport lines cut their fares sharply at the beginning of the year (TIME, Feb. 10). About six months later, judging they had gone far toward promoting the flying habit, the operators upped their rates again. How well the first stage of their plan succeeded was shown last week in a report for January-June by the Department of Commerce:

U. S. transport lines carried more passengers (208,357) than in the whole of 1929 (173,405). Moreover, passenger traffic for the first half (which is the period of less favorable flying weather) was four times greater than for the first half of 1929.

* No kin of William S. Brock, of Detroit's famed world flying team, Brock & (Edward Frederick) Schlee.

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