Evening star. [volume], December 22, 1929, Page 17, Image 97

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Fly to Europe for Week End Outing
William P. MacCracken , Former Assistant
Secretary of Commerce in Charge of
Aviation, Foresees Remarkable Progress
in Aviation During Next Decade—Air
plane More V,aluable Than Dirigible.
BY C. WILLIAM DUNCAIV.
. ■■ EGULARLY scheduled transatlantic
M J air service is certain to come within
the next 10 years, in the opinion of
m an outstanding aeronautic authority
of America—William P. MacCrack
en, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce in
charge of aviation.
By 1940, therefore, readers of newspapers will
not be astounded to see:
"Americans! Spend a pleasant week end in
Europe. See Westminster Abbey and the Tower
of London on Saturday, visit Paris on Sunday
and be back at your desk for work on Tuesday.
Planes leave daily at noon.”
Persons who have followed the progress of
aviation closely have ceased to smile at almost
any prediction within reason. Ten years ago
few laymen, if any, would have dared to
prophesy that a giant dirigible would have suc
cessfully crossed the ocean, carrying passengers,
several times In succession; that a lone pilot
would have made a nonstop flight from New
York to Paris; that two men would have stayed
in the air more than two weeks; that—well,
one could go on indefinitely and still not list
all the achievements of recent years.
What was seemingly impossible 10 years ago
has been accomplished. What is now seemingly
impossible, to the lay mind, will be accomplished
during the next decade. Consequently, semi
weekly and then daily air, service across the
ocean is tar from out of the question in that
period of time.
MAN in America is better qualified to
discuss aviation from the transportation
angle than Mr. MacCracken. He knows the sit
uation from both American and European
angles, as he has spent two months of this year
in Europe, attending as America’s representative,
an extra session of the International Commis
sion for Aerial Navigation, visiting airports in
the leading European countries and paying cour
tesy calls on aviation leaders who came to the
United States to attend the Washington confer
ence last December. Mr. MacCracken has made
several speeches, the principal one being the
Wilbur Wright Memorial speech before the
Royal Aero Society of London on the day mark
ing the twentieth anniversary of Bleriot’s flight
across the English Channel from Calais to Dover.
Incidentally, the Assistant Secretary was not a
“desk oflicial.” having served as a pilot and in
atructor in the Army during the World War.
Weekly service across the Atlantic will be first
instituted, and later followed by semi-weekly
and then daily service, Mr. MacCracken believes.
“These planes will carry a great amount of val
uable merchandise and mail which will have to
be transported frequently and rapidly.” he says.
“For that reason the weekly service will quickly
become obsolete.”
“What type of airship do you believe stands
the b'st chance of being a permanent trans
» oceanic carrier, the llghter-than-air dirigible,
the ‘flying boat’ or the airplane?” I a«ked Mr.
MacCracken. * i
“T am a heavier-than-air enthusiast and be
lieve that the airplane has the ‘edge’ as the
permanent winner,” he replied. "Nevertheless,
I am endeavoring to view the situation from an
unbiased viewpoint and give credit where credit
is due."
“Great praise is due Comdr. Hugo Eckener
and the men associated with him in the flights
of the great Zeppelin. They have done mar
velous work.
“Many thought the cause of the lighter-than
air craft had suffered a great set-back w'hen, in
the Spring of this year, the Zep started off
for America and had to turn back when four
of her five motors went bad. But I believe she
showed her greatness in temporary defeat, inas
much as she could actually proceed under only
one-fifth of her total power. It was a splendid
demonstration of what a lighter-than-air craft
can do under adverse conditions.
“Americans have already read something of
Biitains giant new dirigible, R-101, which made
her second successful test flight October 18 with
a six-hour cruise over the Midlands, visiting
Birmingham, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham
before returning to her mooring mast,
“To the man on the ground each one of these
giant dirigibles looks like the other, but, as a
matter of fact, they are not being built after
any set standard. The R-101 is different from
the Graf and othc*s to b-' bu’lt in the
THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C., DFXEMRER 22. foio.
future will differ from them in structure, en
gines, design and power plants.
“This lack of standardization is one of th?
biggest factors against the lighter-than-air
craft, in my opinion.” continued Mr. Mac-
Cracken. "It involves stupendous expense.
Anything for replacement has to be fabricated
especially. Nothing it interchangrable, like an
automobile part. The bag is made of gold
beater skin, obtained from the intestines of an
ox. Each ox yields about one square foot. The
tremendous amount of painstaking effort and
expense can bs estimated when I say that the
R-101 has in it beater skins from 1,250,000
oxen. Experts are working on substitutes for
this goldbeater skin, but have not found one
as yet. The R-101 cost about $2,000,000. It
is of 5,000,000-cubic-foot gas capacity.
“This-gives an idea of the labor and expanse
involved in building a dirigible. Naturally, if
anything happens to the craft it is a catastro
phe to the owners.”
"Are these the only reasons, in your opinion,
why the dirigible is impractical as a permanent
transoceanic carrier?” Mr. MacCracken was
asked.
“No. The lighter-than-air craft must develop
more speed,” he answered. “The airplane has
done so, but the dirigible has not. Seventy-five
or eighty miles an hour won’t do,” said Mr.
MacCracken.
"The steamship Leviathan is one of the fast
est ships in the world. She can cross the
Atlantic, westbound, in a little more than five
days. People believe in the safety of a targe
ship of this type, and those who ride in aircraft
in future years will do so largely because of
the time saved. Plenty is being said about the
rivalry of transatlantic liners for speed honors,
and more will be said during the next five
years. No doubt liners will be built to average;
around 33 or 35 miles an hour or more. What
I am driving at is this: In 1940 aircraft will
have to do better than twice the speed of the
fastest ocean liners to secure the necessary
patronage.
“Another present impractical feature of the
lighter-than-air craft is the handling of the
terminals. About 400 men are required to
handle the Graf Zeppelin. The terminal diffi
culties involve a great deal of expense and
inconvenience.
“Because of all these obstacles to be over
come, I shall be greatly surprised if a fleet of
these dirigibles is built and put in operation by
1932, as announced some time ago.
"I am interested in American lighter-than
air experiments and would like toscea service
instituted between the Pacific Coast and the
Hawaiian Islands because of better weather
conditions there. Weath;r means everything
to the airman, and the California-Hawali and
South Atlantic routes are preferable to those
of the North Atlantic."
4< W HAT do you think of the l yP* known as
the ‘flying boat’?”
“While in Europe I saw the DO-X. the ’flying
boat’ designed by Dornier. It is a most intyr
esting object, with three decks and accommo
dations for more than 100 passengers, but no
sleeping quarters. It is designed to carry 52
tons. It looked practical and able to alight
on the water and ride out a fairly heavy sea.
“October 21 of this year was a big day in
the life of Dornier. for the DO-X made an
amazing one-hour flight with a human load of
169—the first time in the history of aviation
that so many persons have been carried into
the air on any conveyance.
“Bleriot, the first man to fly across the Eng
lish Channel, has designed a plane with wings
w) ich are automatically released when the
plane hits the water. The plan? becomes a
boat with engine, propeller and rudder and is
non-sinkable. Bleriot believes in the practi
cability of the ’Armstrong islands,’ about which
so much has been written. Th?se ’islands,’ if
the plans of their inventor are carried out, will
be anchored at sea and become airplane
stations.
It is possible that one of these men or an
other ‘flying boat’ designer may come through
with a winner in the next five years. But, as I
said before, I have greatest faith in the land
type airplane, and when I speak of transatlantic
service within ten years I am expecting air
planes to provide that service. If there are
not too many bad breaks, it is probable that
this service will come before 1939.”
Mr. MacCracken do s not agree with the per
sons who believe that the United States is far
behind European countries in commercial
aviation.
. W illiam P. Macllrackcn, aviation expert, u'ho declares that the United State •
note leads the teorld in commercial flying. .
"We were behind them three years ago, but
sine 3 then we have overtaken and passed
them,” he says.
Backing up his statement as to the progress
of the United States in aviation in recent years,
he pointed out that airplanes are traveling
about 80,000 miles by schedule every day in
America, and that the non-scheduled flying
is more than treble the scheduled flying.
Scheduled flying consists of the T. A. T. planes
and mall planes, while non-scheduled flying
includes the planes carrying sightseers, aerial
photographers, newspaper reporters, forest pa
trolmen, student instructors and business men.
This total mileage is far in excess of any other
country in the world.
There are 7,000 civilian-owned airplanes in
the United States, and not one-third of that
number civilian owned throughout the rest of
the world. Business men, Mr. MacCracken
opines, are rapidly being convinced of the
worth of the airplane as a time and money
saver.
*«YV ha T all means is this: We have right
here in America an immense ‘air labo
ratory,’ as it were, where we are learning a lot
of valuable information every day. This expe
rience will be of untold value not only for trans
continental development, but also for trans
oceanic work when the time is ripe for that.
"Among other things, we do know that the
airplane is standardize, that one costs from
SIO,OOO to $60,000 instead of from $2,000,000
to $4,000,000, as is true of the dirigible. We
also know the airplane has the necessary speed
and can land easily on a good landing field.
"As I look into the future I think America
is going still further out in front of the Euro
pean countries, because commercial aviation in
America is not held down by Government sub
sidies but carried on by private initiative. It
is a blessing we have none, becaus? in the case
of a subsidy a government sets a definite limit,
and aviation in thfet country will not progress
beyond the limits these funds provide. The
European countries ar? operating under gov
ernment subsidies."
"But what about the American people as pas
sengers, Mr. MacCracken? Do you think we
are as ‘air-minded’ as Europeans?”
"I’H answer that question by saying that 50
per c?nt of the people who have flown in Europe
to date are American tourists.
As to sightseeing, more people fly over
Washington every year on such expeditions
than over all the European capitals combined.
"Am rieans are becoming and will become
‘air-minded’ Just as fast as they go into the
air, learn something about flying, gain confi
dence in it and associate with those who know
its practicability and realize its value.”
"Finally, do you think that these endurance
teats for hours-iri-the-air records have any
practical value?” I asked.
"Decidedly,” he replied. "They demonstrate
how long a plane can actually stay in the air
without landing by the process of refueling
from another plane. It means that a plane
may save fuel weight—receiving its fuel from
refueling planes—and devote that space to pas
sengers or cargo. This would be very valuable
in case the ‘Armstrong island’ plan was ever
successful. Planes in Ihe air would not have
to tand, but could receive their fuel from the
refueling planes stationed on the ‘islands.’
Also, these tests stimulate manufacturers to
build better planes and better motors.
“Nothing in the world today is comli« so
fast as aviation. Its speed nearly takes the
breath of one who is in close touch with all
that is going on. It is my hope and belief
that the United States of America will be •
world leader in aviation as she is in so many v.
other projects.”
(Copyright. 192#.)
Government Seizes Ether :
echo of the World War has been sound
ed through the seizure, by Federal agents,
of 108,300 quarter-pound tins of ether which
was found unfit for anesthesia.
The shipment, discovered in New Jersey, wad
part of a war stock which remained unused at
the end of the hostilities and which was to
storage until 1926. Examination at that time
disclosed that it had deteriorated in storage
to an extent where it fell considerably below
the Government standards. :
The ether was sold for use in dry cleaning,
laboratory work, and as a starting fuel for
motors. It was found, however, that the ship-"
ment seized had been used partially for hos
pital work after being labeled anesthetic ether,'
Because of the violation of the terms of the*'
bond, the Department of Agriculture seized al#
that remained.
More Mieat and Butter Stored [•
J£ITHER the stock raisers are producing meat
faster than last year or the consumers are'
a little behind in their eating, for the stock in'
cold storage on December 1 was more than 50,- *
000,000 pounds ahead of last year. The pres nt
amount represents about six pounds for each
person in the United States.
There is about a pound of butter apiece In
storage, also, an increase of 40,000,000 pounds
over last year.
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