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Show United States Out to I "Sell" Nation $700 Plane V tories and kept in stock by repair stations at airports. There are 14,000 licensed pilots and 11,000 student pilots maintaining maintain-ing their active status In this country, coun-try, although there are but 7.000 licensed li-censed uirplanes. This "shortage" of planes Is regarded as indicating the existence of a market for low cost aircraft, Eugene L. Vidal. director of the aeronautics bureau and author of, the plan, says all that is needed U some step which will bring the producer pro-ducer and the consumer together, with definite assurance to the In-, dustry that the market actually exists. ex-ists. That step, he says, is now being taken by the government. "Leading aeronautical engineers have given assurances that such a craft can be constructed at the $700 price," he said. "It will bo produced if the pilots of the United States are Interested, and we aril furnishing them with a means of making their Interest a matter of record. "If favorable response does not follow, we will at least learn what is retarding the development of flying," fly-ing," ho added. 5 Seek Quantity Production .' of Low-Priced Craft. Washington. In the government's attempt to. stimulate quantity production pro-duction of- small low-priced airplanes, air-planes, the aeronautics branch of the Department of Commerce, In consultation with federal and private pri-vate designers, has evolved general specifications for a light plane which can be produced In volume at a cost of $700 or less per plane. It Is circularizing 34.000 licensed li-censed and student pilots and aviation avi-ation mechanics to determine the number of prospective customers for a plane of this, type. Specifications call for a small low wing monoplane with open cockpits cock-pits for pilot and one passenger, constructed of a new steel alloy and powered with an eight-cylinder, small bore, high compression engine turning up about 4,000 revolutions per minute and driving a compara .lively slow-speed propeller through ..reduction gears.' ! . 100 Miles an Hour. As a safety measure, the landing speed would - be kept at or below .5 miles an hour through use of wing Haps. To attain this low landing speed, it would be necessary neces-sary to keep the top speed in the vicinity of 100 miles an hour. Rugged Rug-ged construction would be the goal so that the plane might be llown for the full span of Its life without ma jor overhauls. Low "original cost would be made possible by .quantity? production and tho use of stamped parts, bolted or spot-welded together. . The engine would be as greatly simplified ns possible and standardized.. standard-ized.. Low gasoline and oil consumption con-sumption and low prices for replacements re-placements would cut operating costs.. Maintenance would be reduced re-duced by simplicity of the craft and the availability of replacement parts produced In quantity by fuc |
