Show U US S tests pilot training train in g program am As solons ponder appropriation administration claims shortage of aviators presents peril by JOSEPH W labine this month youths between the ages of 18 and 35 will learn what makes an airplane tick in 13 american colleges they will serve as test tubes for what president roosevelt hopes will become a long range program for training civilian pilots in january congress congre ss received the presidents request for a annual appropriation to train pilots each year in higher educational institutions to test his plan mr roosevelt has taken in national youth administration funds making allotments to several colleges which have air already ea dy done independent work in aeron aeronautics a futics CIVI civilian lian pilot training is an adjunct to national defense and an important one judging from the experience per peri lence ence of other nations in case ot of war it profits a nation nothing to have acres of airplanes I 1 it f there are no pilots to fly them it profits still less to send young men aloft into dog dogfights fights with a scant 30 hours training behind them as happened during the world war quality but no quantity the administrations contention borne out by aviation experts is that the united states has an army air force superior to all others in qu quality qualley alliy but as far as it goes we have no reserve and far less equipment than england france italy russia and germany but every world aviation power has oni one thing in common a shortage of pilots and every nation has made frantic efforts to solve this problem in germany where the versailles treaty completely wiped out aviation shrewd national planners popularized the sport of gliding As a result the reich keich developed a huge army of air minded air trained youth who form the backbone of its huge modern air force in italy a comprehensive pilot training program has been in progress several years in russia much ado has been made over tak ing youngsters aloft and allowing them to ball bail out in parachutes becoming air minded great britain has offered low price instruction st to anyone who will take up aviation even so every world power needs pilots desperately despera tely and the ominous warning to the united states from experience of other nations is that civilian training is expensive in life and limb germany and italy have s suppressed tu accurate reports of fatall fatalities es among student pilots but the toll is known to be enormous 13 schools listed the united states hopes its program will be less costly thanks to slower more deliberate training than that employed abroad schools selected for the trial course are the universities of alabama minnesota washington michigan north caro 7 7 7 77 7 7 mm R IL 4 S flying cadet E shilling of washington D C enters his BT 8 basic training ship to participate in the graduation aerial review staged at kelly field texas he has been commis signed a second lieutenant in the army air corps una lina and kansas purdue massachusetts institute of technology tex texas as A and M college georgia school of technology new york university san jose state college and pamona bamona junior college there will be no military course involved simply the rudiments of flying school authorities will select candidates first whose number will later be decreased by hand picking on the part of army surgeons who eliminate men not having a reasonable chance of meeting the air corps medical requirements the instruction course differs ma serially teri ally from that now required for private pilots license but at the end of about 35 hours instruction each student Is expected to be able to pass the tests for this license an alumni refresher program program will probably be instituted later to bring graduates back tor for periodic training from this huge reservoir of well trained private fliers the army could expand its regular air service tremendously in an emergency gives industry a boost there Is a second and allied purpose behind the presidents program americas aviation industry cannot thrive on government support alone it is hoped holed that many of the new pilots trained each year will eventually buy their own private planes As a further inca incentive to airplane manufacture the president is assi assist ingin the sale of american made military planes abroad a program which does docs not meet with the wholehearted whole hearted endorsement dor of congress since it may be interpreted as constituting an entangling alliance I 1 the expected congressional battle A A 1 I students at pomona junior college los angeles test out the government plan to train civilian pilots annually above three students in the school that rebuilds smashed planes from the ground up learn about airplane engines over president Roosevel ts program will center about one question Is a greatly expanded national air force justified the negative side ot of this argument holds that we are protected from europe and asia by two ocean barriers that no bombi bombing fik plane eyet yet tried out dut can cross one of these oceans withy a full load of bombs it maintains that thi the army pad and nav are the backbone ot defense chere there fore ore our monay money 1 should be spent pent strengthening these branches it maintains that the presidents program grafto to const construct rubt several thousand new planes would cost mil milhans lifts of dollars which could better be spent on slum clearance education housing ind and other benefits needed b by the underprivileged under privileged finally it claims that current war talk Is simply propaganda designed to td create public hysteria and divert attention away from our economic plight says V U S Is vulnerable vulnerable Vuin erable but there is also much to be said on the other side major al williams noted aviator and writer claims that germany britain and italy already have planes which can cross the atlantic with a full load of bombs he sayi says nothing about their returning after the bombing is accomplished complis hed but a foreign power might be willing to risk loss of several planes to gain its end major williams also maintains that antiaircraft anti aircraft guns are arc ineffective over ov e r feet therefore they would prove an inadequate defense i other othe r pro plane arguments contend that theair the air superiority of four other world powers Is enough justification for trying to overcome our inferiority speaking only of its civilian pilot program the CAA sums up the administrations entire aviation argument u quite conclusively only by such an approach can the united states adequately safeguard itself against the vast aerial expansion programs now novi being pressed with fanatic zeal b by y foreign powers powen it is more in keeping with the american spirit of preparedness to build up w a griat great pool of men and machines dedicated to and engaged in i everyday busin business e ss and pleasure but yielding first place to no other nation in flying skill or technical development and quickly adaptable to military needs in the event gowar 9 war 11 one side 6 tit thi the story probably heir hear the other sidi side from congress con bess 6 Weir lectern union |