Show U S tests pilot training nty program a m As solons ponder appropriation administration claims aviator shortage presents real peril J 7 by JOSEPH W labine this month youths b between e the ages of 18 and 35 will ledr learn n what makes an airplane tick in 13 american colleges they will serve as S test tubes for what president preside n t roosevelt hopes will become a long range program for training civilian pilots in january congress received the presidents r request e for a annual appropriation to train pilots each year in higher educational institutions to test his plan mr roosevelt has taken in national youth ad rf ministration funds making allot bak ments to several colleges which have already done independent work in aeronautics civilian pilot training is an adjunct to national defense and an important one judging from the experience peri ence of other nations in case of war it profits a nation nothing to have acres of airplanes if there are no pilots to fly them it profits still less to send young men aloft into dogfights dog 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 quality but as far as it goes twe have no reserve and far less equipment than england france italy russia and germany but every world aviation power has 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 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 taking youngsters aloft and allowing them to bail out in parachutes thereby 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 and the ominous warning to the united states from experience of 0 other nations is that civilian training Is expensive in life and limb germany and italy have suppressed accurate reports of fatalities 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 course are the universities of alabama minnesota washington michigan north carolina and kansas purdue massachusetts institute of technology texas A and M college georgia school of technology new york university U 0 4 7 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 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 reason able chance of meeting the air corps medical requirements the instruction course differs materially teri ally from that now required red tor for private pilots license but at the end of about 35 hours instruction instruct on each student is expected to be able to pass the tests tor for this license an alumni refresher program will probably be instituted later to bring graduates back for periodic training from this huge reservoir of well trained private flie fliers rs the arm army y could expand its regular air ser service ice national tremendously in event of a national emergency naturally these m men en would not be so well trained as re regular 9 army fliers but their background would be such that a short additional training period would make capable military aviators out of them div gives es 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 that many of the new pilots trained each year will eventually y buy their own private planes As ai a further incentive to airplane manufacture the president is assisting in the sale of american made military planes abroad a program which does not meet with the wholehearted whole hearted endorsement dor of congress since it may be interpreted as constituting an entangling alliance on the subject of private airplanes the civil aeronautics authority which will direct the new program has this to say the use of private aircraft on a much larger scale would of course be desirable in that it would enlarge the productive capacity of the aircraft industry create a reservoir voir of pilots con sti a distinct national asset in the event of war and provide in effect a new industry in the united states with large opportunities for employment the committee believes that civil aeronautics will in time prove as revolutionary in the lives of the people as the automobile the magnitude of CAAs task can be appreciated when it is realized that today after 36 years of aviation there are only licensed commercial pilots the accident danger is emphasized by fatality tolls among nonmilitary non military pilots co pilots and students under our present un emphasized training program in 1935 this tou toll was in 1936 it was and in 1937 it was last years figures have not been compiled but since new commercial pilots were registered last M 1 4 1 1 n 9 4 k 4 A 4 flying cadet eriksen 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 year there is evidence that student training activity was being increased with a resultant increase in accidents fight against mishaps CAA recognizes the accident danger and will do everything possible to combat it we cannot afford to transplant to an educational flight training program the appalling accident rate that now mars the instructional and early solo phases of private flying says G grant mason jr a member of the authority nothing could be more disastrous than a bad series of accidents in a school and college flight training program for this reason alone it is imperative that we hold on to the type of instructors tors who have already established an enviable safety record for themselves in the few academic schools which now give flying training and to see tha others of the same type are in charge of similar work when undertaken at several hundred colleges in all parts parti of the country the expected congressional battle over president Roosevel ts program will center about one question Is a greatly expanded national air force justified the negative side of this argument holds that we are protected from europe and asia by two ocean barriers that no bombing plane yet tried out can cross one of these oceans with a full load of bombs it maintains that the army and navy are the backbone of defense therefore our money should be spent strengthening these branches it maintains that the presidents program to construct several thousand new planes would cost millions of dollars which could better be spent on slum clearance education housing and other benefits needed need d by the underprivileged under privileged finally it claims that current war talk I 1 is S simply propaganda designed to create public hysteria and divert attention on away from our economic plight says U S Is vulnerable but there Is also much to be said on the other side major A 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 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 ineffective over feet therefore they would prove an inadequate defense other pro plane arguments con tend that 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 quite conclusively only by such an approach can the united states adequately safeguard itself against the vast aerial expansion programs now being pressed with fanatic zeal by foreign powers it is more in keeping with the american spirit of preparedness to build up a great pool of men and machines dedicated to and engaged in everyday business and pleasure but yi yielding eldin first place to no other nation in flying skill or technical development and quickly adaptable to military needs in the event of war one side of the story probably hear bear the other side from congress ak f ni willard staples instructor at the pamona bamona school watches a student at work on a planes fuselage 0 wes western tern newspaper union |