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The AGE of AIR

By Colonel Edward S. Evans

President of Evans Products Company

WHO could have envisioned in 1928, when a dozen young men were making the first glider experiments at the University of Michigan, that the crude ship then used was the forerunner of what would ultimately be one of the world’s great means of transportation?

These members of the first glider club of America, which was formed under my sponsorship, learned the delight of being pulled into the air with a rubber cord and gliding gently to the ground several hundred yards away. Some of these same young men today are still flying gliders, beautiful ships known as sailplanes which have established records of distance, altitude and duration that are almost unbelievable. Read the rest of this entry »

At this point in development the French aircraft was a separate project from the British one. They merged the two programs later in year. I have to say, Concorde is certainly a better name than Super Caravelle.

French Begin Development of Supersonic Airliner

Funds have been appropriated by the French government to develop a Mach 2.2 (1600 miles per hour) airliner to be called the Super Caravelle, capable of carrying 100 passengers up to 2800 miles at altitudes above 50,000 feet. A unique feature of the supersonic passenger plane is its curved delta wing which will contain fuel tanks and the four jet-engine pods. The plane is expected to enter passenger service by 1968.

Plane Silhouettes on Playing Cards Help Identify Aircraft

Civilians can join in one of the soldier’s favorite pastimes—identifying combat aircraft—with playing cards that have silhouettes of Allied and enemy planes on their faces. The United States planes are spades, British are hearts, German are diamonds, and Japanese are clubs. In the corners are the “pip” signs. The airplane card idea was suggested by officers of the Third Air Corps, Tampa, Fla., who have been conducting classes in aircraft identification.

600-Passenger Plane of Future to Use Underground Airport

LOOKING into the future and visualizing l the fact that aviation will handle a great bulk of the world’s transporation, Dr. William Christmas, noted inventor-aviator, has designed a new 600-passenger air-liner and a giant underground airport to service the planes and handle the passengers.
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Unique Road Sign is probably a forerunner of many other similar ones to come. Here, it keeps -the road clear as a Navy transport helicopter comes in for a landing at the Piasecki Heliport at. Morton, Pa.

World’s First Jet Air Liner Makes Flight Debut

Britain jumped the global gun in the race for commercial air supremacy with a recent announcement that its giant de Haviland Comet, first all-jet air liner, had made successful flights. After nearly three years under construction in secrecy, the sleek, sweptback-wing craft has been unveiled. Read the rest of this entry »

FLYING ON FILM!

KNOWN as the “Aerostructor,” this newest of flight training devices teaches all the primary control functions by means of a special film and projector. The instructor sits at one “peek hole” and the student sits at the other.

When the student moves the controls in any direction, the view projected on the screen inside shifts in exactly the same way that the view out of the front of a real plane would shift from the same control movement. The films used in. the device were actually made in an airplane, and duplicate visually every elementary maneuver, including banks and turns. Students have handled a real plane successfully with no other instruction.

Freak Airships of the Ancients Reputed to Have Flown

RECORDS of almost every ancient tribe will show among its traditions the legend of some member who achieved the miracle of flight, either through the use of wings or other devices more closely resembling modern airplanes. And the extraordinary part of it is that there are one or two instances, apparently well authenticated, which record flights that were actually successful.
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Giant Slingshots of the Navy

by Rear Admiral E. R. Stitt (U.S.N.)
and Lt. Com. J. C. Adams (U.S.N.)

Senior Flight Surgeon, Aircraft Squadrons
Fighting seaplanes of Uncle Sam’s navy are launched into the air by means of powerful catapults which throw them into the air like giant slingshots. This is only one of the unusual stunts which naval flyers are required to perform—which explains why only the most perfect pilots win the title of “naval aviator.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Fighting Planes of the World

by H. H. ARNOLD

Experts agree that the next war will be decided in the air. How, then, are the great powers prepared for such a war? H. H. Arnold, who has been actively engaged in military aviation for twenty years, this month compares the world’s fighting forces.

IT IS always hard to get reliable figures concerning the actual numbers and performances of the military planes of the different countries. Accordingly any figures given will probably be more or less out of date. However as all of the data will be about the same amount behind the times, an idea as to the comparative aerial strength of the various countries can be obtained. Accordingly the figures given herewith should not be taken as being absolutely correct for the aerial forces as of 1931. Read the rest of this entry »

RADIO LINKS SINGER AND ORCHESTRA
Convalescing from injuries received in an automobile accident, a radio performer recently sang to her audience from a room in a Philadelphia hospital, while she listened through headphones to an accompaniment played by a dance orchestra in a plane flying 5,000 feet overhead. A dual hook-up enabled listeners-in to hear the voice of the star perfectly blended with the music.

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Bridge of Boats to Guide Trans-Atlantic Air Mail

by BEVERLY BARNES

Within a few weeks you’ll be able to drop a letter in your local mail box and have it delivered in Europe in a few hours, carried by airplane all the way. How this trans-Atlantic air mail will be guided by a bridge of boats or seadromes is explained in this timely article.

THE “bridge of boats” which America rushed to completion thirteen years ago to carry an American army to France and help win the war, may become a bridge again to guide the first trans-oceanic air mail line across the North Atlantic.
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