December 7, 1929

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The Benefits of a Finance Service to Aiviation

WHEN THE NEWS SERVICES of the Nation flashed forth the word that the first organization had been formed to finance aircraft installment sales in much the same way that General Motors Acceptance Corporation and other national companies finance automobile “paper,” telephone calls, wires, letters and personal visits very quickly indicated that a substantial demand existed for just such a company.

By A. O. HUNSAKER11 min

1104

What Price Merger?

THE DEVELOPMENT of aviation has suddenly reached the merger phase of the cycle. I say suddenly, because other comparable industries have taken decades to run the gamut of normal cycle phases which aviation has sped through in but a couple of years.

By TALBOT O. FREEMAN10 min

1108

Certified Performance Trials and Safety Ratings

THE ADVERTISED PERFORMANCE data of the wide variety of commercial aircraft at present offered for sale in the United States is, in general, inaccurate. Landing speeds and roll after landing are usually understated, and top speeds, initial rates of climb, and ceiling are usually overstated.

By LIEUT. COMDR. FRANK WEAD7 min

1138

Abstracts and Revews

GOOD ROADS FOR AIRPLANES, by Graham B. Grosvenor ; Paper read Nov. 18, 1929 before the Detroit Section, Society of Automotive Engineers. AFTER a brief summary of recent achievements in the field of aviation, President Grosvenor of The Aviation Corporation made a strong plea for government development of airways corresponding to the development of highways for automobiles in the past twenty years.

1110

Handling Personnel in the Aircraft Factory

HOW TO HANDLE the hundreds of job-seekers who beseige the airplane factory each week, how to secure the best-suited workers for the vacancies that arise, and how to keep the employees in a happy, enthusiastic frame of mind so as to insure the most efficient production are among the many important problems confronting executives of the present-day airplane factory.

By ELWOOD D. ULLMAN, JR.7 min

1116

High Speed as a Safety Factor in the Airplane

FEW PEOPLE realize the advantages of airplane speed from a safety as well as an economy standpoint. Providing no large sacrifice is made in landing speed, structural strength or maneuverability, the fastest plane is the safest plane. It spends little time over rough terrain on a long cross country flight, minimizing the possibilities of a difficult landing in event of motor trouble.

By J. DON ALEXANDER7 min

1138

What Our Readers Say

The editorial on flight testing entitled “More Work for the Department of Commerce” appearing in your Nov. 16 issue is very interesting. In view of the fact that the Department of Commerce may be handicapped by insufficient appropriations to the point of being unable to carry out such a program, would it not be possible to organize a flight test bureau with the financial aid of representative companies in the aviation industry and equipped with adequate personnel and instruments?

1128

GENERAL NEWS

Briefly

Proposal to operate a local air mail service between Portland and Grants Pass, Ore., to serve Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, Roseburg, has been made to the Post Office Department by James G. Clark and C. C. Coleman. A system of radio navigation for planes developed in France by William Loth will probably be demonstrated this month in Washington.

November 301929

December 141929

December 7, 1929

December 7, 1929

Looking Ahead in Airport Lighting Development

By C. E. WIETZ14 min