AERONAUTICS: Better Pay

James Harold Doolittle, crack Army speed pilot, experimenter in blind flying for the Guggenheim Fund (TIME, Oct. 7), stunter extraordinary (first outside looper), holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross, announced last week his resignation as Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, to become director of aviation for Shell Petroleum Corp. On leave of absence from the Army, Doolittle lately completed a 7,200-mi. roundtrip flight for the city of New York, making a research tour of airports throughout the land. His entry into commercial flying is not abrupt. For ten years has Flyer Doolittle been a 1st Lieutenant, total pay—$4,800 per year. Service with Shell Petroleum will more than triple that income.