AERONAUTICS: Schneider Squabble

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Hot words shot about the conference room of the Fédération Aéronautique International last week. Delegates from France and Italy glared across the meeting table at delegates from Great Britain. For a time it appeared that one nation or more might bolt the Federation. Reason: Great Britain had arbitrarily upped the entry fee per plane for the 1931 Schneider trophy races for seaplanes from 5,000 francs to 200,000 francs ($8,000). France and Italy challenged Britain's right to boost the rate, declared only the Federation had such power, refused to pay. Thereupon Great Britain ("host" for the next race by virtue of her victory last year) refused to recognize France and Italy as legal entrants. The British explained the high fee was to keep out publicity-seekers who might otherwise enter and default. A committee of arbitration was appointed by Fédération Vice President Luis Ferrez of Spain.

Faster Airmail

Year and a half ago the Post Office Department designated Newark Municipal Airport as official eastern terminus for the transcontinental airmail. National Air Transport, operator of the New York-Cleveland-Chicago route, insisted the field was unfit for night landings of heavily loaded Douglas and Boeing ships, refused to move its base from Hadley Field, New Brunswick, N. J. While a three-cornered dispute was waged, New Yorkers continued to wait an extra 90 min. for airmail to be transported from distant Hadley Field to Manhattan's postoffices. Last week there was an air pageant of jubilation above Newark airport. The field had been so improved in the past 18 months that N. A. T. dropped its objection, moved its depot to Newark. Result: 30 min. delivery between postoffice and field. Two other airmail routes already converge at Newark: Colonial Air Transport (Boston) and Eastern Air Transport (Richmond, Atlanta, Miami).

Flights & Flyers

Bromley's Luck (cont.). In the fourth plane built for the purpose, Lieut. Harold Bromley & Navigator Harold Gatty finally took off last week from Samishiro Beach, Aomori Prefecture, Japan for a nonstop flight to Tacoma, Wash. Twenty-five hours later they were down again at Shiriyazaki, about 40 mi. from the starting point. Reports were meagre, but it was known that the City of Tacoma, an Emsco monoplane, had been in the thick of headwinds, rain and peasoup fog in its course over the Kuriles Islands. One despatch indicated that the plane was forced back by a broken exhaust pipe.

In the first half day the plane covered only 750 mi. of its projected 4500 mi. course. (It carried fuel for 50 hr.) For the next twelve hours, its radio dead, the Tacoma was "lost" until it unexpectedly appeared out of the gloom at Shiriyazaki.

Lieut. Bromley first undertook the Pacific venture as a Tacoma-Tokyo solo flight early last year. His first plane, a Lockheed, was wrecked at the takeoff. Two more crashed in testflights. With the Emsco, Lieut. Bromley abandoned the westbound route because of prevailing headwinds, sailed for Tokyo with plane and navigator last July.