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THE Navy Department established the Naval Aircraft Factory (a) to assure a part, at least, of its aircraft supply; (b) to obtain cost data for the Department's guidance in dealing with private manufacturers, and (c) to have under its own control a factory capable of producing experimental work. The history of this development is given in some detail, including statistics of size, valuations and output.

THE design and construction of airships in the United States was inaugurated by the Navy in 1917, with the B class of sixteen small airships. These were built for training and coast patrol. They were used to train 150 pilots and covered 140,000 miles of patrol without loss of life. The following year the C class of twice the size was brought out and proved very successful. The development of airship construction has progressed rapidly, but because of such a delayed beginning, the United States is still very far behind England and Germany. In particular, the large rigid airships of the Zeppelin type have not yet been attempted here, but their use during the war by the German navy, as scouts over the North Sea, indicates that they are necessary to a modern fleet. A short account is given of the German North Sea air organization, showing the seaplane bases laid out to cooperate with the airships.

Naval aircraft are distinctively American types. Only one foreign seaplane was copied by the United States during the war, and when finally put into production it resembled the British prototype in externals only. While the Navy does a large part of its own designing and building through a corps of naval constructors, its theory of manufacture is to assemble parts procured from separate makers, and private design and construction are encouraged by contracting with builders. Available talent both in and out of the service and the facilities of parts makers, the new materials developed during the war and organized engineering which drove the entire process toward speedy results were appropriated by the Navy. The NC flying boat is typical of U. S. Navy practice. In the same way the dirigible C-5 is a purely American type. The development of really large flying craft before 1917 was held back because no suitable engine had been designed. When the 350-hp.

The factors included in the commercial airplane problem are the practical use that can be made of airplanes, the volume of business that can be expected, the necessary changes from present military types to make an efficient commercial airplane and what the future holds for this new means of transportation. The requirements for passenger transportation, airmail and general express service, are first discussed in detail, consideration then being given to other possibilities such as aerial photography and map-making, the aerial transportation of mineral ores, sport and miscellaneous usage. Changes in the present equipment of engines and airplanes to make them suitable for commercial use are outlined, and special features of aerial navigation, landing fields and legal questions are mentioned.

Airships were not generally considered important before the war. Many thought they would never become practical as a means of transportation. The proper conception of what an airship is having first been explained, the three principal ways in which progress has been made are specified as weight-saving, improvement of overall propulsion efficiency and decreasing resistance and increase in size. The last mentioned feature is discussed in some detail, the conclusion being that practically anything is possible, given an airship of sufficient size. The future needs of airship development are then considered, such as more suitable engines, multiple powerplants, dependability, the development of better fabric and better landing and hangar facilities.

THE impression that recent aircraft experience should have taught engineers how to revolutionize automobile construction and performance, is not warranted by the facts involved. Aircraft and automobiles both embody powerplants, transmission mechanisms, running gear, bodies and controls, but their functions are entirely different. The controls of an airplane, except in work on the ground, act upon a gas, whereas with an automobile the resistant medium is a relatively solid surface. Similarly, the prime function of the fuselage is strength, weight considerations resulting in paying scant attention to comfort and convenience, which are the first requirements of an automobile body. Aircraft running-gear is designed for landing on special fields, and is not in use the major portion of the time. The running-gear is the backbone of an automobile, in use continuously for support, propulsion and steering; hence its utterly different design.

Starting with the statement that command of the air in warfare rests largely with the side that produces the best single-seater fighter, the author proceeds to outline some of the problems confronting the designer of fighting airplanes, and particularly the smaller ones. Considering better performance and better fighting qualities as the main desiderata, the author discusses means of obtaining them by: (1) increasing the horsepower-weight ratio; (2) decreasing the wing or structure resistances; (3) devising a new arrangement of the supporting planes, with regard to the position of pilot or crew, or by a combination of the above. Considerable space is devoted to methods of decreasing wing resistance, principally by employing low-resistance aerofoils, and the shaping of wing tips is also referred to.