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There were skeptics then, as now. And, of the first ascension, a skeptic was at hand to ask what good a balloon could be. Franklin replied with an epigram caught up throughout Europe:

What good is a new-born baby?

As the ascensions continued and the first human passengers were carried he chided the British for neglecting the experiment. Soon he was wondering whether the balloon might not become a common means of carriage, relieving one of jolting pavements. And he made this extraordinarily prophetic observation:

Five thousand balloons, capable of raising two men each, could not cost more than 5 ships of the line; and where is the prince who can afford so to cover his country with troops for its defense as that 10,000 men descending from the clouds might not in many places do an infinite deal of mischief before a force could be brought together to repel them?

He was expecting to carry the large number of two men per balloon.

Mr. BOREN. He had the paratroop idea.

Colonel GORRELL. It might be of interest to you gentlemen to know that the statement that America made the first plans for large scale bombing is quite true.

America got into the war in April 1917 and realized that airplanes were changing their types very quickly. So America offered to build the big planes that might fly by night, that did not become out of date so quickly.

We wired England in April 1917, soon after we got into the war, for designs of the Handley-Page and they wired back and said, "Don't build them. They are no good." And, they would not give us any designs.

The first meeting we had in England was on the morning of June 26, 1917, before the entire British Air Ministry. We wanted to build planes to bomb the life out of Germany. The entire British Air Board advised us against it. They said that we could not bɔmb the enemy except at night, otherwise we would be shot down. And at night, "You cannot see what you are going to try to hit." They said if we bombed in the daylight that we would be shot out of the air. When we failed to get a copy of their plans, we went to Italy and got a copy of the plans of the Italian Caproni. It may please you to know that when the armistice came we had 101 of the big Handley-Page bombers on the assembly line in England. Two had actually been assembled. We were just on the verge of opening up wide-scale bombing against the Germans. We had been doing bombing since the summer of 1917 but with only 12 squadrons of small airplanes. We got but a very little distance into Germany. However we made the people squeal and peace talk start.

The British would not advocate bombing so we did a rather unusual thing. We gave a copy of our plans to a member of the House of Lords. He used them on the floor of Parliament and drove the British to the idea of bombing the Germans. It is history that the Americans made those first plans. I hope that America can make the first plans for carrying peacetime cargo instead of terrifying cargo. Since we have had some opportunity to see the work of the Civil Aeronautics Board at close range, I hope I may be pardoned if I make one suggestion relating to its facilities for carrying out a study and

report under section 1 (b) of this bill. I doubt that the Board has ever had sufficiently large appropriations to discharge with full adequacy the great amount of work which it has to do under the Civil Aeronautics Act. The Board has functioned extraordinarily well on extraordinarily little money, considering the scope of its duties. It is to be sincerely hoped that if it is called upon, as it should be, for this very vital study and report, it will be furnished with entirely adequate funds to do the job in the best possible manner with a necessary leeway to pay proper compensation to persons doing the work-what I mean by that is that they ought to be given a half dozen very good men with freedom to pay whatever is necessary. A dollar spent today will multiply itself infinitely to the benefit of the entire Nation in the future.

Mr. O'HARA. Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. O'Hara.

Mr. O'HARA. I do not understand what committee you are referring to.

Colonel GORRELL. The Civil Aeronautics Board, sir.

Mr. O'HARA. The Civil Aeronautics Board?

Colonel GORRELL. Yes, sir. For this post-war study you want the best America can produce and they ought to be allowed to have some extremely good men and at proper salaries.

Before leaving this subject I might suggest that in the further consideration of section 1 (b) of the bill by this committee care be taken to assure that there is adequate authority to cover the many important technical subjects involved in planning our post-war future. Quite aside from the strictly commercial matters, there are such technical questions as that of securing adequate engines, fuels, and special materials, the vast and highly significant matter of projecting plans for adequate meteorological development and service, provisions for improvement in the types of air navigation and communication facilities and development of airways, and many other matters upon which the Civil Aeronautics Board would wish to secure the advice of many technical agencies or which should be undertaken by such agencies. For the information of the committee I might insert, with your permission, an excerpt from Senate Report No. 185, Seventy-fifth Ĉongress, a report by the Senate Committee on Commerce under the chairmanship of Senator Copeland, which relates to one phase of this matter, and another memorandum which develops another point to which you may wish to give consideration.

The excerpt from the Senate Report No. 185, pages 6 to 7, is follows:

AIRCRAFT ENGINES

as

Almost every commission or congressional body that has investigated aeronautics during the past generation, and investigations by governmental bodies have averaged at least one a year since 1916, has found that American aeronautics needs for safety and for other reasons, more powerful aircraft engines. Most of the investigating bodies have recommended that the Government take constructive action on this subject. This sound advice has fallen upon deaf ears. In the eyes of those officials chosen to administer them, Federal aeronautical appropriations have not been great. Apparently the Army, Navy, and governmental bodies handling commercial aeronautics fear to take from their annual appropriations a sum large enough really to place America first in aircraft engines. To avoid this obstacle it would appear to be wise to appropriate a fund for the engineering development of powerful aircraft engines, the appro

priation not to be charged to the annual appropriations of a Government department. Larger power plants than are now available in this country would contribute to safety on our air lines. Types other than the conventional ottocycle engine might make for greater security in the varying conditions of flight. Military demands dominate and have brought into existence larger engines abroad than here. To provide the incentive for the development of engines that might well be of inestimable value in military aviation in the event of emergency, we make a definite recommendation for the appropriation of $1,500,000 to bring into being in American shops, proven higher-powered American motors. This should promote the early advent of larger power output in units and keep us abreast of foreign power plants. Not only will this benefit safety in commercial work but it will insure larger engines with higher performance for military aircraft in the Army and the Navy.

In 1934, instigated by the wisdom of the House Committee on Military Affairs, the Congress took such action as we are now recommending. Unfortunately, the language of the appropriation was not sufficiently specific. A small portion of the appropriated money was allocated by the President for a different purpose. The rest reverted to the Treasury. America needs more powerful aircraft engines and needs them just as quickly as they can be developed.

Europe now designs more powerful and better performing large aircraft than does the United States. Whatever Europe has in the way of supremacy is by virtue of having available more horsepower in its aeronautical engines. Without more powerful engines our commercial and military aerial supremacy is threatened. As it is now, should we start today on this program, we shall still require years to accomplish it. Aeronautical engines are costly to develop, as well as to purchase. In no country does private capital find it possible to develop them. Every country that might threaten our national supremacy in the air has been and is now appropriating money for a solemn purpose which in America we are neglecting. Our possible enemies, in the only war that might defeat the United States, are engaged in such a development. Powerful aircraft engines, at least equal to those that are being used by our military and commercial aerial rivals, are an economical form of insurance against the mad dogs of war. It is the recommendation of your committee that the present Congress make an appropriation for this purpose, the money to become immediately available and to remain available until expended. It should be earmarked for the specific purpose of designing and developing high-powered aircraft engines. Your committee visualizes engines of between perhaps 3,000 and 4,000 horsepower as being desirable and necessary.

Practically every board America has ever created to study this subject has recommended that somebody do something on large engines, and America has talked a lot about it. Once the Congress appropriated some money. Just a minor amount was spent-a very minor amount-and for a different purpose-and the rest was turned back into the Treasury; but the need of properly powered engines that will run a proper length of time is essential if you are going to get ahead of the other fellow. An airplane stays in the air by its propulsive

power.

METEOROLOGICAL NEEDS IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD

An adequate study and report should also be prepared concerning the meteorological developments which will be necessary in the postwar period, including organizations, research and weather service in order to promote safety and efficiency of aerial navigation to the highest possible degree. Such a study should include an appraisal of steps necessary to promote the development of adequate world-wide meteorological services, international exchange and coordination of meterological information, encouragement of professional collaboration between private and Government meteorological interests, and the implementation of scientific research in meteorology.

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Some of the objectives to be accomplished are

1. Establishment and development of meteorological reporting networks in countries that do not have adequate service.

2. Authority for the Weather Bureau to set up supplementary stations required for effective meteorological service to American interests in countries where synoptic weather reports are inadequate.

3. Design and development of a system for obtain ing essential basis weather observations over ocean areas either by the use of station ships, or by automatic reporting devices moored at sea or by in-flight reports or other suitable system which will eliminate the gaps in the present network of observations needed not only for trans-ocean air transport but also for efficient meteorological service for domestic air transport.

4. The survey and, if necessary, the regulation of professional practices in meteorology for the purpose of providing an adequate number of competent meteorologists, and to make full use of the advantages of free enterprise in the professional practice of meteorology and employment of meteorological consultants by air carriers and other aeronautical interests, while at the same time reducing the disadvantages resulting from unsound professional practices.

5. Coordination of the national meteorological service of the United States under the Weather Bureau, including full authority and responsibility for the basic synoptic network and standard synoptic and prognostic charts required for efficient and safe air transport and other flying in the United States, its Territories, and contiguous waters.

6. Adequate support for the development of three-dimensional meteorology with special emphasis on research and development in techniques for weather analysis and forecasting.

7. Recommendations as to the most efficient plans and organization for facilitating meteorological service on an international scale, including any special provisions necessary to enable the Weather Bureau as the meteorological agency of the United States, to effect full meteorological collaboration with the analogous national service of other countries.

8. Recommendations as to the best design and organization of meteorological facilities at major air terminals and "satellite" airports to make the most effective use of weather knowledge as an aid in air navigation.

9. To recommend provisions for advanced technical training of meteorologists for recruitment to the Weather Bureau and in-service training for Weather Bureau meteorologists as may be required to make fullest use of new and improved techniques during the period of rapid development in meteorological methods.

Another important subject is that of airports. I might invite your attention to the fact that the marvelous field in New York, LaGuardia Field, was obsolete before the first airplane took off from it. Conditions are changing, and we may need satellite fields in addition to LaGuardia Field. The Board should study those ports and many other subjects along that line, making technological studies as well as studies of commercial and political developments.

Mr. Chairman, may I pass on to the next subject unless there is something else on this one.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well.

Mr. BROWN. Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Brown.

Mr. BROWN. Has it not been the experience in every line of endeavor, especially in connection with modern inventions, that you never build to what is needed, and by the time you get an airfield like LaGuardia Field completed, it is almost always obsolete?

Colonel GORRELL. Yes, sir.

Mr. BROWN. And is not that also true in connection with other endeavors, such as the building of highways, bridges, and everything else?

Colonel GORRELL. That is perfectly true. For that reason we should keep on studying them.

Mr. BROWN. It is a matter of continuously rebuilding?

Colonel GORRELL. That is right, sir. One invention makes obsolete what has gone before.

Mr. BROWN. I mean even in developments; as industry develops it is necessary to continue to expand, rebuild, and make over.

Colonel GORRELL. That is perfectly true, sir.

Mr. BROWN. That is true in all businesses; that is true in manufacturing; it is true with everything we do.

Colonel GORRELL. Yes, sir; but it is particularly and critically true in aviation. Section 1 (b) calls for a study to keep our thoughts ahead of the possibilities. That we must do. Other nations, you may be sure, will do so. We cannot afford to lag.

Mr. BROWN. Can we afford to build too far into the future?
Colonel GORRELL. No, sir.

Mr. BROWN. From an economic standpoint that is bad.

Colonel GORRELL. I think that a good principle to follow is, "Be not the first by whom the new is tried, not yet the last to lay the old aside."

Mr. WINTER. Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Winter.

Mr. WINTER. Colonel, right along that line, would you care to elaborate on whether or not we are lagging behind the other countries in the world in development of aviation?

Colonel GORRELL. Mr. Congressman, we do not know exactly what the other countries have up their sleeves for the future. We are guessing at that. I doubt if we are lagging at all.

But, we may be on the verge of getting licked if we do not watch our step and tread forward a little more rapidly, and this is a subject that may face you unexpectedly quick some time. It is a subject to which you cannot receive the answer over night and we ought to get busy and project our thoughts forward. For example, I visualize world competition when this war is over. The salesman from a European country will take orders, let us say, in Buenos Aires this afternoon based upon immediate delivery. If our planes in America cannot take goods there equally fast, or make quicker delivery, the foreigner will get the commerce.

Now, there are airplanes in existence at this minute which will make possible world air commerce. I do not mean carrying bulk cargo, but world air cargo commerce is possible now.

I would like to say one thing off the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.