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5. These items may be considered as follows: Maintenance and operation of pilots aviation school for the Army and the Navy ..................$ 1,300,000 For the united Air Service .......................1,097,000 $ 203,000 Maintenance and repair of aviation equipment for the Army and Navy .......................... about 17,000,000 For the united Air Service ................. about 14,866,000 2,134,000 Maintenance and repair of buildings for the Army and Navy .............................about 5,000,000 For the united Air Service ..................about 3,000,000 2,000,000 Experimental research - Army and Navy ....... about 19,000,000 For the united Air Service .................about 13,000,000 6,000,000 Purchase of balloons and airships - total asked for the Army and Navy ................. about 15,500,000 For the united Air Service ............. about 9,000,000 6,500,000 For the construction of buildings - Army and Navy 25,000,000 For the united Air Service .................. 19,000,000 6,000,000 The items enumerated above would result in a mon- etary saving of some ..................................... $22,837,000 The army estimates for the coming year were cut down by the General staff to about $5,000,000, out of $50,000,000, for the construc- tion of airplanes, merely to keep the appropriation down, and the rest of the appropriation would be simply applied to upkeep of existing fields, land, etc., and would result in a minimum amount of advance. The Navy estimate is about $1,266,000 for flying boats and seaplanes, and $16,759,000 for the land type of airplanes, sim- lar to those used by the Army. A total expenditure of $55,000,000 for airplanes, air-ships, and their accessories for the single Department would give all of our units for the Air Force for the Army, the Navy, and the Reserves, splendid up-to-date equipment manufactured in this country. Under the present arrangement of Army and Navy control, only twenty-four millions, out of over one hundred millions asked for, would be applied to the construction of new airplanes and airships, whereas, out of eighty millions for a united Air Service, over fifty millions would be used for new airplanes and airships. By concentrating the activities of the whole engineering divisions of the Army and Navy and their production departments, a probable saving of some $5,000,000, or more, per year would probably