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[[Box - top left corner: U.S. FLYING NEWS 
105 W. ADAMS
CHICAGO 3, ILL.
FORM 3547
REQUESTED]]

[[Box - top right corner: BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
NAPERVILLE, ILL.
PERMIT NO. 116]]

[[Healine]]
U.S. flying news 
THE ONLY [[underline]]COMPLETE [[/underline]]NEWSPAPER FOR PRIVATE AND BUSINESS AVIATION
[[/Headline]]

[[image of a plane]]

VOLUME 1, NO. 6 
CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 12, 1955
$3.00 PER YEAR

[[Headline over first two columns]]
First Woman Pilot Helping Air Force Save Aviation's Past For Future
[[/headline]]

The woman who made aviation history flying a Curtiss "pusher" back in 1910, today has a big job helping the Air Force preserve the complete history of U.S. aviation.
She's Blanche Stuart Scott, the country's first woman pilot, who's been called upon by the Air Force to help locate material of historical significance for the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.

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The museum is interested in everything of historical significance connected with aviation history, from the Wright brothers to the present day - and it's Miss Scott's job to find this material which will be preserved as a permanent exhibit in the museum.
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"We want planes, engines, parts, even hardware, also old records, collections of magazines, paintings, blueprints - anything that should be preserved," Miss Scott says.
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Starting her hunt in the east Miss Scott is moving across the country to the west coast, making her headquarters in major cities, stopping in each city as long as is necessary to investigate all leads in that area. She has been on the trail since last October, and just recently she reached Chicago.
So far her history-hunting has brought the museum three airplanes and eight engines as well as a number of valuable books, magazines, records and rare photographs.
The three airplanes include a Sikorsky helicopter  one of the first built; a Bell P-63 - one of the two in existence; and Lindbergh's second ship a Lockheed "Sirius", the ship that decided the Army Air Force in favor of low-wing aircraft design.
To all owners of planes and equipment with historical value Miss Scott points out that the museum has a budget of several million dollars and is fully staffed so that all exhibit material can be restored and properly cared for.
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Pays for Itself
"Costs of running such a big museum are high," says Miss Scott, "but even so, the museum more than pays for itself in law-
[[/bold]]

4 Week Strike Ended August 29 at Piper
Work was resumed August 29th at Piper Aircraft Corporation's plant, Lockhaven, Pa., following settlement of a strike by employees that had idled production since August 1st.
The strike issues, which involved increased wages, a pension plan and certain working conditions, were resolved by Piper management and officials of the International Association of Machinists during a week-long series of meetings, and agreement was reached at the final meeting, August 26th. 
the new agreement with the I.A.M. calls for an average increase in wages and other benefits of 15 cents per hour.
the four week work stoppage followed a two-week plant-wide vacation period the last of July. The strike was the first shutdown, except for a one-day stoppage in 1946, since before World War II.

[[bold]]
Want Ads for Antiques
Special want ads covering antique aircraft will be found in the front of the U.S. Flying News' regular want ad section!
[[/bold]]

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suits it saves the government." She cited a recent example - a lawsuit filed against the government claiming violation of a patent on a design of an air intake in a jet airplane wing. The museum provided proof that there had been no patent violation and the lawsuit was dropped.
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"This aspect of the museum is just one of the many things I've learned since taking this job," says Miss Scott who knows the early history of aviation from first-hand experience.

First Fame as Auto Driver
Glenn Curtiss himself taught Miss Scott to fly back in 1910 at Hammondsport, N.Y. However, she first won fame as an automobile driver.
Early in 1910, sponsored by the makers of the Overland, she became the first woman to drive an automobile coast to coast. The trip was 6200 miles and took 69 days - from May 16 to July 23.
[[bold]]
Glenn Curtiss was in France at the time, but his press agent read about the daring Miss Scott and contacted her with an offer. How would she like to have Mr. Curtiss teacher her to fly? She would - so a contract was signed when Curtiss returned, Blanche Stuart Scott began her flying career.
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She soloed in the Curtiss "June
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[[image - Glenn Curtiss standing and Blanche Stuart Scott in the "June Bug" right before her first solo flight]]
[[caption]]
Glenn Curtiss gives Miss Scott a final briefing before her solo flight in the "June Bug," Sept. 6, 1910.
[[/caption]]

Flying "Mattress" Developed In Britain
The world's first inflatable wing airplane has been developed in Britain.
The plane, "Flying Mattress" has a 40-foot wide cotton fabric wing that can be inflated in 10 minutes. Hanging on four struts from the wing is a small open car which seats two. Powerplant is a 65 h.p. pusher engine which is mounted at the rear of the car.
The plane has a cruising  speed of 45 mph. and a range of 100 miles. Takeoff distance is 150 feet.
The "Mattress' was designed by Marshall Lobelle for the M.L. Aviation Company.

Easy to Maintain
Commenting on the plane's advantages, a company official said, "The Mattress is cheap to build, easy to fly and easy to maintain. The wing can be inflated and deflated like an automobile tire. When not in use it can be deflated and folded up.
Designer Lobelle commented, "You can roll up the wing and stick it in the back seat of your car, tow the fuselage along behind you and you're all set for a weekend's flying."

[[column 3]]
Gov't Airport Aid $63 Million A Year For Next 4 Years
The new Federal airport aid bill signed by the President recently provides for $212 million in Government funds for nationwide airport construction and improvement over the next four years.
This new law authorizes $42.5 million for airport aid in the current fiscal year, in addition to $20 million previously appropriated for this purpose. The law further authorizes $63 million in Federal aid for each of the next three fiscal years. These funds in each instance must be matched by state and local governments.
Commerce Secretary, Sinclair Weeks announced that allocation of the $20 million previously appropriated for fiscal 1956 has been completed Funds were granted to 205 communities for immediate use in airport development and improvement. 
This allocation did not include any of the 42.5 million authorized under the new law. Programming of this money will be deferred for approximately 90 days to permit interested parties to file new or revised applications based on long-range development plans. 

Selection Policies Reviewed
A thorough review of the present programming and priority standards will be undertaken immediately in order to determine the most equitable basis for administering the increased program. These new policies and procedures will be developed in consultation with interested groups, and will be announced as soon as possible. Secretary Weeks said.
Weeks also pointed out that under the new law, which is ad- 

[[headline over column 4 & 5]]
Safety Consciousness Is Must For Private Pilots CAA Head Warns
[[/headline]]
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pilots of small aircraft need a "rebirth" of safety, consciousness, according to CAA Administration Frederick B. Lee, a small-plane owner and pilot himself. 

[[column 4]]
ministered by the CAA, those seeing federal aid will be able to present long-range plans based upon thorough studies existing and future needs.
"This new law will permit earlier programming of each fiscal year's authorization," he said, "and in some cases entire projects can be planned with assurance that stated amounts of Federal funds will be available in succeeding years."

Plane Lands On Truck 2 Roll Merrily Along
A lightplane gliding in for what the pilot thought was to be a normal landing, landed atop a speeding trailer truck instead and was carried 200 yards down the highway by the unknowing driver.
No one was hurt and damage to the plane and truck was light. 
Pilot Morel Bowler, 45, of Orfino, Idaho said he was only seconds away from a routine landing when, "the truck drove under us." Rex Yates, 30, of Clarksburg, Wash. was a passenger in the plane.
"I heard a little noise like a blowout or something, but I didnt know anything was back there," said the truck driver Lloyd Coons. I couldn't see anything in my rear view mirror, but then a wing tipped and I saw the shadow. 
"When I saw the shadow, I stopped, got out and looked up there. The two pilots were looking out of the cabin and nobody was hurt." 
"I thought he was going to haul us all the way to Kamiah," Bowler said. Kamiah is a town about 20 miles from the airport.
The highway runs paralell to the runway. 
"Just three seconds or so before we hit, I saw the truck," Bowler said. "I was coming in about 60 miles an hour and the truck was on my blind side."
The truck trailer is 50 feet long and 13 1/2 feet high.
A crane lifted the plane off the truck and returned it to the runway. 

Aviation Films Now Available 
A series of educational films on general aviation subjects is now available to interested groups through the National Association of State Aviation Officials. The films, 16 mm color and sound, are all 13 minutes in length. 
Two films in the series - "The Flying Businessman" and "Airport America" are now ready for showing. Two more - "Agricultural Aviation" and "The Flight Decision" will be available soon.
To obtain the films for showing to your group, write: NASO, 1101 Vermont Ave., N.W., Washington 5, D.C.

[[column 5]]
"Small-plane flying is just as safe the pilot makes it," Mr. Lee said. "Government and industry are working hard on small-plane safety efforts. But in the last analysis, it is the pilot who must do the job." 
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There are approximately 50,000 aircraft in the United States which are used by private individuals and corporations for many purposes, including executive transportation, dusting and spraying, and private travel. Accidents involving this type of airplane caused 659 pilot and passenger fatalities in 1954, compared with 614 the previous year. There was so much more flying during 1954, however, that the miles flown per fatal accident climbed from 2,701,152 in 1953 to 2,818,878 in 1954.
[[/bold]]
"Pilots on pleasure flights should exercise special caution," Mr. Lee said, "Our figures show that while only one-quarter of our small-plane flying is for pleasure purposes about half our accidents occur during pleasure flights."
[[bold]]
The most common cause of serious accidents is the pilot exceeding his abilities. Often this consists of the flying into clouds when either the pilot lacks experience on instruments or the plane is not properly equipped. The results are often disastrous.
[[/bold]]
"Unfortunately," Mr. Lee said, "not all our accidents are caused by ignorance. Too often they are caused by pilots who decided to take a chance just one more time." 

III. Airport Operators Organize Booster Club
The Illinois Airport & Operators Association has announced formation of a new organization known as the Illinois Aviation Booster Club. According to IA&OA President, Tom Booth, operator at Lake County Airport, Waukegan, Ill., explanatory leaflets, together with application for membership, have been sent to all Illinois airports and also to owners of private-use strips in order to acquaint pilots, plane owners and airport operators with the club's purpose, and also to invite them to join.
Purposes of the Booster Club as announced in this introductory leaflet are: to introduce and promote an enlightened and just program of aviation laws and to actively oppose all measures not beneficial; to sponsor, promote and direct a state-wide aviation educational program; to place all runways and landing strips, available to public use, in the same category as streets and highways; to promote the construction of useable all-weather landing strips in every community where needed; to maintain a service office with a full time secretary to keep members informed as to needed aviation action in local communities and within the state, through a monthly bulletin; and to give service, advice and aid to individual members which is beneficial to the general membership.

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