354 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
indicator. In 1934 the Army took on the airmail. Their planes did 
not have the turn-and-bank as did the civilian planes. This one 
regrettable oversight was such a serious factor in causing tragic acci- 
dents that the cancellation of the Army’s effort followed, largely, 
when reviewed, because of this. 
The complicated procedure now required for flying is becoming so 
expensive and cumbersome that private-owner flying will soon become 
as impractical as owning a private locomotive. The airlines and the 
military seem to aim at making the free airspace a monopolized rail- 
road track. Will not this trend throttle our greatest future segment 
of aircraft manufacturing—the air-vehicle industry to succeed the 
automobile? This must not be allowed to happen. 
NOISE 
Noise abatement is now clamoring on our doorstep, but we should 
learn from our history that abatement itself is not now the answer. 
The answer is to design a powerplant with as much consideration 
given to a fundamental limit on noise in its original design, as is given 
today to its fuel consumption and weight. Wecan soundproof against 
internal noise rather well in a cabin, but external noise has made the 
airplane a very undesirable neighbor, even to the extent of having it 
ruled out in many places, and high-pitch vibrations are now being 
suspected of causing structural failures. Have we, through these 
formative years, appreciated noise problems enough? This one can 
be answered quickly : we certainly have not. 
AIRPORTS 
Literally billions of dollars are being spent on airports throughout 
the world. In too many instances, particularly in America, these 
have only one runway—in other words, they are like a one-track rail- 
road. It is difficult to understand why this is so, when we stop to 
remember that during World War II whole squadrons of aircraft 
landed on and took off from runways wide enough to permit several 
airplanes to take off or land at one time. In these operations the air- 
craft were within a few feet of each other. Why then should not a 
commercial airport have at least three runways in each direction, 
spaced possibly 300-feet apart, center to center? On such areas we 
could then proceed to land three aircraft at the same time, or at least 
be landing aircraft on one runway and having others take off on 
another simultaneously. 
The hesitation on this is typical of our complacent thoughtlessness. 
There is no danger involved. Thousands of times a day the pilots of 
large transports land their planes accurately and within a few feet of 
the centerline of runways, and never run off into the ditches on the 
