AIRWAYS COMMUNICATION SERVICE 799 



by selecting the terminal field where weather conditions are more 

 propitious. Both Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay region 

 have several airports and there are two routes between them, one up 

 the valley via Bakersfield, and the other the more direct line to the 

 west. The experiment will be carried on for a full year and so cover 

 the complete cycle of the seasons. On the basis of the demonstrated 

 value of this service to the users of the airway, the matter of its con- 

 tinuance or possible extension to other airways can then be decided 

 by the Weather Bureau. Unfortunately, however, California weather 

 is proverbially good, and the experiment will, therefore, be concerned 

 mainly with local fog and visibility conditions. It is possible also 

 that interests other than aeronautical may discover advantages in a 

 short range forecast of local weather. If so, the value of the experi- 

 ment will be correspondingly increased. 



Weather data are also being collected in the east from observers in 

 New Jersey and Pennsylvania by the meteorologist at Hadley Field 

 who employs a somewhat similar method of sequence operation of the 

 long-distance telephone lines. 



In addition to the problem of collecting weather data, there is the 

 closely related matter of distributing local weather reports and fore- 

 casts between airports. This is "point-to-point service." It may be 

 accomplished by a special radio-telegraph network, by commercial 

 telegraph or by long-d'stance telephone, and over private or leased 

 wires either by telephone or by telegraph. Local conditions, volume 

 of traffic and economic considerations, in general, determine which 

 type of service should be provided. 



Besides its use for weather messages, point-to-point communication 

 between landing fields along an airway is desirable for following the 

 progress of an airplane with its passengers and cargo. Such a 

 despatching service is somewhat analogous to that of a railway and is 

 a necessity if scheduled connections with trains and other aircraft are 

 to be met. Also, there is the necessity of accountability for mails 

 and express; for example, on departure the landing fields ahead must 

 be informed not only of the fact of starting but of what mail is on 

 board. Upon landing there must be a message announcing the event. 

 In this way the progress of a plane can be followed by the terminal 

 airports. 



Although air transport of passengers has not yet reached a large 

 volume in this country, European experience indicates that we soon 

 will be concerned with communication problems having to do with 

 passengers' convenience and comfort. Train and bus connections, 

 hotel accommodations and meals, will have to be arranged for by the 

 traffic department of an air transport company. 

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