While the recent announcement of the theoretical destruction of the Macon in the Navy's war games was almost immediately followed up by the statement that "further tests have been scheduled," it is apparent that one more chapter must be added to the United States' amazing story of aeronautical inefficiency. The successive disasters of the ZR2, the Shenandoah, and the Akron, the latter due to the highest inefficiency, have rendered the question of appropriation for lighter than air ships a sore one with the American public.

Again, although France abandoned the rigid airship after the loss of the Dixmude, and England followed suit when the R101 fell in flames in France on its maiden voyage to India, Germany, the home of old Count Zeppelin and the country where this type of craft first saw the light of day, has been going ahead steadily and has established a remarkable safety record. The innumerable long distance flights of the Graft Zeppelin without a single serious accident, and the fact that the German-built Los Angeles is the only ship that has survived the vagaries of American airship commanders for any length of time, show that the Fatherland is still master of the art of lighter than air navigation.

every few months, thus growing a crop of semi-inexperienced novices, none fit to command in an emergency.

A radical change in policy, both to insure better building and better handling, is essential if we are to retrieve our sadly shattered prestige. The present rapid eradication of lives and of dollars must cease.

Perhaps the best way of obtaining an efficient, non-grafting control is the union of military, naval, and commercial aviation under one head, a proposal which was made several years ago by General Billy Mitchell, probably the most tactless and the most capable firebrand that has recently worn the Army khaki, and a proposal which is now nearer to realization than ever before. Efficiently run, this would give us an organized, unified, and powerful airforce, and a comparatively safe and graft-free commercial service. Until the day comes, stick to the rails.