INTERCOLLEGIATE AIR RACE TO EMPHASIZE PROFICIENCY

A radical change in the airplane race to be held on May 8 by the Intercollegiate Flying Association was made at the meeting of the Association held in New York last Saturday. It was proposed by Colonel H. E. Hartney, chief of the Army air service, that the race be one in which proficiency of flying should be the deciding factor, and not speed, and this plan was adopted.

This proposal was in accord with the general policy of the Army officials who will take an important part in the conduct of the race and in the supplying of planes, with the aim of securing conditions as nearly approaching absolute safety as possible. Under the proposed scheme the pilots will be graded first on their landings and take-offs, the condition of their machines after the flight, and the economical use of gasoline, and secondly on their speed. Furthermore, it was stipulated that every pilot be required to fly 20 hours and make 25 perfect landings before the race. The trials for the pilots are to be held during the spring recess at the Army flying fields at Mineola, N. Y., under the supervision of the Army officials. There will be no restriction as to the number of men going to Mineola from the University Aeronautical Society.

It was also decided that the course of the race would be shortened, the official route being as follows: Mineola, N. Y., Stamford, Conn., New Haven, Newark, N. J., Princeton and back to Mineola.