Aeronautics: Buying Futures

What air travel will be like by 1964 no man can tell. But President Getulio Vargas of Brazil is sure of one thing: last week, through his Communications Ministry, he contracted with Zeppelin Co. for 20 transatlantic Zeppelin trips a year for 30 years. To seal the bargain he set aside a credit of 11,000 contos ($940,000) to help Zeppelin Co. build a hangar.

So long (since 1931) and so uneventfully has the Graf Zeppelin flown its schedule between Germany and Brazil that it is no longer news. Front-page news will be the launching this year of the LZ-129, world’s largest dirigible (6,720,000 cu. ft.), now nearly complete at Friedrichshafen, Germany. Awaiting only the installation of its four big diesel engines and the equipping of navigating rooms and living quarters, LZ-129 will carry on where the Graf leaves off, warming the heart of futuristic President Vargas.

Meanwhile regularly scheduled plane service between Germany and South America is also to be carried on via the S. S. Westphalen, stationed in the South Atlantic, 820 mi. off British Gambia. To eliminate the mid-ocean stop, test flights will soon be made with flying boats capable of covering the 1,864-mi. with cargo.