Daniel walked into the lion's den because accord to his beliefs he had no choice. Today I'm going to do the same thing. Reserve judgment until you've thought it over, then let me hear from you!

Increased activity on the part of government, but on behalf of aviation, is coming whether we like it or not. Some will be good, some will be bad. The quicker we anticipate these trends and work our ideas into them, the better this activity is apt to be for pilots and the general public.

It has long been my opinion that there was an element of unfairness in nine out of ten taxpayers paying through the nose to keep the tenth citizen flying. This is especially true when this tenth citizen isn't willing to help himself.

Two points demand immediate consideration: (1) Better landing facilities and better air-marking is a necessity in Indiana if aviation is to grow and be practical. (2) Funds for these things are going to be raised by one method or another.

 

How to get these funds fairly and then how to spend them to the advantage of the most people, is of prime importance to pilots.

I am going to stick my neck out on June 15th, at the next meeting of the state private flying council and advocate an outright four-cents-per-gallon tax on aviation fuel (there is none now) to be collected at the point of origin, not at the pump.

This would create a state fund built by all flyers, whether they fly from public or private fields. At the present time, the public purse is paying for fine municipal airports, but three out of every four airports in Indiana is privately owned and they get no assistance toward improvements. Towns and villages too small and without enough funds and no need for an elaborate airport that would qualify for Federal aid, get no funds.

Yet, the pilot who flies from the improved public airport, three out of four times lands on one of these private fields, or worse yet, can't find a landing strip at his destination at all.

Under the proposed tax, approximately $700,000 per year, on the basis of current consumption would be raised. I propose that this money be given directly to the state aeronautics commission to spend for the improvement of privately-owned airports or small towns unable to meet Federal requirements on this basis:

Any private owner, willing to lease the state for at least ten years (to guarantee it remains an airport) the small patch of ground immediately under the runway can put up any amount up to $10,000 for hard- surfacing a runway or for airport lighting. Any amount he puts up not counting the original cost of the ground would be matched by the state fund, but not to exceed $10,000 on any one project in any one year. Hard-surfacing must come first, lighting second in a manner approved by the aeronautics commission.

Small towns unable to meet expensive Federal requirements could acquire the small amount of ground necessary for a landing strip, advance then a small sum of cash to improve this strip which would also be matched by this state fund.

Now out of the approximately $700,000 which will gradually increase year to year, the overall allocation should be divided something like this: twenty five per cent set aside each year for engineering costs, fifty per cent each year for improvements as described above, ten per cent each year for air marking wherever the commission may designate and fifteen per cent each year for collaboration with the state highway department and the state park system for small landing strips strategically located at points designated by the commission at parks and along side any state highway.

This type of strip would not have gasoline and service facilities merely provide a landing place close to where the traveler is trying to fly. He can gas up at the nearest commercial established airport.

That, of course is a very roughly outlined plan. Here is what it will do. Spread the cost of better facilities among all pilots instead of the general public. Would benefit pilots who fly from public airports as much as those who fly from private airports. Would provide a means to assist the private enterprise which has risked so much during the past generation to pioneer aviation and which businesses are now in serious competition with public-owned fields--yet these private fields are a valuable supplement to the public facilities and are very necessary to the welfare of aviation. Would make Indiana a welcome state for transients. Any transient who buys 10 gallons of gas in crossing the state, would be willing to spend the forty cents to find a landing field or strip under him most of the time and to be able to see an air marker most any place he looked. At a maximum of $10,000 per field or strip which would probably average less than that some 25 small fields could be improved each year or strips added to the state's network of strips.

Warsaw Daily Times, Mon. May 3, 1948

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