Admiral KING. Yes.

Mr. CARY. There is a great saving in fuel, is there not?
Admiral KING. In every other field.

Mr. CARY. Anywhere the Diesel engine is used.

Admiral KING. Anywhere the Diesel engine is used.

Mr. CARY. Besides its low cost, the fuel is a nonexplosive substance, and it offers a saving in weight as compared with gasoline, does it not?

Admiral KING. There is a prospective saving in the fuel consumption, to be weighed against the high engine weight, together with the lower cost of the fuel itself.

Mr. CARY. It uses rather a low-grade fuel.

Admiral KING. Yes; compared with gasoline.

Mr. CARY. Will you proceed, Admiral?

NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION OF AVIATION PERSONNEL

Admiral KING. I have next here an item as to the status of aviation personnel. A statement of the situation with respect to aviation personnel as of September 30, 1934, is submitted below in tabular form. The figures include both officers and enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. CARY. Will you put that tabular statement in the record? Admiral KING. The statement is as follows:

Mr. CARY. You may proceed, Admiral.

Admiral KING. Personnel assigned to naval aviation, both officers and enlisted men, are highly trained and efficient, It is believed that they compare favorably with aviation personnel of any air force in the world.

A serious shortage of naval aviators exists. Due to the projected expansion of the aeronautical organization this shortage will increase. This situation is due to the fact that approximately only 1 out of 4 Naval Academy graduates qualifies as a naval aviator because of the very high physical standards applied to aviators, and also that volunteers only are given the opportunity to qualify. Several plans to remedy this situation are now under consideration by the Navy Department.

I take the liberty of reminding the committee that this statement was prepared some months ago, and is not up to the moment. I think that, perhaps, the committee is aware of the so-called "cadet bill" which is designed to relieve this shortage almost at once, and to continue relieving the shortage until such time as the Regular Service itself shall be able to take care of the situation.

During the year the Navy has continued the training of Coast Guard officers and enlisted men at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola. An enlarged program was undertaken at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury. On September 30, 1934, there were undergoing flight training 12 Coast Guard officers and 16 Coast Guard enlisted

men.

COST OF TRAINING COAST GUARD AVIATORS

Mr. CARY. How is the cost of training Coast Guard personnel defrayed?

Admiral KING. By a transfer of funds from the Treasury Department to the Navy.

Mr. CARY. Is it not a matter of more than $20,000 per aviator? Admiral KING. No, sir, Mr. Chairman; it is about $10,000 per pilot. That is the cost of training, and it does not include what pay and allowances the trainee may be given. However, so far as the extra cost to which the Navy is put to train them is concerned, it amounts to about $10,000 per pilot.

Mr. CARY. Which is approximately the amount reimbursed to the Navy?

Admiral KING. Yes, sir.

Mr. CARY. You may proceed with your statement, Admiral.

EXPANSION OF THE NAVAL AIRCRAFT FACTORY

CONSTRUCTION, MANUFACTure, and repAIR OF AIRPLANES

Admiral KING. On August 17, 1934, the President of the United States allotted $2,708,800 to the Secretary of the Navy from the amount authorized under Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1935, for expansion of the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pa. This allotment was pursuant to the authority granted the President in the Vinson-Trammell Treaty Navy Act, to expand in his discretion, existing Government-owned plants to the point where the Government would be able to construct, manufacture, and repair not less than 10 percent of its naval aircraft therein. Part of the work has

already been contracted for and plans and specifications are nearing completion for the remainder of the work. At this time obligations have been incurred to a total of $1,981,290. It is expected that all contract work will be completed during the summer of 1935, and that tools and machinery will be in place and ready for the construction of airplanes by November 1, 1935, and for building engines by April 1, 1936.

Mr. CARY. Under the law you have referred to, it was first necessary for the President to determine that our existing facilities were not adequate to permit undertaking the construction of not less than 10 percent of the aircraft, including the engines therefor, which such law authorized.

Admiral KING. Yes, sir.

Mr. CARY. The 1926 law authorized 1,000 planes, and last year's law increased the number to 1,910. Has the law with respect to Government manufacture been construed as applying to the manufacture or procurement of planes necessary to build up to and maintain the expanded strength, or just to the provision of facilities necessary to produce and maintain the number in excess of the original 1,000? Admiral KING. It has been interpreted to mean that it must be applied to the manufacture of 10 percent of airplanes and airplane engines that are required for the authorized strength at any given time. It is not a question of what may be called expansion alone. If at any given time, we have 1,900 planes, we will be required to manufacture 190-not all in 1 year, but it is distributed over the length of time. However, whatever the authorized number may be, 10 percent of them

Mr. CARY (interposing). Ten percent of them must be manufactured by you.

Admiral KING. Yes, sir; 10 percent of them must be manufactured in the Government plant, with the engines that go with them.

Mr CARY. What is the maximum figure? Is it 1,910, or is it more than that?

Admiral KING. One thousand nine hundred and ten planes is the figure that has been arrived at in the Navy Department on the basis of a 5 to 7 years program.

Mr. CARY. I have seen the number stated as 1,910, and I have seen the figure 2,184: Is it somewhere between those numbers, or has the number been determined by the Department?

Admiral KING. Yes, sir; the number determined by the Navy Department is 1,910.

Mr. CARY. That is the proper figure that you will build to.

Admiral KING. Yes, sir. The figure of 2,184 came into the picture at the time an amendment to the Vinson-Trammell Treaty Navy bill was pending. There was a bill introduced that had that figure in it; but at the suggestion of the Bureau of the Budget, the language was changed so as not to specify any definite number of planes. After careful review of all factors involved the Navy Department has drawn up a program calling for 1,910 airplanes by 1939-41.

Mr. CARY. What does that bill provide? What is the language used there? Does it set out any specific number, or does it simply provide that it shall be a commensurate number?

Admiral KING. A number commensurate with a treaty Navy.
Mr. CARY. How are you to arrive at that number?