Date: August 7, 1930
Location: Plymouth, VT
(Original document available here)
The successful flight of the R-100 again challenges our progress in aviation.
Notwithstanding our original discoveries, our efforts to build military planes during the war were feverish but, owing perhaps to the limited time, were not highly successful. These experiments, however, did produce plant equipment and engineering skill. During mobilization this arm of national defense was somewhat neglected. The elders in the Army and Navy were impatient with the claim of the youth in aviation. The Morrow committee in 1925 laid out a wise plan which quieted the disputes and confusion. Then came the Lindberg flight, with its great impetus to public interest.
After that date commercial aviation had a wide development. The regular mileage for passenger and mail carrying routes in North and South America expanded tremendously. Much capital and railroad support were secured, but just now progress awaits scientific discovery. A naval office reports that the best engine is made abroad. That is disconcerting. With the resources now available, the science of construction and the art of safe navigation ought to command the most intense research by both private and governmental agencies. We cannot afford any second place.
Citation: Calvin Coolidge Says: Dispatches Written by Former-President Coolidge and Syndicated to Newspapers in 1930-1931 (Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation)
The Coolidge Foundation gratefully acknowledges the volunteer efforts of Robert Manchester who prepared this document for digital publication.