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The statements which have recently been made in various quarters to the effect that Danish butter is losing its hold on the English market, that its quality is deteriorating, and that the sale is falling off, are not a little astonishing in face of the very strong and direct evidence to the contrary furnished by the official records. As an example of the kind of assertions here alluded to may be instanced an opinion expressed by a correspondent of the British Food Journal, who, in a letter printed in the March number, stated that “My own opinion is that the Danes are steadily losing their good name for quality, owing to not using preservatives and to their new fad of pasteurising… .”

DEVELOPMENT of the Kansas City base of Transcontinental and Western Air has been proceeding since 1946, in which year the wartime Army‐operated modification centre in the city for B‐25 bombers and Constellations was leased from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and converted to peacetime use at a cost of $1,000,000. The hangars, shop and office buildings enclose a combined area of 427,000 square feet and are surrounded by more than 1,000,000 square feet of concrete ramp or apron. The hangars are fitted to accommodate at the same time three Constellations and eight Stratocruisers, DC‐4's or DC‐3's. Nearly 2,000 men and women are employed at the base.

THE eleventh annual meeting of the Institute was for the first time held simultaneously in three centres—in New York City at Columbia University, in Detroit at Rackham Educational Memorial, and in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California—from January 25 to 29. The purpose of the three simultaneous meetings was to minimize travel by executives and engineers from important war jobs in the present emergency. The same programme was offered at all three centres, papers being sometimes presented by proxies—experts in the same field as far as possible. In spite of the fact that attendance was divided between three centres, there was splendid representation at each place and a wide range of subjects was covered in the many papers. Naturally these were restricted more to analysis, and technology and information as to the latest design or production features of current aircraft or engines was withheld. The same ban applied to striking developments in accessories, instruments and armaments. All papers had to be approved by the Army or Navy and to be read substantially as written. While off‐the‐record discussions were permitted, these discussions were not made public. In particular there was a ban on comparisons between foreign and American materials, equipment or methods. The formula for control of comparison performance stated that the manufacturer's smooth curve calibrations and performance figures might be quoted, but no Wright field performance figures or data could be revealed. In spite of such restrictions a tremendous amount of valuable technical information was presented to the assembled engineers.

AIR freight carried by commercial transport operators has increased rapidly in volume during the last five years, especially since 1947. In the first eight months of 1949, for example, domestic cargo flown out of and into the three major airports in the New York City metropolitan area totalled 74,435,169 pounds—an increase of 21 per cent over the 61,541,098 pounds carried in the corresponding period of This cargo growth in one year compares with an increase of 23½ per cent in passenger traffic—from 2,014,370 air passengers during January‐August 1948, to 2,490,250 in the first eight months last year.

INCREASED production, reduced cost and better quality of castings are advantages claimed for a new process which was demonstrated during the week of May 8–12 at the 1950 National Foundry Show in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. The demonstration included production of moulds and pouring of metal by representatives of the Bakelite Division of the Union Carbide & Carbon Corporation.

This article contains short accounts of some of the means adopted by Glenn L. Martin to build their first post‐war air liner, the 2–0–2, without the prior building of a prototype. Although this commendable effort to hasten into service a replacement for the Dakota eventually resulted in the production of an excellent air liner, we understand that it is an experiment that is not likely to be repeated. As was almost invariably the case during the war when a prototype was dispensed with, the delay in ironing out the teething troubles (which always seemed to be more than usual in such cases) and modifying the machines on the line was greater than that between the prototype and production.—EDITOR.

AIRLINE and military aviation leaders from many countries who have visited the recently completed United Air Lines maintenance base at San Francisco to observe the layout, special equipment and operating system have been greatly impressed with the facilities and efficiency of the new plant. They have proclaimed it the largest and most advanced airline maintenance base in the world.

Complete change in heat treating practice and installation of new equipment for rapid quantity production were necessitated by the sudden great increase in orders for aero‐engines and pressure for greater ouput by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Old, slow methods had to be abandoned and superseded by a continuous, fast, line‐production system which required suitable new equipment for the purpose. The change‐over at the company's enlarged plant at Paterson, New Jersey, was completed last year.

THE U.S. Air Force recently ordered twenty‐seven C‐97 Strato‐freighters in addition to the thirteen previously ordered, some of which have been delivered. These are the cargo version of the Boeing Aircraft Company's Stratocruiser.