In 1917 Congress appropriated $67,733,000 for aviation for the navy, a
sum which permitted the department to proceed on an extensive scale. And
right here it may be said that the navy has fared much better than the
army in the progressive development of air service. Within a year the
flying personnel of the navy had grown to be twenty times greater than
it was when we went to war, and where a year ago we had one
training-school, we now have forty naval aviation-schools.

The navy has not only strained every nerve to turn out aviators and to
produce airplanes, but the development of improved types of planes has
not been overlooked, and we now have abroad several fine types of
seaplane as well as airplane. The seaplane is merely an airplane with
pontoons, It starts from the ground or from the deck of a vessel.

Then there is the flying-boat, developed under naval auspices. This boat
takes wing from the water, and is regarded as the most desirable form of
aircraft for sea purposes. It is a triumphant instance of our ingenuity,
and is built in two sizes, both effective under the peculiar conditions
which may dictate the use either of one or the other. The navy has also
developed a catapult arrangement for launching seaplanes from the decks
of war-ships. This is a moving wooden platform, carrying the seaplane,
which runs along a track over the ship's deck. The platform drops into
the sea, and the seaplane proceeds on its course through the air.

[Illustration: _Copyright by Committee on Public Information_. SCENE AT
AN AVIATION STATION SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, SHOWING FIFTEEN SEAPLANES ON
BEACH DEPARTING AND ARRIVING.]

The progress of the navy was so great in arranging for the home