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A small caterpillar tank was borne aloft and dropped, dangling grotesquely beneath a huge parachute. It reached earth with a thump but held together. A tractor bustled up, towed it toward the stands, triumphant despite the fact that the tank was a motorless dummy. Acrobatics and formation flying polished off the day. Observers saw in these demonstrations a new objective in Russian aviation. When the ANT-14 was built two years ago, the gods of progress in the air were the gods of the Five-Year Plan — Size and Number, The ANT-14 is 85 ft. long, has a wing spread of 134 ft. Its five British motors deliver a total of 2,400 horsepower. In a pinch it can accommodate 46 persons. It is equipped with sleeping compartments, dressing rooms, lavatories, baggage room, dining salon. Its first flight was accompanied by announcements that it would be put into mass production. But no brothers of the ANT-14 have appeared. The gods Size and Number have by no means fallen into disrepute. There was much bombastic pother in the Soviet Press last year about a project to build a fleet of dirigibles (TIME, Feb. 29, 1932). Mean while, like a spider feverishly spinning its web, the U. S. S. R. passed Germany in total length of airlines, became second only to the U. S. Last year the U. S. S. R. reported 750 military planes to the Geneva Disarmament Conference, was generally credited with at least twice that many; and in Russia the distinction between military and civil aircraft is less sharp than elsewhere, since the State owns them all and the commercial planes are designed for quick conversion in case of war. But money for Size and Number is running short. Last week there was no attempt to stagger the capitalist world with a massive display of force. The new key notes were discipline, precision, attention
<footnote>*Previous record 29 in 1930.</footnote>