. The type of personnel who staff the organization of these private mapping companies are of
interest. There is a very definite scarcity of academically trained geodesists, photogramme-
trists, or photogrammetric engineers in the United States. This is due to the fact that this science
is a relatively new one in the United States, and has undergone a tremendous expansion in a few
short years. The few universities that do offer study in these fields cannot possibly meet the
demands of both government service and industry. It is, therefore, most common to find the
great majority of supervisory personnel to have obtained their knowledge of mapping and photo-
grammetry through practical experience and their own personal readings and research. A
surprisingly small percentage of the management group in the private photogrammetric field
have had formal academic training as engineers Or possess university degrees in associated
fields. When they do it is not at all surprising to find that the study has been in such areas as
mechanical, electrical, or chemical engineering or one of the sciences. This is by no means
meant to be a criticism or implication that these men are not adequate for the task. On the con-
trary, the wide and varied background which these men have, bring to the science of photo-
grammetry a flow of fresh thought which could not possibly come from the more orthodox think-
ing of the man trained in the specialty. Of course such situation also has its disadvantages as
well, which are quite obvious. Actually a tendency exists under such setup where one finds
extremes in management; that is, the good men tend to be exceptionally good and the poorer men
tend to be unsatisfactory.
With the growth of private photogrammetry and the development of a competitive spirit
there has also risen a unique type of profession or occupation known as the photogrammetric
or mapping salesman. The basic function of this personality is to obtain mapping work for his
organization. He accomplishes his objective by visiting various potential clients and alerting
them to the capabilities of his own organization and how it can meet the desires of the potential
client. Although this particular personality may be considered as a salesman or a sales engi-
neer, aside from his commercial worth to his company he accomplishes a valuable service to
the photogrammetric community at large, often sometimes to his own detriment and dismay.
Many times he visits organizations who are completely unfamiliar with the capabilities and ad-
vantages of the photogrammetric method of mapping and he will spend considerable time and
effort in educating these people in the field of photogrammetry. However, after he has done
a very excellent job in educating the client, the client will often turn around and either award the
project to another company or ask for competitive bids which do not always yield the project to
the original salesman. Sometimes these salesmen in their zeal overstate the capabilities of
photogrammetry and the resultant project, when completed, is the cause of disappointment to the
client. In such cases as these the science of photogrammetry receives a definite setback. How-
ever, in general, the photogrammetric salesman gives a valuable and creditable service to the
introduction of this science in areas where it is not known or well understood.
The photogrammetric equipment used by the private companies more or less reflects the
competitive spirit under which they operate. The highest premium is placed upon a maximum
output per dollar of equipment invested. A minimum amount of required operator training is de-
sired. Recognition is taken of the fact that skilled labor is a very expensive commodity and,
therefore, machines must be designed so that the human operator can work under optimum con-
ditions. By far the most common class of plotting instrument utilized is the dichromatic ana-
glyphic double projection type, particularly that which yields a projected stereo model which is
a five time enlargement of the aerial negative scale. It is more or less accepted by most com-
mercial mapping organizations that such type instrument, when in good calibration and well
cared for, is capable of yielding stereo plotting accuracies very close, if not equal, to the accu-
racies obtained with the more complex and expensive optical train universal type instruments.
The universal plotters, of which there are a considerable number in the United States, are
utilized principally for aerial triangulation or special cadastral type mapping where horizontal
coordinate data of points in the stereo model are required with a high degree of precision. Op-
erators of such type equipment naturally require a higher degree of training and are relatively
scarce. They are quite naturally paid a higher salary than the operators of the anaglyphic pro-
jection type equipment.
With respect to actual equipment that is now being used by commercial mapping organiza-
tions in the United States, it is estimated that there are approximately 300 to 400 anaglyphic
ts A. I SET A ar A i REA RR RF a TETE
