FLYING THE ATLANTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 126, 28 May 1919, Page 5

FLYING THE ATLANTIC.

AMERICAN ATTEMPT. LAST " IE&" BEGUN. SIGHTED HALF WAT OVER. (Received 10.25 a.m.) N.C.4, the American naval seaplane which reached the Azores last Saturday week on its attempt to fly the Atlantic, began the last "leg" of the flight to-day, when it set out for Lisbon from. Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, a flight of 900 miles. Sixty destroyers were stationed along the line of route to pick up the airmen in the event of accident. A wireless from one of the destroyers reports that she sighted the seaplane flying steadily half way across to Lisbon.—(A. and*"N.Z. Cable.) THE LATEST ADVICE. WITHIN A "HUNDRED MILES. (Received 11.45 a.m.) LONDON, May 27. N.C.4 has been sighted within a hundred miles of Lisbon.— (A.- and N.Z.) The third of the American seaplanes has arrived in the Azores from Halifax. (A. and N.Z. Cable.) DIRIGIBLE ADRIFT. PICKED UP AT SEA. (Received:ll.2s a.m.) ST. JOHN'S, May 27. An American dirigible which arrived here to begin a flight across the Atlantic broke loose from her moorings and drifted seaward. She was recovered by a British steamer.— (A. and N.Z. Cable.), DIRIGIBLE'S FLIGHT. BRITISH FLANS SPEEDED UP. (Received 11.10 a.m.) LONDON, May 27. The New York "Times" Atlantic City correspondent says that the War Department has notified officials of the Fan-American Aeronautic Congress that i the British Givernment has been invited to conduct dirigible flights from Britain to the L T nited States. . An authentic report has been received saying that the British Government is speeding up plans to start a dirigible on her trans-Atlantic flight. The start might be made in a few days.—(A. and N.Z. Cable.) j The Navy-Curtis plane, X.C. 1, which ' has by this probably succeeded in her I attempt to fly the Atlantic, is a very large biplane. It is a "flying boat." This term implies that the body of the | aeroplane is constructed so that it is j a seaworthy unit, with the underpart | designed for the double function of travelling easily on the water, and of moving with the minimum of resistance through the air. It differs from tiie so-called : "seaplane," which carries its body or fusilage well above the water, aud is kept afloat when not flying, by two or more long, pontoon-like Jloats. The seaplane is therefore very like a land aeroplane which has had its wheels replaced by floats. The two classes are radically different in appearance, but there is probably not very much to choose between them in flying qualities, or one would probably have been "killed" by the other by this timeThe N.C- machines are among the giants of the flying world. The upper wing spreads 120 feet from tip to tip; the lower one is somewhat shorter. From prow to tail the body measures 70 feet; and the total height of the machine is 25 feet. Three ''Liberty" engines, totalling about 1200 horse-power, drive three four-bladed tractor screws, and the petrol capacity of the machine is reckoned to be sufficient for a flight of forty- or fifty hours. Some idea of the power of these great machine? can be had from the fact that N.C. 1 recently made a test flight carrying 51 passengers. Bu| it must not be supposed that the X.C. 1 is the biggest thing in flying machines. Tn dimensions, it is nbotit the same size :as some of the big Handlcy-Pages. The ; Porte triplane has a span of 123 feet i and five engines totalling 1750 horsepower, and still bigger aeroplanes are in existence. The route of the trans-Atlantic flight runs from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the Azores (1350 miles) ; thence to Portugal (about 900 miles); and thence, presumably to England another 850 miles. From the American viewpoint, however, the flight is counted as starting from Xew York, this "leg" being about 1100 miles in length, though it offers breaks, as for example, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the American machines landed. St- John's is very much nearer to Europe than any other town in the American continent. This matter of the shortest possible route is. of course, extremely important. Equally important in thp ease of these initial flights is the fact that a large part of the route over the Atlantic lies within the zone of the great "anti-ti-ndc" wind, which blows steadily towards the Azores.