RESEARCH AVIATION.

Evening Star, Issue 21503, 30 August 1933, Page 6

RESEARCH AVIATION.

Colonel Lindbergh and his equally intrepid wife fully deserved the great reception which was given them in Copenhagen on their arrival there after a flight from America, by way of Greenland and Iceland, to test the northern route for possible future passenger services between East and West. This is the shortest, route that can be availed of between the two hemispheres, and surveys of different portions of it, notably by British parties working in Greenland, have been made over several years. The Lindbergh flight itself, leisurely and cautious, as one made for the gaining of information and not for thrills, was not begun without very thorough preparations, and it was planned to fit in with other similar researches backed by Pan-American Airways. Two expeditions organised by the University of Michigan have been in Greenland, for more than a year gathering weather data, and another party under Major Logan has been carried on the Danish steamer Jelling, which has served as a base ship for the Lindberghs, bearing fuel, supplies, and radio equipment. Surveys were to be made along the coasts of Labrador, Greenland, and Iceland, and the programme of Major Logan’s company included study of ocean currents, mapping of harbours, and the taking of soundings. From the air the Lindberghs were to make records of temperatures, winds, and fog conditions, and photograph the coast line, activities for which their. Central American and Asiatic flights had prepared them. If this flight had not been undertaken for science not even America’s chief airman and his wife, one can imagine, would have thought of undertaking it for pleasure. It began as long ago as July 9, and it has not been without its dangers, not to mention discomforts. A forced landing, required by fog, was its first incident before the explorers had got further than Maine. There was an alarming report that they had crashed fatally in Greenland, where bad weather was experienced, but that fortunately was untrue. Colonel Lindbergh has never ceased to bo an American idol, and his courage and modesty have not been his only claims to that homage. It was typical of him •when, after his child had been fatally kidnapped, the house from which it was stolen, built at a cost of £IO,OOO, was converted by the grief-stricken parents into a home to “ provide for the welfare of children, including their training, education, hospitalisation, or any other allied purposes, without discrimination in regard to race or creed.” As to the prospects for this northern passenger service, it is only explorers and scientists who will feel any enthusiasm for them at the present stage. The Italian General Balbo’s great flight, with twenty-four aeroplanes, from Rome to Chicago followed this route, and in spite of the safety with which it was made his experience is said to have convinced the general, along with others, of the superiority of the Southern Atlantic route, which goes by way of the Azores. He was delayed twice—three days at Londonderry, Ireland, and seven days at Reykjavik, Iceland—by bad weather. It was the Azores route that was chosen for the return journey. Two years of planning, training, and international negotiation formed the preparation for this Italian flight. It was estimated that 300 landsmen backed up the airmen.