ATLANTIC AIRWAY

Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1936, Page 6

ATLANTIC AIRWAY

- proposed >; , . jfV... W kLONDON TO MONTREAL. - / VANCOUVER, July 5. . The last and most difficult phase of . linking England by air with the rest of tho Empire is about to be undeitaken in the proposal to bring Canada into the Empire chain. .The?:gap .between the United Kingdom arLctAQanada has been the- subject of comprehensive study and experiment by the. United . Kingdom authorities. ' A.-ai-;-This gap. has been flights over three alternative routes dceland-Greel)land-Hudson Bay, ,lre.land-New-i'oundhvnd-Nova. Scotia", and Loudon-Lisbon-Azores-Bernnula-New York-Mon-treal. Conferences held by the British, Canadian and American authorities at. Ottawa and Washington in December, 1P35, brought nearer to fruition the prospect so long heralded, of a transAtlantic air service for passengers and mails. An agreement was reached, endorsing the third route, with the British terminal in the estuary) of the ■ Shannon. The service is expected to begin in October. British aeronautical designers do not agree with their American colleagues as to the effectiveness of the. flying boat which has been utilised on the California-Manila run, and which will be the United States contribution to the transatlantic service. Britain wi I rely experimentally on an invention of Major Mayo, known as the composite aircraft, which combines a heavy, long-range, four-engined monoplane, attached to the flying, boat in taking off. When the craft are in the air, at full speed, the lifting monoplane will cut adrift and return to the airport, while the flying boat will continue on its way with a payload which woum have been-too heavy for it alone at the take-off. The cost of establishing radio guides for the route, which are expected to include newly-designed beacons anchored in mid-ocean, will be shared by both Governments. , In any discussion of the Great Circle route, pioneered by Alcock and Brown, of 1800 miles, between Newfoundland and the Lizard, with its prospect of fog, and of ice forming on. the wings, technical discussion inevitably turns to the seadrome or floating steel island airport, which two years ago was approved by the United States Govefnment - ‘kit Wind and storm frequency in the North Atlantic is in the Pacific, wherefsio 'Clipper aeroplanes do their largest, hpjp of 2400 miles between California and Honolulu. With an intermediate stop, iff the form of a seadrome, it is contended that the Clipper aeroplanes could carry double their present load,‘equal to 50 passengers or 10,0001 b. of mail. A similar payload could he carried if a. seadrome were placed midway between Newfoundland and Ireland. The seadrome, its structural design latterly strengthened • and /simplified, consists of a steel and iron open-work truss structure, with a dedv six acres in area, 100 feet above the water line, supported hv 32 bouyancy tanks or hollow steel supporting tubes, 40 feet below water. Ballast chambers extend 200 feet below the surface.