TO FLY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14972, 20 April 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

TO FLY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

<] ATTEMPTS TO BK' MADE .IN 1912. aeroplanes versus aibships. Who will be - the first to cross the ocean ■in an airship? , 'do jj in IM2) Some one is Jikely 10 do " J 9l2 ' p,rta.p. within the first «x uw» Tho following a « the mOT w.ho have planned to set out u,\w< the g«»'' • txlumph

voyage : — Martin, graduate of HarW James V. Martin, graduate of H»«wd University, former manager of the .Harvard Aeronautical Society, second vropresident of the Internal FedenwoK of Aero Clubs, holder of the Harvard Fellowship in air navigation, and once an instructor in astronomy. Ho is »ow an instructor in Claude Gra'fcanieAVhitos aviation school at Pan. j v* Mclvin Vaniman, who stark« iiio as a teacher of music in Illinois College, later hecaum a photographer and turned to ballooning to further his photographic work. Ho deigned several balloons, and was the chief engineer and the energetic spurit in. the Wellman outfit. Ho saileiA the. An:erica in its unsuccessful cross-ocean llight. ' Dr. Paul F. Gans, president of Aha German Aero Club, physician, chemittt, inventor,' and millionaire. Ho porfocteu Iho first German motor-cycle, and years ;i ,'o became on enthusiastic balloonist, having Count Zeppelin for an associate. Harry N. At wood, graduate of Boston Technical Institute, and famous as a successful record-making aviator. He made he wonderful flight from St. to New York via Chicago, a distance of 1265 miles, and has Jived among the clouds since "Aviation became a (scientific sport.

The Aeroplanes. Two of these men Martin and Atwood will seek to wing their way between the ' continents in motor-pushed aeroplanes. The other two will embark upon the perilous journey in monster. whalcback dirigibles, accompanied by working crews. - As th© plans are taking lorn, Martin and Atwood will lay their courses from a. point near St. Johns., N.F., by the most direct air line to the headlands of Ireland, ;i, distance of 2450 miles, or a little less than twice the distance covered 'by Atwood in .his overland flight from St. Louis to the Atlantic seaboard. Vanhnan, whose daring and nerve are as pronounced as his skill and ambition, will cet out from west to cast, marking a course over the open sea, which -seems to offer the best advantage as to favouring winds. He will probably start from Atlantic City. Dr. Gaus will float away from east to west, taking hi& departure from the waterside cliffs of the Canary Islands, near Tcnciifl'e, and having Barbadoes as his first and Florida as his final objective. Dr. Grans intends to .start on his momen- '• tous trip early in the spring, possibly 1 in late March. He will be the .first to ; try. '' * The flight will be made in a modern j dirigible, elliptical in shape,, 162 ft long I by 49 broau, which will have suspended from it it post 26ft long by 7 Wide, shaped like a submarine, and fitted with two motors of 110 horsepower each. The balloon itseh" cost 70,000 dollars. Prepa- i rations hit to the time of the getaway are figured - to cost 65,000 dollars more. The airshiD is called the Suchard. ' " Harry N. Atwood enters the contest for achievement ■with an abundant practical experience. "lie believes it is feasible to wing his way at limit speed," like a sea* v bird, in distant*-© flight from shore• to shore. "The Bur tress Company at Marble- ! ' v head is building a hydro-aeroplane de- 1 signed by Atwood for the flight. Details r i of its construction ..are a secret, although- >' it is known that a device will enter into J its ec~ lOVit which ' will make it easier ■ 'i r consHlekiafly machine now in use. ;to some of'Ti-e t. »an one engine and it has been debJhtr, and they will be ■ asms for fiftlc || tiWiH iin thp worfc ;• ; Prospective , bnS v taKt l 1? tfte %ortk at any of the "„ — 1 »•?. wAk -" make his ttHit /10m the cast v coast of r Newfoundland, and he lScp-jf to make a landing on the west coast of Ireland. Ho . .will start in tin* _ evening, • and hopes by daylight to find .'limself io.Jowing the line of the ocean, steamships. He believes it possible to • maintain a speed, of more than 80 miles an hour, which v.xaild make it possible for him to complete the journey in 30 hours, if there were no-mishaps. Atwood.will be accompanied by a mechanician. The engine will " be. a watercooled machine of greater pewier than; he .V- juts, used before, which will offer some heat, to the air sailors. A supply of gasoline sufficient for a much longer trip will bo carried. Hot drink will be carried in Thermos bottles and food will be in tablet :■■''<' £orra. i'.-:- • '> , . .• - • Vaniaian's Airship. . .

: ' ■ Melvin Vaniman's air car, which was constructed .under his immediate direction, is the most capacious gas bag and largest dirigible ever built in America. It is , called the Akron, v ' . ' v"'-f The balloon envelope has seven thicknesses.; four of rubber and three of cloth, • and is impervious to moisture. It is ' 1 258 ft long by 47 in diameter, and weighs, ready for flight, 26.000 : pounds. ' v ' The gaß chamber will contain 400,000 v V cubic feet, of hydrogen gae. The car has light tube frame work, -and? will rapport ; four engines which will develop 317 horsepower. and ■'operate six propellers of . French walnut, set three on ' a Bide. : The gasoline reservoir holds '1700 gallons. ; Suspended from the 'greatgas bag "by a swivel - device is a non-capsisable, noneinkable * lifeboat 27ft long, provided with i'; storage room; for -a . fifteen-day store; of ' provisions and , a wireless apparatus of a : potentiality „ofsoo miles.' . . '- ' , The balloon, which is capable of lifting ... 26,0001b.. is provided -with •; an hydro!t . «vator of Vaniman's design, which gives ' |to the monster airship the stability neces- .;', sary for a long journey. ? _ , ■ ; In the Akron lie has a ship equipped with all the mechanism which his experience h*s: shown him is necessary. And to -he will set forth in confidence with re- ; spect to all things that an aeronautical en- • gineer may know in : advance. > It has a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour, which with the added speed of the f .; y rwind will make the trip between shores possible in- 50 hours. Vaniman will, of coarse, be in command. He will have a crew of men chosen each for liu: special fitness for the work that must be -lone— expert navigator, a wireless operator, an electrician and < mechanics. "'* Martin, the Harvard University aviator, hopes to sail for the great air prize under the auspices of the Eoyal Aero Club of England: Like Atwood ho plans to wing his way as the crow would fly. His machine, which will represent his own ideas, will bo of the hydro-biplane order, but vastly larger and stronger and with greater power ithan any yet built. Stability at sea ia quite as necessary .with an airShip as it* is with a steamchip. The Martin outfit will be big enough to carry Martin, a companion and a mechanician. . The natural starting point for a shortcut flight is from Newfoundland, but Martin may decide to make a flight from Boston to Newfoundland, the first leg of the course, for I,he purpose of a trial trip ,undpr actual conditions. _ The expert of the London Aeroplane, Charles G. Gray, gives it as his opinion that with the best motors 80 and possibly 90 miles an hour could be attained in Fpced, so that an aviator could cover the distance in 28 hours. An aviator in perfect training could steer for 30 hours ;without distress, although he favours a Machine with duplicate • steering gear, so .that two pilots could relieve each other. The _ Harvard interest is with Martin. iWteJe the university would no doubt hesitate to indorse the trans-Atlantic flight, [I: knowing well of its uncertainties and dangers. _it would be more than glad .* to see Martin accomplish the -feat.- -&■¥p >v jv\. There are other balloonist;; and aero- • pianists who are talking about the glory of a voyage through the air between the fef.; ivnjteaStates and Europe. The vear is &&&& umi growing, . and there is time for thed to enter the:. contest' ~, '.f- V '' Lieut, Hans Gericke, of , the German •: !Army who won thetinternational balloon ■ w»7» 7 sailing from ' Kansas City to a ! P«axit. in interior Wisconsin, » distance of j&fc milw, ha» - announced * that -"he... too, ...