TO NEW YORK BY AIR IN FIFTEEN HOURS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12823, 15 April 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

TO NEW YORK BY AIR IN FIFTEEN HOURS.

KORKcasT ~| <;ia.\i AKRO PI.ANK- tti illK Ki lIRK.

,i>y 11..,. I, (. ; ,i..ir.i -White.)

Ir i.as in iim:-;. . iiirteeit v.-ars ago. t : ;ir the Wrights .ir>t rieu: in I:!***

<i'sri l-'arnian ma«!e the Ins,. flight; oniy seven yeais ;\nt ftii-rint pa-"*'*! from I" ranee to JKngiand f>v air. To-day there are 111011aatwls tii airmen Hying inslexl of orjl.v a. lew —naval and military, prnfevionul and amateur; and a mmlern-type aircraft. !>y the use of swcpt-lmck planes. tiptitted wing-tips, and scieiiHCcaJly-<le. signed has. is giren a stability which i: inherent and ten»l> to inake. her the mistress and not tlie piny things ol the air. ."'"'■

Flying i» now possible in a gale of wind" nuil without exhaustion lor th. pilot. As :iust«l .strike a„;«-raft she will swing ti> them and regain her bal.«i:ce; .-mi. -hould'a furimis "wind-rush thtu.st her over. *he wilt drop some distance. then right herself automatically. The

airman in sued a craft as this, once he is aloft, -occupies himself mainly ivith nis nmder-bar. shifting this, ccrasion.illy to keep his machine on 'its* course. Aere.iik«il»>rs>, nowadays, limit with: growing experience and skill, do not fail often: Nit, even should an engine -top in mid-air. a pilot need as a .tlie have t.«> concern. Ilringtiig gravirv- »o rtis aid. he begins to glide eaitliw-uiis; .tad. it he is tlvinii bigl«—as. he should .•htrt passing acios.s cctnttry—-he ivili :■>•> able to plane to:- miles before "he i'Hlthe;, ".round. While-be glides thus his craft i» under perfect control. He ran steer to right or left. «r liirn in th>..ir. aim has no difficulty as a n:h* ir. rinding :i suitable l-indiiig jmint. \ What «e "ee«l are engines "t gteate: r-ow.r. r»'e:»nse with ;iiem .vie can buiii] !arg.>r. heavier, ami faster rlying craft. Test work in this field is costly, how. .".-er. ;ttid cannot •>»• srconiplijtlictl in haste; hence aeroplane constructors ■.•£ fA patience. ISnt the "demand for higher eoucr that has lieep created by !ho war. ami the fact that mftney is -pent freetv on aircraft by combatant :Mtioiw. w-rvi* as 3 great stimulus 10 pro<!ii; tien. in the future, of u-vaz 1." kon*d in liundieds. tliehr.rsepower <>f aero engines will .have''risento tlLusniktts. ami then will ilawn the era of la rat* aircraft, carrying pas~nL r .rs. iitails. and goods, at speeds impcssibli- by land or sea. Twenty years hence we should cross tbu Atlantic, by air. by means of a living "service, in a journey, ?iy, of fifteen hours. Passenger crait o: the future will have widespread multiple planes, and a slim, delicatclyT.ipere<l hull. FRIDAY TO MOXDAV. A vnyager in tlicir cabins, borne t shrouirh the air with vibrationless ease, will f>e able to step aboard near Lcadon. say. on Friday afternoon, and nnd himself in Xew York on Saturday ni»rniug, having eaten ami slept ir: comfort, unconcerned by the know3*ige rlnat he is thousands of feet aloft. Oti Si 111 flay afternoon lie will re-embark —fihouiiS he lie in haste to return—ami alight in Kngltuifl atjnin on Alonday r.;ornirr^.

Journeys fetwecn 'the capitals of Eirope w ill 'x> simplified enormously. Basin<■->.-> men, who pass constantly be-iitv-en Loudon and will find chat ihli ji'iirney lias lost its anconrcnienrcs. They «"HI be able to attend their offices in London in the morning. «'|x-"nins and dictating replies. Then, leaving by the noon air-mail, they will tech <>n lioard—with no change to be icacie from train to boat and back again t<» train —and find themselves in Pans with time for an afternoon of business calls: returning to London by an ->v»-ning air serviee, ami having ample time to .-»ign the letters at their oSces ai an tail to the labors of the •day. No iii.-uperoble cfilfirtilty bars the pTo2i' r, >"- "i aviation. Problems rcEair. tn !>«• solved, but none so great as Tvas the initial one of actual flight. Tho essential facts liave l»ecn demon-* r.raie/J: a machine will ascend and fly for many hour* and combat a gale of winii; ;i rid the rest is a matter of evolution —the improvement unci perfection pi apparatus. TELESCOPIC WIXGS.

•Oao proWoiit ilesiitners must solve concerns the wing-arm of a machine — the spread, that is. u »ay, of its sustaining planes. Ti» raise a heavy load from the earth when u craft is gathering speed a large expand of lifting surface i> Tcfnrircd. IJilt once th© machine is well aloft, with its motors thrusting it ra»it»ly through the air, a yridi' soread '»»f planes is no longer needed. As »!»• surfaces pass more quickly thmutdt »b© air, their lifting pr.~,«r iwiVL'srs. , - , V.'ka: i> tie.-dsd. one* a machine has ifjtehel it> riving height., is a means of reefing »r trlescoping thtr planes. Then, nheti the motors ore developing :heir nrnxir.-itim power, the wing snrta«? iiinv ».- !-et at the minimum needed for sustaining the craft and crew. with a r.-sttk tb»t the highest speed will be attained alttl there will I:© the 3-a!;o?t possible wastage of power. Difficulties present theraselcos in the reeling *-r inducing of surfaces; hut, with craft- of the future, the planes of wfcjeh will l>e <>f metal, there may bo panels mado to i4UU? to and fro, and so give tlif required changes of surface. , i . '- i Another nrohlero i<* that ol wind ores-ure. At high speeds, as those who tar e driven fast in motor-cars will I knew. ifn> sheer resitance of the ajr, to anv object moving through it, may reach" a tiiitorising for.-.;. At a pan©. sav. of '3Vf mites an hour, which a»r--crafß <>r the future should attain, scier.ee in the sltaping ot" hulls wdlbave beeri h wight- to perfection. Smooth sunV-es of metal will be employed;: tee-., will be no projections to catch thv- air: the l.«xiv of the machine will tat-- fi»m how to stern: and m its every litre and carve it will .suggest th,> i.-r:i>e i>f speed- . T! *• .!ev« topment ojf a highspeed airCD':, i- of vast importance to tu© worl I. ;md tor thie reason: the world;* din u: I ;.-* all >"or ouicker transit. Tu-v represents money, ami lias a cr... r«r wi Cue- day by day. 'JHen want w *-ai el faster when they tourney ©n m w.. 1 its. goods more qttiefchr; and tre.--> N a demand always that lb© d- v .!, ,»t mails slicwld be speeded nrj' Y. r. the steamship and t!«e titan, tEc-:-l. thev have rt-tpomh-.] k» oftento tee e-ill" «i«»m to have readied, a £r.r : :,.' --ain .fen a kiwi here or .a ira te there ha.* wvfU»e prefer:. . . . . „ Her, i'e- tiie fnture *>( the «w«rart. Hi-------s.i tvh.-n thev have made their in,u have been restricted to ax- «I- .ea But now they have vehicles r'hnt will carrv the'in through the air: .xv.,) tor the air a* a highway there 13 ;Hs -.idvansago to be rkumed. It «v-.ds im- ami iinohstrwrwd. over the v.-hele of the earth**? snrfaee. Tft© aL-r:.v- wilt need no laying of rails or bcrL- t tunnels: ami paswyngers by tc r,r r I!l:i tti will not—hfce thosa Who trn.' i v .-rain—lw :u*ed to <*ange frcr V. ir -floors .to a steamship when th- i-.rnk of tin; sri i« reached. «y air. . .-luig straight from po«nt to t>:i: "■-!!! the ohstmriions of oitr eaTtnb*ru:d rratlw may be ignored—nsonn-iai.-s, ;'..r e-st>. rivers, or se*?.

TRAFFIC IX THE BLUE. T-—,.:•.- v<ars hence tlie air will be p:<-.!- ti" rraft large and.wnall, »>'- G3>■ ; mid tow: swift pn.HsengW Wach:r. —, in! .slower goodWarryine ©raff; grirr:. rev war macliines, and aero*aai:s. .. uli thonswnds of . pnvately-o*r.-d • rift that irW be driven either for ...;;.», or pleasure. * i; i,v .lav and nigh* along the air-7..v - wi'.i sound tb© dron© at nign-K>-.-d ~; it Daring tb© dhy ttwe, rbrW: kW. pilots will b© guided r»n :r.-:: er>urs© kv gigantic land signs; ar." ir. the evening, as soon as darkf;i'!- there will be flashes of Ilgnt &<■■- rial-cowers ©acb rout© .ana each, r: itin" ground* li©ing gni-he.': V,v a difference in th© . «©- ,iul er.tr.r of th© beams thrown

Th* : .nwnirwr of aeroplanes, in the c*^r.-i:,i.-. Minn* to remove their lant-ta:;-r- Ye>tcrday he was M a r.ink" —an amiable bnt rattle eathr.s'ust. But to-day. remembering tHr-> -\:A twrt that has heen pl*s«» ty air. rafc in the war. he is regarded t« h.-- i,.-rt'tH-tecl. a metal-boil* craft t..U varv iis speed *y on «****- ~wn <-•' n inr-siirface. and » ""^JJjf 1 dspl-cnto .•n-.jriies developing tfcoOTMWS of bsr-o-pow.T. he will proceed! to ifcthe iraSfif of the world.