AEROPLANES OF THE FUTURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 26, 15 September 1911, Page 3

AEROPLANES OF THE FUTURE.

CRAFT TO CARRY -1000 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. INTERVIEW WITH MR. G R A H AME- WHITE. There is probably, save the King and members of the Royal Family, no more widely photographed an individual than Mr Claude Graliame-White, the famous aviator, says a London lady correspondent. Those who take any interest in Hying will know him as a tall well-developed young man, dark, clean-shaven, .and looking, in his air rig-out, rather like a jockey, since ho often favours, as they say in men’s fashion-articles, clothes" of check .tweed. ; < ; • ’The writer ,i$ ,an associate of the Women’s Aeriqj League, aud : while waiting a lew evenings ago in the living grounds at Hciuion for a high wind to subside and allow a flight‘in a trim 117 milos-an-honr biplane, bad an opportunity of asking Mr Grahamo White , his ideas and ideals concerning the. aeroplane of the future. The wind, it may s be roimiricecl, remained obstinately ooisterous or this article might never have been written. On the other hand, it might have been much more interesting than I can make it now. “Flying, you think, will ho a regular method of travel in the future I asked the young expert. “Oil, without a doubt,” he replied. “In another twenty years’ time I shall he surprised if-we'don’t have air vessels capable of carrying four thousand passengers (lying over the Atlantic. “Of course,/ there nil! be endless, alterations and Mimproveilicntts made in all sorts iof; flying craft before then. “1 predict tlprt jthe aeroplane of the future will be a very different style of machine from' tila't of 'to-day.' It will probably have only ’■ tiiiv wings, -will be made of i steel, and i will be a much heavier ,concern altogether. Wings such as these,” lie pointed to the biplane beside us with wings some thir- j ty-four feet long “will become ouite i obsolete.” I" | “What '.u'liout speed.Pß« 1 queried. “Will that" mere ise?” Two Hundred Miles an Hour.

The aviator 'smiled. l '-“Oh,‘ certainly, yes; 1 think witliin a short time we shall he able to travel at 150 to 200 miles an hour without any difficulty.

“The improvement needed most urgently, and the one that 'will lessen the danger of many of the accidents that now befall airmen concerns the wings. We are still far removed from the ideal in those, and the fact that a flying man must assume high speed directly ho starts,, and descend at that same high speed is a t'.i 'g that badly vfants' remedying if r.-ly some one could do it. “We want wiiigs J on the principle of birds, that will •vMpand and co. vract so that we can, ivgrJattv anr .r: red as wo want it.” . • Here, to make amends for a nig .t that undoubtedly would not come off that day, Mr. Grahamc Waite had a baby biplane wheeled fvovn the acrodomo out into .the ,fi: Id. and there kindly gave a demonstration of how such a'machine is worked.

it was • bust ‘'firmly secured with , ;p:r, to sturdy posts, and, after the long aviator had ;ql inhered into his seat, and disappeared from view in the body’ - of his “Idl'd,” some nine men stood near ready to hang on ■grimly when the order was given. FSight Demonstrated.

■.. The tail -was first elevated and the working Af the blades of the great' propeller,.shown, a demonstration that speedily gave one an idea of the damage possible if such an affair ran 1 hthbkl With the'-’raising of the back ibfuthe biplane tlid 7 \Vings in front lay Iq-.Vj and Mr. Grahamo White’s head came into view.,; (It was then easily seen why aviators are not attacked with giddiness. 1 ' Tlie great wings spread out in front make an effectual platform, and only beyond that can what is below be; viewed.

“It’s a totally different sensation from looking down, a sheer cliff or ay stoop wallj 7, 3VL\ Grahamo White said in acknowledging;-t|iat both those experiences made him giddy instantly. “Once you begin to rise you lose the idea of exact distance, and whether an object is 90,i9Qp, .or" 9000 feet below/ you would make’little difference when you wore flying. _ - “All flying men love flying high, and dread hugging the ground for the same reason that the sailor dislikes getting too near shore. Yon know the mariner’s saying: ‘There are no rocks at sea.’ ”

Now, with an injunction to the. mechanicians: “Field tight ami -don't let go,” the motors were set in motion, and for five minutes the onlookers might have been in a hurricane, such was the result. The nine men hung on for dear life,'the muscles on their arms 'and hands standing out stiffly after half “a minute’s-experi-ence, their hair qh Tend like grass, with the draught. 1 ventured into lino with the'front of' the'machine,< and was instantly nearly ■, knocked down with the fordo qf thcriahv A short conversation; on risks followed, in which'Mr. Grahamo White gave it as ‘his opinion’that, some of the conditions, attached to largo prizes offered to’-hirnicn’ recently are nothing short'of qrimihal. ‘Then,.as we said good-bye,' :;i Mr‘. ! ''Graharne! White, in reply to a query, shook his, head decisively. v' ■ ■ ' ''' Vi “I assure you 'We “do,, not: fly for pleasure,” ho said. u!