THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 1913. THE PROGRESS OF AVIATION.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13808, 23 August 1913, Page 4

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 1913. THE PROGRESS OF AVIATION.

A. rewatd exceeding in value'any of the rich prizes which have yet fallen to daring airmen for remarkable feats of mechanical flight, awaits the intrepid individual who shall be the first to cross the Atlantic in mid-air. An English aviator is understood to contemplate th© attempt at an early date, and though his plans do not appeal to some practical men as offering a reasonable assurance of success, necessitating a descent on a shipj midway across to replenish the fuel tanks, the remarkable flights which have been made recently in various parts of Europe seem to negative the idea that a trans-Atlantic flight will long remain beyond the range of possibility. A nonstop flight of such length is not, howover, within the powers of any aeroplane at present known to.airmen, but it i$ obvious that development is yet not much more than past the initial stage. According to an expert who discusses .in tho "Manchester Guardian" the question of a flight across the Atlantic in the light of present conditions, practical aeroplanes as a rule require one horse-power for every 201b to 301b of total flying weight. Indeed, none of the pianos in last year's military competition reached 301b, and the army aeroplanes exhibited at Olympia in February, only carried about 221b per effective horse-power. Now the consumption pf petrol is probably not i less than 0.6 per h.p. hour. Assuming that half the aeroplane weight is petrol, the limit of endurance weuld bo 8 hours: At the speed of this aeroplane, 70 miles per hour, the range would then be about 1260 miles, which would not suffice to cross the Atlantic, which measures about 1700 miles between Ireland and Newfoundland. Those- figures do not dispose of the Atlantic flight, but they lead us to tho conclusion that existing aeroplanes aro not capable of it. Wo know from experience, experiment, and theory that .the weight supported per Horsepower depends on the speed of flight. According to particulars published in "Engineering," a modorn aeroplane required 70 horse-power at 75 miles per hour, 30 horse power at 55 miles, and 25 horse-power at.so miles. On this basis the total weight becomes about 601b per horse-power at 50 miles per hour, and if specially designed for a slow speed even this figure might be improved upon. But we must not overlook the fact that nothing so good is yet available. The Maurice Farman biplane submitted at the military competition last year weighed only 271b per horse-power at its fastest speed at 55.2 miles per hour. The Bleriot monol piano at 60.8 milos an hour weighed only 291b per horse-povjjer. Experiments by Mr A. P. Thurston gave a maximum lifting power of 2601b per nei horse-power at 35 miles per hour, but this included no allowance for the inefficiency of tho propeller or for the necessary loss of the non-plane portion of a flying machine, the experiments in question being on a simple curved wing. Making due allowances, the lifting power woxild drop to about 601b, and even this falls away at higher or lower speeds very rapidly. The evidence does, however, point very strongly towards a machine specially designed for a speed of about 45 or 50 miles per hour having the longest range. Unfortunately, a slow machine necessarily has a large wing area, and is therefore very heavy per horsepower. Moreover, a flight across tho Atlantic at 50 miles per.,, houjj would occupy^ 34 hours, ''without any margin for contingencies. Clearly the aeroplane must carry at least two men, and preferably three, and it is essential that they should possess a certain amount of freedom to move about... Freedom to move involves a shifting centre of gravity, and in order to maintain stability it may bo necessary to carry the airship body or car between lore and aft planes (preferably not in pure tandem) set well apart. This, and indeed tho mere fact of bigness will tend to .send up '.the-weight in prorporiioa -to plane -area. iPre^ent-day. carry from three Ho nine pounds per square.foot of wing area, the Jaigli ■ values corresponding to high speeds, although some which can fly as slowly as 50 miles per hour carry about fire or six pounds per square foot. The net weight (present practice) is, then, about three to four pounds per square foot, this including the motor, but not fuel or pilot. Making an allowance for the lighter motor of the slower piano, the best difference between- the net and loaded" weights does exceed three pounds per square foot. The position, then, is that there appears a possibility of carrying 601b per horse-power on say, not less than 10 square feet of wingfjarea. Of 1 this weight 301b per horse-power is available for the crew, stores, food, and fuel. Probably 51b will be required by the three first, leaving 251b per horse-power for fuel. With such a machine the Atlanticshould bo crossed—from west to east to secure favouring winds—in about 34 hours without a stop