ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA BY AIR IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 134, 8 June 1931, Page 6

ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA BY AIR IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

1 o-Day’s Signed. Article.

New Theory Provides Fantastic Vision of Transport at Extraordinary Speeds. By Lady Drummond Hay. England to Australia by air in twenty-four hours, London to Tokio in twenty hours, London to Cape Town in fifteen hours. Breakfast in Paris, luncheon in New York, taking the difference of time into consideration. Dinner in London one evening, then dinner in Buenos Aires the next day.

'J'HAT is the fantastic vision of air-trans-port of the future, if the theory, experiments and plans of Herr Asmus Hansen, German inventor and designer of the world’s first “ Stratosphere ’plane,” should prove to have practical possibilities. His “ air lanes ” would be from ten to twelve miles above the surface of the earth and the oceans. On his direct route from London to Tokio, for instance, his Stratosphere ’planes would fly more than five miles above the unsealed peak of Mount Everest. A Mystery ’Plane. Herr Hansen’s ideas have so impressed the Notgemeinsohaft der Deutsche Wissenschaft (Emergency Society of German Science) that that body is financing the building of his ’plane. It is now nearing completion in the Aeronautical Research Department of the Junkers Aeroplane Works. It is known as Germany’s “ mystery ’plane.” Shy, modest, reserved, Herr Hansen reluctantly told me something about his theories, and experiments with his ’plane. Though little has been heard of him, he is one of the most experienced and expert altitude pilots in Europe, and has for some 3 r ears been specialising in “ high flying.” As a member of the German Institute of Experimental Aeronautics, where all motors and aircraft in Germany are tested, he is a Government employee, and explained that he could not go into details about his Stratosphere craft because it was being built more or less, under Government supervision. “ Aviation is now twenty-five years old,” said Herr Hansen. “ Much progress has been made in the technical development of the aeroplane for air transport, but economically considered, it has commercially remained an infant, living chiefly on the mother-milk of State subvention. If air transport is ever to become a commercial factor in competition with the fast express trains and ocean greyhounds of today, it will have to be made independent of such subventions. Value of Speed. ** It is my theory and belief that the solution of the economic problems of commercial aviation lies in the air-lanes eight to twelve miles above the earth, the Stratosphere—and is the tremendous speed and greater safety that can be attained in that stormless region. “ It is not yet sufficiently recognised that great flying-speed not only has the advantage of saving time, but increases the meteorological and navigational safety of aircraft. A fast machine is much more independent.of head-winds than is a slow one. The Schneider Trophy race is not merely a sporting event, but is important to the science of aviation as practical lessons in tremendous speed. “ Flying today takes place chiefly in what I might call the * surf zone of the ocean,* the most turbulent region below the cloud basis. Aircraft is, in this air, exposed to all the changes and treachery of weather and storms. Rain clouds extend up to 19,500 feet. Thunder storms sometimes as high as 25,000 feet. In the middle geographical latitudes, the absolute upper edge of the

‘weather zone’ or ‘Troposphere,’ ends between 33,000 and 39,000 feet. Climb above that, and we enter the ‘ Stratosphere,’ a quiet region without any clouds, weather, or storms, and free from everything that could disturb the flying of ’planes built for that region. True, it is cold, very cold. Between 70 degrees and 80 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. At the North and South Poles, it is 25 degrees to 50 degrees warmer in winter than in summer in the Stratosphere, and at the Equator, about the same number of degrees colder in summer than in winter at those heights. Air-Tight Cabin. “ The * lift ’ or carrying capacity of the thin air at that altitude is scarcely onefourth of that on earth, but is offset by the speed that can be attained there. The cabin of such a ’plane must be air-tight, and aside from oxygen for the breathing of pilot and passengers, must have the normal air-pressure that we are used to on the earth. The motor, too, must have a compressor and oxygen. Day up there is almost like night. The sun appears only as a big disc. The stars gleam brightly, and make navigation easy. Should the motor stop we would have a radius of 300 miles in which to glide to a landing-place, or alongside some ship. Above 20,000 feet, * altitude sickness * comes in place of ‘ air-sickness.’ In singular contrast to air-sickness ,the ‘ altitude sick ’ person feels peculiarly well, and does not register that unconsciousness is slowly stealing over him. Air-tight cabins with normal air-pressure, temperature and oxygen, prevent all that. Such a 4 Stratosphere 'plane ’ is an entire complex of problems. It is to solve these that with the assistance of Professor Junkers and German scientists, we are building the first craft of this kind to test out my ideas.” Flying Laboratory. Herr Hansen explained that the first craft would be more of a “ flying laboratory ” than anything else, for study and research in the Stratosphere. “It is designed to reach an altitude of seventeen kilometres (about 55,000 feet),” he added. In appearance, it is very much like the conventional low-wing Junkers 'plane, with a double-walled, air-tight cabin of special materials, and about five inches of space between the walls, floor and roof, and double windows. The glass is said to be the product of long research, till something was found that could stand 100 degrees Fahrenheit below zero on the outside and normal temperature of 60 degrees above, inside, without cracking. Herr Hansen himself will take the controls when with one scientist, he makes the pioneer flights in June. These trials will at first probably be in secret. It is perhaps the most interesting and original experiment in aviation of the year. Herr Hansen frankly admitted to me that Diesel motor and exhaust turbine would be essen-' tial to the success of a fast passenger or mail Stratosphere 'plane which then, he believes, could develop a speed of 500 miles an hour and completely revolutionise long-distance air transport. (Anglo-American N.S.—Copyright.)