Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours

of Transatl

year passed without bringing to light any immediate prospect of an air service between Eur

rents, the establishment of directional wireless stations, research after improvements in the available material. All this requires the spen

gnored for long. Prediction is ever dangerous; and, meantime, I am confining myself to a discussion of what can be done wi

de the first non-stop air journey over the Atlantic was an a?roplane only emphasizes my belief that for long flights above the ocean the dirigible is the only useful vehicle. If science discovers some startlingly new motive power-for example, intermolecula

hich is approximately the largest heavier-than-air craft that at present might be constructed and effectively handled-from remaining aloft in still air for longer than twenty-five hours, carrying a load of passengers and mails of about five tons at an air speed of, say, eighty-five miles an hour. Its maximum air

smallest margin of safety no transatlantic route of over two thousand miles is admissible for a?roplanes. This limitation would necessitate time-losing and wearisome journeys between London and Ireland

erned with landing grounds and sheds; for the percentage of useful lift increases with the bulk of the vessel, while the weight to p

asily provide first-rate living, sleeping and dining quarters, besides room for the passengers to take exercise by walking along the length of the inside keel, or on the she

with the possibility of total loss on a rough sea, even though the craft be a solid flying boat. In the case of an airship the only result of the failure of any of the motors is reduction of speed. Moreover, a speed of four-fifths of the maximum can still be maintained with half the motors of an airship out

uld be reduced by the fact that an a?roplane must land at intermediate stations for fuel replenishment. Any slight advantage in speed that such heavier-than-air craft possess will disappear with the future production of larger types of dirigible, capable of cruising speeds

ust be very approximate; but I put faith in the carefully prepared calculations of experts of my acquaintance. These go to show that, with the equipment likely to be available du

rs

e[1] A

vic

red $13,000,0

nger

ew York

er pas

ts 18

per

rk 6-1/4 cent

e are based on detailed calculation

al Ch

00 cu. ft. capacity, at

ds at $1,500,000 each

heds and a?rod

plants, and e

luding spare parts,

equipme

ous access

al required

, interest at

ion and I

shi

fe, about

e, about $100

per ship, $1,900,

n per annum for four ship

hip

ual charg

ops an

n at 5% per

arge for deprec

ce charges on airshi

ablishment

f Officers

commande

p office

rew hands (64)

30

of Esta

t and Sta

rs, etc. (50 at each shed-

stablishment e

and Main

t, annual char

verhaul of ai

harge $

arges on above

$5,0

geable pe

of crossings per year

nual charges per

, 30 tons at $1

2 tons at $2

0 cu. ft. at $2.50 pe

p for crew of 19 and

crossing (London-

carrying of one hundred and forty passengers and effects, or ten tons of mails and fifty passengers. To cover the working co

ic liners. Without a doubt, with the coming of cheaper fuel, lower insurance rates and larger air

ails is 2.1 tons. If such a craft were to carry the same weekly load as the service of airships-thirty tons each way-it would be necessary to have fourteen machines continually in

al Ch

s at $600,00

sheds at $50,

4 a?rodro

and equipm

rts, etc

equipme

al required

at 10% inter

ion and I

opl

ay 3 years, as

chine. Average total depreciation p

lane

nual cha

ops an

n at 3% per

arge for deprec

e charges on machiner

ablishment

ilots at $3,000

gineers at $2,000

tewards at $1,50

of esta

t and sta

storekeepers, etc

stablishment e

and Main

t, annual char

verhaul to ma

l. $

arges on above

geable pe

nual charges per

rip, 28 tons at $

2 tons at $2

p for 29 passengers

1,

e direct running cost is 38%, and the

twenty passengers might be carried. To cover the working costs and interest t

a can be little more substantial than guesswork. The British dirigible R-34, which last year made the famous pioneer voyage between England and the United States, is too small for commercial purposes, with its disposable lift of twenty-nine tons an

c feet capacity, similar to those that serve as the basis of the estimates for a service between London and New York. A combination of British interests is planning to send ships of this

D TWINKLETOE

LIGHT ENDED WITH A

, crew, passengers and freight) is sixty-eight tons. The maximum engine power is thirty-five hundred h. p., the maximum speed seventy-five miles an hour. The normal flying speed, using a cruising power of two thousand h. p., is sixty miles an hour. The overall length is eight hundred feet, the maximum diameter and width one hundred feet, and the overall hei

mercial purposes is that the living quarters are in cars slung from under the middle envelope. In this position they are necessarily rather cramped. In the proposed craft of three million, five hundred thousand cubic feet capacity the passe

e of a Pullman car. Around it are windows, allowing for daylight and for an outl

rical cooking apparatus. Electrical power is provided by dynamos driven off the main engines. Current for

ted on ocean-going steamers. With them are the usual bathrooms and offices. Other conveniences are an open shelter deck at the vessel's aft end, to enable pa

and gas-proof. Moreover, the amount of weight involved by the passengers' section is so small, compared with the weight of the machinery, fuel, cargo an

ompartment, containing the main controls, navigation instruments, charts, and a cabin for the

al specific

the limitations of constructional requirements. An internal keel corridor, running

es the longest possible life. This fabric is as efficient as possible in insulatin

bber-proofed cotton fabric, lined with gold-beaters' skins. Gasbags will

he aft end. These compartments give the mechanics easy access to each of the six engines, and allow them to handle all parts of the

ust heat. The transmission gear in two of the wing cars is to be fitted with reversing gear, so that the craft may be driven astern. So that passengers shall not be wo

they can be run alternatively on hydrogen gas. They are designed

ommunication links all

nderneath the Forward Control Compartment and underneath the two Aft Machinery

e fitted in the wireless cabin in the forward control compartment. It wi

ands. Each watch consists of navigating officer, steersman, elevator man, four engineers and a wireless operator. With

ugh storm areas or against strong head winds. By the Azores route, the time needed for the journey of thirty-six hundred miles, at a speed of sixty miles per hour, is sixty hours; but to allow for delays owing to adverse weather, the airship would always carry eighty hours' fuel, allowing for a speed

journey, but is unfavorable to the Westbound journey. It is proposed that the crossing Eastward from

the higher latitudes are absent, and only light winds are encountered, generally of a favorable direction. This route, however, adds about six hundred miles to the distance. With a ship speed of sixty miles per hour, it would be quicker to make t

s for overhaul and re-fit. As the time of journey between London and New York will vary between fifty to sixty hours, each airship can e

table might there

don Arriv

g Wednesday aft

Saturday afte

York Arr

rnoon Thurs

orning Sun

maintained. Until further study of weather conditions supplies a certain knowledge of the best possible altitudes and latitudes, it is likely that a regular service of two crossings each

that is rainproof and non-absorbent avoids the absorption of water and the consequent increase of weight. Hail and snow cannot adhere to the surface of the craft when in fligh

if the mistiness were slight, it could remain in the air until the ground were visible, making use of its margin of fuel beyond the amount necessary for the London-New York flight. Airships in fog may be enable

ed by a short deviation from the usual route. Atlantic records indicate that on the main steamship

to avoid the storm belt. Heavy storms, which are usually of a cyclonic nature, rarely cover an area of more than two hundred miles diameter. Moreover, the rate of progression of a cyclonic area is much less than the

to shorten air journeys. There are at sea level, between certain clearly defined latitudes, prevailing winds of constant direction. At great

inds in higher levels of the atmosphere. Observations of the air currents over various localities in the United States, England and Germany have been taken, but very little is known of the winds above the great

gators, the duration of the journey could be considerably shortened, even if this meant taking an indirect route. It is undesirable to fly at great h

of the Atlantic atmospheric drifts. Reliable charts, used in conjunction with directional messages from wireless stations and ships, may make it possible for vessels on the Lond

the airship's stability during a flight, minimize the danger of a breakdown from loss of power. The only remaining obstacle to reasonable safety would seem t

a tall steel mast or tower, about one hundred and fifty feet in height, with a revolving head to which the craft is rigidly attached by the nose, permitting it to ride cl

assengers reach their quarters along a passage through the vessel, and the goods are taken down a runway. An airship moored to th

isbon and Sierra Leone. Already in London tickets are on sale at $5,000 apiece for the first flight from London to Rio. This, of course, is a freak price, which covers the distinction of being in the first airsh

important details from what I have indicated. I make no pretense at prophecy, but have merely tried to show how, with the means already at hand, moderately priced air journeys from Europe to America can be made in two to two and a half days, with comfort, safety and a high degree of reliability. Meanwhile, much d

t distances-the carriage of mails, passengers, valuable freight and urgent special journeys. When, but not until, the hundreds become thousa

s capacity of 3,500,000 cubic

es with total