The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-12-30
DIFFICULT TO STEER
Dirigihle Balloon Hard to Manage
at Night-No Landmarks.
Count Zeppelin Said to Have Lost
Five Hours on His Celebrated
Flight to Berlin for Lack of
Means of Navigation.

pups WAtA SPCSIca1 1 u 81 CuCG 10 the dp-
preaching Parig-London voyage of the
monster Glement-Bayard, now almost
ready for her trials in France.
"The most obvious way of navigat-
ing is to hold a map in hand and to
keep track of ones position from mo-
ment to moment. This is, you can I'M
derstand, very firing. But IL for any
reason you lose your position you are
In bad case. You see below you a
network of roads and houses, limit
less expanse Of fields, looking almost
exactly alike. Unless you happen to
know the country well or come across
some big place which can be recog-
nized, you really have little chance Of
nxsng your position again.
You can't think how different a
landscape looks from above. The OBJ
1ects which were prominent SO long as
you were on the ground seem to have
disappeared. You sail over a high
tower and fail to see it at all. As you
look down on 1t, it appears merely a
the top of 1t, of course.
I'm the darkness the difficulty Is in
creased. Count Zeppelin, during the
voyage which ended UP in pear tree
at Bitterfeld, when he was desperately
anxious to reach Berlin at the appoint
ed time, is credibly reputed to have
spent five hours Of the night eircling
round and round. He had lost his po-
sition. He did not know where he
was.
IF he had stopped his engine, he
would either have come down or else
the balloon would have risen and he
would have lost gas. He was afraid
to steer any course lest it should be
the wrong one. He was obliged, there
fore, to mark time until daylight, He
lost Ave hours for lack of good
means Of navigation"
Naturally It occurred to a CORE
spondent TO make Inquiries as to
whether there was any chance of such
delay Detailing the Clement ayard.
She Is to start from Paris at night
with view to reaching the garage at
Wormwood Scrubs next morning.
What if she lost her position and had
to circle about in the north of France
awaiting the late winter dawn?
Let it be said at once that there is
no fear Of the occurrence of any such
mishap. 1t will be guarded against by
the use Of special compasses, made by
Mesrs, Kelvin and White, who make
all the compasses for the British navy.
With these very accurate bearings can
be taken and, in addition, the angle of
any object below the horizontal can be
noted.
Suppose that the pilot of the Glenn.
ent-Bayard should lose his position. 1t
may be assured that he would know
it within ten miles. Very well: he
would choose some conspicuous light,
take bearing of it, and fix it's dis
lance by knowing the angle of .depres-
sion and the height of the airship.
After steering an accurately known
course for a. few minutes he would re-
peat his observations with the same
light. The line joining these two po-
sltions which he has just fixed would
give him his right course and his
speed. Then he would, go ahead in
the direction of his destination. He
might be any distance up to ten miles
off his true route, but this margin of
doubt would not. be increased.
The object of the airship when IL
leaves Paris will be to strike the
French coast. If it does that within
twenty miles either side of Treport.
all will be plain sailing. At what dis
tanee inland the coast lights will be
useful has not yet been ascertained,
Inquiries are now being made. But as
soon as the coast is reached the lights
will enable the channel to be crossed
without difficulty.
1t is when the channel lights come
In full view that the navigation will be
taken over from NJ. Clement by Lieut..
Osborne, r. NJ, the officer who is SUI
perintendfng the construction at Bar.
row of the first rigid naval airship for
Great Britain.
In front of him upon the pilots
bridge will be q number Of instru-
ments. There are two pressure
gauges for the gas bag and two for
the balloon containing air There is
an aneroid barometer, which registers
hot ch4 ic
cate apparatus called the statoscope.
which shows instantly whether the
airship is going up or down.
Then there is a sextant, which meas
ures the angle of the sun or star above
he horizon or above an artificial hort
zon, and there may be also a perfect
compass which will enable the down
ward angle of its needle to be read ac-
curately, SO that the exact latitude can
be obtained.
Compass needles, If left to them
selves, viii always point downward in
a northerly direction. The angle at
which they point downward CORE
spends to the latitude, but it is only
just row that accurate readings of this
angle are becoming possible. This
will, of course, be a great aid to aero
nautss If they know their latitude and
longitude they know where they are
A constant exact knowledge of lati.
sude would at any rate be half way to
perfection. Navigation OF the air
would become far easier than it is at
present.
Funded Faith.
Mrs. Brooke Have you any faith