The Detroit times., 1909-12-14
HARD To STEER
O|R|G|BLE At NIGHT
You See Below a Network Of Roads
and Houses and 1t Is Difficult
To Fix Position.

LONDON, Dec IL" No one who mas
not been AT a great height in a bal
loon can have any idea OF the diff
Guilty of steering a dirigible toward
any given point %
So said an experienced pilot az air
ships with special reference 10 the ap
preaching ParisLondOn voyage of the
monster Clement Bayard. now almost
ready for her trials in France.
The most obvious way OF navigat-
ng Is TO hold "A map i'm hand and To
keep track of ones position from mo
ment to moment This is, YOU can nm
dcrstand, very firing. But if for any
reason YOU lose your position YOU are
IL a bad case. You see below you "A
network OF roads and houses a limit
less eXpanse Of fields, looking almost
exactly alike. Unless you happen 10
know the country we'll or come across
some big place which can be recognize
ed, YOU really have little chance OF
fixing your position again
You can't think how different a
landscape looks from above The CD
iects which were prominent SO lona
as you were on the ground seem T.
nav Nl9b l'.eti W. WI san hNtl Al
high tower and fail TO see il AT all
As you look down on il, it appears
merely a dot in the ground. You can
only see the top OF it, OF course
How Zeppelin Lost Time
In the darkness tho difficulty is
increased Count Zeppelin. during
the voyage which ended mp in a pear
tree at Bittcrfeld when he was des-
peratcly anxious 10 reach Berlin 1T
the appointed time, is credibly reput-
ed TO have spent five hours Of the
night circling round and round lie
had lost his position lie did not
know where he was
III 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
10 steer any course lest it should be
the wrong one He was obliged. there
fore to mark time until daylight. Tic
lost five hours for lack of good
means Of navigation
Naturally it occurred TO CORES
pundcnt To make Inquiries as Ia
whether there was any chance of such
q delay Detailing the Clement Bayard
She is 20 start from Paris at night,
with view To reaching the garage
al Norwood Scrubs next morning
What ii she lost her position and had
60 circle about i'm the north of France
awaiting the late winter dawn?
viii Have Special Compasses.
Let it be said at once that there Is
no fear OF the occurrence OF any such
mishap II will be guarded against
10y the use of special cumpasses. made
Ivy Messrs Kelvin and White. Who
make all the Cumpasscs for the Brit
iSu navy With these very accurate
bearings can bc taken. and. in addi
ton, the anglo of any object below
the horizontal can be noted
suppose that the pilot of tho Clcu-
Bayarl should lcSe his position
% may bc assured that nc would
know it within 80 miles Very we'll:
ne would choose some conspicuous
light take bearing OF II. and HN It's
distance by Know ing the angle ul de-
preston aud the height OF the lu.
shin
After steering an accurately known
course FOR a few minutes hc would
repeat his observations with The same
iignt The line joining these two po
stions which he has Just fixed would
give him his right course anu his speed
= hon ne would 90 ahead in the direc.
ton OF his destination tie might be-
any distance up to 10 miles OF his
true route, but this margin of doubt
should not be- increased