The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-08-26
HONOLULU MAN
TO MAKE FLIGHT
Melvin Vaniman Plans to Cross
the Atlantic in Big
Dirigible.


Vaniman, who was at one time a pho
tographer in Honolulu. lie came here
about ten years ago and made some pic
lures which gave Honolulu worldwide
publicity. He was the first to obtain
n great panorama picture of Honolulu
harbor, the city and the mountain back
ground. This was taken from the
masthead of sailing ship moored in
Naval Row, near where the present
quarantine wharf is located. This pic
ture was sent to hotels all over the
world and was practically the first pic
ture to be used for promotion purposes.
The New York Times of July 81, has
the following concerning Mr.. Vani-
mans plans:
Prominent among the passengers on
the Touraine last week was Melvin
Vaniman, the constructor and engineer
of the airship America, on which he
hopes in three weeks or so to be sailing
back to Europe.
Ten years havu passed since Mr..
Vaniman last saw New York. He was
once an actor. Under the name of Mel
win, he appeared in "A An Enemy to the
King" with +. II. Sothern. Now he
is Walter Wellman's partner in the
! America enterprise.
Had things gone right, the America
would have been shipped on the Tour
aine. But the case containing the
envelope was too large, and was there.
fore shipped on the Oceanic.
''I think" said Mr.. Vaniman, eve
have at least chance, and fair
chance, of reaching Europe. According
to the observations of the United States
| Weather Bureau. the winds on the At
lantic during August are, as n rule,
westerly, with but few storms, and
those parallel to the course we intend
to take. The advantage from the wind
should be ten to twelve miles an hour,
and even if the airship we're allowed to
drift it should reach Europe in twelve
days.
Expects to Cross in Four Days.
"But with the force we can command
we should make thirty miles an hour
or even, at intervals, as many as fifty.
This should take us across the ocean in
four days, or Mt most six.
"The danger will be infinitely less
than that which we encountered in the
Arctic regions. We shall be constantly
within reach of passing steamers by
wireless while, even if we have to take
to the water, thanks to our lifeboat,
which is practically unsuitable, we shall
incur no very serious risk.
cone of the troubles which we had
to overcome was the non-existence of
a seXtant, which could be used for TAX
ing accurate aerial observations. /
think ] have now invented an instru-
ment which will serve our purposes.
"With the exception of the Zeppelins,
the America is the largest dirigible yet
constructed. And it has the advantage
of being able to lift probably twice as
much not weight as the Zeppelins,
volume. The America, with 10000
cubic meters of hydrogen, is powerful
enough to lift six tons.
Chief Difficulty of Airships.
"The chief difficulty against which
airships have to contend is the effect
which changes of temperature have
upon the lifting power of the gas. To
cross the Atlantic the airship should
have the smallest possible supply of gas
compatible with the lifting power suf.
icicnt to carry the necessary fuel. with
the crew and equipment, for a journey
of 5000 miles,
Mr.. Yaniman does not share the wide.
spread belief that Germany has outdone
all competitors in airship construction.
'In Germany" he said, "they have
three types which have had consider.
able success, The rigid system, of
which the Zeppelin is the principal type,
has not been copied by any non German
country or airship constructor in Eu.
rope. The cost is about four times as
great as with other systems, and in
ease of forced landing, where the
airship is not able to find shelter, the
complete destruction of the rigid dirigi.
BILE is practically certain.
Other Types of Airships.
"The nOn.rigid airship, of which the
Parseyal is the German type, has not
proved itself superior to any other type.
"The semi-rigid type, of which the
Gross is the German type, is a copy of
the French semi-rigid airship, of which
the Lebaudy is the type adopted by the
French military engineers. This type
has been studied and copied in Russia,
Germany and England, but IL has not
yet been improved
"The aeroplane is being rapidly per-
fected because it is in the hands of
thousands of capable and trained engi.
neers and inventors, and because the
cost of trial of new type or some
new idea is bagatelle compared with
the cost of single trial of an arship.
1.-THE America, in which we hope to
cross the Atlantic, is of the semi,rigid
type, but differs from the French air.
ships in many essential features. It
was built TO work over ice fields or seas
and not over land, and for distance
rather than speed, IT was so construct.
ed that II could be easily taken to
pieces and transported.
1--WE copied or adopted IDEAS from
any system and anybody that would aid