The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-01-06
Olrigible Balloon Hard to Manage
at Nlght-No Landmarks.
Count Zeppelin Said to Have Lost
five Hours on His Celebrated
Flight to Berlin for Lack of
Means Of Navigation.


London.-"No one who has not been
at great height in balloon can have
any idea of the difficulty of steering
a dirigible toward any given point"
So said an experienced pilot of air
ships with special reference to the APP
preaching Paris-London voyage of the
monster Clement-Bayard. now almost
ready for her trials In France.
THE most obvious way OF navigat-
Ing is to hold map in hand and to
keep track of ones position from mo-
ment to moment. This is, you can UNI
derstand, very firing. But If for any
reason you lose your position you are
In 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 to
KNOW the country well or come across
some big place which can be recog
nized, you really have little chance of
liking your position again.
You can't think how different a
landscape looks from above. The OBJ
Iects 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 it, it appears merely
dot In the ground. You can only see
the top of it, of course
In the darkness the difficulty is in
creased, Count Zeppelin, during the
cd to-
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 circling
round and round. He had lost his DO.
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 five hours for lack of good
means of navigation"
Naturally 1t occurred to CORE
spondent to make inquiries as to
there was any chance of such
delay Detailing the Clement Bayard
She is to start from Paris at night
with a view to reaching the garage at
Norwood 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 1t 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 |
al the compasses for the British navy.
With these very accurate bearings can |
be taken and in addition, the angle OF |
my object below the horizontal can be |
noted.
suppose that the pilot of the Glenn
,nt-Bayard should lose his position. Ii !
nay be assured that he would know
t within ten miles. Very well; he
would choose some conspicuous light,
AXE a bearing of it, and fix its dis
ance by knowing the angle of depres-
lion and the height OF the airship.
After steering an accurately known
course for few minutes he would re,
,eat his observations with the same
light. The line joining these two DO.
itions which he has just fixed would
give him his right course and his
peed. Then he would go ahead in
he direction of his destination. He
right be any distance up to ten miles
If his true route. but this margin of
oubt would not be increased,
The object of the airship when it
caves Paris will be to strike the
'rench coast If 1t does that within
wenty miles either side of Treport,
II will be plain sailing At what dis.
ance inland the coast lights will be
seful has not yet been ascertained
Inquiries are now being made. But as
Don as the coast is reached the lights
'ill enable the channel to be crossed
,ithout difficulty.
It is when the channel lights come
n full view that the navigation will be
aiken over from M Clement By Lieut..
Osborne Il. NJ. the officer who is su-