Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1911-08-26
To PLY THE AIR
Over Land And Sea-0ur Aero
AmphibiOus Fleet Located
AT Annapolis
NAVY'S NEW FLYING ACADEMY
Will Develop WOndrOus New Art OF
FLYING Hydro -Aeronauts To Be
Taught Art of Water Flying
(By John Elfreth Watkins in the
Washington Star, Copyrighted.

(By John Elfreth Watkins in the
Washington Star, Copyrighted.)
In the views showing the full
breadth of the Triad you will notice a
black cylinder depending from the tip
of each bottom wing, and slanting di-
agonally backward toward the water.
While the new hydroplane affords the
Triad its chief buoyancy, these flank
| ing pontoons preserve its equilibrium,
and they are slanted to lessen the
friction against the water. Attached
to the bottom point of each is a little
| hydroplane of wood. about three
inches wide and quarter of an inch
thick. These slender blades merely
skim the water, throwing up foam.
while the Triad is gliding over a
smooth surface. But when there is
some sea on the pontoons PROV deeper
| into the waves. The Triad's front
| elevator"-the central plane at the
| aviator's feet-is lower than in the
Curtiss land machines.
The pontoon machine can fy from
| land, skim the water, and alight upon
the surface, but cannot then raise it
L
glide from the water into the sky as
deftly as she can rise from shore.
AS feature for amusement resorts
the hydro-aeroplane will be popular" 4"
said Captain Chambers. "The Triad
can skim over the water at speed of
| fifty miles an hour without leaving
the surface, and she can make $50
miles without stopping"
That is going some! In other
words, your hydo-aero nautical scout
cold skim from New York to the end
of Long Island Sound in three hours
without taking his hydro plane off
the water, and no vessel in the
world could catch him. Should one
of the fastest motor boats follow
him, he would cut into shoal water
| and either evade his pursuer or send
her ashore. Or, if a hostile boat
| came at him head on, he would simp-
ly rise into the air and pass safely
| over her head. In three hours he
| could also glide down the Delaware
from Trenton to the sea, or from the
easternmost end of Lake Ontario clear
over to Niagara Fills; or, again, from
Cleveland across Lake Erie to De-
troit, and considerably further still.
Can you weather rough water
| skimming that way?" | asked Captain
Chambers.
"Curtiss lately skinned through the
| surf in a two-foot sea-" he replied.
There would be no difficulty about
landing such a machine in any mod
| crate sea, but as yet we would not at
| tempt to rise from very rough water,
| although in a swell we can adapt the
movements of our machine to conform
to the action of the water. Our war
| ships, carrying machines like the
Triad, will find them great conve-
nience for the daily exercise of the
crews while anchored in a smooth har-
Dor. A hydro-aeroplane can be put
into the water as simply as a ships
boat, and the men can be instructed
in flying, just as upon shore"
Can you go as fast in the air with
the hydro-plane attachment as with
out it?'
| The hydro-plane, of course, offers
more resistance and robs the machine
of about five miles per hour. So to
1 SSA up NlS SpSCu we Udu 10
in more powerful motor. But the
hydroplane does not hamper our alti-
| tude lot"
us the hydro-aeroplane as safe as
the simple aeroplane?"
much safer. When you come
down in it on land it is like landing
in feather bed, and while you are
flying over water there is always less
chance of broken neck than when
flying over land.
Three young naval officers have
been trained by Curtiss and the
Wrights to captain the water-beetle
squadron. These are Lieut.. Theodore
G. Ellyson, Virginian; Lieut.. John
Rodgers, of Washington, D. c., and
Ensign John H. Towers, a Georgian,
all of whom are now completing a
course of instruction at the Curtiss
aviation school, Hammondsport, N. Y.
Lieutenant Ellyson is the first avi-
ator in the world tc qualify for a pi-
lots license by making flights over
water, according to the standards es-
tablished by the international Aero
nautical Federation for qualifying
over land. He and his brother hydro
aeronauts will instruct the student
aviators who will be detailed to the
school. These will be young naval
officers who have seen sea service.
(Continued.)