The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1913-02-01

very remarkable rate Friends of NINE" he
said. who are experts the scientific aspects
of armanship predict that eventually speeds OF
200 miles and 800 miles an hour will be possible.
At this, ones imagination is apt to reel but
this much is certain: II the flying machine is
to become of real Importance and not remain
always sporting toy it must be speedier than
any method of transit on land"
Perhaps he is convinced that his new four
motor arrangement will give him 100 miles con-
tnuously. He must have that to make his jour
ney in the time he has set- Jules vedrines has
flown at the rate of tride better than los miles
an hour and George Fourny holds record OF
fifteen hours of continuous fight. Nothing like
a union of the two records has yet been known
and II Grahame-White succeeds according to bis
promise he will have approached one and bet
tered the other.
It may seem strange, but to the aviator the
matter of swiftness is secondary consideration
in the problem To him the lifting power Is the
thing that counts. One prominent aviator figured
the other day that on such trip as Graname
White plans he would under known conditions
have to carry fuel amounting In weight 70 more
than 1000 pounds
It is estimated that an average aeroplane mo-
tor with q speed capacity Of sixty miles an hour
will use on an average i've gallons OF gasoline
an hour and one gallon Of lubricating OIL Both
these weigh approximately six pounds gallon.
Grahame-White is to have four motors and stay
figuring.
The main dificulty, then. will be in producing
an aeroplane which has the power to make
tremendous lift without materially reducing its
speed 1t is generally conceded that the type OF
airship used will be necessarily biplane as the
dainty monoplane is not weight carrier. Even
the biplane has not yet shown power of moving
the tremendous weight which 1t is estimated the
cross-seas adventurer must carry
In France there is q record of machine OF
<1xr.e md
That however, mere hop and not sus-
tanned flight. At best only 1850 pounds of human
freight was thus carried. IL each person is al
lowed $50 pounds.
Whatever improvements Grahame-White may
have in his new machine it is certain that he
must have unusual lifting power even If he has
discovered means of cutting his Oil ana
gasoline requirements. He will have to have a
tremendous drive to overcome the drag OF the
weight In his storage tanks
To achieve what he has set out to do he viii
have to secure machine Of type superior to
anything that has been so far seen In motor
equipment in strength, steadiness and speed.
His motors will have to better the continuous
fight record by half equal the speed record and
beat the lifting record by long odds.
Granted however that he viii have at his
command a machine equal to all emergencies ne
will still have the ocean to cross. That In the
estimation of the aviator is the least of his trou
bles. Philip w. Page. aviator. expert IN the man
agement OF hydroplanes and one of the foremost
crosswater flyers. expressed the views OF many
Of HIS fellow-armen in discussing this phase OIL
the proposed fight the other afternoon.
"Of course" he said there is possibility OF
making a flight from continent to continent
Such a fight, however. presupposes an aeroplane
theoretically perfect for the purpose With such
machine the journey would be by no means az
terrifying a. most people imagine. If the aviator
were sure of staying In the air and making the
required speed, the rest under normal condi
lions would be one Of the simplest kinds OF nyint
f--straightaway over an unimpeded course
Contrary to the general belief. he would have
conditions better than those on land The winds
in the summer should be steady and never yer,
strong He would encounter buildings. treei
or abrupt changes in the face Of the country t.
split his air currents. Almost any aviator viii
tell you that he prefers a forty-mile steady to
afteen-mile puffy wind
The air-hole theory has come to be goo'
deal of myth. but there still TROUBLESOME
up and down trends of the atmosphere whicl
lend no little dificulty to land flying. These ar
caused in q large measure from sudden obstrue
ton to air currents and from radiation
The atmosphere over the ocean is not sui
fect to these distractions nor is 1t affected b