The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-15

l Pidht must bt pldtlitdllN uHSlHhdDlt
| and able to ride a heavy sea
our pilots must be safeguarded IN
every way possible so that no unnec-
/ essary risks are taken We must no,
only construct Il machine that will fly
safely with her two pilots and suf-
| fcient fuel and supplies for the en-
] tire trip, but in case of damage which
would disable her as a flying machine
and which could not be repaired while
resting ON the water, we must be able
to cut loose and throw overheard all
| useless material, such as wings, aero
| motor propeller, etc, converting the
machine into "A motor driven life boat
Lifting Surface Necessary
We must build machine with the
greatest amount of lifting surface, the
least amount Of head resistance, and so
strongly wired and braced that there
will be no chance of anything going
wrong while in flight Then. most i'm
portant of all, we must provide a motor
of ample power to drive the machine
at full speed for the entire trip. / be-
lieve there would be nothing expert
mental in building such machine or
i'c'Ci 'oboss anu DdSe my Judgment
solely upon actual development to
date.
Mr.. Curtiss has agreed to build such
machine under conditions to be named
by him, and l have no doubt there are
other experienced and responsible aero
plane manufacturers who would under
take such contract under reasonable
conditions.
l would advocate for this purpose the
lnitI,1 ht,alo FOL
OF dying boat as most nearly fulfilling
our requirements. In this type of aero
plane we have. if properly designed and
built, highly efficient. rigid and COM
pact machine with maximum of lifting
surface and a minimum of head resist
ance inherently stable.
There is nothing new or experimental
about this type of machine as it was first
proposed by the late Prof. Langley long
before human flight had become an estab-
lished fact, and has since been highly in
dorsed by NJ Eiffel of Paris after series
of long and conclusive experiments.
or equal Importance to the flying ma
chine is the pilot or pilots who will guide
her. Once we have built a machine that
will fly safely across the Atlantic the
success or failure of the venture will de-
pend entirely upon the skill, training. in
genuity. endurance and bulldog stick of
our pilots.
We should have two pilots, because it
would be impossible for one man to stand
the continuous nervous and physical strain
of such trip Both men should be
thoroughly trained and experienced navi-
gators and air pilots. able to lay out their
course as an experienced navigator would
lay the course of his vessel. They must
have unlimited nerve, tempered by good
judgment, and determination to succeed
that would never admit defeat
The machine should be fitted with dual
control, which can be shifted to either
pilot instantly on signal. In case of DAM
age machine can be brought to the water
and run as a motor boat or allowed to
float while repairs are being made.
Rules for Flight
The Aero Club Of America in 1912 adopt
ed set of rules and regulations to gov
ern cross-Atlantic~f fight which stipu-
lates that the pilot or pilots shall not
receive outside assistance Of any kind.
This means that they would not be per-
This leaves open to us. If we comply with
these rules two overwater routes. First.
from New York direct to Ireland. dis
tance of approximately 5000 miles. and
second. from ST. Johns. Newfoundland, to
ireland, a distance of about 1000 miles.
These rules. however, were drawn to
cover a 100000 prize for a cross-Atlantic
flight and would undoubtedly be modined
II they were seriously objected to and as
surances given that such flight would
actually be undertaken.
Let VI consider first course from 4,ew