The Red Cloud chief., 1913-01-16


~6 ments and win. ! will take to myself
- the swiftness OF the meteor and the
sureness of the seagul | will defy
time. the wind, the weather, the trackless wastes
Of the sky and the ocean. ! will make real the
dream OF the dreamer"
But Grahame-White is a true Briton and as such
has hearty dislike for the grandioquent He is
quite content with: I'll the Atlantic in
thirty hours"-as II the feat were the most matter
of'fact performance in the world-and the chances
are that he regards 1t a good deal In that light.
At first hearing II sounds like an Idle boast
but those who have followed the career OF this
emnently shrewd. clear-headed and capable air
man know that he s neither a boaster nor a Wis.
ionary II he says he will do a thing It is certain
that he believes firmly that he can-and believes
1t because he has studied his facts and tested his
theories
1t is but short look back to the beginnings OF
the aeroplane and in the brief time that that
wonderful machine has been in the hands Of
men It has performed the very things that skep.
tics have declared impossible II seems almost
certain that at time not remote someone will
make the perious trip overseas And why not
Grahame-White?
To the average earth.man who is satisfied
never to rise above the top stories OF Office
building the attempt even under the best of con.
ditions, appears reckless to the point Of fool.
hardness. Not so to the aviator Give me the
kind Of machine I'm thinking Of" he remarks,
land the transatlantic trip would be just much
duration flying-pain sailing"
Just there lies the nub Of the question OF air
navigation from Europe to America-in the ma.
chimes They must first Of all have speed. great
speed: they must have lifting capacity enough
to carry the required amount Of fuel. they must
have motors capable OF standing the strain OF
terrific and stupendous di"'ance. they must have
instruments that will locate the course with
curacy.
All those elements must have been considered
long and carefully by Grahame.White before he
made his recent announcement. He must be
satisfied that he has an aeroplane that fufls all
the conditions So far. little detail has leaked
out to the manner OF equipment he will use
It is known only that he is building machine
which will carry four engines, arranged in indie
pendent pairs and each rated at $50 horsepower
He has said that he is convinced that he can
show enough lifting capacity to carry the re-
Quired fuel and enough speed to rush him to
these shores in thirty hours.
That may seem simple to the unthnking. but
consider. Roughly speaking, 1t is 5000 miles
from coast to coast and at Grahame-Whites reck.
oning of thirty hours that that he has a
machine which he trusts for at least one hundred
miles an hour. minute after minute without In.
terruption
What course he will choose has not yet de-
veloped. He has the whole great ocean to choose
from II has been hinted that the steamship
lanes are the natural path for the adventurer
to give some measure OF protection In case OF
accidents II he chooses that from Queenstown
to Sandy Hook lightship he must traverse $500
miles; II from PlymOutn 10 SanQy HOOK Z.5os
miles; II from Southampton to Sandy Hook.
3,1OO; II from Havre to Sandy Hook. 3,170 miles,
and II from Cherbourg, 3644. The Mauretania
has made the passage in four days ten hours and
forty.one minutes The aviator proposes to clip
at one swoop 6341 minutes from that record.
To be sure there other roads which are
said to be safer. There Is that which leads from
the Azores to the Bermudas one that allows for
two relatively short hops and long one from
mainland to mainland Then there ia that other
one favored by those who have planned out the
course not for aeroplane but for power
dirigible
This second course is practically the same over
which Columbus was waited across by the kindly
trade winds centuries ago. From meteoro-
logical standpoint Is said to be the best II
lies from Cadiz to Tenerife. a distance Of s07
miles; from Tenerine to Porto Rico. distance
of 3.2l9 miles; from Porto Rico to Havana, dis.
tance Of 1,l24 miles, and thence to the main.
land. The course lies In a zone varying little
from twenty degrees north latitude and In the
winter and spring offers fair weather and a wind
with a velocity of fourteen to sixteen miles
hour
The matter OF wind. however. seems to have
troubled GrahameWhte little. 1t ia probable
that he will select OF the northerly courses
and It is probable that he may fly even as far
north as Labrador BY choosing that a point
of landing and Ireland point OF starting he
might reduce his distance by hundreds OF miles.
Whatoever his course. however. he must have
speed Even at his own estimate OF thirty hours.
the nervous strain of guiding aeroplane for
that length Of time without sleep would be ter
rife and would increase immensely with every
added hour.
Grahame White has always been believer In
the speed possibilities of his air crafts. Some
time ago he held that 100 miles an hour was no