The chronicle=news., 1914-07-17
TRANSATLANTIC FLYING
BOAT READY FOR ITS
GREAT VOYAGE
Popular Mechanics:


Early last February Mr.. Rodman
Wanamakcr unfoldcd his audacious
scheme. long ruminatcd and now ma
ture, to bridge the Atlantic by aero
plane. He had closed with Mr.. Cur
tiss. the hydro master for craft to
win the Lord Northcliffc prize for
the first flight from the New World
to the Old within ~ hours. Prefer
ably two men should drive her from
Newfoundland 20 Ireland between
dawn and dark on summers day.
But no this condition he would not
insist: for even with no restriction
the cntcrn4f.c seemed Gufficiently
difficult, if not hazardous. The de-
tails he would leave to Mr.. Curtiss
and his technical associates.
Once taught the air lane. whole
fleets of ocean flicrs would promptly
follow. Live fellows in New York
would fit to London Friday nights,
and. after Sundays dinner, ilit back
to business. This metropolitan pro-
pinquity should a.similatc and unity
all peoples. War should be forgot
ton. The globe SO shrunk should at
length crib but Il single homogeneous
GUS. So figured Mr.. Wanamakcr.
The generous optimst would hasten
the millennium.
The idea of soaring mcteorlikc
from continent to continent, without
stop and in Il single summers day,
had Mr.. Wanamakcr's approval and
the worlds applause. Thee project
was magnificent if somewhat vent
uresomeI Impossible it could not
truly be called; for had not Ger
man recently flown 16 out of the II
or Is hours required for favorable
voyage? The chances seemed fair
for the voyage, fair for rescue in
case of premature descent
But less dramatic. less difficult
program was presently proposed and
'soon adopted. A stanch flying boat
with two men and gasoline for a con-
tinuous voyage of a day and a night
with rcplenishcd tanks, sweep
straight to Europe. The lon sest
stage would thus be under 1900
miles, or very little more than the
worlds record for nonstop flight
of one man in a land acroDlane. 1t
would be feasible to alight at any
moment on the sea, except in Il con-
siderable storm, make adjustments of
the propelling system, and proceed
without impcdiment. So, after ma
turc counsel with their confidential
associates, Mr.. Wanamaker and Mr..
Curtiss agreed upon this second plan
and determined to push the work to
Il finish as early in the summer as
practicable.
The sea flier as finally built looks
like a rcsplendent red whale with bi-
plane wings jutting out from its
sides. The forcoart of the hull is the
cabin with closed turretlike hood,
!. having ccllulclid windows around and
above it, to give clear view Of the
world,1 the sky, and the craft itself.
The rear tapering part of the hull
carries the tai plane and rudders eX-
teriorly, and intcriorly is composed
Of watertight compartments. The
central part of the hull contains the
gasoline tanks from which the fuel is
pumped up to the smaller supply
tanks situated beneath the upper
olanc The air boat measures ~ feet
across its upper plane, 46 feet across
its lower, "a feet from stem to stern,
where the vertical ruddcr is hinged,
lspreads about 1SO square feet of
winged surface, weighs. with two
men and supplies for 1,2O0-milc
voyage, about 5000 pounds. is pro
PEELED by twin screws driven by two
80 horse power nesines placed be-
tween planes, on either side'the plane
of symmetry, and Is designed to fly
at GO to SO miles an hour for about
enc day and night continuously. The
details of construction are multitu-
dinous. ingenious, novel in part and
carefully calculated, and finally test
ed by systematic experimentation.