Rocky Ford enterprise., 1914-03-27

the great jumps from island to island
OF the North Atlantic. pursues the welltraveed
air lanes OF Europe, safely passes over the bleak
and forbiddng wastes of Siberia, and fringes the
almost uninhabited coast line Of northern Asia
and Alaska.
But each of these feats has been exceeded al
ready in the air records now on the books Now
all that is needed is the combination OF them The
performance of great air journey after an
other means luck. enormous luck, to a greater de-
gree than in almost any sporting contest ever
organized
Several aviators have signified their intention of
entering They willing to take the risks.
They are not actuated by the desire for gold for
even the successful contender. who will win the
$4,000 first prize and also the $4,000 offered by
Lord Northcliffe for the first crossing of the At
eaten up by the expenses of his undertaking
1t is quite certain. however. that plenty of men
of large fortunes and sporting proclivities will be
found to finance this peerless air event
The eyes of the world will be upon the brave
contenders. even more than they were upon the
pioneer aviation racers in that first meet at
Rheims In 1908
The attention of the close students of the race
is centered upon the problem of the Atlantic.
After passing due east from San Francisco across
the Sierras, through Reno. New: Cheyenne Wyo;
Kansas City st. Louis and New York, the avia-
tors VIII coast along the seaboard to Belle Isle.
between Newfoundland and Labrador. Here the
flight across the Atlantic will begin. The flyers
will probably head for Cape Farewell Greenland.
olU miles away. from cape Farewell to Iceland
the distance is go miles. and from Iceland to
Stornaway in the Hebrides, is $40 miles.
Three enormous leaps-61O $40 and $40 miles.
None OF them insurmountable in itself. But to hit
the bullseye three times in succession-theres
the rub.
Then these not always as hospitable as
the Mediterranean which Roland Garros has now
crossed twice. There are fog and wind and rocky
landing places
But If of warships patrol the course,
lent by their governments in the interests OF sci.
ence and human progress, the risk will be
greater for instance) than that taken by the late
John h. Moissant when he set of in untred
machine with fog in his face to fly from Paris
to London at time when the channel crossing
alone was considered almost miracle.
Compared with the Atlantic crossing. too. the
rest of the journey seems fairly simple
The proposed route is by way of Edinburgh.
London. Paris. Berlin. Warsaw, st. Petersburg.
Moscow and the Trans-Siberian railway to Man
churia and then south to Vladivostok The next
lap takes the aviator across the to Corea
He must then cross the Japan to Kobe and
Tokyo. turn north to Kamchatka and travel along
the coast either to East cape to the Aleutan
islands. The distance between the two continents
here varieN from 80 to 200 miles. From Alaska
the course will be southwark to Vancouver, Seat
tie. and home to San Francisco.
The avstors who hesitate about pronouncing
the journey possible in the present stage of their
calling attention to the distance-2S000 miles.
The successful flyer must travel average of
more than 200 miles day for four months. Will
II be possible to accomplish the trip in the few
months of summer OF the Northern regions
through parts OF which the course lies? Vedrines
was five weeks in doing the $500 miles from Paris
10 the pyramids. flying at average of only 100
miles daily.
This explains clearly how greatly the proposed
Journey would Guido anything yet accomplished.
Besides the notable flights already mentioned.
Oscar Bider has flown over practically every high
mountain in Europe. Garros has made flight
from Marseilles to Paris without stopping Brinde-
jonc des Moulinas has toured the capitals OF
Europe, and two besides Vedrines have reached
Egypt from France. Yet these journeys pale be-
fore the difficulties OF the race around the globe.
It is to be noted. however, that the history of
aviation is one succession of surprises Scarcely
anything of Importance accomplished has not
been called impossible beforehand. Aviators
have done much that hesitates to doubt
their ability to do anything.
Special aeropanes will be constructed for the
These will probably be swift, but not built
for the maximum speed. They will make say. go
IpIlss hour Reliability will be the object