The Washington herald., 1914-07-12
Start of the Ocean Trip Will
Be Made at Daybreak.
Out Of the Fog in Six
Hours.

stations-at Flores. Horta, on the island
of Fayal, and Ponta Delgada.
If forced to come down at either Of the
first-named he will take aboard necessary
supplies and fly on TO Ponta Delgada,
where John Lansing Callan will meet
the America with a tug. plenty of oil
and fuel. extra parts and all facilities
for repairs. Here. too. Callan may take
the place Of George E. A Hallett as
Lieut.. Porte's companion in the America
From the AzoIes to Vigo. Spain, Is
about so miles. Here the aero clubs OF
Portugal and Spain will cooperate IN
expeditiEg the flight. The last leg IS
about So miles from ViCo to Plymouth.
England. Bucking into head winds this
may prove the most difficult part of the
journey.
Porte an IrIshman.
Lieut. Porte is an Irishman. thirty-one
years old, six feet tall, and 167 pounds
in weight He was thirteen years in the
British navy and several years in the
submarine service, where i'll health finally
forced him to get out in the open air.
He took up, flying and laid the scheme
of crossing the Atlantic before Mr.. Wan
amaker George f. A. Hallett who &C
companies him. has been the private NY
ing expert of Harold F. Mccormick. OF
Chicago. John ID. Rockefeller's son-in-law.
He is a loose-boned youth of twenty
four. from Southern California. Neither
he nor Lieut. Porte is married.
The America is seventy-three feet from
tip to tip OF the upper wings and forty
six feet wide on the lower wings. Her
weight empty is $500 pounds and the
gasoline and supplies for the trans
Atlantic trip will add 800 pounds. She
has carried more than that in her trials,
at fakinp eleven men
Her color is bright red, as Mr.. Curtiss
believes this can be seen>furthest in the
air or on the water Her body is built
on beautiful stream lines. of cedar. can
vas-cOvered. with an inclosed cabin
which has windows at the front and
sides.
PInce TO sleep.
In the cabin is a place to sleep neatly
at full length-head under the aviator S
seat, feet between the gasoline tanks
So stable is the great flier that Mr.. Hal
lett can climb about the wings making
minor repairs without danger Of un-
setting the craft.
The hull rs fitted with six tanks con-
tanning 30 gallons of fuel, the gasoline
being pumped to a feed tank underneath
the top plane between the engines by a
hump which the wind operates.
4-The cabin is fitted with instruments
for registering the propeller revolutions,
the drift, the height, the direction ana
several other things. The question of
reckoning is one of the most serious with
which the aviators have to contend
The compasses are specially designed for
use in flying-boat. No iron or steel Is
used in the interior cabin fittings, so as
not to affect the magnetic needle. The
control wires are bronze.
The start may be delayed until August
5. when there is a full moon. or il may |
be earlier The Weather Bureau at |
will give special care to let |
ting Lieut.. Porte know when conditions |
over the ocean are especially favorable. |
II was originally planned to start at |
midnight, but now Lieut.. Porte figures |
on leaving at dawn. This is because !
government pilot charts indicate that on !
50 to IS per cent of the days at this sea- |
son the ocean for many miles around |
is enveloped in thick fog |
It will take six hours to fly beyond the |
fog area and Lieut. Porte wishes to do |
this by daylight.
The flying-boat's trip is laid between |
two English ports and 1t is captained |
by British subject. But she will fly |
the flag of the United States and the |
pennant of the Aero Club Of America |
This is because she is an American boat, |
built in this country and owned by Mr.. |
Wanamaker. who is an American citizen |
and a member Of the Aero Club Of
America