Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-03-27

the great jumps from island to island
of the North Atlantic, pursues the wel-traveled
air lanes of Europe, safely passes over the bleak
and forbidding 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 greater de-
gree than in almost any sporting contest ever
organized
Several aviators have sgnified their intention of
entering. They are willing to take the risks.
They are not actlated by the desire for gold, for
even the successful contender, who will win the
$150000 first prize and also the $4,000 offered by
Lord Northclffe for the first crossing of the At
lantic, will find his 100000 and perhaps more
eaten up by the expenses of his undertaking.
1t is quite certain, however, that plenty Of men
of large fortunes and sporting proclivties will be
found to finance this peerless air event
The eyes of the world will be upon the brave
contenders even 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 will 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,
61O 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 Ieaps-610, go and $40 miles.
None of them insurmountable in itself. But to hit
the bull's-eye three times in succession there's
the rub
Then these seas are not always as hospitable as
the Mediterranean which Roland Garros has
crossed twice. There are fog and wind and rocky
landing places.
But if a of warships patrol the course,
lent by their governments in the interests of sci
and human progress, the risk will not be
greater (for instance) than that taken by the late
John B. Moissant when he set off in an untried
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-Siberan railway to Man
churia and then south to Vladivostok. The next
lap takes the aviator across the sea to Corea
He must then cross the Japan sea to Kobe and
Tokyo, turn north to Kamchatka and travel along
the coast either to East cape or to the Aleuttan
islands. The distance between the two continents
here varies from 80 to 200 miles. From Alaska
the course will be southwark to Vancouver, Seat
tle and home to San Francisco
The aviators who hesitate about pronouncing
the journey possible in the present stage of their
calling attention to the dstance-2800 900 miles.
The successful flyer must travel average of
more than 200 miles day for four months Will
it 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
to 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 practically every high
.@mountain in Europe, Garros has made a flight
from Marseies to Paris without stopping; Brnde-
.-jonc des Moulinais 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.
1t is to be noted, however, that the history of
aviation is succession of surprises Scarcely
anything OF Importance accomplished has not
been called impossible beforehand. Aviators
have done so much that one hesitates to doubt
their ability to do anything.
Special aeroplanes will be constructed for the
race. These will probably be swift, but not built
for the maximum speed. They will make say, so
miles sn hour. Reliability will be thu object