Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-08-24
OAHU AVIATION
TOBE AIDED BY
BIG KITESTATION
Continued from page onel

ogist in charge OF the Honolulu sta.
ton. but he could only tell them what
could be done, but could not furnish
the material for doing the work.
Prof. Marvin interested.
The assistance Of Prof. Charles F,
Marvin chief Of the weather bureau
was next sought and the wizard oil
the weather at once saw the value to
science of such an observatory here,
as the data now obtainable on the
subject OF the trade and anti-trade
winds in the western tropics is con-
fined to a few minor observations
made by employees of the Dutch mete-
geological station at Batavia, Dutch
East Indies "-.* 49,.
1t was pointed out by Meteorolog.
ist Hamrick of the local office. in an
interview with a representative of
the Bulletin, that the establish,
ment of an aerial research station
here would be of immense value to
the army, particularly if the proposed
school OF aviation becomes a reality.
The aviator would be able to have
first-hand information as to the con-
dition OF the air at the various alti-
tudes and thus be able to tell whe-
Their or not by going to certain heights
he could reach the region of calm air.
In other words. he could tell how
high 1t would be necessary to go in
order to escape any Fair pockets due
to local atmospheric disturbances In
the same way data for use in plotting
the flight OF mortar shells would en-
bic the gun commander to make hits
instead of the mysterious misses now
SO often reported. H.. -. 4.
Apparatus Needed. r..
+ The necessary apparatus would in
clude ten or twelve of the large Har-
grave-Maryin kites" said Mr.. Hamrick,
land five or six miles of steel piano
wire, as well as an electric. reel and
the necessary instruments for making
the records These great reels alone
weigh nearly two tons. The box kites
are of the type perfected by Prof.
Marvin; who has taken an active in
terest in the bureaus kite work, and
in order to get sufficient lifting power
one kite is sent up as far as it will go
that is until it has lifted all the steel
wire it can: then a second kite is at
tached and as it goes up it enables
the first to go still higher, since the
weight of the lower wire is carried by
the lower kite In this way eight or
even ten kites are used to lift this long
coil of wire I.
Fort Kamelameha has been selected
as the most favorable of several sites
considered for the proposed research
station, owing to the facility of OBJ
tanning electrical power for the big
electric reels and also on account of
the Importance of cooperation with
the Coast Artillery and Aviation Corps
of the army. -..
The far-reaehing Importance of the
work of such an institution can hardly
be realized by the layman unless he
is familiar with the work that is done
at these stations which the weather
bureaus of this and other governments
maintain.
For many years the government has
operated local stations covering all
parts of the country for the determine.
ton of local weather conditions. These
include the temperature, air pressure,
amount of rainfall, direction of wind,
state of weather, current wind velo-
city and maximum ard minimum tenn.
peratures since last observation. From
a knowledge of these conditions at all
parts of the country the bureau offi.
Gals are able to predict with prob
able certainty the weather conditions
that will follow at a given place.
But these observations as to tenn
perature, air pressure and wind velo-
city apply TO conditions at the earth's
surface only, and as has been said
these are sometimes vastly different
from the conditions which exist at an
elevation even of a few hundred feet.
In order to determine the action OF
The air currents in these higher alti.
tudes the scientist must send a kite
or captive balloon into these lofty re-
gions carrying some instrument for
recording the conditions that exist
there IL ....=.
Only One Aerial Station. ."..#
There is al present only one aerolo'
gical research station in the United
States, that at Drexel, Nebraska. This
station was established in 1914 after
the similar one at Mt. Weather in the
Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia,
bad been abandoned. =.
The cause for the change of loca-
ton was the fact that the storm path
in the United States is from the North
west south through Idaho and Wyo-
ming, then east over the central
states, until the mountains of Virgil.
MIA, West Virginia and Pennsylvania
are reached when the storm again
turns north and sweeps over New Eng
land and on across the Atlantic.
Now one of the important functions
Of this station. and all other depart
ments of the weather bureau, is not
only to study the action of the storms, |
hut to predict the time they will oc-
cur, and SO enable the farmer and
fruit grower to prepare for them.
For this reason it was decided that
it was necessary to get the data be-
lore the storm had swept over the