New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1917-11-17

Europe! Alan Il. Hawley, presl
dent of the Aero Club of Amer
lea says in Flying New York
October) that they will fly across
and he urges that experimental
transatlantic air-trips be made a
soon as possible in order to paw
the way for this greatest of mig
ratory bird-fights. The job o
flying over the Atlantic is not hal
as Bug, he thinks, as some of th'
feats that have actually been &C
complished in this war. We have
plenty of machines with the nee
essary power and endurance; anc
the hardest nut of all-the proc
lem of keeping ones position and
finding ones way in long aerial
journey-has been cracked by the
radio diredtion-finder, now III
actual use on shipboard. The
Government, Mr.. Hawley thinks,
should contract with a responsible
firm (there are at least three
American ones that could deliver
the goods for an experimental
trans atlantic trip. after which all
would be easy sailing. There is
no time to be lost. and if the Uni
ted States does not take the lead
in this practical demonstration, 1T
will be carried out, he says, by
private citizens. In other words,
an American aeroplane will short
ly cross the Atlantic from west
to east, under either public or
private auspices. Recent press
dispatches indicate that the Ger
mans may "beat us to it, as
they are said to be constructing a
fleet of powerful fiers especially
for this purpose. We read:
. "The most difficult problem IN
The cross-Atlantic flight has al
ways been considered the, prob
lem Of finding ones way during
the fight. The distance between
Newfoundland and the Azores is
less than 1900 miles. and those
who have given thorough consld-
Grafton to the subject have had
little doubt for the past seven
years that an aeroplane could be
built to cover the 1900 miles.
But we appreciated the danger
involved in the pilot losing his
way. drifting from his course, and
missing the Azores. To solve this
very difficult problem, a number
of authorities set to work TO
evolve tables of navigation and
instruments to assist in the nav1-
CATION. A lot of important pio-
neer work and research was done
and valuable results were oo-
tanned.
ssThe practical solution OF the
problem Of directing the aylators
N a transatlantic flight was found
by accident in 1914. Soon after
the declaration Of war. the Aero
Club Of America-the headquart-
ers Of the national defense move
ment--was notified. The sky
over New York was full Of radio
code messages. In considering
what could be done to assist the
Government in finding the source
from which these radio code mes
sages were sent, there was found
that the Allies were using special
radio direction-fnders. which
were installed on ships and per-
mitted the ship to find the direc-
ton from which radio messages
were sent at sea. Reports We're
also received. stating that the Ger
mans were using such devices for
the ZeppelinsI to find their way
over London on very dark nights.
Investigation proved that
radio direction-fnders were being
used and that the nature of those
instruments permitted applying
them for aerial navigation pur-
poses.
With the development that
has taken place in perfecting radio
direction finders it would be pos
sible to equip transatlantic fiier
with such device, which would
always point to the direction of a
station, so that if any sta
ton was established at the Azores
the aviator would have no tron-
Ole in finding the Azores and all
possibility of losing himself would
be precluded.
1--WE have been assured that an
instrument can be obtained