The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-12-31
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKfN, Director.
Washinston, D. G.
THE FREEDOM OF THE AIR.
Washington. D. G.
H.-With the Pioneers.

THE FREEDOM OF THE AIR.
H.-With the Pioneers.
Washington, d. c., Dec. S.-The
government awiators who are making
cross country flights from the carious
| flying schools in all parts of the coun-
try get an enthusiastic welcome wher-
ever they land, according to unOof-
F, fetal reports reaching Washington.
Especially in the small towns of the
West and South, the landing OF an air.
! plane is an event of the first magni-
| tude.
The aviator usually has some choice
as to where he shall land, and as
| result of this the filters are constantly
Chambers of Commerce and other
civic ana commercial organizations
advertising the advantages of this and
| that town as one-night stop. The
young aviator learns that If he makes
Bingvills, the Bingville tonsoral par
| lors will give him a free haircut and
shave, but on the other hand IL he
| chooses Podunk, the Podunk pharm-
acy will allow him unlimited soft
drinks without charge. Often, too.
the leading local hotel offers to make
him its guest without cost to himself,
and in the hospitable South he fire.
F! quently has invitations to several prt-
/ vate residences. He is always promi-
3
stay, and the object of much femi-
nine interest.
In the Southwest, where a good
many are being made just now. there
is little difficulty about landing fields;
the whole country is one immense
landing field. In all other parts of
the country, however, just the oppo-
site is true. Every flight emphasizes
| the need for an extensivex system of
landing fields. well-drained, policed
nd with ne rSd. AnV
open stretch of ground does not peces-
sarily constitute a good landing field.
In the Middle West. especially, an
aviator landing in an open field often
| the hubs in mud. and this is some
times the cause Of serious accidents,
and often makes it impossible to take
off again. Also, it is impossible to
stake a machine down safely in this
soft ground. Recently three machines
made landing near Fort Wayne,
| and the aviators, after pesging the
machines down as well as they could,
went off to town. While they were
gone the wind suddenly rose from
of sixty, and the three machines were
rolled into a pile of wreckage.
Next to landing fields, the most
pressing need revealed by these pion-
eering cross-coantry flights is for
adequate aviation maps. One flier in
has report says that he carried ordi-
nary commercial maps OF the country
made by a well-known firm, but that
they were of practically no use to him.
The only things shown plainly were
the towns and one town looks very
| much like another to an aviator.
Furthermore, the maps of different
states and counties were drawn to diff
| ferent scales. which rendered them
misleading.
/ What is needed is a map of the
whole country drawn to the same scale
| and showing the landmarks which an
aviator can see.- He cannot tell one
| town from another, but a lake or pond,
a large white building, a spire or
/ steep1e, or any other conspicuous land
| mark is of great aid to him. At pres
| ent the aviators find their way across
| country chiefly by following rivers and
| railroads, and when they have to leave
| these they frequently get lost.
The scientific way of navigating the
air is by compass, just as the sea Is
| navigated. But without some kind of
a map or chart, it takes a rarely
i skillful man to make a successful
flight: in this way. Such q flight was
recently made from Buffalo to New
| York in a little over two hours. The
aviators rose to an elevation of eight
| thousand feet, laid their course by
, compass, calculated their own speed
and the speed of the wind. and pro-
ceeded to fly the distance between the
| two points. Altho clouds prevented
| them from seeing the ground except
in occasional glimpses, they landed
exactly where they intended. Such a
| flight is considered very exceptional.
In England a good deal more prog
ress has been made in flying by COM
| pass than in this country. There
aviators are put thru a test by which
they are compelled 20 fly from one
point to another without being allowed
| to look at anything except the COM
pass.
| Altho in both England and France a
good deal more progress has been
| made in cross-country flying than in
this country, the flyers all say that
the United States has immense ad-
want ges for travel by airplane, which
| should ultimately give it a great lead
in their use. In the older countries
there is no room for landing fields.
while in this country there is room in
abundance. The English landing
fields are so small that it is hard to
strike them. The English aviators
coming down to their tiny fields,
known as "side-slipping." In France,
the fields are confined to certain
parts of the country. and crowded
conditions make it difficult to develop
a real national system of fields. In
| tIllS country the eSta DllSnmenI OF these
flying stations will be a relatively easy
4, matter.
A glance at the map of routes and
flying fields, which the army aviators
are now locating in this country. shows
that our two great mountain chains
| the Alleghenies and the Rockies-are
the chief obstacles to getting across
the country. The popular idea that a
flying machine can easily cross a
mountain range is a fallacy. The
higher one flies, the less buoyant is
the air, and the more power it takes