The sun., 1918-12-08

,,ents of aviation during the war
and forecasting the development of
tbe airpIane in peace. The series
viii form a complete picture of the
scientific and economic progress of
the art of flying. The author has
had exceptional opportunities for
Gathering the information on which
these articles are based.
By AGNES C. LAUT.
TOW that the war is over and
IN the veil Of secrecy Is to be
l ' lifted from the airplane work
done for army and navy. one Of the
biggest surprises coming to the Amer
lean public will be to learn how close
we have come to crossing the Atlantic
by air route.
said we" please note-how close
American aviation has come to solving
the problem Of crossing the Atlantic In
less time than we now go by train 10
Florida or st. Louis, and with as great
safety I am not predicting what il
going to be done. am stating what
has been done. and to those familiar
with airplane progress during the war
IL has been a matter OF great regret
that while every accomplishment Of
big foreign machines has been Haunted
10 the worlds end as a great achieve
ment. the greater achievements Of
American built machines have been
hidden by the censorship.
Yet American invention gave the
world the flying machine.
In a preliminary article referred
guardedly to an aircraft for the sea
: which could carry from ten to twenty
passengers and n cargo of $4,000
pounds. might have said could
carry fifty passengers'' and described
the tonnage as one-fourth that of
those little pinnaces with which early
navigators crossed the Atlantic and
. polar explorers of the fifteenth, six
teenth and seventeenth centuries at
tempted to discover a Northwest pas
. sage. That gives you an idea Of ex-
actly where we are in air discoveries.
AS TO flight, or planes for long
e fight, we are to-day just about where
Christopher Columbus was in 1872.
: We know there is an unknown realm
Of air above us. and we are just about
. to cross it, to discover 1t, to chart II,
o. 10 explore it. ITO cross It to-where7'
the sceptic may ask. l don't know
, any more than Columbus knew when
a he was asked a similar question some
: long centuries ago; but he crossed
all right and found a good deal; but
I think every great air inventor would
. answer without a moments hesita-
ton: TO cross every one of the
worlds seven seas as easily and
safely as we now cross the land by
train or motor. only so much more
quickly that the possibilities beggar
Imagination ...-.
As to flight or plane, we are on
the verge of an age OF air discovery
similar to the fifteenth century on
land and. sea. AS to engine power,
1--WE have surpassed anything the
world has ever known. The present
great problem IS to construct n craft
70 withstand the vibrations Of that
great power without adding so much
weight to the airplane that long and
: high flight will become impeded.
Does this sound incredible? Ask
: really long distance flier what he
! thinks He will tell you he would
: Ear rather attempt TO cross the Allan
: tic than the Rocky Mountains. Air
; above high mountains is full Of
. pockets and cross curren.s and whirl-
: pools and cataracts and just plain
, holes.
: You never know when you are
; due 10 take a terrific tumble or
/. plunge; and IL controls go out of
=. vhack, still less do you know whether
: you are going to land on mountain