The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-02-17
AIRMEN EXPECT TO FLY ACROSS OCEAN IN 1873 Two Governments Preparing for Big Efforts to Cross
 Atlantic. POWERFUL MACHINES BEING BUILT FOR TRIP Expert Outlines Type of Craft
 That Should.
 Succeed.

New York, Feb. 1.-Two great gov- ernments and one ambitious individ- ual actually preparing for efforts to fly across the Auantic-such Is the present definite s.auus of an under taking dreamed Of and talked about ever since flying became a reality.
 The governments are those Of the United Sta IeS and Great Britain. The individual is Hugo Sunstedt, a Swed- ish naval captain, who last week re&cAed the point of actually launching the seapla,ne with which he proposes to make the flight, and per sists in declaring he will start before the winter ends.
 There are fairly definite rumors of mum Der of other candidates for the honor, and rewards winch will attach to making the first successful cross ocean flight. The difficulty in ob taining accurate information about them arises from the reticence of air plane manufacturers who fear their models will be dtscredited by fail ure.
 It is the understanding of men prominent in aviation circles in New York that the company of Glenn H. Curtiss is building a machine for the trip, and that the Standard Aircraft Co., also intends to enter the field this year. Across the water there are a, half dozen English companies, among them that of Graham-White, accord ing to the British War Ministry, which will be in the competition. Navy for America.
 The official American trial has been fa5 I1Iyt a Ma ri ay1t fn Commander John H. Towers, who was ordered g. week ago to take charge of the development of plans and | assembly of material and personnel | for he proposed trans-atlantic flight. Commander Towers, who has had l charge of the Naval Reserve Flying | Corps, is an expert in his line: No | information has been given out as to | the type of machine he will employ, | or the men to whom the actual flying l will be entrusted. As regards the | former, however it is worthy of note 1 that the Navy Department has a sea 1 plane of unusual size and strength
 which, with notifications, might | prove up to the task. IJ Is equipped with three Liberty motors, developing g | 1900 horsepower, and has carried l ffty-one persons in sustained flight. It is reported that Great Britain ! has tested three types of machines in | contemplation of flight across the At lantic. There have been hints that the trip would be undertaken early i in the coming spring.
 The three types under experiment ] include a dirigible which, in theory
 at any rate, is capable of the round
 trip without sto1. Another is a fly | ing boat to be manned by two pilots
 and two mechanics. The third is a
 small, very fast airplane with lifting
 power enough to carry the large 1 amount of fuel a nonstop crossing g 1 demands. The contemplated course the British consider is Ireland to l Newfoundland.
 1 The present is Capt. Sunstedt's | second serious, attempt to start on
 a cross ocean flight The first oc- 1 cured in 1916, when, with Lieut.. KjeIl Nyegaard of the French Flying l Corps, he came to America for try at the big voyage in the spring of 1917. His programme was to use a machine made in America and fly
 across by way of Newfoundland. with
 the British Isles his objective.
 Something happened to spoil his plan-no less momentous an event than the entry of the United States {, into the world war. During all the time since then he has been waiting his opportunity. The arnistice of Nov. II brought it. month later he reached the United States and took up his project again.
 1 His airship is the Sunrise, and if the United States does not enjoy the satisfaction of claiming an American first to cross the ocean, it will at any I I.Jz Capt. Sunstedt's success, that an | American-built plane turned the | trick.
 The Sunrise is a two-winged sea 1 plane of Homeric proportions. Its l uper wing has a spread of 100 feet, l its lower of Il F Two six-cylinder 1 Liberty motors built in San Fran | cisco are exepcted TO drive her eighty miles an hour win their combined
 440-horse power. Her tanks have a
 capacity of two tons of gasoline. and Capt. Sunstedt estimates this will take
 him from Newfoundland to London l wthout stopping for reDlenishment. | While April, May and September are generally accounted the most fla
 vorable months for the transatlantic effort the Swedish aviator finds no | terrors in the attempt during such a | winter as the present. Virtually, nothing is 7-nown about North Allan tic weather above 1000 feet, anyway,
 so he may be right.
 Prizes Total S125 GOO.
 | Unhappilv willie he S-0riSe was
 being launched in Newark Bay. off the Pavonia Yacht Club, Bayonne
 last Tuesday, one of the guides broke
 as she was sliping down the ways
 and the plane fell sidewise into the
 -ater A crippled wing was the re-
 suit. with consequent deferment oi the trial flight which must precede the big attempt
 Something more tangible than | fame contributes to the lure of cross l ocean flying, for the first to register
 --1ocess VI, be substantially rewards ed
 Tn gre Is standing today a total ot
 s125 900 in prizes. about half of i
 almost unhampered by restrictions
 These are offered as follows:
 By the London Mail, s50.eoo fol
 any at-plane or seaplane which shal
 ross -ue Atlantic from anywhere il
 he United States. Canada, or New
 foundland to any point in the United | Kingdom or vice versa, in sevent!