The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1919-04-15
NEW YORK-CHICAGO
AERIAL MAIL SERVICE
Daily Trips In Each Direction. by
Planes. to BE Undertaken
Next Autumn.

In May, airplanes will he used m
carry mail between Chicago and
Cleveland, and by'next autumn daiIx
aerial service will have been estah.
lished between New York and Chi
cago. The Chicago-Cleveland ser
vice will he financed from present
!, funds Of the postoffice department
The cost of the larger service will he
met from an appropriation of $3.50.
500 which becomes available in
July.
To insure the safety and cOntir.
uity of this service the postoficc de
partment has ordered the cor struc.
ton of special machines which WI;
he equipped with devices that have
been developed during the evrori.
mental use oF mail planes bet'vne,;
New York, Philadelphia and Wash
ington. One Of these directs the
pilots course while flying. the other
guides him in landing and the third
helps him to keep the ship on an
even keel. Each plane will be pro.
the event of breakdown in one en-.
CINE the other two will he able TO
propel the machine under load and
thus save delay and obviate danger
in landing for repairs.
Each of these machines will be
capable of transporting ton Of mail
on trip, and will have crew OF
chief pilot, an assistant pilot and a
mechanician. Only first-class mail
will be carried. There are about
100000 letters to ton As in the
case of the present service between
New York and Washington, there
will be a higher rate OF postage for
letters dispatched by the new aerial
route than through ordinary chan.
nels.
1t is planned to operate the planes
between New York and Chicago on
a 16-hour schedule at first. but by
January 1. 1920. the postoffice de-
partment hopes to have this reduced
to nine hours. Westbound. the
planes will leave New York at 6 a
m. and will arrive in Cleveland at
m. The distance to be traversed is
720 miles. This will be covered at
an average rate of ~ miles an
hour, including the time required
20 land and discharge and receive
mail at Cleveland The speed uti-
mately will be increased to so miles
an hour, the postONice department
announces. The trip VIII be made in
half tho present running time Of the
fastest trains between the cities
The experiments conducted by the
postotice department in the service
between New York and Washington
are generally regarded as having
fastened the coming of successful
commercial aviation. After nearly
n years operation Of these planes
three OF the biggest problems which
confronted the department have
heen solved. These were dependa-
bility, safety and economy
Mechanical brakes and failure Of
all sorts, difficulties of navigation in
darkness. fog and windy weather,
and damage due to enforced landings
bad to be avoided or discounted.
The postoffice department believes
that the triple motor machine vii.
meet the requirement for cnntinu-
Gus flight. The electrical and me.
n M
plot to steer his course and find his
place of landing have greatly re.
duced the factors of danger and
damage. and at the same time lessen.
ed the cost of operation.
Between Nav Is, 1918, and
March /, 1919. the machines in OPP
Grafton between New York and
Washington covered 122,22S miles.
This was equivalent to total OF l..
b36 hours In the air. In all this
flying there were but % forced land
ings because OF mechanical trouble,
or one for every 1870 miles OF fly
Ing. Not plane has fallen from the
sky. not a pilot has been killed or
crippled In flying and there have
been but six cases OF slight injury.
The average length OF trip each
way was two hours and 40 minutes.
There was carried in the eight and q
half months 137.182 pounds of let
ters. The cost Of transportation for
the whole period was $88.323.40.t
The percentage OF flights made as
compared with the schedule wasc95