The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-04
FLYING BOAT TYPE WILL BE FIRST
 AIR MACHINE TO CROSS THE OCEAN

1 '"The type of aeroplane which will 1 be first to cross the Atlantic Is not, as is commonly supposed, a puzzle or a mystery. It can be determined with mathematical certainty. The i only aeropiane capable of reaching 1 Europe under present mechanical l conditions is 8 mammoth flying boat l propelled by four or more high pow cred motors"
 This was the answer given by MT. Frank H. Russell, General Manager of the Curtiss Engineering Corpora ton of Garden City in response to a question as to the situation which has arisen since British flyers have alarmed the United States by sailing for New Foundland with the avowal purpose of soaring back to Ireland.
 Let me explain" continued MT. Russell, several facts about trans Atlantic flying that appear not to be understood by many who are discus sing 1t.
 In the first place, if we are going to cross the Atlantic we do not want to make a botch job. Either we are going to do it, or we are not. With a reasonable amount of luck we COuiQ nave SOWeu lue SCed1 WILL waiting warshfps turned into gasoline depots and have made the trip a long time ago. Hence this talk of an aerop1ane getting across with the aid of steamships or destroyers means little. If we do not dare supply yes sels in that way how can we talk of supplying aircraft? The first trans Atlantic aeroplane will be an inde- pendent, self-reIiant job, or 1t will be a freak instead of a scientific achieve ment If it must be petted and pampered across, if it must set out resolved to guess it's way to a float ing depot drifting about in the great deep, 1t may win the f10,0G0 prize, but the real credit will go to a later ship" which shows that 1t is cap able of travelling from continent to continent on its own power.
 ''In the same way the seaplane which can cross the Atlantic from west to east because the winds are on its tail but must come back on steamship because from east to west the winds are against 1t, is not go ing to achieve a genuine triumph. And the aeropIane that crosses from South America to Africa, out of the regular trade paths, will in the same manner be doing a half job. And people will wait for the half jobs to go and the jobs to arrivei For this reason land machine will never be the truly successful transatlantic aircraft. It might get across safely, but it would be helpless if it had to descend to the water for only a few minutes.
 '"The crossing, then, may be assum- ed to be a real one, and not an imita- tion. How can we state with cer- tainty the type of aircraft which will make it?
 we can fix on the type because the flight is a purely physical mat ter, like the trans-continental trip of an engine or motor car. Gasoline is the great problem, And since we know that every gallon of gasoline weighs about 6 lbs, and know how much aeroPlanes of different sizes will carry, we can make some very accurate calculations.
 ''The maximum that any aeroplane will safely carry as a load (including crew, oil, gasoline, food ,etc.,) is the amount of its own weight. In other words, the load of a machine must not exceed 50 per cent of the total weight to be carried. If we start out