The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-03-03
LANDS FLYING
/ BOAT ON SNOW
g. J. zIMMERMANN OF AERoMA-
RINE STAFF TAKES OFF AND
4 LANDS AT kEYPORT FIELD.


4 That a FLYING boat can neither be
showed under nor ice bound, has been
proven in a series of tests made re-
Gently at the Keyport, y. j. factory OF
the Aerornarine Plane & Motor Com
pany.
The present winter, which has been
cold and snowy enough TO make an
Eskimo grumble, has sometimes pre-
vented even the army coast patrols
and the air mail from flying Drifts
on the flying fields were the cause OF
this The winter was, however ideal
for the purpose Of testing out the all
weather possibilities of the flying boat
a great expanse of firm ice formed on
Raritan bay, part Of New Yorks lower
bay, at keyport.
Sometime before the big fall Of snow
which deposited a white blanket two
feet deep on New York and it's envi-
rons c. j. Zimmerman, chief test
pilot of the company, TAXED a 40-L
two place aeromarine out onto the
smooth ice He found that the boat
slid along on its keel like a great giant
skate. The manner in which it re-
sponded 10 the controls convinced him
that he could take off successfully
He gave her the gun" and found him
self almost Immediately in the air.
The ice did not oppose the passage
OF the hull as does water
Getting back on was also not so
much of a stunt as the pilot had reck-
oned. 1t was simply matter of
Strengthening out his machine at the
right time and height. The hull with
stood the gentle settling on the ice as
It withstood landing on the water.
Pilot Zimmerman repeated the stunt
be 1An
had not been just lucky the first time
Shortly after this achievement he
left Keyport for Daytona. Fla, with
his plane to act as pilot for Inglis NJ
1rppercu, president of the company
who is an old time flying enthusiast
His work on all-season flying was con-
tinued by Edward Musick, another
aeromarine pilot. BY this time the big
blizzard had come along and both the
ice of Raritan bay and the field along
side the factory were covered deep
In the thick of the blizzard the liner
Princess Anne went ashore off Rock
away point. Musick decided to go out
to see if it was possible to aid hel
in any way. With Joseph J. Boland
a company engineer as passenger, he
gIided over the snow covered ice in
an aeromarine. The boat was borne
UP by the snow precisely as a sket
or snowshoe is upheld. He got off tht
thick covering without difficulty ant
flew to tile wreck only to find that the
police patrol boat had taken the pas
sengers off the wreck He flew bacl
to Keyport without landing. This TIM
he set the boat down on the snow GOV
ering the landing field.
In the following days the snow melt
cd gradually so Musick made a mum
Der OF takeoffs and landings on tn
field. He carried several photograph
ers and moyie men TO the wreck. II
the final tests he found he could LAND
on and get off ground covered by onl!
clocked a. number Of times and it wa:
noted that he averaged IA seconds OF
the take off. generally gliding abou
700 feet before reaching flying speed
He landed on snow in about $50 feet
For these tests the only change mad,
in the boat was the equipping of tn,
wing tip pontoons with skids.
The ships used were aeromarine
open two place sport models with
dual controls so that either passenger
or pilot may guide the boat. These
40-Ls, as they are called, are pushel
boats equipped with six Cylinder 15C
horsepower aeromarine motors A boat
of this type was flown by Zimmerman
from l<eXport to Havana, Cuba, an6
back.