Evening star., 1920-03-14
Flight Across Pacific Planned.

| WO Sldut SSdpldItS l" ice pow
erful as the huge NC4. which made the
| initial flight across the Atlantic. are
! to be constructed by the Navy to make
a similar flight across the Pacific. Last
June. when Secretary Daniels well
| coined Commander Albert c. Read and
! other members of the NC-4 home from
their victorious flight to Europe. he
said: I'VE can cross the Atlantic as
you have demonstrated. We can cross
| the Pacific We can fly around the
world" The crossing Of the Pacific
may be an international race, as the
| Germ that built Capt. John Alcock's
| transatlantic plane, is constructing a
/ mammoth plane with $500 horse
power for use in flight across the
Pacific. Complete details of the new
, naval seaplanes are not yet forth
coming. 1t is stated. however, that
they will be triplanes instead of BIZ
planes. as are the NC-4 type. The
wing spread of the new ships as de-
signed will be 40 feet. compared with
hulls will be siXty-seven feet long, or
! twenty-five feet longer than those
of the NC-4 type. According to a
naval officer the new air giants will
| be able TO make the jump of 2.091 nau-
teal miles from San Francisco to
Honolulu in about twenty-four hours
That means an indicated cruising speed
of eighty-three knots. greater by
eighteen knots than the cruising speed
Of the NC-4. AS in the case of the At
lantic flight. the Pacific trip will be
made in several hops. as the distance
to the Asian continent is too great to
be compassed in single flight The
tentative route is from San Francisco.
to Honolulu. Wake Island. Guam. Ma
Mia and Hongkong. The total dis
pared with the 1926 miles traversed
by the NC-4 in her trip from New
York to Plymouth. England. The
longest jump on the Pacific flight is
the first one-from San Francisco to
Honolulu. 2.0s1 nautical miles. which
is S91 miles longer than the gap be-
tween Newfoundland and the Azores.
Confidence Of naval officers in the pro-
! jected Pacific flight is based more on
the motive power to be provided than
on the great size of the ships. Plans
contemplate the use of nine 4OO-horSe-
power liberty motors in batteries of
three each on each of the two sea-
planes. Each battery of three liberty
engines would drive one huge pro-
peller with length of eighteen feet
reserve at all times. The new ships.
as designed, will each have com
plement of sixteen men, lnciudlng
nayigators and crew.
Would Keep Airmen Ont Of Mexico.
So many Army airmen have drifted
into Mexican territory by losing their
bearings. up aloft that the radio Of
feer of the 91st Aero Squadron en-
gagged in patrolling the border from
imperial Beach. Calf. to Calexico
has erected at Ream Field near Impe- |
"ial Beach a radio compass station
by which goni0metric readings are
taken while the sair ships are sending |
position reports. All the ships have
been equipped with S. c. r. No. 13
sets operating on 377 meters, which |
is considered the best wave length |
20 dodge interference. and pilots are
required to check in their position to !
the home station every five minutes. |
That arrangement is expected to re-
duce to a minimum the possibility |
of ships being lost without imme-
diate knowledge of that fact by the |
home station. AS the course from
Imperial Beach is almost straight |
east from the home station. the radio |
officer can tell Immediately from the |
goniometric readings whether or not
the ship is keeping on its proper |
course. II the pilot should be con-
fused, lose or mistake his position