, 1922-05-31

tCoo W bC lAClo III III Adllt
While the course Of flight of the
pilots win be dependent entirely on
the whims and fancies Of winds thou
sands Of fee above the ground. indi-
cations early today were, so far as
weather observers could judge. that
tho final destination of most OF tho air
travellers would be southeastern Can
ada.
As the thousands OF cubic feet OF
gas IND helium struggled to tear loose
the giant bags from the ground ropes
through the day. the United States
weather bureau. which sent a corps OF
m~eteoroIogists hero TO observe the con-
ditions of the upper air. reported that
the bsllons wou;f crc"p'ter = Kind
from northeast At tho start but
thai this would change to a wind from
the southwest as greater attitudes were
reached Such winds would mean that
tho big gas bags soon would take n
steady flight northeastward across the
Great lakes and into Canada
Several OF tho baskets attached TO
the balloons were OF waterproof. float
able type. arranged by h pilots in
anticipation of n possible forced land
ing in one of the Great Lakes, but
Others were just the ordinary
read typo which would fl with water
as rapidly as n sieve. Few OF the men
who are daring the perils OF air cur
rents thousands Of feet abve the Garth
carried with them outfits for camp.
ing In ~ they came down in the
wilds of Canada. but a majority were
sacrificing such factors of personal
safety In favor of lighter equipment
which might help them lengthen the
flight.
Indications were that the weather
would be fair when the first a bag
to be eieased for its flight, but
this meant little to the pilots. for they
fully realized that at any point they
might encounter terrific storms In ele-
ments which might prove decidedly
advers to serene trip through the
clouds. All admitted that h break
of luck would be a great factor in de-
c,ding tho winner. pointing, as an ex-
ample, to the flight OF the American
pilots McKibben and Won Hoffman
in the last international race when
they raveled the greatest distance but
in the ocean after being unable to
ihahG bAoic WDCh fAClOIy StClIitu Wilt
in their GRASP.
The balloons probably attracting the
greatest attention were the naval en-
tries which r flying independently
and are not eligible to any of the
prize money. These two bags were in
flated with helium gas, being the first
FREQ balloons to use it.
An interesting feature of the helium
filled balloons VIII be n newly invent
ed radio equipment which win be CIV
en- n thorough test. The government
has maintained war time secrecy over
this invention. but It is said to be
miraculous.
Competing with the civilian entries
will be three army balloons.
The first balloon to take the air will
DO the smallest entry-that of Roy
Donaldson of Springfield, III. The
others will follow in the following or
der:
Major Oscar westover. Washington, |
capacity $4,000 cubic feet.
Ralph Epson, Detroit. sc. 1000 cubic
feet
Captain John Berry. St Louis 49,
900 cubic feet.
Lieutenant Commander ]. Norf1eet, /
Lake Hurst, N. J., Z 1890 cubic feet. |
Lieutenant w. F. Reed, Pensacola, |
F1a-i $4,000 cubic feet.
j. s. McKibben. st. Louis, 2 1900
cubic feet
Warren Rasir. Bridevi1le. Ohio, 49,
900 cubic feet
Lieutenant James T. Nicely, Ross
Field. Cal, So,16o cubic feet
Captain Harold Weeks, Langley
Field. Va. 80. 900 cubic feet.