The Washington times., 1923-03-03
WRITES ON SKY
Z MILES OVER
CAPITAL
Aviator's Advertising Message
Is Seen BY Thousands Wind
Spells Il More Monday.

washington today had its first
exhibition OF the new art Of sky.
writing" when an airpIane, flying
ct q height OF two miles above the
Capital, spelled out an advertising
messages IN words Of smoke q half
mile high.
THOUSANDS Of people, on the
streets during the luncheon hour,
witnessed the feat. So high was
the airplane that Il could barely be
seen, by the keenest eyes, and the
huge white letters appeared as II
by magic. Unfortunately q strong
wind was blowing and the writing
was rapidly dissipated.
The featawill be repeated on four
other occasions. If Monday is a
clear day the message will prob
ably be spelled out twice, once
about noon, and again in the after
noon.
TCday's message, more than three
miles long, was made up Of about
81. 000,O 900 cubic feet of dense white
smoke, chemically produced aboard
the airplane, ana was visible from
all parts Of the District. The plane
was plotted by Capt. Derek Shep-
person, former. British army filler,
and enc Of the only two men iii
America who have mastered the
art.
He flew here from Logan Field,
Baltimore, to which he returned
after writing the message. He is
flying for the sky Writing Com
pany Of America.
Captain Shepperson has been en-
gagged in the sky writing work for
six months and has flown above
New York, Philadelphia and At
lantic City. He will carry on the
work in 100 American cities.
He declares that he has to fly be-
tween ten and fifteen miles In writ
ing one sign, the writing taking
from five TO SIX minutes. Through
the necessity Of making the sharp
turns required in forming the let
tiers he must perform one Of the
most difficult aviation stunt feats
once in every nine seconds.
Captain Shepperson explained
that he put in two weeks Of
gruelling work in mastering the
art of writing In the sky. Each
letter is q half mile high and, while
the lettering can be seen with the
greatest distinctneas from the
ground, it is almost impossible to
get any idea of the form of the
letters from the speeding plane
which is doing the writing.
The feat Of getting the letters
the same size. OF spacing them
properly, and of lining them up
correctly is exceedingly difficult.
The flyer must have keen sense
of proportion and direction in order
to prevent becoming hopelessly lost
in completing his sign.
4 The STVanlo StuaH L.. l1xy
made in the plane and emitted
through pipe in the tail, which
/ is equipped with q shut-off CON-
trolled by the pilot. The smoke,
of secret process, is pure white
and is very dense and difficult to
dissipate. The sign often lasts for
more than an hour. One sign in
England was carried by the winds
over three cities twenty miles apart
and was perfectly legible in all OF
! them
The process was invented by
Major Jack Savage, British army
flyer, who has been at work on the
scheme for nine years.
| It is predicted that the device
eventually will become one of the
permanent forms of advertising
It has so far proved tremendously
effective, the sales of an article
advertised in New York having in
creased so per cent as a result,
it is stated.
Captain Shepperson will make
! his temporary headquarters at
Logan Field, Baltimore, flying to
Washington each time he writes
the sign and again returning to
Baltimore.