The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-04-19
Sky Writing to be Demon
strated in Kenosha
Next Week.
SMOKE IS HIS PENCIL
Daring Aviator Using Smoke
as Pencil VIII Write Mon
strous Letters Across Sky.

~ =
Kenosha's blue sky is to be used as
billboard next week when daring
aviator will come to Kenosha to write
in the air 10000 feet above Kenosha,
using the smoke of his airplane as
pencil for his gigantic letters. The
sky writing demonstration is seized
uled to appear in Kenosha during the
week, starting April %, the exact date
to be determined by local weather
conditions. 1t is being staged by the
American Tobacco company, who has
recently signed contract with Major
j. G. Savage, of London, the inventor
of "Sky Writing, for the writing of
the names of brands of the products
of the company in the air.
Each letter of each word, will be one
half to one mile high and the words
Lucky Strike" for instance, will be
about eight miles long. They will be
written by an airplane travelling at
speed of 100 miles an hour, the plane
emitting smoke at the rate of million
cubic feet a second The writing of
the words Lucky Strike" will use
about 100000 cubic feet. The writ
ing can be read for diameter distance
of ten miles.
1t is anticipated that great interest
in the experiment will be shown by
Kenosha people, and that the demon
stration will be watched by thousands
in southern Wisconsin.
Is Not A Simple Matter.
Sky Writing, the invention of Major
J. C. Savage, is far from being a simple
matter
The pilot, who not only controls his
aeroplane at dizzy heights, but has to
maneuvre his craft to form letters,
and has also to attend to his smoke
Producing apparatus, is surely the
most overworked individual existing.
He flies single seated machine,
and his dashboard is a mass of instru7
ments, and controls, and all these have
to be watched, and manipulated with
great care, if the demonstration is 20
pass off successfully. When one is
rushing at 100 miles an hour through
the air, two miles up, maneuvering
sharply to right and left, doing Immel-
mans rolls, and all those little tricks
known to stunt pilots, and at the same
time looking after smoke plant which
is churning out smoke at quarter
of a million cubic feet per second, one
has to be bit careful. Add to this
the fact that the words have to be
written backwards, in order that the
people on the ground can see them
the correct way, and you begin to get
an appreciation of what the sky-writer
is up against.
Must Watch Weather Conditions.
Meteorological conditions have also to
be taken into consideration by the
pilot, for flying in 40mile an hour
wind, with the machine doing, say,
100 miles per hour, the pilot has to
make his upstrokes at go miles an hour
and his downstrokes at 40 miles an
hour, and if the pilot isn't careful the
writing won't, be in straight line.
Many people have thought sky
writing is only successful in calm
weather, but here they are wrong. In
calm weather, with the sun pouring
down on patches of water, clumps Of
trees, stretches of field, etc, vertical
columns of air are formed, some de-
scending, some ascending, which ex-
tend up to considerable heights, caus-
ing an internal turbulence in the air
which quickly disturbs the smoke
trail.
The ideal conditions are when there
is clear blue sky with plenty of sun
light, and a comfortable wind of
around about 80 miles an hour.
Special Kind of Smoke.
The smoke, of course, is a secret
composition, and the whole of the in
stallation, in fact every installation
which can be used in an aeroplane for
the production of intermittent smoke
trails, has been carefully and COM
pletely patented by Major Savage in all
important countries throughout the
world.
The first logical application of "Sky
Writing" is naturally for advertising
purposes, for there exists no more
fascinating nor drama tic way of inn
pressing a whole city with trade
name or slogan. But its uses do not
end there. Experiments to the orders
of the British Air Ministry are being
pushed ahead in connection with
camouflage, signalling, smokescreen-
ing and other methods of employment.
No. 1851.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT OFFICE