Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-04

load into the air while flying into the
wind.
At Roosevelt Field we had to wait
for the wind to blow down the run
way or to die down entirely. Whel,
we were running our tests we nau
TO wait for several days TO get 'he
wind in the right direction Win re-
snect to the runway. This was De-
cause when taking off with heavy
load there is a good chance or oao
crash if the wind is across the run
way. Then, on another morning we
were prevented from taking OF on
our transatlantic flight because water
covered the runway.
So much for the starting.
Must Fly i'm Storms.
After our flight across the Atlantic
am convinced that the plane OF the
future NAV reasonably be expected 10
a., in any weather but the most in.
tense storms. ... 49,.
Tho winds across the Atlantic are
.ucb that. as a general rule, 1t is sew
eral hundred miles shorter TO nv from
America to Europe than from EUROPE
10 America. However, 1t is manliestiy
frue that with a thorough knoWieoEe
of wind conditions over the Atlantic
the distance, or rather the time, can
be cut several hundred miles.
This is true because the Wino
changes both its strength ana oi r
ton with changes in attitude. ~, Sa
tain rules can be laid down as to these
changes to guide transatlantic ar
navigation. v,,fa
Nov. on our flight across. we paIa
as much attention as possible 20 pro,
curing the strongest wind ana lne
most favorable wind as far as direc-
ton was concerned.
Increase Up to 1900 Feet.
vv. found that the winds increased
in service with the altitude up "
ahout 800 feet and then did not In.
grease much with the altitude unti
around 1000 feet. From that altitude.
IN as high as we flew. the Wlnos
seemed to increase in strength, but
fba direction of the wind had peeH
taken into consideration as well as
;ts strength because at sea westerly
winds change their direction clockWlse
about Is degrees from the SURFACE
of the sea up to. about LIZ w Ieet,
OF course. wind directly oenlIu
the plane might assist 1t more tIan
a stronger wind with ~ degrees 49, 49,
IN the course. Changes in the uirec-
fifude are more pronounced over ianu'
If Ia believed, than over the water.
The very vital Importance or TINS
matter to transatlantic flyers is dem,
onstrated by the fact that on several
occasions when we had suTIacs
winds from an easterly directlon' anu
therefore against us, we were able 10
ascend to an altitude above 5000 rect
and thereby get winds with us.
Helped by Wind.
But we won. think that at times
we were helped by the wind as much
as 30 miles an hour, in spite or the
big load of personnel and equipment
we were CARRYING, and in spite OF the
fact that a three-engine plane mas
shorter cruising radius than one.
engine plane, due to the power unit
in the one-engine plane being more
compact and giving less resistance per
unit of horsepower.
With the little over AZ hours OF
gasoline we found we carried we couid
have broken the world distance rec
ord. but that was not our object.
For our. success in SO taking al
vantage Of the wind we must give
credit to Mr.. Kimball and his asso-
ciates. Messrs. Barrett and Rossby.
I should like to mention again the
Weather Bureau and the Radio Cor
poration of America, which gave re-
ports from ships to the Weather Blu
reau.
Radio Bearings Taken.
At the time the radio bearings
were taken the plane would be some
were on the line. but another bear
ing would be needed to get another
line. and where the two lines crossed
would be the position of the airplane.
The fact that bearings are not
taken at the same time does not
bother the navigator, as he knows
how far and in what direction the
plane had gone since the first bearing.
1t seems that undoubtedly the trans
atlantic fields of the future will have
in the vicinity several radio direction
finding stations, so that IL a plane ar.
rives in foggy weather 1t will be able
to locate itself by these radio bearings.
This might well make difference
in the speed of the plane of as much
as 20 miles an hour. An air navigator,
using his drift indicator, can estimate
his speed over ground or water and
the angle at which the wind is drifting
him and in this way succeed in flying
at an altitude that would give him
the greatest speed.
If the air were still, the navigator
could always tell what speed and direc-
ton he was making. even in fog, but
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