New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-08-18

ball, author of the following articl,
on the new ocean. has been one OF
the outstanding weather forecasters
for transatlantic airmen. His arti-
Gle tells wildly the handicaps that
the contemplated dirigible flights
from Europe to America must over
Gomez
BY DIR. JAMES klNIBiIL
(Meteorologist, L. S, Weather
Bureau)
New York, Aug. is. P-There is
a new ocean between the new and
the old worlds, in some ways more
unknown than the ocean that Co.
lumbus sailed.
body OF air between European and
American shores. and is new in the
sense that men are now for the
first time trying to use it, to chart
its high winds, low clouds, rains,
foss and low temperatures.
The British and the German
dirigibles which plan to fly to
America this summer may reveal
much of the now obscurely known
phenomena which have made this
air ocean a menace to Westbound
birdmen. Columbus sailed for an
unknown goal, but through an ele-
ment whose nature and actions
mariners had learned thoroughly
during thousands of years. The
voyagers of the new ocean know
their goal. but little has been
learned OF the rough two thousand
miles they must drive through. A
high percentage OF those who VEN
tured this navigation have not re-
turned to tell one scrap of informa-
ton about what struck them.
Dirigibles are better equipped to
succeed than planes. because they
have greater cruising radius, which
means they can ride out more de-
lays.
While air currents contain few
hazards which. unaided, might
force down an aircraft, they make
, barrier sufficiently formidable to
have contributed to failure OF viz
tually all westbound North Atlantic
plane flights. The prevailing winds,
summer and winter are toward the
east, at about 20 miles an hour in
summer. and about 50 in winter.
The westbound aircraft has an eN-
ira hazard, not only of the strength
OF the wind against it, but when
compared with the ease of flying
toward Europe of double the mile
age which, eastbound, would be its
gain.
The ocean of air comprises i'm
mense cyclone areas, known as
lows, the distance across which
may be 500 or 1000 or even loo
miles. So large are some of these
areas that one OF them alone may
fill the entire span Of air from
shore to shore.
More often there are two such
vhirls in the course which air craft
must take. Rarely there RAY be
more than two. But these whirls
are not like the ocean currents be-
low, following courses definitely
known in advance. They change
sometimes before even the swift
est air craft can cross, and they
contain hazards which in the pres
ent state of navigation may make
it impossible for the aviator to
know definitely what sort of
change he has entered.
The Bremen, flying westward
through fog and cloud formation
whose exact nature is not yet
known, expected as it neared the
North American coast to meet
winds that would tend to drift it
southwark. But in the clouds, fog
ana dark the currents shifted and
reports for that day show that the
Bremen encountered winds which
would carry it northward at the
very time when its navigators
should be making allowance for an
opposite drift. This one known
shift may account for the Bremen's
apparent trip into Labrador.
Apparently cloud barriers rise to
great heights over the Atlantic.
Byrd rose above 10000 feet without
being able to surmount them,
Chamberlin reported heavy clouds
1T $4,000 feet, and Haldeman, EN-
tering mass of storm clouds al
$4,000 feet said that the top of
these clouds appeared to tower
twice as high as his elevation.
The airmen attempting to find
his position must take into account
an additional factor as compared
With the mariner. The birdman
must know his elevation. He con-
fronts a great mass of uncertainties
which will be slowly cleared away
by the experiences Of airmen them
selves and by the systematic re-
porting of the North Atlantic
weather aud air conditions which
his flights tend to build w. United
States weather bureau officials and
members of congress have spon-
sored plans which when effective
will rob this new ocean of some OF
ITS uncertainties for airmen, S
We'll as give surface shipping the |
benefit of forecasts as TO what may I
descend on or about them from
sloft.
French COnservatiOnists
AAA1,n Ao DA