Evening star., 1928-05-15
OCEAN AIR SERVICE
SEEN FAR DISTANT
Bremen Flyers Say 1t Win Be
10 Years, Perhaps Longer,
Before Regular Lines.
nv CHARLES J. v. MURPHY,

M NnAMAsES u. W mUhEnHs
Who ncw To Greculy Island with relet plane
of The star and North American Newsnspsr
Alliance, which carried Bremeas crew ia
civilization,
six times now. heavier than air
planes have crossed the Nerth Atlantic
nonstop. One has made the more
hazardous east to west passage. to con-
tra6ict what was becoming in the minds
OF laymen. at least. q conviction that
the Lindbergh route was a one-way
street.
What then, does the future hold
May we reasonably expect commercial
service across the Atlantic by air? II
%, will il be soon?
Three men who had just been across
the Atlantic. Huenefeld. Fitzmaurice
and Koehl, and a fourth who made the
trip last Summer. Bernt Balchen, sat
over John lie Templier's hugh conee
mugs in his Greenly Island lighthouse
one clustering night and tried to answer
these questions.
The three who few In the Bremen
were too close to their Furnishing ex-
perience to trifie with platitudes, and
Balchen is always serious. Therefore.
what they have to say is interesting and.
above all, curiouSly novel. 1t is more
sober gospel than that articulated by
aviation's opportuniSts heretofore,
Koehl. the scholar. thumbed the little
notebook in which he had detailed In
Vulnerable facts. He spoke heavily.
in the impoverished English vocabulary
We had been trying TO teach him. Lack
ing an English phrase he would try
French or German, and somehow his
meaning was always clear.
Much TO Learn. Much Danger.
''It is silly" he said. though not quite
in these words "to prophesy an i'm
mediate establishment OF transatlantic
service by air. There Is yet much to be
learned. There is yet too much danger.
when will it Gomez"
He shrugged his square shoulders. "I
cannot say. Maybe 10 years, maybe
not so soon. We are slowly learning
the problems that face us, but We are
not so quickly learning the answers"
A lively conversation broke loose,
Baron Won Huenefeld and Fitzmaurice
joining In. Balchen, pilot of the relief
plane Of The Star and the North Amer
lean Newspaper Alliance, sat quietly, ex-
cept to make sage observations from his
experience, observations which invari-
ably met with approval. Here. then,
was what these four men agreed:
Any attempted nonstop fight In q
single-motored land plane must remain
IN the category of o spectacular flight.
The power-loading limitations OF mod
ern aircraft are clearly defined. and II
n commercially practical, useful or pay
load Is to be carried. the nonstop at
tempt is out Of the question.
Besides this, the strain on the pas
senger Is such, or would be such, that
only the most adventurously inclined. as
distinct from the great bulk Of travel
1T twas y
ton must recruit its passengers, would
hazard it.
There Is yet O vast and uncharted
field OF experiment to be covered, not
only in the construction of planes, but
In the perfection of motors and instru-
ments rs well, before the heavier-thar-
air vessel can expect to guarantee q
transatlantic crossing with the asSur-
ance of safety and convenience any
form of transportation must give its
passengers.
These are honest, candid opinions As
proof the men talking cited the expert
ences Of the Bremen. as fine O ship as
any from the point Of view OF mechan-
ical development.
Months had gone into preparing the
:Junkers' aIl-metal monoplane for its
mission. Every conceivable instrument
necessary for accepted or assumed sit
uations had been provided. Koehl,
chief pilot. had studied his problem
well
But no system Of education has yet
been devised which could have saved
him from the crash on Greenly Island,
or led him out Of the pounding snow
storm which drove the Bremen up and
into the lonely interior Of Labrador,
where the failing Of the motor. even the
- - t4A NaG
meant q crash and probably death.
Comfort Put Last.
Surveyed from the passengers seat
Of Baron Won Huenefeld, IL was not O
comfortable passage. II was not q flight
20 be recommended 70 the passenger
who demands the comfort and the
press.
Koehl and Fitmaurice sat buried In
the control cabin forward, peering
through q natly rectangular strip OF
glass, their feet out almost straight
ahead Before them was one Of the
most elaborate instrument boards used
an a transatlantic plane.
In almost every instance, comfort had
been sacrificed TO safety. To save
gin for fuel the most devious schemes
had been used. Only enough wood had
been left On the control column, Usually
like an automobile steering wheel, TO
be held in the palm. This Is just an
example.
1--WE even skinned the bananas and
the oranges" Maj. Fitzmaurice insisted.
The seat cushions were Of wafer-iike
thinnees.
1T is difacuit," said Koehl, land
there ie much 10 learn. shall learn
more"
And . pilot" put In Fitzmaurice,
must be in absolutely tip-top condi"
ton physically"
fCopTFight 1923 IN all countries by North
American Newspaper AilJsneet