Evening star., 1928-06-03
Equipment for Your Ocean Flight
BY PROSPER BURANELLI.

~ UPPO6E you suddenly woke up
and found yourself flying an air
/ plane across the ocean. Yes, you
~ would have your worries. And
| not the least Of these would be a
| board In front Of you covered with a
| weird, intricate array Of dials, switches
| and other gadgets Each would have
a meaning Of its own and your life
! would depend on your being able 10
| interpret and work them properly
/ OF course you drive car and are
! familiar with the instrument board on
almost any old gas buggy. 1t doesn't
do you much good now. You recognize
scarcely one Of those tricky tllingtlTna-
| jlgs on the control board Of the plane.
/ You stare at them heiplessly, as II at
some fantastic kind Of puzzle.
A lot of work day people, even If
| they haven't experienced any night
mare like that. have gazed wonderingly
at pictures Of the spread of instruments
with which the iong-distance aviator
| finds mis- way. The latest ocean-span-
| ming bird, the Bremen, has partlcu-
| larly complete. up-to-date assemblage
| of doofiickers on It's control board, the
mechanical organs Of sense by which
/ KoehI. von Huenefeld and Fttzmaurice
| found their way across the hacklesS
| ocean. Look at IL and see how much
sense YOU can make Of II. Not muchi
1 And you may wonder what they could
possibly do with all that machinery.
Yet every gadget has It's place In the
scheme Of things aerial
Here, briefly, is what they are all
about:
No. -- Ammeter This is pretty
much like the one on your car. 1t gives
you the rate Of charge and discharge
Of your batteries, 50 that you won't
take any chance OF said batteries going
dead
No 2~sTachometer This tells the
rate of rotation Of the propeller, the
number of revolutions per minute. IT
Is very comforting TO glance at 1t and
see that the old prop Is turning around
properly and you are making steady
progress through the air.
No. 3 -~ Oil gauge Tells you how
much Iubrtcating oil you have. Your
automobile experience has given you
plenty Of understanding Of what hap
pens when your oil runs out. You
Burn out your bearings and generally
out your motor on the bum. Very un-
desirable In an airplane.
No. A. Barometer for high alm-
tudes Gives air pressure and height
at which you are flying. Another ia~
strument registers for low attitudes.
No 6--Air speed indicator IT tells
you how fast you are progressing
through the air That, Of course, y
not necessarily your real speed Winds
may be holding you back There Is no
instrument 10 show you your ground
speed. Over land you can get some
idea by looking below. but over ater
there IL only the monotonouS face OF
tine sea. which h one of the nervous
things about ocean flying.
No g~~Primer Same rs Ia auto
mobiles. You give II push 10 shoot
gas into the motor when II ifn't hitting
just right
NO THE barometer for low alti-
tiideg
Mo g. Tsate~of-climb indicator. IN q
fog you might not know whether you
were going up or down, or on level
| III indicates whether the plane h tilted
With reference 70 noes and tail~~-a SIM
/ pIe device on the principle Of the
! ordinary carpenters level,
No D.r~LAterAl ineiination indicator
This IL q similar scale, but laid over oii
. It's side. II tells whether the plane IA
level gith references 10 the two WING
tips whether II II leaning over on one
wing.
No. l0~~Oil gauge. Another instru-
ment that registers how much iubri-
eating oh you have left. In case one
goes out Of order the other works.