Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-13
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.

with a load OF 20 passengers, bag
gage and mail, completed hel
transatlantic flight with fuel fol-
IS hours additional flight re-
naming.
Eddie Rickenbacker, in a re-
Gently published article. declared
that In his opinion the dirigible OF
the future will spend its entire
useful life in the air, just as the
steamship spends its life afloat
Repairs will be made en- route and
new supplies will be taken aboard
without stopping, he prophesies.
LAS it tthe dirigible of tOmor-
row. approached a city," he wrote,
another ship would go out 20
meet 1t and dock on it's deck. It
would unload supplies, exchange
cargoes and passengers and posi-
bly, relieve the crew. Then 1t
would take off again and return
to its home city"
Dirigible Plane Carriers.
The possibility of launching air
planes from a dirigible and re-
attaching them in fight has been
demonstrated in this country and
in Great Britain. The two huge
Navy dirigibleS now under con-
tract will carry five pursuit planes
each and will be the first aerial
airplane carriers. It is not at all
illogical to suppose that these
planes might be used to repleniSh
the supplies of the dirigibleS from
ground points during prolonged
flights.
While the field of speculation
is being exploited, the practical
side of the Army'S notable effort
by no means is being overlooked.
Every phase of the flight is being
studied thoroughly, with results
which should be of lasting benefit
to aeronauticS. While the per-
Torrance of the three motors III
carrying the plane more than
10000 miles without a stop was,
of course. a source of great salts
faction, certain motor weaknesses
were revealed which now are being
attacked by motor designers with
a view to future improvements.
It is understood that plugged
grease outlets in the left motor,
cutting off the pressure feed to the
valves. actually Brought the flight
to sn end. The motors themselves
showed surprisingly little wear,
and that was chiefly in the valve
assemblies. With minor adjust
ments to compensate for this
wear, the motors again were
ready for flight.
Noise Disseminating.
The chief source Of physical
discomfort to the Question Marks
crew appears to have been the
noise of the motors, which deaf
ened them during the greater part
of the flight. Aeronautical engi-
neers have devised methods Of
materially reducing the noise of
airplane motors without cutting
down their powers, and propeller
noise also may be leSsened, tests
have revealed. This source of dis
comfort to airplane passengers
eventually will be reduced to q
negligible amount in commercial
practice.
An attempted nonstop flight
around the world probably will be
the first result of the Question
Marks achievement. When Jules
Verne wrote his famous Round
the World in Eighty Days" it was
considered daring in a day when
such a trip required months.
Last year Capt. C. B. D. Collyer
and John H. MearS, using steam
ship and airplane, circled the
earth in % days IS hours and 8
seconds. In the not far distant
future men may circle the globe
by flight refueling in 10 days. The
flight of the Question Mark has
pointed the way to such an
achievement and the first attempt
appears certain to occur within
the year.
Whatever it's tangible results,
the flight of the Question Mark
undoubtedly has been a Stimulat-
ing tonic to the large portion Of
the public which follows the de-
velopment of aeronauticS from
day to day. It is another of the
many recent aviation achieve
mentS which are changing the
attitude of the general public from
a feeling of amazement at what
has occurred in the air to an eager
anticipation of events to come.