Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-01
OFFICE PILOTS LOG
D. C.-PAR|S FLIGHTS
Shortest Theoretical Zeppelin
Trip to Europe on Ships
Data Takes 40AHourS.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. January 81 (N.AN.A).
Anticipating the past weeks hearings
before the Commerce Committee of the
House on the McNary-Parker merchant
airship bill, little group of aeronauti-
cal engineers and airship pilots for
months past have labored over sailing
charts, blue prints and weather maps
high up in New YORK Office building,
compiling data to prove the feasibility
Of regularly scheduled pelin~servics
from this county to Europe.
During this time they made 522
flights" between Washington and
Paris-261 in either direction-on the
basis of a take-off from each terminal
every Saturday night throughout a five
year period, selected as most typical of
conditions encountered over the North
Atlantic since the United States Wealth
er Bureau first began assembling such
information 40 years ago.
Hunsaker Heads Studies.
This scientific study and the hypo-
thetical airship crossings that resulted
from it were made under the direction
of Comdr. j. G.. HunSaker wartime
chief of aircraft construction in the
Navy and now president of the Inter
national Zeppelin Transport Corpora
ton, which plans Zeppelin passenger
and mail line between the United States
and Europe He says of the findings
made by himself and his associates in
the engrossing chess game they played
against the weather with imaginary air
ships for pawns:
The studies show that a schedule of
two and half days could be safely set
up for flights from Washington to Paris
and of three to three and half days
for the more difficult westward passage
from Paris to washington. More eX-
actly, with 58-hour schedule in the
Summer and 81 hours in Winter for the
eastward voyage, and 10 to 80 hour
schedule returning, we could land our
ships on time, or ahead of time, on 30
per cent of the journeys. They should
never be as much as a day late, and
only twice in the f1ve-year study were
our Hypothetical ships as much as II
hours late.
Ship Log Data Used.
Information by which the game of
airships was played came from the So
called pilot charts prepared by the
Weather Bureau with the help of data
from the logs of thousands of vessels
and containing such statistics as wind
direction and forces, temperatures. per-
certage of gales, fog and ice; from an
exhaustive scientific study and analysis
of North Atlantic weather compiled 25
years ago by the German meteorologist
Van Bebber and from 1925 daily
weather maps covering the specific pc
Rod with which the Zeppelin experts
were concerned. BY this method it was
possible to determine not only the most
favorable route across the ocean for any
particular time of the year, but actually
TO compute the progress an airship would
have made on any given day.
All calculations we're based on an
airship having a cruising speed of IS
miles an hour and flying at an altitude
of 1900 feet, although Comdr. Hun
saker pointed out that in actual prac-
tice the skipper CT Zeppelin probably
would use full speed of SO miles an hour
to get from unfavcSable to favorable
areas Of weather or/would ny higher to
take advantage Of tail winds or lower
to lessen the opposition Of head winds.
But the nake-believe airships were moi
permitted these privileges. The game was
complicated enough, even with them
sticking to their appointed speeds and
levels of navigation.
Shortest "Trip" 40 Hours. y
No two of the 522 flights followed
identical courses, but 1t was found they
grouped themselves along three general
routes-the great circle course, roughly
following the steamship lanes. 5000
nautical miles; a Southern course,
swinging below the Azores-in soma
cases as far south as Cape FinnisteTre-
1900 miles In length, and an intern-e-
date course, some zoo miles ncrth OF
Bermuda, $500 miles long.
THE first Theoretical Urip to Paris
consumed 50 hours, Eslng the shortest
of the year. and waS n12oc en- January
4. The return tip took 81 hours,
Comdr. Huusaker SAID. In that first
year the Washington Paris flight was
made in less than 43 hours en- 25 Of our
% trips.
our fastest crossing of 40 hours was
made in December and required but
seven hours more than LindberghS
New York-Paris flight. During Febru-
airy every westward crossing was made
in AZ hours or less. The great circle
course was followed on one occasion,
the intermediate route on the others.
The longest trip in the whole period
was IS hours and came in December.
During the five years the ships broke
20 hours only six times.
A Hours Flying West.
ION the westward fight from Paris
70 Washington the shortest voyage was
a. hours and was made in January.
There were six occasions on which the
trip was made in 48 hours and two
when it was lowered to Al. The aver
age flying time from Paris to Wash
ington for the whole five years was 81
hours; from Washington to Paris 54.
Three flights ran over 90 hours"
Comdr Hunsaker emphasized the
fact that terminals have not yet been
RESORTS.
ATLANTIC CITY, n. j.