Evening star., 1937-05-25

miles around the globe, and within
an incredibly short space Of time. The
widest imagination would scarcely
have predicted this five years ago.
Difficulties to Overcome.
1t Is interesting to consider some OF
the diticulties which must be over
come before = North Atlantic flight
can be undertaken. must try to de-
scribe some Of these in non technical
terms so that all may understand.
First, We must study the meteoro-
logical conditions across the North
Atlantic. Every student knows that
the cold waters from the Arctic, COM
ing down to the Gulf Stream, cause
dense fogs and rain and storm condi-
tions. These are the greatest dangers
to air navigation. For many months
the research stats of the great air
lines have been studying the meteor
ology Of the north and central zones
Of the Atlantic Ocean. BY northern
route. taking OF from Newfoundland,
we have An over-water hop of only
1900 miles on the route from New
York to London. But 1t is over this
zone that the meteorological condi-
tions are most unsatisfactory. Here
comes American genius to reduce those
conditions to practical nothingness. It
has been discovered after years of
study OF what We call the substrato-
sphere-that is, the zone about 20, 900
to 1000 feet a to 5 miles, above sea
levels practically immune from
storms and fogs. But the atmos-
pheric pressure 1T those attitudes is
only about 51a pounds to the square
inch. We live IN an atmosphere Of
about 151z pounds to the square inch
at sea level. 1t can be seen, therefore.
that 1t will be necessary to increase
the cabin pressure artificially in order
to make human transportation safe
and comfortable. In the substrato-
sphere the temperatures are subzero.
Consequently the ship must be arti-
flcially heated. Again, the oxygen
supply Is very lean, and the cabin
must be enriched with oxygen. These
difnculties the aircraft builder has
overcome by constructing what Is
called sealed-pressure cabin-that IS,
a cabin strong enough to withstand
the artificial increase in the air pres-
sure to meet human needs. It is in
teresting to note that the mere act of
COMPRISING the air also heats It. 80
that, with a certain amount Of reRu-
lation, the air in the cabin can be
compressed to the necessary pressure
and heated to the necessary tempera-
ture at the same time. The next step
is to enrich it with oxygen. This can
be readily accomplished in such a ship,
Flying at an altitude OF 10000 to
$4,000 feet, we got above fog and bad
weather. except for occasional thunder
heads, which come up to a peak and
can be easily avoided. The lightness
| Of the air In the stratosphere enables
the supercharged engines of the air.
plane to send 1t along at . greatly
| increased speed-200 to $50 miles per
hour.
The next question that arises IS how
to land the ship from these high alti-
tudes II the home port Is obscured by
fog. Extraordinary advances have
been made in blind flying instruments
with which these ships will be
equipped. There Is no doubt that SAT
blind flying will be an accomplished
fact before these suhstratosphere
flights are undertaken.
| Unity Of Efforts.
| The research bureaus OF the trans.
portation companies, Of the air manu-.
featuring companies, OF the scientist.
and meteorologists, have all combined
to achieve the type Of aircraft I have
partially described.
The Pan-American Co. has recent.
ly made successful pioneering flight
from Honolulu to New Zealand. ThL
bold advance into the South Seas ane
the experience acquired therefron
have determined the Pan-Americar
| Co. to establish An airline from Hon.