AIR ROUTE TO NEW YORK.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1099, 11 April 1911, Page 5

AIR ROUTE TO NEW YORK.

HUGE GERMAN SCHEME.

AIRSHIPS CAPABLE OF CARRYING 200 PASSENGERS. A COMPANY FORMED. By Telceraph—Press Association—Copyricht (Rec. April 11, 0.25 a.m.) Berlin, April 10. It is announced that a company has been formed with a capital of two millions sterling to construct Boerner's rigid airships.

Each vessel will have a capacity of 120,000 cubic metres; will be 775 feet, in length; and will bo equipped with motors of from 30 to 100 horse-power. The balloons will be divided into 3S airtight compartments.

The airships will be manned by a crew of 100 officers and men, and will be capable of carrying 200 passengers between London and New York.

The above message must he accepted with considerable reserve. The largest Zeppelin airships have only carried about 30 passengers, and have not proved ablo to withstand adverse weather. They have carried two motors, each of 150 to 200 horse-power, and have been driven at an average speed of 35 miles an hour. The largest rigid airship so far constructed is tho Schuette, which has a capacity of 682,500 cubic feet, a length of 416 feet, and - carries four motors, each of 12j horse-power. FLIGHTS ON AND OFF WATER. MR. GLEN CURTISS IN UTAH. Washington, April 9. Mr. Glen Curtiss, the well-known aviator, hydro-aeroplaned for several miles at Salt Lake City, rising from both land and water. He also drove the machine from the beach into the waWr. The reports of the flights recently carried out in San Diego Bay, California, by Mr. Glen Curtiss have now been supplemented (wrote "The Times" at the beginning of last month) by details of tho special machine employed when, for the first time on record, an aeroplane started successfully from the surface of tho water. To give the aeroplane its buoyancy in the water, the machine is mounted on a series of pontoons, in place of the usual wheels. The pontcons are hollow boxes with pointed ends, being fashioned by means of a wooden framework covered with sheet steel. ' The main pontoon, under the centre of the aeroplane, is Oft. from side to side and 7ft. from front to back. It has a slightly upward tilt, and it acts as a glider or hydroplane in the water when the aeroplane is' set in motion. A small pontoon is mounted in front of tho machine, while above it is a canvas-covered water shield, 6ft. 'wide and 2ft. high, designed to protcct the airman and the mechanism from any water cast up. At the extreme forward end of the aeroplane is a small solid wood hydroplane, w;hich aids in lifting the forward part of the aeroplane when under way. At a speed of about 30 miles an hour the machine skims along lightly with only its main pontoon touching the water. By a further slight increase in speed tho vessel lifts clear from tho surface, and once out of the water it rises rapidly in the air. The descents on to the surface of the water have been accomplished satisfactorily, it is stated, although the apparatus is still in the experimental stage.