THE GREAT ATLANTIC AIR RACE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 193, 10 May 1919, Page 8

THE GREAT ATLANTIC AIR RACE

);• — : —• ■, j- . MANY FACTORS INVOLVED f 1 ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS j ' rßecent .cablegrams on the subject of | the projected nir ra'co across the | , Atlantic -lend more than: .«• passing j interest -to i the following, article by ' [ . . Mr. Foster Ware in the New ~Yprk. [.' "Saturday Evening' Post Magazine"), I on the various problems which the i "airmen will'have to dealt, with in !■ their attempts' to'."crass' the pond."] |, In fourteen hundred ninety-two ' ' i Columbus sailed the ocean blue, j ■In 1919 representatives of (France, England, and America are preparing, to make 1 similaiv journey by air. , The Atlantic is at ylifTerent : points, and .in different ways by aviators of these three countries —-if. it is humanly possible to do so. They are not goinjj jt 1 blind, as Columbus did, and-there is a j good-deal moro'public confidence, in their ;' enterprise than there was in Columbus's [ day. Nevertheless, wlion all is said S that can bo said concerning Liberty and j BolMtoyce ■ motors, gasolene .consumption, carrying capacity, wing, siiati, and !■' miles per.''hour,.the.fact remains that !.- the very \'element -that contributed, |. largely to the success of Columbus's yoy-"nger-the thing that in'Ctho end "got him I across"—is again'being called - upon to • help turn the trick for these pioneers of ! the transatlantic aiiv. In short, the first j- njttempt to flv between tho Old World | end tho New Is gradually resolving itself : into a question of the wenthelv Follow s- tho 'route that Columbus took—from •"< Spain to the. Canary . Islands and thence south-westward to the West- Indies—and, J in the light of present-day knowledge, it is evident that the Nina and Pinta and Santa Maria camo pretty near to drifting across with the' broeze at their backs. Study the routes over which it is proposed to mako the .trip by nir, and you will find that—while travelling at 100 or ' more miles an hour can hardly be called ' drifting—the same principle is being employed. Indeed, you will find the aviator .. of 1919 placing even greater dependence' ... upon it than did tho discoverer of 149-. Columbus may hove drifted out, but, having attained his goal, lie also turned / around*'and sailed home. To date, 110 aviator talks oj. the return journey— : unless it be by steamer.'

. The; Throe Main Routes. .'■■ Of the three main air routes proposed, two are west-to-east and one is east-to-west. The attempt is to be made both ways. In this, however, there is no conj. tnidiction of the principle just . stated. I The difference in direction is not in defiance of the weather, but in stern obedi- [ ■ ence to it. The French,'or east-to-west • Toute, is from Cape Dakar, Seiiegambia |, westernmost point in Africa—to Pernnm—•buco,.Brazil, tho nearest point in South !' America, a distance of about 180 D miles. !• 'The British route (west-to-east) is from T St; John's, Newfoundland, the most easti j erk point in British 'America, to Ireland, j. a distance of • 1923 miles. -Tho American T route, though. not officially announced, has undergone changes since the flight .- was first projected by the Navy. It was ' 1 first proposed to fly from Hampton Roads, ! Va„ to tho Azores, and. thence to the i-1 Irish const—a total distance of 3089 miles, ' ! with a first leg of 2500 and a second of 1180 milos. Within the last few days, ! however, the talk has been of beginning ; the flight from Eockaway, L. 1.,' travelling to some point in Newfoundland, anu i from there following tho course chosen ! . by' the British to Ireland. Tliis would I 'mean a total distance of about 2850.miles considerably shorter than the' Azores route. Present indications aro that this i latter will ho the course. In the matter i of mileage, the Frenchman has somowhat • the best of it. He has the shortest ; course. .Generally speaking, however, all I three start on a fnirly equal footing so . far as distance is concerncd.' The differ--1 cnces in miles are not enough to" give cny ! of the contestants a decided advantage. ! The man and tho plane that succeed in ' making tho . crossing by one ro(ite woulO. I bo likely to have.no trouble .making it !' by either of the other routes, if the question of covering the distance were all that j bothered them., But it isn't all. | \ Banking on' the Weather. - ! All three fliers are'banking heavily on r a certain amount of help from the ! weather. •It is one reason why tho i Frenchman'has plotted his course from : Africa to South America,., instead of.

• South America to Africa! and-it is preI eminently the reason ivliy the British i /fliers have gone to tho trouble to ship S jtheir planes to this side of the Atlantio i so that they may fly homo in them, linstead of emulating 1 Columbus an<l , j flying to the New World in'them. It i I also accounts for tho courscs contem- ! 1 plated, by tho American fliers.-'* Colum- | ibus atarted out with unlimited confiI jdehce. and a' limited supply .Of.' weather j .'information. He set his,'sails and the ■ ..wind did the rest, so to speak. He ' j never reached the , mainland of. North : I America, but ho did land in the West ! [Indies, because, tho 'breezes wafted- him i that way. ■ : The modern Columbus ,of. the air lstarts' out'wjth just' as much-'confidence I and ■ a ...vastly superior., fund :of weather- ! I lore, and unless science' plays : him - false •the will have the air currents to thank ', in large measure 1 for tho success of his ■ Vventure. More particularly is. this true

; of the British and American. airmen. .'j ,The Frenchman, .with tho shortest- of the r-'f three courses, is-to n certain degree ! | handicapped by tho fact that .tho-winds I ! in that part. o'f..the"Atlantic,'.:which' he ! j has chosen are apt tcilje fickle and light, ;■ in comparison with .fhe currents -operati ! ing over the routes of his rivals. Now- ? i-ever, he has planned his course to take j,-' advantage -of all the lielp tho wind will j ! i give him. The records of weather. conditions in > . that zone, as compiled by the United I .' Stated Weather Bureau qnd tlio Hydropgraphic Office of the Navy—records based upon years and years of observations by i '• seafaring men— show .that any one start--1 I ing out'in an aeroplane from : the coast of Senegambia in April would. be likely to encounter mild north to riorth-east

■ winds, tho very kind lio would'want to L speed him. on his way to tho nearest j point in South America.' And as ho I wore away from tho coast of Africa ho | would continue to have the wind at his

back for at least onc.half of his journey

: Indeed, the prevailing currents at this L seasou in that locality are such'as to i drive the Frenchman ahead in a tee-line 1 for his destination until lie began to approach the JJquator. Here •ho L -would be likely to encounter doldrums and variablo breezes' which might retard him slightly; and once across the dividing line he would run into south-easterly. winds, which would . certainly hinder him. Ilowover, by standing well out to sea upon leaving the African coast, Lieutenant Foil tan, the ; French flier, lvoiild'ivithin a few-hundred ■ miles bo able to pick up one of the two favoured sailing routes for South Ameri- : can ports,- and by following this route to ' the point due south of tho St. Paul liocks, where' it breaks sharply to tho : vrest, he would lie quite likely to pick up : fair weather for the .rest of the journey. It is reason ablo to suppose _ that the Frenchman has taken all this into ac- - count. Although the shortest, his course is in some respects the most hazardous of the three, becauso it leads through air lanes known to be tricky and puffy, and also becauso it takes him across n part of the Atlantic that is. by no means so : well understood or so well equipped for observation purposes as the region in which tho British and American contestants propose to make the attempt. Fontan, if he succeeds, will bo a pioneer indeed. With''the British and American aviators guesswork and luck are to be reduced in their case to tho lowest possiblo terms so far as tho weather is concerned. \nd this can bo done to a far greater degree than, is perhaps generally underjoin's, Newfoundland.

' Within a few days after the first, announcement of the British plan I to mnke the attempt there arrived in bt, John s a partv of English meteorological expeita : to be"in studying air conditions in con- ' rection with tho flight. According to the renocta. these men will remain ,in ' f3»Veral on. w mfci rfents .condltioMnmllv throngh' the spring and ™"me r r. This was but the first step* the meteorological preparations. Major ' fiondle, Chief of tho British Air .Force s Weather Bureau,, has announced' that aU (sources of his organisation aro to

be placed at tho disposal, of the transAtlantic contestants. Similar groups' of expert are to bo stationed at Lisbon and in the Azores, and even the British forecasters in the western part o! Africa are to be pressed into service. "In addition, a British battleship is to be stationed in, mid-Atlantic, not merely as a way station for the aviator who is forced to come down, but primarily to assist in clearing the way, so to speak, for the aviator waiting: to start. As a preliminary the British battleship Montcalm has been sent out over the proposed course,with a weather expert on board to make tests of wind currents at great heights with a box-kite apparatus. American weather experts are also at work on a similar scheme. Tho problem in our case calls for the virtual extension of existing Weather Bureau facilities nil the way across the Atlantic. This can readily be done with the aid of the fleet of American destroyers, or "mother ships,"-which it is proposed to send out in advance of the American attempt. Each ship, -besides serving as a guidepost' and possible rescuer in case of trouble, is expected to serve also as a temporary weather station at sea, coo Derating with tho fixed stations of the Weather Bureau on out coast. What does all this mean? llow can the weather man. whether at sea or on land or both, help to clear tho way_for tl.o aviator preparing: to make the big jump?

' Along the Path of Storms. It is perhaps not generally appreciated thai: the part of the North Atlantic in which both tho British and American airmen have chosen to fly is the scene of nearly all of tho more important great storm centres, which—in accordance with some mysterious (hough invariable law of nature—make their wav across tho ocean from west to east. The choice of this seemingly untoward storm zone was ■by no moan? accidental. There is method in it—the method of the weatherwise who have spent years in studying this one-way progress of storms across, this part oi the Atlantic, and who look upon the phenomenon, not as,_an extra hazard for tlie.trans-Atlantic aviator, but. as an all-inmortant factor in helping him go the distance. For a storm centre is a maker of weather. It determines tho character of the weather for 'hundreds of -miles around. ' Furthermore, the weather experts have been in the business long enough to know, the habits of storm centres from 1 month-to month, and the records of typical storm centres go back far enough to give ns mi unusually accurate line 011 just what to expect of them in April, or May, or June—or any other period of Uie year. The general direction of these storm centres in April is from eoufh-west to north-enst. Starting from a point off tho Virginia coast, say, they fend to move along shore, passing through the Newfoundland Bnnks and continuing seaward until their energies are spent somewhere off the north-west const of Ireland or Scotland. There are variations, of course. Tho general trend is iii the direction stated. There is also a secondary storm ptith, which starts about midway between Newfoundland and Ireland, and moves south-east until it reaches France in the neighbourhood of liDrdenux. Mark these tracks on your miip of the Atlantic, and you will see that the British and American aviatori? starting out from Newfoundland for Ireland would follow the uinin storm path for a considerable part of the journey. Needless to say, it becomes' highly important, therefore,' that both the British and American contestants shall know beforehand that the roads they propose to travel are" clear.

It has been observed that it takes from four to five days for a fuli-grown storm centre, to travel from America to Eilrope. The flight in an aeroplane seems likely to be made in about twenty-four hours. The;aviator, therefore, could beat out ft) storm centre that had already passed out to sea tivo or three days ahead of him.. He doesnt want to do that, if he can 'avoid it. And it is the meteorologist's job to help him avoid. it.

That the flying men of both countries are aware of this difficulty goes without saying. In England, where flying is rapidly becoming commonplace, . they are, perhaps, a bit more weathenviso than Americans in such matters. The London "Times," for example, now inchules in its unusually complete column of weather intelligence a detailed .report on "Flying Prospects To-day." The following paragraph from one of these recent reports is not without significance in respect to trans-Atlantic flight:—

"Elsewhere local flights should bo possible generally, cross-country work only in some districts, during the early hours, while the advance of the Atlantic "depression will probably abolish all types of flying towards the close of the day." "Tho advance of the Atlantic depression" .is simply another way ,of-saying that one of the made-in-America storm centres is due to reach England. Aviators take warning. And since the approach of one of these storm centres is sufficient to abolish all types of flying over England, it should. hardly be necessary to say that tho same thing applies to tho trans-Atlantic-flight.

However, the storm centre has its good .points as well as.its bad. Given a well-defined storm centro proceeding according to time-honoured schedule across the Atlantic, and the meteorologist finds it a simple matter to deduce just what kind of wind and weather will prevail over a large area affected by that centre. Because a storm centre is really a 6ort of atmospheric void into which the winds for miles about are rushing in a more or less orderly manner. Thcso winds always travel in a counter-clock-wise direction, so that great whirling air currents aro produced for hundreds of miles about. ,

Tho assembling of British and American meteorologists at tho' respective starting points, and the establishment of floating weather stations between shore and shore, accordingly take on vital significance in the race to be first across tho Atlantic by eir. It has even been suggested by James H. Kimball, meteorologist of tho IjJew York station of tho Weather Bureau, that all ships plying the North Atlantic lanes be pressed into service as, emergency weather observatories,'sending out daily wireless _ reports of weather conditions in their locality. ' As there would always bo thirty to fifty ships, whose wireless report could be relayed from tho zoiio of air travel every day, tho Government Feather experts would in this way be able to "cover" thei, Atlantic almost as thoroughly as they now cover the United States. And a daily forecast based' upon these reports from sea would be a valuablo thing for tho American aviator to havo before starting out for the other side.

It is, perhaps, going too far to say that some of tlio aviators entered in the raco aro counting upon tlio help which they will receivo from the weather, via tho weather .man, to do one-quarter to one-third of the work for them and their machines. Tho problem of the planebuilder Ims been, and still is, to design a machine that will carry the necessary crew and fuel and still make, tho neces. snry speed to go the distance in a reason, abb' time—and- by reasonable time in meant not merely a period that will rot overtax' tlio airman's endurance, but one that will fit into the seheduln of good weather while it lasts. The air pilot is not liko tho ship captain, who may, if necessary, go far out of his course to avoid unfavourable weather, regardless of the cast of fuel. The air pilot is restricted in his fuel, and to alter his course to any considerable extent would in all probability be, fatal. Using the Air Tides. On the other hand, if the weather forecastors can diagnoso conditions accurately, and give him an ideal twenty-four-hour period for flight, tlio airman will bo off with far better prospects of a pheasant voyage than the slow-going ship pilot could ever hope to enjoy. For, with tho aviator bound for Europe, it is "ground speed" that counts. Ho may set sail with a load of gasolene so heavy that his actual Hying speed ii? reduced from one hundred to eighty miles an hour, but with a strong thirty or forty-mile breeze at his bock he will be able to more than make up the delicieucy in tho first part of the journey. Indeed, it has been 'figured that from twenty.to forty miles an hour can be gained l»x utilising Hie trans-Atlantic air tides. Sinco tlicy mean increased speed and decreased fuel consumption, tile aviator would bo foolish if lio' did 'not utilise them. Columbus did. without fully knowing it. They helped lvirn discover a New World. The transAtlantic airman, with tho meteorologist at his side, intends to uso tliera with his eyes open to every advantago they .may give. And they may holp him to set a iinw mark in the conquest of tho sir,