LOG OF R34

Dominion, 14 August 1919, Page 5

LOG OF R34

STORY OF A UNIQUE ADVENTURE

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

The log of the R3i as contained by the official i-eport of the flight by Briga-dier-General E. M. Jlaitiand, G.il.C, D.W.0., to tho British Air Ministry, is filled with incidents that tell graphically tho story of the 108-hour flight from East I'ortune,' Scotland, to Mincola, U. An outstanding feature of this day-to-day record is the constant reference made to the fact that' the crew was unable to see either land, sea, or skr during a large part of the journey. At 1.12 a.m., July 2, immediately after the start, General Maitland records that "the Ibneuness on this occasion was accentuated by the faint cheers of tho landing party coming upward through the mist long after nLI signs of earth had disappeared."

Five hours , later, having left Scotland and tho Irish coast behind, ho reports olouds both abovo and beneath while flying at a height of 1500 feet.

"Wo are therefore in between two layers of olouds," says the lo,?, "a condition in which Alcock and Brawn found themselves on moro than one occasion on thwr recent flight from west to east."

Navigation was maintained by using the horizon of the clouds as a substitute for tho soa horizon, although an error of a>: much as fifty miles might ba made in this way, says tho Jog.

Later on. speaking of the comforts of transatlantic air travel, the log remarks: Life in tho keel of a large rigid airehip is .by no means unpleasant. Thero is very little noise or vibration excc-ut when one is directly over the power units—ia total absence- of wind and except in tho oa-rly hours of dawn greater warmth than in the surrounding atmosphere.

Getting into ono's hammock is rather nn aoroiwtic feat, especially if it is sliuirt high, but this becomes easy wibh practice; preventing oneself from faffing out 13 a Wring one must Iμ careful about in n service airship like tho B3J-. There is only a thin outer cover of f.ibrio on Hie underside of tho keel on each side of the walking way/ nnd the Incites individual who tips out of his hammcok wouvdin aM-probability break through this and eoon find himself in thp Mlantic.

At 3.1 a p.m., after about thirteen hours of flying, the wireless operator of the 8.31 reported the first faint signals from St. John's, N.F. The ship was then in communication with East Fortune, Clifdeii, Ireland, and the Azores. Pour o'clock tea—without which no Englishman's day would be complete—was served hot after being cooked over the exihanst pipo of the forward engine. ■ "Fruitarian cake was also tried for the first time," reports General Jlaitlarid. "rather sickly to taste, but very nourishing. The whole assisted by Hiss lee White on the gramophone. Wo would ono and all give anything for a smoke Greenland, the first officer of tihe ship, is vainly trying to discover the culprit who used his toothbrush'for stirring the mustard at lunch."

Nearly fifteen hours after tho start 'the log reports that the 8.3-1 is still in fog and clouds, and unable to see the Bea. "Wo have hardly seen any si.?n of the Atlantic since leaving the Irish coast," it adds, "and we are heginnin-* to wonder if'we shall sec it at all the whole way across."

Clouds continued above and bolow. Wotting out all vestige of sea and sky lor the next several -hours. Sometimes the ship drove straight through them nndsonioHmes it managed to lay a course between the upper and lower layers. At intervals, the clock was set back thirtv minutes as the ship moved westward. Speaking of the first night at sea, the log■says:

"The night is very dark. The airship, however, is lighted' throughout, a much enlarged lighting eystom having been fitted. All instruments can be individually illuminated as required, and u> case of failure of the lighting system all figures and indicators areradiumised. Thp radium paint-used is-eo luminous that in most cases tho lighting installation is unnecessary." How the crew repaired a disabled engine in the emirso of the voyage is thus described:—

2 p.m.-Shghl trouble with starboard amidships cngmoj cracked cylinder water jacket. Shotter, always equal to tho occasion, made a. quick and safo repair with a. piece of copper sheeting nnd tho entire supply of the ship's chewing gum had to ba chewed by himself and two engineers before being applied." Weather .observations taken by thu crew, coupled with regular wireless .forecasts from the Azores and Newfound•liind, enabled tho.B-34 to steer clear nf Eerious disturbances during the first part of tho journey. Progress, however was delayed by head winds and also by tlm fact., that, ,to conserve fuel, much of the voyage was mado on tiro engines. WittIces warnings of an approaching storii) drove \tuo shipnovth of its course in the hope of avoiding the worst of the disturbance, but this move was only partly successful. Toward the end of the second day, tho.log contains fir*. entry:

fi to 7 p.m.—We are gradually getting further and further ruto the shallow, depression which was reported yeslun.incoming up from the South Atlantic For the last four hours the sea. has been'rising and now the wind is south-south-east, lorty-live miles per hour.' Visibility only half a mile.. Very rough sea and torrents of rain. In spite of this the ship is remarkably steady. At 8 V-α;.—Scslt decides to climb right, through it, and we eventually ca.«ne out over the top of it at 3400 feet. 8.30 p.m.—We have now passed t'xo centre of the depression exactly as Harris foretold. The rum has ceased, and wo are travelling t/uite smoothly again. Friday morniug, July i, the beginniav of the third day of the voyage, General JJaitland records a "wonderful sunrir*, the coloure being the eoffcest imaginable, just like a wash drawing." The storm had been left well behiiic 1 , and though there was a fog over the soa the sky above was cleai at last. About ten miles off, there was a rift in the-fog bank and through this loomed a huge •ce'-ierg. The sun shone upon its glassy sidea. and the airship's c-few estimated that it was SCO. firda square and 150 feet high. ■

"Another big berg can just be seen in the dim distanco," says the log. "These are tho only tvvo objects of any kind, sort or description we have as yet seen on this journey."

A few hours later the R.-M passed over ft whole field of floating bergs, the ice being described as "blue-green under .water with frozen enow on top." At about this time also—9 a.m. Friday —a wireless message- from Governor Harris, of Newfoundland, was received, welcoming the R.&l to this shore. Commander Scott sighted land for the first time a short time afterward, "a few small rocky islands visiblo for a minute or two through the clouds and instantly swallowed up again." These were believed to be the outer islands of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Fifty-nine hours had elapsed since losing sight of tho Irish coast.

Clear weather was encountered passing over the Newfoundland and Nova Scotia coast, but strong head winds were retarding the journey, and at 2.30 o'clock Saturday morning, Captain Scott decided to turn inland to avoid the "southwest wind-barrage." The 11.34 crossed the coast lino at Goose Island, Country Harbour, a, desolate country which tlio airship's crew studied at 'close range for the log records: • ''

"10.20 a.m.—We are down as low as 8(10 feet over huge forests. Lovely resinous smell of pines which, we inhale with delight. Stacked tree trunks look liko bunches of asparagus from above."

"We all agree we must come to Novn Scotia for shooting nnd fishing," r e . marks General llaitland.

The first mention of the seriousness of the shortage of fuel is made, in the ship's log at noon Saturday. The R-.iH was then '500 miles from New York, and it was figured that-.the rest of the trip could bo made on two engines provided the weather held good. Nevertheless, Lieut.- j Commander tho American \ naval air officer on board, signalled for a destroyer to bs ready to tow the hk dirigible if necessary. "Let us hope," remarks General Mnitland. "this won't be necessary." "It is raining and foggy." ha records later, "which is tlio kind of woathor that suits .lie now, as rain generally tteans no wind.

Saturday afternoon there appeared eJeotrical storms off the coast which began, to give the 1(31 more trouble than, any other disturbance during the voyage. One of these drove the ship far out to sea in an effort to escnpo it.

"Scotfc turned east off his course to dodge the. storm," says the log, "putting on all engines. In this, fortunately for us, he' was successful, and we passed through the outer edge of it. Wo had a very T>ad time, indeed, and it is quite the worst experience from a weather point of view that any of us havo yet experienced in the air.

Another thunder storm came up at 0.30 Saturday evening, ar,d gave nf.l ibniide heart failure, because again they wej-o obliged to change their course when "every jrnKon of petrol is worth its weight in gold." Lato Saturday night and early tho next morning conditions improved sufficiently to enable Captain Scott to resume his course, passing Chatham, Mass.. at i n.m. and Martha's Vineyard nt 5.30. Captain Scott decided there was just nnousfh g.jrolene left to carry to Hazelhurst Field, and tho idea of landing at Monlank was abandoned. However, niero was not enough gas to permit tho intended flight over New York city— "very fdd. but no alternative," remarks Gcnoral jUaitland.'

The landing was mado in FaMfhurst Field, HJinco!n, at 1.54 p.m., Greenwich |uean time, or 9.51 a.m. United States eiimniw time.

Tho ln<r records the total flyinir timo as 103 hours 12 ni'milps, and totnl distance covered es 5130 miles, computed as follows:—

Kv.t Fortune, fVntlaml. to Trinity Boy, Kfen-ft-njidl.-nd. 2"50 mite.

Trinitv Bay. Newfoundland, to New York, 1080 miles.