THE MODERN MAIL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 657, 9 October 1933, Page 7

THE MODERN MAIL

NEW SFEED PHASE ROCKET AND PLANE TO ' TRAVEL 700 MILES AN HOUR. CAREFUL EXPERIMENTS. Amazing progress has been made in the last few years toward employing the rocket as a safe and speedy method of aerial transport. In the next decade oi* so roclcet-planes may make the journey from Melbourne to London in seyen or eight hours. From a mere toy the rocket has become a controlled vehicle of the air>: and already animals and birds jiave been carried safely- and rapidly, an'd a number of flights with mail have been accomplished (writes P. Collas in the Argus, of Melbourne). The rocket owes its development to numerous earnest experimenters in Europe and America. Dr. Goddard, at the Clark University (U.S.), Max Yalier, Fritz von Opel, and 'Johannes Winkler, of Germany, and Robert Es-nauIt-Pelterie, of Paris, ' were the pioneers. Their work Has received ' the support of the Smithsonian Institute (U.S.A.) and the "French Aeademy of Science.' The First Success. To Friedrich Schmiedl, of Graz, in Austria, and Reinh'old Tiling, of the German Interplanetafy* Society, must be given the credit of first successfully adapting the rocket as a carrier of mail. After some years of experimenting with postal rockets in the Austrian mountains, where p'ost offices were frequently difficult of access and mail deliveries are slow, Schmiedl proved at Schockel, in February and April, 1931, the utility and safety of the carrier rocket. The first rocket post open to the public was inaugfifrated on Septemher 9, 1931, when the rocket R1 carried an experimental mail of 33 pieces, confeisiting of post-cards, Ijetters, and small packages. The R1 was projected from the summit of the HockTrotsch mount, about 4000 feet high, at an elevation of 65- degrees towards the nearest post offi.ce in the Semriach valley below. "Wlhen above the Semriach post office the rocket op:ned and a parachute safely carried the •the mail to earth. From this point the first rocket-conveyed mail' was forwarded to the respective add];esses by ordinary means. All the mail carried bore special violet cachets, and Schmiedl issued "rocket mail" stamps. Although these stamps had no official status, they are interesting souvenirs. A Greajt Power. In the rocket about 531b of solid explosives (powdered chlorate and nitrate mixture), which by experiment had proved to be the best fuel, were used as the propulsive agent. The speed produced by the exhaust from the explosive was fstimated at about 7700 feet a second, and the rocket was built stoutly to withstand this strain. The inner shell consisted of several layers of tough brass plating, a numher of layers of heavy paper, and hinding cord. The inside covering of the shell was made of asbestos, which also surrounded "der ofen" — 'the oven — ^t,hat part of the rocket which contained the explosive. The external covering consisted of aluminium, and the mails were enclosed in the head of the rocket, from which they were released and dropped hy parachute at a predetermined 1 time. Numerous other mails have hcen dispatched by the same means in Austria, and on a number of occasions special stamps, cachets, and registration labels have been used in conjunction with ordinary- Austrian postage stamps. The German Interplanetary Society, which numbers among its thousand members some of the most brilliant scientists in Germany, has the largest experimental ground for the study of rockets in the world, land a permanent staff of six engineers is working every day on the problems associated with the harnessing of the rocket to the , service of man. Herr Reinhold Tiling, an aviator and scientist, has sent up dozens of rockets from the society's experimental grounds and from different parts of Germany. In 1932 a huge 5ft model was sent aloft at Wangeroong, on the East Frisian Islands in the North Sea. In January last a "rocket flying day" held in Berlin did much to stimulate interest in. this method of air travel, and a larger number of different types of rockets h&s heen evolved lately. Some, like thos'e of the Austrian experimenter Schmiedl, release mail hy parachute when the peak of the flight has been reach'ed by the successive explosions of the propulsive fuel. Others, instead of releasing the mails, allow wings to unfold and the rocket becomes a glidef, and glides safely to earth. This design is intended for future passenger flights. Speed of 700 Miles an Hour. Tiling has achieved reniarkable success with his experimental rockets. His first glider rocket-ship attained u height of six miles 'and th:n glided t0 a safe landing some five miles from the point of departure. On the upward flight Tiling's model attained the almost incredible speed of 700 miles an hour. It is thus possible to imagine that the future of mail transport lies with the -rocket. The world's first official aeroplane mail was carried only 22 years ago in lndia. The rocket is the next step forward to speedier mail transport and possibly speedier passenger travel. There is no reason to doubt that the rocket will be made 'as safe as the aeroplane and the Zeppelin, •in spite of the enormous speed attained. It has been proved that rocket propulsion is adaptable only to vehicles travelling at high speed. With further improvements of rocket

fuel, speeds of 1000 miles an hour may he reached in the stratosphere between 10 and 30 miles — -or even more — above the earth's surface. Professor Piccard, the Belgian scientist, holds the world record for the :great- ' est altitude ever reached by man, but he rose only 10 miles in a comparatively slow vessel — la balloon. Scientists have predicted that before the end of this century a rocket from the earth wil lhave crossed 240,000 miles of space and landed ori the moon, It is perhaps a fantastic dream, yet 30 years ago the aeroplane had still to emerge from the pages of a Jules ^/erne novel. David Lasser, president of the American Interplanetary Society, remarlced recently: — " . . . Although •the interplanetary journey will b:, in the last analysis, the result of the highest achievements of modern science, it wil lalso open the way to cxperiences more bizari're than the dreams of any romancer."