THE ÆRIAL AGE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 180, 9 November 1910, Page 5

THE ÆRIAL AGE

A RATIONAL PROCEEDING. By Cable.—Press Association. —Copyright. Received 8, 10.55 p.m. Douai, November 8. The Customs' claim is due to the absence of the declaration that Willows does not intend selling his dirigible, and the amount will be refunded to him when he flies homewards.

LATHAM'S SUCCESSES. Received A, 1 a.m. New York, November 8. Latham flew from a skyscraper at Baltimore for a distance of twenty-five miles. During the aviation meet he accepted a hundred pounds sterling to perform a few evolutions before the windows of a wealthy invalid. The whole city watched him. Latham won the duration and distance contests.

THE COST OF FLYING. It would appear that financial danger, as well as physical, threatens the aeropianist. "I know personally," says a writeT in the Pall Mall Magazine, ''of at least half a dozen, and of any number of others by name, who, having inherited three or four thousand pounds. have gone in for aeroplaning and who have been ruined within six or seven months. 1 ' These, by the way, had not even learnt to fly. Chief of the items on the debit side of the airman's ledger is the purchase of a machine. He is faced with the problem whether to buy a large, heavy machine at £I2OO odd, or a small, light machine at £450. Possible he chooses the cheap one and finds to his cost that it is dearer in the end. Heaviness is the essential of momentum, and without momentum the machine will drop suddenly during the climatic changes or disturbances. Even if the aeronaut does not hit the ground he will find that the strain on his machine is terrific, and the strain on his pocket will correspond. The systems uy which the wings are suspended are far from perfect, and the ordinary wear and tear on the wings is enormous. At Rheims Latham found it impossible to go out twice on the same machine until a swarm of mec-hanics had overhauled it, yet the weather conditions were ideal. Another aeronaut used several machines ia a series of flights, and started off without examining them. At length his audience saw the wings crumple up and his aeroplane dashed'; to earth. 'No wonder, then, that authorities assert that if you want to fly you need at least two mechanics and possibly the services of a few laborers. A suitable shed and plant will run into £3OO. So much for legitimate expenses, but it is hardly necessary, to point out that accidents may double the ordinary expenditure. Now comes the time to calculate the cost of flying p"r On paper it is as low as a haTi'penm- per mile; actually, it is more like €3 per mile. In fact, the writer declares that he would like to hear of an aeronaut who, after spending £3OOO, has got more than one thousand miles of flying for his money.