FUTURE OF FLYING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3264, 8 July 1911, Page 3

FUTURE OF FLYING.

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN 18 HOURS. ' AERIAL TOURS. A fascinating glimpse of the future of flying is. obtainable in a volume, “The Aeroplane, Fast. Present, and Future,” published recently. i j M. Louis Paulhan says he thinks that before the end of 1915, and perhaps before, there will have been evolved a machine sufficiently safe for ordinary use. , in 1920 he expects to see aeroplane passenger services established and iunning regularly between cities. The passenger-carrying machine will have a boat-shaped car body. M. Paulhan is quite certain that tlie stability of such a large machine will be automatic. In the opinion of Mr. F. S. Cody, we shall have, in about ten years’ time, a large passenger-carrying aeroplane, able to compete successfully with steamers and trains. But for tlie next four or five years lie says) •aeroplaning will become daily more dangerous, owing to the experiments which must be made towards conquering very strong winds. When this end is attained, the danger element is, to a great extent, eliminated. Before another twenty years have passed, writes Mr. A. V. Roe, we shall be crossing the Atlantic in about eighteen hours by aeroplane. These suggested Atlantic aero-hydroplanes would fioat on the water when at rest. Tlie body and wings would be so many feet above the water, according to the sizo of the machine. They would be mounted on stream line section struts -which would rest on long torpedo-shaped boats. Under these floats small hydroplanes would be arranged so that, as the speed increased. -the floats would leave the water easily. Mr. V. Ker Seymer can see no commercial future in Britain for a large passenger-carrying aeroplane. But in other lands, notably m Central and South America and Africa, where, owing to their vast expanse or natural difficulties, raliway construction is limited and expensive, such an aeroplane could -render invaluable service.

Mr. Henry Farman says that when the perfected aeroplane is an accomplished fact, he has no doubt at all but that its speed and stability will enable it to fly successfully in practically any wind, liowever high and- gusty. A novelty of quite the immediate future, in Mr, Farman’s view, will bo the organisation of aerial tours by aeroplanes. Special aerial tours will be arranged to take place in favorable weather, with the idea of visiting the beauty spots of various countries. There would bo no difficulty in arranging such tours during the coming summer. Long distances could bo covered. He does not believe that any satisfactory device will ever be obtainable to give the aeroplane an absolutely automatic stability while it is passing through the air. M. I jouis Bleriot- declares that the aeroplane will soon become a machine as safe as any on land. The aeroplane will soon excel in speed any train or steamship as a regular method of getting people from place to place. The general wear and tear upon an aerial craft will be extremely low, and the conductors of an aerial service, unlike the management of a railway, will be unburdened with any heavy expenses in the upkeep of a permanent wav. Colonel J. E. Capper, late Commandant of tlie Government Balloon School, asserts that there is scope for the use of military aeroplanes on a large scale. “I firmly believe that their systematic use in large, well-trained squadrons may alter all accepted views as to the security of troops, supplies, and lines of communication, and may have the most far-reaching effect on a campaign.” Most of the experienced airmen whose views are expressed in these pages insist that with ordinary care flying is as safe as most other means of locomotion.