Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours: With a Discussion of Aircraft in Commerce and TransportationBrown, Arthur Whitten, Sir
History
Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours: With a Discussion of Aircraft in Commerce and Transportation
Brown, Arthur Whitten, Sir
Aeronautics, Commercial; Transatlantic flights
When higher levels of the air have been charted, there is every reason
to believe that the known movements of the Atlantic winds will be
used to shorten air journeys. There are at sea level, between certain
clearly defined latitudes, prevailing winds of constant direction. At
greater heights, also, there is in most latitudes a constant drift
which, if charted, might be useful even if winds at sea level were
unfavorable.
Although precise information is available of the prevailing and
periodic winds at sea level in various latitudes, very little
coördinated work appears to have been done in charting the prevailing
and seasonal winds in higher levels of the atmosphere. Observations
of the air currents over various localities in the United States,
England and Germany have been taken, but very little is known of the
winds above the great ocean tracts. There is a great necessity for
international research to provide data for predictions of weather
conditions in the upper atmosphere and thus enable advantage to be
taken of these higher currents.
At high altitudes, constant winds of from thirty to forty miles per
hour are common. If the prevailing directions of those were known to
airship navigators, the duration of the journey could be considerably
shortened, even if this meant taking an indirect route. It is
undesirable to fly at great heights owing to the low temperature; but
with suitable provision for heating there is no reason why flying at
ten thousand feet should not be common.
Air currents cannot be charted as exactly as sea currents; but much
valuable work can and will be done by tabulating in detail, for the
guidance of air navigators, the tendencies of the Atlantic atmospheric
drifts. Reliable charts, used in conjunction with directional messages
from wireless stations and ships, may make it possible for vessels on
the London-New York air service always to avoid troublesome winds, as
well as storms and fogs, and to reduce the percentage of risk to a
figure not exceeding that relative to sea liners.
For the rest, the excellence of the most modern engines and the fact
that one or two, or even three of them can be temporarily out of action
without affecting the airship's stability during a flight, minimize the
danger of a breakdown from loss of power. The only remaining obstacle
to reasonable safety would seem to be in landing on and departing from
the terminal during rough weather. This can be overcome by the recently
patented Vickers Mooring Gear for Rigid Airships.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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