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26 AVIATION May, 1911

CROSSING THE CONTINENT

By M. C. Tunison.

Crossing the continent is possible, but not by the ordinary aviator, or in the ordinary aeroplane or air-ship.

In the first place, the man should be a physical and mental giant, with nerves of steel and ability to endure great hardship and fatigue. He must be possessed of that spirit that is not affected by being miles and miles from other human beings and must be endowed with the inherent sense of direction possessed by the experienced woodsman. It is an easy matter to sit in a New York office and lay out a trip by the map from that city to the Pacific coast, it is easy to figure that with an aeroplane that will travel 300 miles per day it is possible to reach the Pacific in from ten to twelve days and that to win the Hearst prize one would have nearly fifteen days to spare

To begin with, the successful aviator or pilot leaving the City of New York will have on the start to back trace the wonderful trip of Curtiss up the Hudson to Albany, and thence across the State of New York to Buffalo. This while it would have to beat the record of the master aviator Curtiss would be comparatively easy flying, except for the cross winds that play up and down the Hudson River. From Albany westward the aviator will find some wind conditions not at all to his liking. He has to follow the Erie canal to be over ground on which he may land in case his motor should for any reason fail him. This canal is built through a natural draw or chimney that extends nearly all the way to Buffalo. Opening into this valley or draw on the North are the Adirondack Mountains, and from the South, the Catskills.

Mountain ranges in the United States have a general North and South trend or lay, with more or less open valleys between the ranges. A little study of the wind or storm tracks will prove to you that these North and South ridges have a definite influence on the air currents, while the valleys act as funnels or chimneys for the air to follow. From a flying standpoint the aviator will be forced to follow a very hazardous course until out of the influence of the eastern mountains and their treacherous swirling air currents.

Near Buffalo, the aviator will run into the lake winds, good steady fellows, that will cause him to travel three times as far ass his map measures, because of the fact that nine times out of ten they are going northerly or southerly, and the aviator will have to exert considerable power and time to hold his westerly course. Along the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio shores of beautiful Lake Erie to Toledo, conditions except for side winds, are better for flying, and the aviator, if flying at two or three thousand feet, can make fair time, but cannot hope to make good on any schedule preciously made or laid out. From Toledo to South Bend, Indiana, the aviator will find good rolling country to fly over, and if he keeps well up, will not be affected much by land conditions. From South Bend to Chicago, the aviator will enter the mixed air conditions about the lower end of Lake Michigan, and a country covered with a literal network of wires, and railroads. While factories, houses and fences seem to cover the whole landscape, a miss of the engine over this country would spell disaster in nine cases out of ten, and the aviator will, in going over this district, have to trust to luck and his motor to pull him through without mishap. One of the conditions of the Hearst prize is that the aviator must stop at Chicago. Of course, we must recognize the fact that our aviator will have broken all American records for distance and endurance and eclipsed two of the best records made by Curtiss, when he lands in the City of Chicago.
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