Frankly, the airplane does well as a pleasure vehicle. More and more sportsmen are turning to aviation for enjoyment. There are single-seaters for those who prefer to travel alone and fast; there are limousines with three or four-passenger accommodations for the use of the entire family. Some men even now are commuting between home and business by means of the airplane. Certain Texas ranchers have used airplanes to survey their domains. Motion picture celebrities, in search of new ways of spending their huge incomes, have turned to airplanes.

Then again, the airplane is an excellent. carrier of fast mail, and as such it is being widely employed in all leading countries. The ease with which the two-seater reconnaissance machines of the late war could be converted into limited weight carriers-three hundred to six hundred pounds caused France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the United States to change them over into mail planes wherever possible. To-day we have aerial postal lines beginning to assume the proportions and complexity of a huge spider's web over Europe. And here in the United States we are running the New York, Philadelphia, and Washington mail route with gratifying results. We have essayed the New York to Chicago route but not with success, due, seemingly, to our being a little ahead of the times. No doubt this route, and others of equal length, can be negotiated with the new multiple-engined machines now being developed for the longer routes.

Aside from the transportation of fast mail, the airplane lends itself well to carrying light merchandise. For instance, it might well be employed for transporting timely motion picture films. Thus if a film were made in New York on the afternoon of a given day, it might be taken by airplane to Chicago the same day, developed during the night and shown on the screen the following afternoon. Making a speed of better than one hundred miles an hour as compared with an average of forty miles per hour for the long-distance train, the airplane gets to its destination in certainly less than half the time or even onethird the time required by railroad, for distances of several hundred miles.

In the matter of passenger-carrying, as already outlined, the airplane cannot carry a sufficient number to warrant its high operating costs, except when speed is the prime requisite. There are places in this world, however, where airplanes as passenger car

riers could compete with surface carriers even on the price basis; places where the present railroad or highway communication. takes a winding course between termini as the result of intervening mountains, bodies of water, or swamps. In such cases the distance by land may be one hundred miles, yet as the crow flies-and that is the way the airplane flies-the distance is only thirty. Here, of course, the airplane can make the journey in perhaps fifteen minutes, while the train requires three hours. The airplane can then compete with the railroad in low fares. But these are very exceptional instances, to be sure.

The Winged Bus and Aerial Highways

As an instance of passenger-carrying airplanes, the Farman Goliath is most significant. It has a wing spread of ninety feet. a length of forty-five feet, and is equipped with two engines which total 550 horsepower. The speed of this machine, originally intended as a long-range bombing plane for the French Army, is over 105 miles an hour. It carries a useful load of 4400 pounds, of which 1144 pounds is fuel.

Now the Farman Goliath in its commercial form, equipped with a comfortable passenger cab instead of a sinister cargo of high explosives, is intended for passenger-carrying service between Paris and London. Until recently the British authorities have been most reticent in granting licenses to foreign air services going into England, and the flights have had to be made with French military men in place of civilians. Still, the Farman machine has demonstrated what it is capable of doing.

During the early part of last year the huge biplane left the French field of Toussus-le-noble, near Paris, with fourteen passengers and headed for London. It arrived at the Kenley airdrome near London in two hours and 37 minutes. The following day the return trip was made in three hours and 23 minutes, owing to adverse winds. A few days later the Goliath left for Brussels, Belgium, this time carrying sixteen civilian passengers. It arrived at an airdrome near the Belgian capital two hours and 15 minutes later. The next day it returned to France with its passengers in two hours and 42 minutes.

Great Britain has gone ahead in commercial aviation. The huge Handley-Page biplanes of wartime fame have been converted into passenger-carrying machines and are

serving with excellent results. The Airco organization, also in Great Britain, is operating several routes with smaller machines, and so far has met with excellent results. Since last September commercial airplanes in England have carried 4201 passengers and 50,000 pounds of freight, a total of 84,428 miles without injury to a person or a single loss of goods, according to Handley-Page, one of the leading aircraft constructors of the world. The passenger traffic between London and Paris, according to this authority, is $60 per head, while a charge of 50 cents per pound is made for freight.

The Germans are operating several passenger-carrying airplanes successfully, one of their latest machines being a five-engined giant biplane which carries twenty-two passengers with ease. The Italians have been working on 50-passenger machines, and even a 100-passenger machine is variously reported completed, under construction, or just designed.

Here in the States we have the excellent Lawson biplane, which recently flew from New York to Washington and made other notable flights about the country to demon: strate its practicability. We have the Martin bomber, which readily lends itself to conversion into a passenger plane. Then there is the Curtiss Eagle, which is a very excellent machine although of moderate capacity. Carrying eight passengers and equipped with three engines of 150 horsepower each, the Curtiss Eagle represents an attempt to split up a passenger-carrying service into many multiple-engined units so as to reduce the first cost, maintenance, and operating expenses to a minimum.

One man, who has made the tour of central Europe in airplanes, covering a distance of more than one thousand miles, states as his opinion that the most efficient passengercarrying airplane to-day is one that is limited to six passengers. Smaller than that, it cannot compensate for the services of the pilot; larger than that, its rate of deterioration and the operating expenses are too great. He believes that the air service must be split into a number of medium-sized machines.

In the matter of expense the airplane may soon be developed to a point within reach of the average automobile owner. The larger an airplane becomes, the more complicated and delicate its structure, and the shorter its life, to a certain degree. But the smaller it is made the more sturdy it becomes, especially if high speeds are not the prime

AN AIRPLANE OF THE "FLYABOUT" TYPE

(A three-passenger machine designed to meet the needs of the business and pleasure world, which has come to realize the practical value of aviation)

motive of the designer. So in the case of some small airplanes which have been rccently introduced, the structure is strong and possesses exceptional longevity. Equipped with a 40-horse-power engine, one machine makes better than thirty miles on a gallon of fuel, or considerably better than any automobile; hence the operating cost is obviously not excessive for the smaller machines. With a wing span of eighteen feet or less, the majority of small planes can be stored in the usual steel or wooden garages; and in the larger spans there is the ingenious hinging of the wings, which permits the latter to be folded back along the body so as to reduce the width of the machine to less than 10 feet.

But Where Shall We Land?

There would be far more airplanes in everyday use if suitable aviation fields or airdromes were available. Airplanes require large fields from which to start and in which to land. These fields must be provided before extensive commercial flying can be realized. In fact, it is in this respect that Europe is far ahead of us; and to possess sufficient landing fields means to develop one's aviation to the utmost.

Take the case of the aerial commuter, who comes down from his country home some 150 miles away. He covers that distance in less than two hours; but when he reaches a large city, such as New York, there is no place to land except out on Long Island, about twenty-five miles away. Now as matter of fact it will take him well over an hour to come in to the city from the landing

a

field, not to speak of the inconvenience of taking trains and subways and so on. In short, he has lost an hour of precious time and has failed to escape the inconvenience of land travel even after his 150-mile flight.

This matter of landing space must be settled within the next few years, for our aviation depends on it. In the instance of large cities, such as New York, it is doubtful if any land can be set aside within the city limits, unless parks are made over for the purpose. Even so, there would not be sufficient room in all our parks combined to accommodate the thousands of airplanes. airplanes which must soon come to New York every day. Airplanes require a tremendous amount of space to roll about or "taxi" prior to taking off, and an equal or greater amount of space in which to land safely. Indeed, the largest fields can generally accommodate about a dozen active machines at a time, while the dozens of others wait their turn. What about the house tops? Didn't the French aviator, Vedrines, land on a small roof of a Paris department store a year or so ago? Didn't that prove the practicality of landing on roofs? Yes and no. Vedrines used one of the slowest landing machines in the world-a pre-war Caudron, which alights at something like thirty-five miles per hour and which makes a relatively slow speed in the air. It is little more than an elementary training machine to-day, and not suited by any means to the requirements of commercial aviation. And Vedrines, let it be remembered, was a skilled pilot. His death some time later was due to structural defects of his machine and not to want of skill. What Vedrines did the ordinary man would not attempt, certainly not the civilian airman flying for convenience and pleasure rather than for prizes or notoriety.

Vedrines' little stunt proves nothing as to landing on roofs, because it was a daredevil trick, just as looping-the-loop at the circus. But this idea of landing on roofs-special roofs, to be sure has great possibilities. Buildings or groups of buildings might be covered over with wooden or cement platforms about a block square, with proper provisions, such as weighted ropes or cables, for bringing the rolling airplanes to a safe stop after alighting. It might be feasible to take in several blocks of buildings and cover them over with a huge platform provided th heavy glass lights directly over the as to light those narrow man-made

canyons of the American city. In this manner, so it seems, adequate landing facilities could be provided in the very heart of our big cities. Little machines with fair horsepower would have no trouble in starting from roof platforms of this kind, even when of modest dimensions. To-day the British and American navies start small planes from platforms laid on top of the gun turrets— platforms less than 50 feet in length. In the case of the large passenger-carrying machines, which sometimes require a run of 500 feet before taking off, the larger platforms would be necessary.

In the meanwhile, however, there is a simple solution of the city landing problem in the shape of the flying boat or seaplane, which is that type of airplane provided with a hull-shaped body or suitable pontoons, so that it may start and alight on water. Glenn H. Curtiss, the well-known pioneer American airman and constructor, developed the aquatic type of airplane back in 1911 and ever since then has been a staunch advocate of this class of aircraft. Only recently he has expressed his faith in the flying boat or seaplane for commercial purposes, because of the ease with which it can be handled in the water. The airdrome problem is immediately solved; for any city possessing a large lake, river, harbor, or ocean front is ready for the water type of flying machine. No special provisions have to be made; no huge tracts of land must be set aside for the use of the seaplane; and the seaplane can practically land in the heart of the city.

Hence the flying boat, which is a more sturdy craft than the seaplane with its delicate pontoons, may be the most popular type of civilian machine in the near future because of the landing problem. Already plans have been advanced many times to provide hydroairplane stations in New York and other cities.

Aside from the landing feature, the flying boat appeals to the sportsman because of its combination sailing and flying proclivities. It is roomy as compared with the average airplane; it flies steadier, because of its greater weight; and it starts and alights more easily than the land type. Also, the layman generally prefers to splash water in alighting than to dig earth or wreck a building.

Guide Posts and Traffic Policemen
of the Air

Aerial travel will bring many new worries for our legislative bodies. So far, Great

Britain appears to be the only nation that has gone ahead with suitable laws and regulations and means of enforcing said laws and regulations. Landing fields have been set aside for incoming and outgoing machines. Foreign machines arriving in England must land at certain specified fields, where their cargo is examined and passed upon before further flight is attempted. All British machines are marked with a combination of letters, which indicate the "port" from which they sail and their identification. We in New York have an aerial police force in embryo form a volunteer organization, composed of ex-Army and Navy fliers, equipped with several machines; and by the time aerial travelers blacken the skies of that metropolis it is certain that winged policemen will be on hand to regulate traffic and demand respect of our laws.

Smuggling will prove somewhat of a problem, but with an ample force of winged revenue officers the winged smugglers will not have such an easy time of it. It may be that airplanes from Canada and Mexico, and later from other countries, will get by our frontiers undetected; but it is in the nature of the airplane that it doesn't go far without landing, and that is the time that the smugglers will be caught. Foreign airplanes will be ordered to land at specified airdromes in order to be examined, after which they will receive suitable identification badges which will place them on the same footing as American airplanes flying license badges. At any rate, this problem of customs protection

is no more complicated or impossible than that of guarding our long coast line with a relatively small number of revenue cut

ters.

Aerial navigation is comparatively simple, just so long as the airman can see the ground below. Aerial maps are being prepared of the most important routes both here and abroad. These maps, prepared from photographs, give every distinguishing feature of an aerial route. Waterways, hills, forests, ridges, railroads, cities-all these are plainly indicated on the aerial map, which may be in the form of a ribbon winding from one roll to another past a window, so that a section at a time is presented to the pilot. As one section is traversed the airman turns the knob of the aerial map, bringing the next section into position. With such a map almost anyone can guide an airship over a given course-provided the ground is always in plain sight.

Night flying will always call for navigating ability of no mean degree. The compass will have to be used, and a series of powerful lights and identification signs will have to be installed along leading routes. Powerful searchlights will make it possible to mark a course by tall columns of light, say at intervals of 10 or 20 miles; and airdromes will be equipped with elaborate lighting systems indicating not only the position and name of the landing field, but the direction and veloc ity of the wind at the surface.

Fog! That is the aviator's greatest enemy. It isolates him entirely. In a fog the airman

cannot tell if he is flying right side up or upside down, except by referring to his instruments. There is the ever-present danger of a crash, either with another airship or with the ground. Still, thanks to the rapid development of radio telegraphy and telephony during the past three years, it is now possible to navigate airplanes and dirigibles in the thickest fog with a minimum of danger. The fact is that many planes are now provided with "loops" or special aerials consisting of many turns of wire connected to a receiving set, permitting the direction of any transmitter to be determined. Thus the airman can locate any station within his reach, and in this manner determine his own position.

Now then, a little imagination: If a number of wireless signaling stations are established along aerial routes, each sending out distinctive signals at regular intervals the same as the periodic flashes of light from lighthouses along our coast and waterways, the aerial navigator will be able to find his way without trouble. Whether it is fog or intense blackness, he might well depend on his ears to give him his bearings, thanks to directional wireless.

And then there is the wireless telephone, which has been developed for airplane use

during the recent past. A set contained in a cabinet a little over a foot square will enable the airman to carry on a conversation with the ground and with other airmen. During fog and on starless nights it may be that a special wireless telephone transmitter provided with a phonographic repeater will work continuously at certain ground stations, sending out warnings or giving instructions to airmen. Passing over a city, the airman will be enabled to call down and get his bearings, ask for fuel, make arrangements for landing, and so on. He will be given a clear answer; better still, it is within present possibilities to connect the airman to the usual telephone lines through his wireless telephone, so that long-distance conversations may be carried on.

We have reached the threshold of commercial aviation. The means are ready, even if somewhat crude compared with what may be the case in a decade from now. The aeronautical engineer has contributed his fair share and now waits only for the new demands of commercial aviation springing out of actual service. The next move is that of the capitalist and business organizer, with the foresight, initiative, intrepidity, and ability to blaze the way through the limitless skies.