Aerology

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the study of the upper air or "free" atmosphere . Aerological investigations are carried on principally by means of kites and balloons (see SOUNDING BALLOONS, PILOT BALLOONS), and have come to assume new practical importance in connection with aeronautics, in addition to throwing new light on many problems in meteorology. The U. S. Weather Bureau now prepares each day for the use of its forecasters a series of charts showing conditions aloft at a number of stations , but these charts are still at a trial stage and are not yet published, though they may be consulted . (See AERONAUTICS : Weather Service for Aviators.) AERONAUTICS. Post-war commercial and scientific applications. Air Mail Service. - The U. S. Air Mail Service was inaugurated May 15, 1918, the first route established being that between New York and Washington. A number of other intercity routes were established during 1919 and 1920, and on Sept. 10, 1920, a complete transcontinental service was put into operation between New York and San Francisco, with several connecting lateral routes. Owing to lack of appropriations , however, the the lateral routes were obliged to be discontinued in 1921, leaving only the transcontinental route in operation at the beginning of 1922. On this route twentyone airplanes were flying daily with a total daily mileage of 5,360 miles. The average performance for the four months ending Oct. 31, 1921 , was over 98 per cent perfect and the number of letters carried in these months was almost 14,- 000,000. There were no fatalities on regular trips during this period. A record flight was made by mail planes between Salt Lake City and San Francisco on Oct. 14, 1921, the total time consumed being 6 hours 1 minute , as compared with 24 hours 15 minutes, the schedule time of the fast mail trains between these cities. A through transcontinental flight, made as a trial Feb. 22, 1921, was completed in a total elapsed time of 33 1-3 hours, the average speed being 104 miles per hour. This test included night flying, however, which is not yet regular. It awaits the establishment of beacon stations and other safeguards . The regular schedule time is 72 hours, or two days less than the fastest transcontinental railroad service. Passenger Service. - The first expectations of a rapid development of regular air lines for the transportation of passengers and freight have not been fully realized either in America or Europe, owing in large part to the worldwide economic depression following the World War. A number of European air routes have been put in operation, but of these the majority majority are controlled by French companies which are heavily subsidized by the French Government. The first regular American passenger service was established Nov. 1, 192 1920, between but into Key West and Havana. Six 11-passenger aeromarine flying boats were put operation between these points, covering the distance of 90 miles in a little more than an hour on the average . The first annual report on commercial lines in the United States was published Nov. 20, 1921, and recorded the carrying of 6,814 passengers, a total of 95,020 miles without mishap in the year ending Oct. 27. The services maintained included the Key West-Havana line , Florida, Bahama Islands, New York, Atlantic City, and New England ports, New York sight-seeing, New York- Albany, Great Lakes region, and Mississippi Valley. Of these the Key West-Havana line operated regularly during the winter months, after which the "Santa Maria" of that line made a 7,000-mile flight up the Atlantic Coast to New York, thence to Montreal, Chicago, New Orleans , and back to Key West. In the Great Lakes region 500 passengers were carried 7,491 miles. It is estimated that twelve hundred aircraft were engaged in commercial flying in the United States in 1921, but the great majority of these operated locally in special services, " joy riding," "beach hopping," etc. Accidents for the first half of 1921 included fourteen fatalities, or one for every 325,000 miles flown. On the regular services reported above there were no injuries to either passengers or employees. Airway plans for the United States have been formulated by the Air Service, War Department , and include as a first step the establishment of a model airway between Washington and Dayton , Ohio, such airways to be open under proper regulations to any owners or operators of aircraft . Air Forest Patrols.-Army airplanes are now regularly employed by the U. S. Forest Service in the locating of fires and transporting fire fighters to the scenes of action. During 1920 almost five hundred fires were located in Cali- 1 fornia and Oregon alone by the Air Forest Patrol at an estimated saving of $25,000,000 worth of timber. Aerial Fish Patrols. - During 1919 seaplanes from the North Island Air Station, San Diego, Cal., made regular flights in aid of the fisheries of that vicinity, the discovery of any schools of fish being communicated by wireless to the fishing fleets; and in 1920 a daily patrol of U. S. navy seaplanes was established over Chesapeake Bay as an aid to the menhaden fisheries there. Aerial Mapping. The use of airplanes in the photographic mapping of a country is merely merely the extension and enlargement of a similar service rendered by aeronauts during the World War. Such photographic mapping is especially valuable for the rapid revision of maps requiring changes on account of the works of man, and is also employed with advantage in preliminary surveys of regions not easily accessible, but necessary to explore in connection with proposed engineering projects. Important surveys of the latter kind have been made in India, in the Nile region, in Mesopotamia, and in the Philippines. During 1921 an area of 500 square miles in the White Mountains was photographed by airplanes for a map to be used by the U. S. Forestry Service. Another highly important use of aerial photography is the charting of shoals and submerged rocks and shifting sand bars on coasts, the camera being capable of piercing water to considerable depths under right conditions. Dr. Willis T. Lee of the U. S. Geological Survey has recently charted many submerged features in the waters around Chesapeake Bay by this method. Scientific Uses. -The employment of airplanes in meteorological observation is still limited, but is bound to increase, in the opinion of meteorologists. The advantages of astronomical photography from high gh elevations in the atmosphere have led to experiments in this line with encouraging results. At the request of Professor Todd of Amherst, two aviators of the U. S. navy ascended to a height of 15,000 feet on May 2, 1920, and secured advantageous photographs of a lunar eclipse of that date. Weather Service for Aviators. -Almost all of the leading meteorological offices of the world are engaged in the development of regular wind and weather services for the guidance of aviators. Special reports for aeronauts began to be made in Germany as early as 1909, and two years afterward an aeronautical weather bureau for the whole of Germany was established with headquarters at Lindenberg Observatory. The first daily charts of winds at various levels were made in Italy in 1913, but the great advances and extensions in this service came with the World War, when continuous reports and bulletins were issued for the use of the fleets of aircraft. Since the war the work has been continued by a number of the leading weather bureaus, the British Meteorological Office being especially active in aeronautical meteorology. It publishes wind and cloud maps three times daily for different levels over the British Isles. The U. S. Weather Bureau prepares daily charts of winds and other conditions aloft at various stations in the country, but these charts are not yet regularly published. A method has been tried of indicating winds at various levels on the same chart. Arrows attached to miniature posts indicate the direction of the winds at such elevations; figures are used to indicate wind velocities; and letters indicate other conditions, as clouds, fog, or rain. New Speed and Altitude Records.- During 1921 a navy racer piloted by Bert Acosta made 187.8 miles per hour, and an army De Haviland plane reduced the time between New York and Washington to 79 minutes; previous record 86 minutes. On Sept. 28, 1921, Lieutenant John A. MacReady of the U. S. Air Service, flying at Dayton, Ohio, established a new altitude record of 40,800 feet (corrected to 34,508½ feet) above sea level, breaking the previous record of Major R. D. Schroeder, 36,020 feet (corrected to 33,- 113 feet), made Feb. 27, 1920. At 39,000 feet, in MacReady's flight, ice formed on the oxygen tank, and at 40,800 feet (according to the reading on his altimeter) his engine died, after which he glided safely to ground. Dirigible Balloon Accidents. Two outstanding disasters to dirigible balloons, occurring respectively in August, 1921, and February, 1922, raised serious questions in the minds of both military men and the general public as to the value of this type of aircraft. On Aug. 24, 1921, the giant dirigible "Z R-2" broke in two at Hull, England, killing 42 men. It had been built for the United States Government, and was the largest airship ever constructed, being 695 feet in length and containing some 2,700,000 cubic feet of gas. On Feb. 21, 1922, the dirigible airship "Roma," through some accident to her rudder, plunged to the earth, coming into contact with high-tension electric power wires, which ignited the gas, with horrible results. The proposal to use helium gas instead of hydrogen has been widely discussed, helium being noninflammable and the lightest of gases next to hydrogen.