An aeroplane will bring quick reports of changes in the weather. Rapid investigations of conditions which exist in the strata of air at varying altitudes above the surface of the earth, made by the use of flying machines, may lend us material aid in understanding those conditions which are closer to earth.
The study of the weather and meteorological conditions becomes of greater and greater importance as the progress in the science of aviation advances. The currents of air that are regular in their direction of movement, like the trade winds, must be mapped and charted, for with the aid of a strong wind an aviator can make marvellous speed, as the speed of the wind is added to the speed of his machine and with an aeroplane capable of making one hundred miles an hour a favourable wind of fifty miles an hour would increase the total speed by one half. For the wind is now no longer an obstacle to flight, and as I have already noted at the beginning of this chapter, this is one of the most noticeable advancements in aviation, one that can readily be seen, understood, and appreciated even by the uninitiated.
THE TENDENCY TOWARD HYDROS
There is always more or less danger in flying over land, and the rougher its surface the more difficult and dangerous the matter of landing. The safest place and the most uniform surface is to be found over the water, and there is much less danger to the aviator flying there than over the land. The strength of the wind can be easily judged by the height of the waves, and squalls and puffs can be seen coming so that if they seem to be very bad you can come down on the surface of the water or skim along very near it with the greatest safety, if you are in a hydroaeroplane. Rivers will no doubt become the favourite highways of travel for the airman, as they were once the only great avenues for the march of civilisation when the canoe or the rude boat was the only vehicle of transportation. This brings us naturally to another consideration of the air-land-water machine.
[CHAPTER III THE FUTURE OF THE HYDRO]
The most interesting type of flying machine for sport and pleasure is the hydroaeroplane, and this is undoubtedly the machine with the greatest possibilities for the future. Indeed, it opens up an entirely new region of activity, as boundless as the ocean itself, and as various as the different bodies of water. Built along the lines of a motor boat with the addition of aeroplane surfaces or horizontal sails, this craft will be used for much the same purposes as motor boats are now, but in ways immeasurably more varied and more effective.
The boat portion will be made large and comfortable for pleasure trips and will be a veritable sportsman's machine which can be run up to a dock where it can make an easy landing and be tied up when not anchored out from shore. There will be a comfortable cabin, with cushioned seats for the navigators, and celluloid windows will be placed in the planes, so that the view below will not be obstructed. It will be handled in heavy seas without difficulty.
With such an air and water craft you can go off hunting or fishing; you can shoot ducks and you will not have to wait until Mr. Duck comes by but you will be able to reverse the present custom and chase him in his native element and overtake him, too, as you would a fox on horseback. By rising to a good height you can see schools of fish or good places on the bottom to cast your lines for fishing.
Inland lakes will be just the place for the water machine and even among the mountains the surface of lakes will offer ideal places for landing and starting, even where the shores are quite out of the question for safe flying ground.
The construction of the hydroaeroplane, while keeping on the same general lines of development, will adapt itself to the exigencies arising from its extended uses. The propeller or propellers will be protected from the flying spray which might break them for small drops of water are like bullets out of a gun when hit by the rapidly revolving blades of the propeller which travel so fast that water might just as well be solid matter as far as getting out of the way is concerned. Spray will chip pieces right out of a wooden propeller. Propeller blades are now covered with tin on the tips for use on the water, and even metal blades may be better in some respects for this purpose. The control and rudders are placed on the rear of the long light boat, which extends further to the rear to accommodate them.