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Show I Given a Good Machine Under Favorable Conditions the Kcst Is Easy. J THIS IS OPINION OF CHARLES K. HAMILTON Expects to Fly Between New York and St. Louis for $30,000 Prize. By Leaned Wire to The Tribune. NEW YORK, July .'50. c Wlicn T start on the aeroplane flight between. New York and St. Louis with an eye to winning tho $30,000 prir.o. I want tho trip over the aerial highway to be like that of a railroad oxnrcss tram travel- It ing on the ground. Thoro must bo no fuss. Tho hour and minute of starting i will bo mado lenown, and promptly tho air line express will dopart on it's .iour-noy .iour-noy of 1000 miles to be completed within with-in 300 hours." This is tho vray Charles Iv. Hamilton 6a3"s he wants io make tho race for tho big prize. "The moro I know of tho great opportunity op-portunity givon to aviators to prove that the" aeroplane has eomo to stay," said Hamilton, "the more f wonder if everybody realizes what will be tho most important feature about the Now York to St. Jjouis flight. "It -won't be anything wonderful for j aeroplanes to travel one thousand miles and do it in 300 hours. The real test will be t'o meet and overcome all obstacles, obsta-cles, especially the weather. For this reason .1 would not; like to have exactly ideal weather conditions when I attempt at-tempt it because I do not want to have if said that it was an easy feat. At the same time J would not wish for the other extreme very bad weather conditions. con-ditions. Tho test for tne aeroplane is to provo that it docs not have t'o stick 1o the ground and wait until we have conquered the air before we can make I intercity flights. Not Such Hard Work. "People think there is a great" deal more, to aviation work than there really real-ly is. It has been exaggerated. I don't sec why. ft is scaring a great mnny ' men and probably keeping others from becoming good aviators. I j'iisb or. an, x nave hoc uuiernuneu to make rav start from St. Louis. Before Be-fore I renll" decide whether T shall come eastward by the northern ronte or by the southern course, I am personally going to make a tour of inspection. "J will take a train and go over the northern route to St. Louis, spending two days carefully scrutinizing every mile of the distance. I will make this trip by rail anil not' in an automobile because be-cause I believe thajb the bettor way to f lv bctwoen cities is to follow tho path laid out by the big railroads. "Now as to the weather conditions. T should prefer to start some time during dur-ing Intlian summer. That is the most beautiful part of the year and as a rule aviators will find that ten hours out' of twenty-four are suitable for flying. T shall be prepared to take advantage of these ten hours every day. If I find T can have good weather at night, I will make light's by night. T am going to equip my aeroplane with a searchlight so that I can pick out tho railroad tracks while traveling at night. Can Fly in Night Time. "Yea. I have made trips at night time. At' Nashville, Tenn., I used the searchlight on my biplano and had no difficulty in picking out my landing places. Another thing, rain will not delay, me in my trip. I convinced a prominent army officer of the usefulness useful-ness of the aeroplane by making a flight in quite a heavy rain. "I have hcaTd talk of the young avi ators about standing the strain of a long flight. "Well. I want to say that in my mind it is more the ability 'of the macliino to stand the strain that should cause concern. Take automobilo racers j who drive their machines in the twenty- 1 four-hour races, they have to keep their ' nerve up on a high tension all the time. Personally T do not think I could sleep until I finished the task I set out to I accomplish. "So I am more desirous of having .a machine that will hold out ihaft to think of my own ability. "In my New York to St. Louis flight I will use a special wire that will liave 2000 and 3000 -pounds tension strength. Aviators always have more or less wire trouble. That has been one of the difficulties. It was duo to a wire breaking break-ing that "Dc la Grange, the famous French aviator, lost his life. His machine ma-chine collapsed and fell like a brick. You see the wire neutralizes the vibration vibra-tion and strains. Heretofore T have used wire that registered S00 to 1000 younds tension." |