Air Wonder Stories, August 1929 — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TN EN a Sy tet Tn et BEYOND GRAVITY CHAPTER J The Leviathan ml was an exceptionally quiet afternoon if Denver, the sky was devoid of the: usual swarms of private aircraft. Ordinarily these should be many afolt, transporting LU aeea! theit owners, with bird-like grace and leisure, along their varied pleasure and business pur- ~ suits, But the absence of these swarms on this day was perplexing, at least to one who had been accustomed to watching the various types of craft darting hither and yon along the ordinary airlanes above Denver, the hub city of western aero travel. On an ordinary day one would have seena constant stream of: trim-looking, graceful and. swift craft -of various types and proportions, forming a perfect cross as they sped along the governmental Janes to and from Los Angeles, Chicago and New York; or El Paso, Vancouver and Alaska. ‘ Intently I scanned the air. I was standing at the time at my huge, specially built-in exposure on the eastern side of my hofel-apartment on the hundred and ninetieth floor of the new Orville Wright Aero Hotel and Terminal Building which had recently been erected in the memory of the early pioneer of aviation. It was my favorite spot, and I leaned lazily against the massive frame of the big window, while studying the oddly vacant sky in front of me. For tuiles and miles I could see over the ralling western plains, Far to the south I. could see the white streak of the Great American Desert looming oddly against a background of solid green. Occasionally I could catch a glimpse of the Colorado, a silver. thread, winding its way snake- like through a maze of mountains; and when the atmos- phere was just right it was possible for me to see even the great inland sea formed by the reconstructed Boulder Dam. Here and there were speeding craft which, by look- ing at my radio-controlled chronometer timepiece, I accepted as. being the usual hourly planes bringing in the mail from outlying points off the Janes of ordinary travel. ‘Needless for me to say, as early as 1950, the government had laid ont a system of airways trans- versing the entire United States with direct Janes for air travel, This afforded the necessary protection to the countless planes that ordinarily should be soaring over Denver, and allowed them to avoid the treach- erous atmospheres that made air travel over cer- tain portions of the Rocky Mountains indeed day. dangerous, Only govern- ment planes were allowed to stray off the estab- lished lanes — the pri- vate craft being forced to observe the law rig- idly. Moreover, privately owned planes were for- hidden to rise above the 25,000 foot Jevel, thus keeping them well below the upper levels of com- mercial travel. Planes violating the legislation, long before the put into effect in 1975, J) iwill have been reached. were immediately “\ Sun ae, te = Ae a= E take great pleasure in introducing to our readers, Mr. Ed Earl Repp, our new eathor, whom we consider one of the most promising science-aviation fiction writers of the In his initial story, the author introduces. so many new pee creat of scene as applied to aviation, that it fatrly takes your : ite away. Stories of aviation of the future are jf Ber propulsion principles. always intensely interesting, because they bring to our vision in the most thrilling way, pictures of strange ways of conquering distance. And if the story is as good as the present one, tt makes not only tnteresting reading one a prophetic insight as well. _ eter While some of the things mentioned in this story may sound improbable to-day, there is no denying that they may become commonplace period mentioned in this story Brought to earth, their screws made dead and cylinders locked by a power- ful system of radio- active forces broad- casted. by the gov- emmment _observa- tion and policing stations. The cul- prit piloting the of- fending craft was dealt with immedi- ately and severely in accordance with the statutory pro- visions for such of- fenders. There was no place in thé air for those who for sheer love of adventure endangered the serene souls traveling in the majestic air-liners in the higher levels. Presently my eyes roved to the.east. Through the pale haze, that hangs-like a ghostly curtain- from. the sky, over the country some miles east of Denver, I caught-sight of a tiny speck that grew gradually in size until it loomed majestically and awesomely. in the air like some terrestrial spectre. _I was surprised to see that it was a gigantic air-cruiser and traveling at a terrific speed in a lane high above the usual level for ordinary commercial flight. I watched the advancing leviathan of the air with growing interest as it sped like an arrow straight to- ward the hotel. Even at its distance of more than a score of imiles I could see that its geometrically shaped nose was colored with the traditional insignia of -the United States Air Forces. The craft was the first of its kind to have ever cruised in the direction of Denver and suddenly I remembered having seen it under con- struction through the screen of my super-sensitive 42 power television receiver. I was awed at the tremen- dous speed of the leviathan and intently watched its advance toward: the great landing atop the Wright Aero Hotel. Ina few seconds it shot to within three tmniles of my building and allowed me a chance to take in the graceful stream Jines, rear aileron laterals and a rigid’ stabilizing fin rising from the rounded top surface of the craft’s Jong, narrow cylindrical body. Unlike other mod- €rn craft, the leviathan displayed not a single screw! She seemed to- tally absent of propellers and-I studied her under- surface for a glimpse of ED EARL REPP the craft’ came closer, I noticed a dozen or more streaks of pale blue fire trailing, With a hissing sound that grew to a roar as the ship neared the landing, the streaks of fire slowly dis- appeared in a wraith of nose e craft dipped (downward, and just as but gives 2 ee | a Ale Oo