Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

“ r, | Investors Warned Against Avia- tion Swindles A NOTE. of warning is-sotnded-by the Better Business Buread to. pi tive stidents—of aeronautics as well ad -to investors in’ stocks of companies organized for fake ‘aviation promo- tions, It is estimated that_ millions -have been lost already by- investors, in swindles of this nature, It ia ‘stated that, according ta Govern- ment: authorities, it costs-about $2,000 forthe ordinarily trained young man to become a trans- port pilot, “Many- ofthe aviation schools lure students with promises of -a job after.a few brief lessons, and, erhaps, ten to twenty. Hours of solo- flying. F ¥ hours of flying- are: re- quired- for even a_fimited- commercial Hoense and 200 hours are required for a: transport license. In fact, most: large comparies demand from 500 ta-2,000. hours of solo. fying. before hiring a. pilot. Therefore, tho- suggestion is offered -to those interésted.in- taking: up-a course in aviation, that-they thoroughly invertigate: the school they expectto attend. Likewise; investors in aviation stocks should use—extreme caution in_ their investments; although, without a doubt, substantial earnings may. be exptcted—to actruc from. investment in legitimate aviation enter- prises, X-Ray Makes Flying Safer HE te of the Xi fay in the testing of aluminum parts of airplanes-is aoaking fying Sater, according to W. L, Fink;-metaHurgist: o! the Asia Company — of America, spenilag at the—National- Metal Congtess, x-ray tised isthe same as that used by physicians and surgeons; and the resultant shadowgrapbs disclose defects in- the: casings,~such- as blow holes, piubotes, porosity shrinks~‘and the 2 ence of refractory materials from: -the ting: furnace- and other foreign: matter... The ex- amination of these Indicates the way for~ their elimination, This -may~ be ~ accomplished by Moon: Rocket in Forefront of German Experiments HE question: of’ buil a rocket that: can penetrate into: outer-space, and possibly to the. moon, is holding. the: attention of “scientific circlesini Germany, according to: Guido-Enderis in the New Y¢ Times: ith amen sucb- as Professor. Hermann Oberth;Max- Valier and- Fritz “von Opelexperimenting- with: the. poasi- bilities- of the rocket,- much is “expected-to—de- zee Professor: Oberth,- who: haw been on the rocket principle for many: year ss HOW having his -experiments. financed bythe -UFA Film: Company. of- Germany, ~ company, Ww! hag made many pictures, of :future—seien-- tific accomplishment, {s- now. makirig one=called “The Girl -In<the-Moon,” and—the rites a rocket ship. developed: by Professar-Oberth. - The professor, however, is cautious in-maling state- ments -abotit hig pet; he thoon stilt a- “‘drenm;"' being’ xppatently content—to build-a ship: that can attain- an<altitude of thirty miles, and have it return to a designated: spot. The first tests of- his development aré expected fe be-made on the North Sca coast in. the near uture, > ° Opel Makes Flight in Rocket Plane HE first suocessful-flight of s—rocket- plane was made-recently in my - by: Fritz—von Opel, manufacturer: and ‘sportsman, who flew a mile ‘and a-quarter in precisely ‘seventy-five Beconds at an average altitude of -49 feet, The plane, a com Hon of Tocket -ship_ and ler, weighed about 500° pounds when fully donded with the. rockets and carrying the: pilot, - After two unsuccessful-attempta to get hia ignition system to explode the rockcta_-properly, Opel essayed again; he was shot along a= track, on which the machine rested and. then catapulted into the-air at \a specd-of about 85 miles an hour. Threo rockets, each weighing oie scene were used to shoot him off the -gro ¢ach rocket burning -for exactly two -seconds,_The rockets: which carried —h through the— air burned=for twenty-five seconds, each generating a: total lifting- power of 1,325 - pounds. “The 5) ig regulated by the frequency.with which e rockets are touched off, After: all..of them are exhausted, the planc cam glide-to earth. Opel. states that he not only expects to build bigger and better rocket planes, ax this effort was only a crude. experiment, but also intends to use the-rocket principle on— regular planes both to give them power. to off from the d-and-to-serve as A are when landing: expects: soon to cross. the mits, ann in a rocket plane. Opel is- also the builder of @ rocket-propelled motor. car, with whith he Attained o speed of 120 miles an hour, eight Seconds after starting. ‘working: —__ Inter likelihood. AIR WONDER STORIES GENERAL altering the risers or changing the chills-when molding, ~ The defects may: also be-remedied by chatiging: the. dere. or _the- pattern from the custrig-is made, The study of the shadow- graphs leads to careful control of foundry: prac: ace and, as a-result,—better castings are turned out, Americas_Offer Great Field for Aviation- Expansion Hares F,. GUGGENHEIM, president. of . the Daniel Guggenbeim.-Fund for the Pro- motion of Aeronautics, saya_in-the New York Times the Americas offer a large field-for air ex- pansion, The airplane: has a distinct advantage in specd-over-any-other_form-of transportation, Even-at< its present stage of —development,- it can carry a number of possengees, at a-speed of 120 miles an hour. In the matter of con- striction- and. maistenance of ar airway, -the cost:will “be insignificnnt In- comparison with that- of railroads “or ths maintenance of roads, Mr. Guggenheim predicts that the - annoying nofie fromthe motors now heard by air pas- setigers—-will be eliminated -in_ the. airplane \ of the nénr future, Ag a factor-in bringing about peaceful relations between the. two “Americas, the airplane will ‘bea big factor, Mr. - Gag. genheim quotes President Hoover's words at an address-at Lima, Peru, that “to destroy the-dis- tance between peoples is-to construct friendship between them,” Preference Given Americans: Built Planes in Foreign Countries Fogeicn cotthtries seem: to_show-a prefer- ence to American-built- planes, according - to officials. of the “Ryan Alreraft Corporation: a unit of the: Detroit -Aircraft Corporation, This is because of the superiority. of construction of the: American plane<and their—simplicity, which permits them-tobe set-up, piloted-and serviced ROCKETS Rocket Proposed a# Mail Carrier A SPACE ‘rocket has ‘been’ designed by Pro- fessor -Hermann, Oberth, —Austro-German scientist, to shoot upward for thirty-two miles, The purpose-of this first flight will be to measure the Bliysical and chemical pecbectios o£ the atmospheres, The ultimate idea ia to construct a tocket that will -catry <maik from Germany-—to--the —United-- States -in_ about“ thirty minutes, The UFA Fitm-Company vising the building- of; the rocket, which will be-fired-from-a-ship-in-the North to obviate the possibility of mae The provetant will be liquid air. The mail rocket, if constructed, would “have: automatic xteering spparatis- and a parachute to permit its slow descent to earth when -it reached its destination, Rocket Airplane Heralds. Suc- cessful Space Voyaging SJ OXAGES Soroush spree, from earth ‘to the moon, or. to-other planets, are- foreenst by the recent successful demonstration in-Frankfort: ofa Suchet PES elicd~airplane.— In May, 1928; Fritz -von — el German automobile = manufac. turer, demonstrated his rocket: automobile, Now, after— fufrther-—experiments,_ He ~ has—bullt- an airplane, propelled by the same. means, and shown that it-is- capable of flijht. ing ag the method is,-there: is- little at. it~ will: ever -hecome a actious competitor’ of combustion engines ‘in terrestrial vehicles, or airplanes for t¢-in the lower por- tions of the atmosphere, says Science Service. The rocket depends for_its- propulsion on the kick given by the explosions, It usesits fuel, whether- gasoline, By ‘ogen- atid -oxygen, or. ex- plosives, very rapidly; but only a small amount of the-fuel’s- total energy is available-to. furnish the ‘necessary “Idok.’” ~ In. other - words, - the rocket hns alow efficiency. Where the same fuel:cnn be-used to apply energy to the: ground, as in -the automobile, or to. the air, as with the lane, it-ts better to use the wheel or pro- peller to_obtnin traction, In- getting: through the space - between - the planets, containing thinner “air — than — the “yachum"” “of an:incandeseent lamp, however, the -situation: is very. different, There no- air, ground or—water againstswhich-to- push is avail- able, ‘and. the rocket is.the only Inown means of propulsion. The lick of an explosion —is just as powerful-in-a -vacuum-as in the air; ‘or. the: push is ppntnst the gases formed by the-explosion. In fact, in’ a vacuum, the rocket would tend to travel somewhat faster, because of the lack of atmospheric. resistance, The: theoretical investigations upon- the peat tical, uses of the rocket -were> be by ; R, .H, Goddard, American physicist, at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Later mathe- _ bE a _-new~ generation, before they Ful will js - super-: ie comparatively inexperienced pilots and mie- chanics, Another consideration is ‘the. reputa- tion-of American manufacturers for fair-dealing and ‘ican - system of — standardization which allows” eats and replacements to be shipped- with the -ansurance ‘that they will be perfectly. interchangeable, In the last eighteen months the Ryan corporation alone bas sold 30 an Broughams_in toreign countries, including China,Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, Argentina, and some European and South American coun- tries. It-iv anintereating fact that those cottu- tries incapable of manufacturing their own airplanes are_turhing to American-built - planes, despite certaii trade: “barriers and price and r credit concessions offered <by manufacturers iti 7 other- countries, “Hasten Slowly” Policy to be Adopted by Aviation Industry HERE is: something of a lufl-in- the aviation industry and- manufacturing plants are -cur- tniling thelr. production, according to the Netw York World, This ia a wise policy; inasmmck as-there has hitherto been -too-much of the over: confidence and optimist that usally goes with a new and growing industry, This lull is not simply. a matter of.-overproduction, but an attempt to ‘have the industry. w normally without-trying to force it-too ‘much, The Amer- ican public, according to The World, is by na means “air-minded” at the present time, and the average rson- onnnot simply consider the millions 6 flown without accident as suf- ficient reason. to change his ideas regarding: the laws of gravity ingrated in-him for countless generations, It will take years and the atrival consider that the atmosphere ina substance like water and earth and capable of supporting tremendous weight, Aviation me change rapidly, and the present type of engine and ships are-apt to be changed at any time by. revolu- tionary discoveries in the art of flying, matical studies were made on the same problem by Prof. Max: Valier of Munich, and Albert ueller The results of the latter were “made avatlable-to the Opel_ company’s: chgincers, Some years ago Prof. Goddard startled the scientific; world by- publishing data whore) ge possibility of a rocket flight to. the moon, ie researches have been continued by hin binice then, under the auspices of the Smithsonian In- stitution, His-rocket, he figured, could travel at_a speed of 6.6 miles a second, nearly 400 tuiles<an hour, This speed would be sufficient to allow it to escape from the earth’s gravita- tional attraction, and to take it-to the moon in eleven: -hours; His idea" waa ‘that the. rocket would not carry a passenger, but would beara charge: of flash powder, ‘to. explode- upon impact atthe moon's -surface, This t flash could then be observed through enrthly telescopes, A Rocket to the Moon Not Impractical ROFESSOR ROBERT- H. GODDARD, writing in the NewYork Sunday World, expressed his firm belief that rocket~ flight to the moon and other Biaiets will one day. be an meoumiphabed fact.-He:stites that the whole subject of rocket flying ia a_legitimate branch of- speculative physics and is convinced ‘that there is a solution for-every problem involved; evento thé matter of a feturn—trip- from the moon, From 1914 to 1920, Professor Goddard conducted experiments_at Clark University with rockets ‘shooting. smokeless —powder- tigh nozeles--in an attempt to.‘ secure high speed: and speeds -as “high_as. 8,000: feet- per second were. obtained, - which’ figure-has never been equaled- by any — other -worket- on the’ subject, Professor Goddard's. experiments are now being financed by the Sroithsonian Institution, chiefly to study. conditions in ithe upper ee ite Direct. measurements of conditions’ in the —ntr bave- been made=to a height only - of twenty miles, ‘and were accomplished by. Instruments suspended from: balloons, ‘The balloon and: the airplane cannot—pass into the upper regions: of the carth’s atmosphere, as-there is not enough air to. support them, The rocket: ia the only means of exploration. “By sending rockets eqeinned Nc asta Se the - ait ae tantously- 3 ferent parts -o' je cotintry, G ultittide wenther maps. could: be obtained. ~ A’ practicable. rocket, Professor Goddard “believes, should consist-almost entirely of propellant, with very ‘little actual rocket. ore interplanetary travel: could: be started, however, it would be essentin| to have 1 comprehensive study of the nature of the earth’s- atmosphere, ite sc0: as np fallncy the statement that. the terrific forces in the acceleration of a rocket would destroy a human—being, aswell as delicate. in- struments. Tests have proved. his ‘contention, comicbooks.com .