Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1920 — SWIFT PLANES FLY TO CUBA [ARTICLE]

SWIFT PLANES FLY TO CUBA

First Air Mail Service Between United States and Foreign Country. ALSO CARRIES PASSENGERS Runs Bitwwn Key West and Havana, Crowing in an Hour the Gap Which Takes Steamers an Entire Night to Bridge. New York—Regular air mall service botwVeu the United States and a foreign country U now being carried on as surely as regular trans-Atlantic ship tuall service. . Every day since November 1 huge aeromarlne-nsvy cruisers, freighted with several hundred pounds of mall and ten or twelve passengers, have been running on schedule between Key West, Florida, Havana, Cuba, crossing in an hour the gnp which takes a steamer an entire night to bridge. The big flying boats travel through the air with the sureness of a locomotive along Its rallp or a steamer across a smooth sea, for they were specially built to fly over oceans for long distances and have been subjected to a very rigorous test by the United States navy before being placed In the service. . Testing the Air Yachts. As a means of testing their stamina and reliability the two aeromarine cruisers were flown down the Atlantic coast from New York to Havana, a distance of 1,600 miles. Just before the Key West-Havana mall service was inauguarated. The 1,600 miles were ticked off behind them as regularly as a watch marks off the seconds, although no effort was made to try for a speed record. The big cruisers can do 100 miles an hour, but this Is not unsurpassable speed for a plane by any means. The aeromarines, with their luxurious cabins and other fine passenger facilities are not racing planes but air yachts designed to carry passengers swiftly, yet in comfort. According to reports reaching New York, the big air crulaers, named the Pinta and Santa Maria Ln honor of two of the caravels of Columbus, “hopped” to Norfolk, Va., on the first day of the journey and there permitted the score of passengers and the members of the crewa to see something of the town. Manteo, on the Island of Roanoke, where Virginia Dare, the first white child bom in America, first saw the sun, wus the next stop, but it was not wholly because Virginia was bom here that the big ships glided down to the water. It was near Manteo, on Kill Devil dunes, that the Wright brothers made the first flight in a motor-pro-pelled airplane. That was In 1903 and the flight lasted but 59 seconds and was only for a few hundred feet. Stops were also made on the southward tour at Southport, N. C.; Georgetown, S. C.; Charleston, S. C.; St. Augustine, Fla.; Fort Pierce, Fla., and Miami, Fla. The aeromarines completed their first mall-carrying tour to Havana on November 1, alighting in Havana harbor amid the cheers of a crowd which seemed to be the entire population of the city. Five hundred pounds of mail was delivered on the Initial trip. This amount Is 21,000 letters. Each latter bore a stamp indicating that it traveled by the first airplane mall service between the United States and a foreign country.

Description of £he Planes. The planes used in the flight have a wing spread of 104 feet, are 50 feet long and are powered by two 400-horse power Liberty motors. They differ from navy planes of. the F-5L type In that they are equtfiped with two cabins, each of which is furnished in mahogany, with silver .fittings and finishings which compare with those of a millionaire’s yacht. The main cabin is forward of the wings, and contains six luxurious reclining chairs, upholstered In brown leather, each beside a large porthole, shaded by old blue and gold silk tapestry curtains. The operating compartment is next, and behind it is the after cabin, furnished as a club compartment for cards, writing, smoking, etc. The passengers who made the flight southward included officials of the company and their wives, two women writers, a nine-year-old boy, and others. After the first flight the passengers came to regard their tour in much the same light as a cruise In a big yacht, save that the swiftly-changing scenery from two to three thousand feet up is far more interesting and fascinating.