Racing Gasbags

When the weather map showed winds from the south, pilots of the six balloons about to cast off from Omaha in the annual National Balloon Race scurried about for firearms, fishing tackle, emergency rations. Prizes of the race were the Litchfield Trophy and third place on the U. S. team for the international races next September./- With south winds, to win might mean sailing far into the Canadian wilds.

Filled only to 35,000 cu. ft. because of scarcity of hydrogen, some of the bags had difficulty in leaving the ground. The City of Detroit dragged her basket along the field, barely cleared it, came down with a gas-leak 10 mi. away in the Missouri River, luckily upon a tiny island. All the others fought electrical storms through the night. Second to land next morning was the Chevrolet entry (at Jamestown, N. Dak., 410 mi.) after her crew had thrown overboard all ballast including spare clothing to let the basket clear a high tension wire. An hour later, few miles away, the rain-sogged City of Omaha fouled a farmer's fence, spilled her crew to the ground. Army No. 1, an early favorite, downed next at 600 mi. after a terrific battle with storms.

Still aloft after 17 hr. were Goodyear VII, whose pilot Roland J. Blair won the 1930 races; and Army No. 2, manned by a happy-go-lucky lieutenant and sergeant who called themselves "The Harmony Twins." After being shot at by Manitoba farmers (an incident of most American balloon races) Goodyear VII succumbed to prairie winds, her ballast exhausted 50 mi. southeast of Regina, Sask., about 700 mi. from Omaha.

Meanwhile "The Harmony Twins" Lieut. Wilfred J. Paul and Sergeant John Bishop--let the drag ropes of Army No. 2 down within grasp of two farm boys near Gull Lake long enough to get directions to Regina. On they sailed for another eight hours, finally being beaten down by rain at the end of 29 hr. near Hatton, Sask. about 1,000 mi. northwest of Omaha. Surely a record for bags of 35,000 cu. ft., their distance possibly beat the U. S. record of 1,072 mi. for balloons of any size.

Although the U. S. is entitled to have the James Gordon Bennett International races at home next autumn by virtue of her 1930 victory, the meet will be held at Basel, Switzerland in the hope of stimulating European competition. Because the U. S. has won five consecutive meets, European teams have been put to the disadvantages of competing away from home since 1927. This year it was doubtful if more than one or two foreign countries would send teams, when the U. S. agreed to transfer the meet abroad.

"Waah-waah" Silenced

Familiar to passengers who fly in multi-motored planes is the sound of throbbing overtones above the drone of the engines. "Waah--waah--waah" the engines sing. Nervous passengers imagine something is wrong. Seasoned travelers are made drowsy, are often annoyed by the monotonous chant, as by the clickety-clack of train wheels. Airmen know that "beats" occur because the propellers are not perfectly synchronized; that vibrations are harmful to the engines. Unless a pilot has an exceptionally good ear, he can rarely adjust his engines to perfect unison. (A difference of 10 r.p.m. will cause "beats.")

Last week Pan American Airways announced perfection of a visual "synchronizer" developed by George Kraigher, chief pilot on the western division. It is based on the principle by which a wagon wheel in a motion picture appears to skid. It seems to skid because the spokes of the wheel accidentally become synchronized with the camera shutter.

On each of the outboard motors of a tri-motor plane is mounted a convex mirror permitting the pilot to see the whirling propeller of the centre engine, through the blades of the outboard propeller. If the centre "prop" seems to rotate in one direction or the other, the pilot knows that it is whirling faster or slower than the outboard. He manipulates his throttles until the centre "prop" seems to stand stockstill. When both outboards have been tuned with the centre, the "waah-waah" ceases.

/-Ward Tunte Van Orman, winner of the 1930 International, is ex-officio leader of this year's team. Licuts. Thomas G. W. Settle & Wilfred Bushnell, winners of last year's National, are the second crew.

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