The whole subject is rather fully discussed in an article in the Monthly Weather Review for March, 1926, on "Precipitation in the drainage area of the Great Lakes, 1875-1924, with discussion of the levels of the separate Lakes and their relation to the annual precipitation," by P. C. Day, in charge of the Climatological Division, U. S. Weather Bureau. —R. N.

THE DANIEL GUGGENHEIM FUND AND AERONAUTICAL METEOROLOGY The second report of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, published early this year, contains much of interest to the meteorologist. Among new enterprises fostered by the Fund in 1928 were—"The first adequate weather-reporting service for American avia- tion, the first full-flight laboratory for fog-flying, and the first National Safety Conference in Aeronautics." In the middle of the year the Fund shifted from a policy of helping aviation help itself to one of concen- trating on "the scientific problems involved in the mechanical structure of the airplane and the study of environmental conditions necessary for safe operation, particularly meteorology and the problem of fog-flying." In this connection the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was given an additional $34,000 to organize a three-year course in meteorology, bringing the total gifts to that institution to $264,000. A gift of $500 was made to New York University for the purpose of securing lecturers for a course in aeronautical meteorology; and a grant of $3480 pro- vided for the services of an aerologist for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Six bulletins were published in 1928, one of them being Prof. Alexan- der McAdie's "The hazard of lightning in aviation" (see note below). Weather reporting on the model airway, is given five pages in the report. The success of this cooperative effort has exceeded all expecta- tions. This model airway, from to , was, at the end of 1928, served by 40 stations, and by observations made six times daily. "The weather reports are communicated by telephone and radio to trained meteorologists stationed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco who forecast the flight conditions for the entire area and advise depart- ing pilots as to which of five alternate courses should be followed. The collection of the reports and the exchange of complete data between the terminals only requires a few minutes." This service was planned by Dr. C.-G. Rossby, but since Sept. 1, 1928, has been under the supervision of Major E. H. Bowie, of the U. S. Weather Bureau at San Francisco. The development of a similar service over much of the is now taking place and such a one for trans-oceanic flying is hoped for.—C. F. B. Lightning in aviation. In the September 26, 1928, issue of the Bulletin of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronau-

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC ties, Professor Alexander McAdie, Director of the Blue Hill Observatory writes on the Hazard of Lightning in Aviation. He points out that the energy of a lightning flash is so great, ranging from an estimated volt- age of 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 and an amperage of 10,000 or more, that no aeroplane yet designed can withstand being struck. Thus the safety of the aviator depends at present upon his avoiding all thunder- storms. "The probability of thunderstorms is now indicated at all air ports," writes Prof. McAdie, "and in time there will probably be in- stalled electrometrie apparatus whereby the potential gradients can be determined and approximate electric field strengths given. It will also be possible eventually to equip planes and ships with devices that will automatically warn of the approach of charged clouds and dangerous conditions. Until this is done, the wisest course is to avoid unnecessary risk."

WEATHER IN AVIATION NEWS

Spanish fliers helped too much by wind. , June 29.—The dra- matic story of the harrowing adventures of the missing Spanish airmen, and their rescue at dawn this morning by the British aircraft carrier Eagle, was told in simple, terse language by Major Ramon Franco aboard the rescue ship as follows: "We left Los Alcarazares at 5 P. M., on June 21, passing Cape St. Vincent at 9 P. M. "From Gibraltar we were forced to gain height owing to the excessive air disturbances. "From Cape St. Vincent to the Azores was an uninterrupted layer of clouds above which we had to fly, and later another cloud layer formed above us. The intended time of arrival at the Azores was 9 A. M. Green- wich Meridian Time (4 A. M. Eastern Standard Time) on the 22d, but a strong wind which we were unable to foresee or check in flight caused us to pass over the Azores during the dark. "At dawn we took the longitude by the sun, which showed that we were to the southwestward of the Azores. We therefore flew through the clouds and landed to economize fuel and examine the situation. "We checked our position and took off, shaping a course for Fayal, but, owing to strong headwind, we ran out of gasoline about forty miles from that point. A strong northeastern wind drifted us to the south and on the following day, the 23d, we were about 100 miles from Fayal. "The wind shifted to the southwest, reaching gale force, and drifted us toward the Island of Santa Maria. From the 24th to the 27th winds of varying force and direction drifted us about. On the morning of the 27th the situation was extremely dangerous on account of wind and sea conditions. "At dawn on the 2,9th the aircraft carrier Eagle found us in the vicinity of Santa Maria and took us on board. The behavior of the air- craft and engines was magnificent."—Associated Press.

Airplane passes through Kansas thunderstorm. "On today's flight eastbound the passengers had an opportunity to see how the big trans- ports act when conditions are not perfect. Between Wichita and Kansas City the trimotor roared through a typical Kansas thunderstorm, with rain, lightning and violent winds. The big all-metal plane wallowed through like a liner in a moderate sea, pushing along at 110 miles an hour, almost unmindful of the bumps."—N. Y. Times, July 2, 1929.

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC Thunderstorms delay airmail take off at Chicago. After an all-night vigil at the Chicago airport waiting for heavy electrical storms to abate, the Boeing air mail plane, piloted by E. Hamilton Lee, took off this morning for the coast. A thick fog hung like a pall above Chicago. The ground could be seen with difficulty in a radius of only 300 yards or so, and the pilot was forced to fly at 200 feet above the ground. After passing Aurora on the way to Iowa City, the first stop for mail and refueling, the weather cleared, but the pilot was unable to rise higher than 400 feet. In the vicinity of Rock Island the plane ran into a heavy curtain of mist and rain, obscuring the ground except for a radius of not more than 100 yards. Lee was obliged to descend to within 100 feet of the ground and at one time passed so close over some trees that it was possible to see the limbs through the foliage. Soon after this the weather again cleared and the plane made a pleas- ant and uneventful flight into Iowa City. The next stop was Omaha, where pilots were exchanged, L. L. Boeing piloting the plane to North Platte and here. When traveling with the mail a passenger must expect to fly through all kinds of weather. "The mail must go through" is the pilot's slogan, and as Lee put it this morning, "If there is a possibility of a possibility of getting it through the plane takes off."—N. Y. Times, July 2, 1929.

Airplanes stormbound. The wisdom of the Colonial Air Transport Company in not allowing any of their planes to leave for New York during one of the wind and rainstorms this spring was demon- strated by the forced landing of one of their large machines at Hartford while trying to fly from Newark to Boston that day by the shore route.

Aviators killed in a snowstorm. Late in April two noted Polish mili- tary aviators were lost in a heavy snowstorm between Lublin and War- isaw and in flying at too low an altitude along the Vistula lost their balance and sank into the river.—N. Y. Times.

Tropical showers force air liner down. A big amphibian plane carry- ing seven persons made a successful forced landing on Chibo Beach, near Morro Castle, Habana, when low visibility in a pouring rain made it impracticable to proceed to the airport. The airplane was pioneering a route from New York to Buenos Aires by easy stages.—Associated Press.

Heavy thunderstorms hinder air traffic in New England. Numerous intense thunderstorms, in low pressure trough, prevented the New York to Boston passenger plane with 6 passengers on board from landing at the Boston airport. For almost an hour the pilot vainly tried to find the airport but was unable to do so because of low clouds and rain, even though repeated flares were sent up from the airport. Then when a thick fog rolled in from the ocean a pilot plane from the Boston airport directed the large machine to Pawtucket, where a successful landing was made. Another large airplane from Cleveland, with 10 people aboard, got into thick, heavy storm clouds through which lightning

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC flashed at frequent intervals, and a strong storm wind veiled the earth from the sight of the pilots and carried the plane far from her course. For two hours the ship fought blindly against the fast-moving banks of mist until it emerged from the clouds over Springfield, where a landing was made for information about the weather over the rest of the route to Boston. With a favorable report the plane proceeded, arriving just before conditions at Boston became impossible.—Boston Herald.

Capt. Hawks praises airways radio weather reports. On his return flight during his remarkable round-trip from New York to Los Angeles and return in less than 37 hours, June 27-29, Capt. Frank Hawks found weather conditions threatening as he reached the northeastern United States. "I was never so impressed with the value of radio to aviation as I was yesterday," he said to a New York Times reporter as he adjusted an elaborate radio receiver. "Passing Columbus and facing the worst of flying territory at night, I felt qualmish until I picked up Cleveland and heard in matter-of-fact tones just the information that I needed— broken ground fog over Pennsylvania and broken overcast with drizzle over Niew York. I knew then I could make it."

Capt. Hawks' February transcontinental flight. Capt. Hawks' round trip in summer weather was hardly more of a feat than his single trans- continental flight of 18 1-3 hours, February 4-5, 1929, in which he had much adverse weather. Here is the account of weather encountered on that flight, as published in the New York Times: The veteran air mail and racing pilot took off from the Metropolitan Airport at Los Angeles at 8:37:30 last night, Eastern Standard Time, and for a few hours—until he was over Roswell, N. M.—the weather was perfect. Aided by a tail wind his Wasp motored plane sped along at nearly three miles a minute. Then he ran into trouble, but low clouds, snow and intermittent rainstorms failed to stop him. The weather map here showed that clouds and storms blanketed a dozen States between New Mexico and New York. Pilots and weather experts had agreed that Hawks could not possibly get through and few believed that he could climb over the top of this area with his heavily loaded plane and still come through on schedule. But he did just that. For several days the low area carrying these storms has been moving eastward, sluggishly at times and again with the speed of gale winds. Hawks proceeded to demonstrate that his plane was faster than the winds, his motor more powerful than the storms. As he nosed into the clouds he started to climb, eight, ten, twelve and then fourteen thousand feet, until he was riding their tops under the starlit sky except where here and there a cloud peak poked its way higher still. It was a tremendous demand to make on pilot, engine and plane and they answered. In one gigantic leap they hurdled a thousand miles of storm, crossing part of Texas, swinging north by compass only over Oklahoma and Missouri, skirting Illinois and Indiana, where the pilot thinks he got a glimpse of Evansville, and then eastward over Ohio, where winds blew him south off his course. Not long after daylight the clouds broke and he came down to see rugged mountains and forests with no sign of a landing field or airway markers. Up he climbed again until he topped the storm, and the next time he came down he was over New .

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC "Over West Virginia it looked worse for us. I came down through a hole trying to find good weather close to the ground. There wasn't any and it looked like there wouldn't be any. My wings had begun to coat with sleet when I was over New Jersey and I veered south of my course in an effort to fly around the rain and between cloud layers where I could fly safely."

INVESTIGATION OF CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF ICE ON AIRPLANES With a view of determining the meteorological conditions when ice forms on airplanes the Weather Bureau arranged with the National Air Transport, Inc., to mount aero-meteorographs on the mail planes flying between Cleveland and Hadley Airport, New Brunswick, N. J. A number of records were obtained during the past winter, but owing to the exceedingly heavy schedule of duties concerning the regular weather service required of the observers at these airports it was not possible to secure as much data as desired. It is expected that this program will be augmented by similar observa- tions next season along the Chicago-Kansas City Airway in addition to securing data for another season between Cleveland and Hadley. Data of considerable interest concerning the depths of fogs, clouds, etc., can also be obtained in this way and much valuable information in connection with forecasting for airways is expected. One great advantage of these observations is that no special flight is necessary. The instrument used is the Friez aero-meteorograph and is mounted in a specially built container on the wing of the plane where it is uninfluenced by heat from the motor. A continuous record of tem- perature pressure, and humidity is made. The results of these observa- tions will be published as soon as sufficient data have been secured to make possible a reliable summary.—L. T. Samuels.

The Arizona low intruded itself into international relations, when, in April, 19219, rebel bombs intended for Naco, Sonora, were apparently blown by the prevailing south wind of the eastern portion of the Arizona low onto Naco, Arizona.

Transatlantic flight of the Yellow Bird. "We cannot praise too highly the work of Dr. James H. Kimball and the Weather Bureau," said M. Armeno Lotti, Jr., sponsor and co-pilot of the Yellow Bird's flight. "The extent and detail of their information is extraordinary. Dr. Kim- ball worked for us every hour of the day, including Sundays, all the time we were there and his information and deductions were absolutely ac- curate. "When we ran into the depression which caused us to drop from 2,000 meters to 800 in the rush, which made Assolant let go all of the controls and trust the plane, it was not entirely a surprise to us. We knew we would have to expect something of the kind somewhere in the mid- Atlantic. "What is the most important during a flight like that is that one should escape such a depression during the first hours of the flight when the plane is fully loaded. If that storm had happened during the first

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC five hours, we would certainly have been lost and it is not improbable that such depressions have been the cause of more than one transatlantic flight tragedy." Atmospheric Layers. It has long been recognized by meteorologists that the atmosphere is often horizontally stratified; in other words, it contains layers of air that differ abruptly from one another in tempera- ture, humidity and density. Two adjacent layers that thus differ may glide over each other very much as air flows over water, and with the same effect of producing waves at the boundary surface. Air waves formed in this way become visible when the humidity at the interface is such that the slight difference in temperature between the crests and troughs is sufficient to keep the one cloud-capped and the other free from cloud. Systems of clouds obviously due to air waves are a familiar sight, but it must happen in the majority of cases that the humidity conditions are not just right to produce these clouds and that hence the waves remain invisible. Under such circumstances an aviator may pass without warn- ing from one air stratum to another and suddenly find the "lift" of his machine increased or diminished on account of the difference in the direction and velocity of the wind in the two strata. Loss of lift due to this cause or any other constitutes a so-called "hole in the air."—C. F. Taiwan, in Why the Weather? (Science Service).

THE PILOT CHARTS OF THE UPPER AIR NORTH ATLANTIC AND NORTH PACIFIC OCEANS The general character of these new charts, prepared from data fur- nished by the Hydrographic Office and Weather Bureau, and published by the Hydrographic Office, was described in the Dec., 1927, BULLETIN (p. 189). The northern flight route on the May, June and July charts ia shown via Bermuda and the Azores, as in previous months. On the back of the chart, about half the space is devoted to oceanic weather conditions and the broadcasting of synoptic weather data from numerous stations on both sides of the Atlantic and from the Azores. The follow- ing are the meteorological topics covered: Average air temperatures over the North Atlantic Ocean for the month; How air temperature affects the selection of routes; Ocean temperatures for the month; Fog; Currents; Average surface wind directions and velocities; Average up- per-air wind directions and velocities; Diurnal variation in velocities; Altitude at which diurnal variation ceases; Changes of velocity with alti- tude; Turning of the wind with altitude; Thumb rule for turning of the wind with altitude; Change of temperature with altitude; Inversion of temperature; Storm tracks; The method of correlating the data shown on this chart; Synoptic chart. The other half of the back of the chart for June, 1928, is on Position lines by sun observations. A map of tropi- cal cyclone tracks for June is also included. July cyclone tracks are on the July map, and the rest of the half-chart space is devoted to The use of pilot balloons, including a full statement of the method and a reproduc- tion, in two colors, of an aerological plotting board. The Beaufort scale of wind velocity, with equivalents in miles per hour and pressure on a surface, is commonly printed. Two special articles, occupying the entire

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/02/21 05:57 AM UTC back of the chart have recently been published; Line-Squalls (9 illustra- tions), by R. Hanson Weight-man, U. S. Weather Bureau, March, 1929; and Aerial Navigation by Dead Reckoning, December, 1928, and April, 1929. In December, 1928, a pilot chart of the upper air for the North Pa- cific for January, 1929, was issued, and subsequent charts for this ocean as well as for the Atlantic have continued monthly. The chart for the Pacific, unlike that for the Atlantic, contains no transoceanic air routes. On the back of the April, 192:9, Pacific chart, Mr. Weightman's informa- tive and valuable contribution on Line-Squalls is reprinted.—C. F. B.

PANAMA PACIFIC LINE BUYS SEAWATER THERMOGRAPH Through the interest of Captain Roger Williams of the Panama Pacific Line, that company is purchasing a Negretti & Zambra seawater thermograph for installation on one of its new ships, the California or the Virginia. The Taylor seawater thermograph, belonging to the Clark University School of Geography, will be installed on the other ship. This Taylor thermograph has been almost continuously in operation on the route between New York and San Francisco since November, 1926, most recently on the Steelmaker and S.S. Sagadohoc of the Isthmian and Argonaut lines, and prior to that on the S.S. and S.S. Manchuria of the Panama Pacific Line in each case till replaced in service by the new ships California and Virginia. Mr. Benjamin Parry, of the New York Office, U. S. Weather Bureau, has been keeping the instru- ment in operation, and will make the new installations. The far traveling Taylor seawater thermograph on each round trip of m to 2 months has been passing through waters ranging from the thirties or forties to the high eighties during our winter months, and from the sixties nearly to 90°F. in our summer. The warmest water has been found west of Central America and south of Mexico, where, and perhaps in part because of which, the western Pacific tropical cy- clones most commonly form.—C. F. B.

AN EXTRAORDINARY HALO (Contributed by Guy Hinsdale, M.D., White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.) The following "Account of an Extraordinary Halo," was made by my grandfather's grandfather, Rev. Theodore Hinsdale, at Windsor, Con- necticut, May 29, 1789, and was published in "The American Museum," April, 1790. A desire of contributing somewhat toward the increase of science, and the gratification of the lovers of it, is my motive for publishing the fol- lowing account of a very extraordinary halo, or rather a most curious complication of halo, which was yesterday observed here. It was about half after nine in the morning when I first saw it. The primary circle, about the sun, appeared as usual, except that it was very highly distinguished with most, if not all, of the colors of the rainbow. The other circle, which I call (Secondary, extended west several

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