WINGS OVER THE SEA — BLERIOT 461 



FINANCIAL PLAN 



Permit me now to give you some details on the financial side of 

 the enterprise. Each island will cost about 110 million francs, say, 

 for the four, 440 millions — let us put down 500 millions. How will 

 this capital be rewarded ? It will be : 



1. By the mail : Of the 3,000 tons of letters now carried it is esti- 

 mated that 500 tons would be destined for airplanes; of the 26,000 

 tons of packages and printed matter it is estimated that 800 tons 

 would go by air mail. Two-sevenths of the receipts will go to the 

 floating islands and will yield 90 million francs a year. 



2. By passengers : Statistics say that the North Atlantic is crossed 

 every year by about a million travelers, of whom about 80,000 use 

 the modern steamships, paying for the crossing an average of 7,500 

 francs each. By airplane the cost would be about 5,250 francs, of 

 which 1,050 would go to the credit of the seadromes. We predict, 

 for all countries, in normal use, four trips a day in each direction, 

 each airplane carrying an average of 20 passengers. This would 

 make, therefore, 160 passengers a day, or an income of 60 million 

 francs a year. 



The other receipts would come from the sale of gasoline and oil, 

 from the renting of hangars and stores, from hotels, etc., and their 

 increasing total is estimated at 12 million francs a year. 



The total revenue of the four seadromes thus reaches 170 million 

 francs. From this income there should be deducted about 30 million 

 francs for operating expenses, the salaries of the personnel, and in- 

 surance premiums. There remains, in the end, a net revenue of 140 

 million francs a year on an invested capital of 500 millions; it is 

 therefore a good paying proposition. 



For its realization there is proposed a national association for each 

 country, which will construct one island. This project will provide 

 employment for 3,000 or 4,000 workmen for 18 months. The different 

 associations will belong to an international association, administered 

 by either the League of Nations or the International Aeronautical 

 Federation; its island and the operating company will pay to each 

 of the national associations its part of the benefits. 



The amount of the capital involved, as well as the newly created 

 relations between the coastal nations, will assure the internationaliza- 

 tion of this affair. These same reasons will also be a sufficient guar- 

 antee against the eventuality of a competing line using other floating 

 islands. 



CONCLUSION 



I will close this article by insisting, once more, on the great impor- 

 tance of the regular aerial crossing of the North Atlantic, an im- 

 portance which can be compared only to that of the Suez or the 



