Applied Science 847 



intervals and are posted up at all the aerodromes en route. Be- 

 fore starting on any particular flight the pilot can always obtain 

 the exact report of the weather conditions then prevailing at all 

 points on his route. As in other things, it is the man who counts 

 as much as the machine. The difficulties encountered sometimes 

 demand courage, skill, and resource on the part of the pilot. 

 We may give one instance. On an occasion during the winter 

 of 1921 when the weather was extremely foggy on the London- 

 Paris route, meteorological information came through to the 

 aerodrome at Paris that the route was covered in mist but there 

 was a chance of it clearing later. Three machines, two British 

 and one French, decided to attempt the journey, and with full 

 loads of passengers left Le Bourget aerodrome. The French 

 machine landed at Poix when less than a third of the journey 

 had been done, the pilot being unable to stand the strain of flying 

 with only occasional glimpses of the ground and not knowing 

 where he would land if his engine cut out. The two British 

 machines continued their journey until the Channel was reached, 

 when the fog descended lower and lower until both were crossing 

 the water at a height where the machines almost grazed the masts 

 of the occasional ships over which they passed. Mackintosh, the 

 pilot of the Handley Page, decided as it was so foggy a few 

 feet from the earth he would be no worse off higher up. He 

 pushed up the nose of his machine and climbed some thousands 

 of feet into the fog-filled air. The other machine crept on, feel- 

 ing its way across the Channel, until it crossed the coast near 

 Folkestone. By that time the suspense had almost worn out the 

 pilot, and having accomplished the most important part of his 

 journey and got his passengers across the Channel, he landed at 

 Lympne. 



A Landing in Fog 



By means of steering on a compass course, and by the 

 guidance he received through his wireless, Mackintosh flew on 



