CHAPTER II--FOSTERDYKE EXPLAINS
The two chums were not in the least taken aback with the announcement.They knew the way of their late O.C. On active service Fosterdyke wasin the habit of issuing orders for certain operations to be performedwithout apparently considering the magnitude or the danger of theundertaking. The officer or man to whom the order was given almostinvariably executed it promptly. In the few cases where the individualinstructed to carry out a "stunt" failed to rise to the occasion, thatwas an end of him as far as his service under Wing Commander SirReginald Fosterdyke went. Fosterdyke had no use for faint-heartedsubordinates.
On the other hand, Kenyon and Bramsdean were astonished at being invitedto take part in what promised to be the biggest aerial undertaking evercontemplated. After nearly two years "on the ground" the prospect of"going up" seemed too good to be true.
"Business difficulties, perhaps?" hazarded Fosterdyke, noting the faintsigns of hesitation on the part of the two chums. "Think it over. But Isuppose you'd like to have a few particulars of the stunt beforecommitting yourselves?"
"I think it could be arranged, sir," replied Kenyon. "As regards ourlittle show, we could leave it to our head foreman. He's a steady-goingfellow and all that sort of thing. It's merely a question of a month, Isuppose?"
"Less than that. Twenty days, to give a time limit," declared thebaronet. "Either twenty days or--_phut_! However, I'll outline thesalient features of the scheme.
"Like a good many others, it arose out of an almost trivial incident--abet with an American Air Staff officer whom I met in London just afterthe Yankee seaplane NC4 flew across the Atlantic--or rather hoppedacross. Without detracting from the merits of the stupendousundertaking, it must be remembered that the seaplane was escorted thewhole way, and alighted several times _en route_. The Yankee--GeneralU. B. Outed is his name--offered to bet anyone $50,000 that an Americanaircraft would be the first to circumnavigate the globe.
"Half a dozen of us took him on; not that we could afford to throw awayan equivalent to ten thousand pounds, but because we had sufficientfaith in the Old Country to feel assured that the accomplishment of aflight round the world would be the work of a British owned and flownmachine.
"Shortly after the wager was accepted came the news that R34 had flownfrom East Fortune to New York in 108 hours, making the return journey in76 hours. That rather staggered General Outed, I fancy, and he had agreater shock when Alcock and Brown covered nearly 2,000 miles betweenNewfoundland and Ireland without a single stop.
"Things from a British aviation point of view looked particularly rosy;then for some obscure reason our Air Board appeared to let the wholematter of aerial navigation slide, or, at any rate they gave noencouragement. The big dirigibles were dismantled and sold; powerfulaeroplanes were scrapped, air-stations were closed, and in aparsimonious wave of retrenchment even our old Royal Air Force wasthreatened with ignominious relegation to a corps under the control ofthe War Office.
"About three months ago a wealthy Swiss--a M. Chauvasse--who had made apile in the United States, offered a prize to the value in British moneyof L25,000 to be given to the first airman to circumnavigate the globe,either in a lighter or a heavier than air machine. The prize is open toall comers, and already a Yankee and a German have announced theirintention of competing."
"A Hun!" exclaimed Kenyon. "I thought that Fritz, under the terms ofthe armistice, had to surrender all his aircraft."
"But he hasn't," remarked Fosterdyke, drily. "Nor is he likely to; andif the Allies haven't the means to enforce the terms, that's not myaffair. If a Hun does compete, let him. That's my view. Providing hedoesn't resort to any of his dirty tricks, there's no valid reason whythe door should be banged in his face. Because he's down and out is noreason why we should continue to sit on him. Commercially, I regardGerman goods as a means to reduce the present extortionate prices ofthings in England. I'm no believer in dumping, I never was; but if ourmanufacturers cannot compete with the products of a country beaten inwar and torn by internal troubles, then there's something wrongsomewhere. But I am digressing.
"Briefly, the terms of the contest are as follows: any type of machineor engine can be employed, and as many descents as are necessary toreplenish fuel and stores. A start can be made from any place chosen bythe competitor, but the machine must finish at the same spot withintwenty days. Again, any route can be chosen, so that full advantage canbe taken of existing air stations, but--and this is a vital point--inorder to fairly circumnavigate the globe, competitors must pass withinone degree of a position immediately opposite the starting-point. Doyou follow me?"
"What is known in navigation as Great Circle Sailing," repliedBramsdean. "If a start is made somewhere on the 50th parallel North,the halfway time will be somewhere 50 degrees South, with a differenceof 180 degrees of longitude."
"That's it," agreed Sir Reginald. "Now the difficulty arises where tofind two suitable places answering to these conditions. With theexception of a small part of Cornwall the whole of Great Britain liesnorth of latitude 50.... Therefore, to reach the 50th parallel in theSouthern Hemisphere would mean making a position far south'ard of NewZealand--where, I take it, there are no facilities for landing andtaking in petrol.
"Nor is the vast extent of the United States any better off in thatrespect. I think I am right in saying that there is no habitable landdiametrically opposite to any place in Uncle Sam's Republic."
Fosterdyke produced a small globe from a corner of the room in order toconfirm his statement.
"And the old Boche is a jolly sight worse off," said Kenyon. "I don'tsuppose any British Dominion will tolerate him. It's certain he won'tbe allowed to fly over any Allied fortress, so where is he?"
"Paying the penalty for his misdeeds," replied Sir Reginald, grimly."It's not exactly a case of _vae victis_. If he'd played his game, hewould have taken his licking with a better grace because it wouldn'thave hurt him so much."
"How many competitors are there for the Chauvasse Stakes, sir?" askedBramsdean.
"A Yank, a Hun, and myself," replied Fosterdyke. "That is, up to thepresent. For some reason the idea hasn't caught on with our fellows.Probably there'll be a rush of entries later on--perhaps too late. I'llshow you my little craft; but before doing so I'll give you a fewdetails of the contest.
"My idea is to start from Gibraltar--for the actual race, of course.I'll have to take my airship there, but that's a mere detail. WhyGibraltar? Here's an encyclopaedia, Kenyon. Look up the position ofGib."
"Lat. 36 deg. 6' N.; long. 5 deg. 21' W.," replied Kenyon, afterconsulting the work.
"And the antipodes of Gib. would be lat. 36 deg. 6' S.; long. 174 deg.39' E.," continued the baronet. "The longitude, of course, being easilydetermined by adding 180 to that of Gibraltar. Now the next thing to bedone (as a matter of fact I've determined it already) is to find ahabitable spot approximating to the second set of figures. Look upAuckland, Kenyon."
"Auckland is lat. 36 deg. 52' S.; long. 174 deg. 46' E.," repliedKenneth. "Why, that's less than a degree either way."
"Exactly," agreed Fosterdyke. "The next point is to determine the airroute between the two places, so as to make the best of the prevailingwinds. When one has to maintain an average speed of fifty miles an hourfor twenty days the advantage of a following wind cannot be ignored."
"Your 'bus'll do more than that, sir," remarked Peter Bramsdean.
"She'll do two hundred an hour," declared the baronet, emphatically. "Ihaven't had a trial spin yet, but she'll come up to my expectations.It's the stops that lower the average. Naturally I mean to take theeast to west course. It means a saving of twenty-four hours. If I tookthe reverse direction, I'd be a day to the bad on returning to thestarting-point. The actual course I'll have to work out later. That'swhere I want expert assistance. Also I want the aid of a couple ofexperienced navigators. And so that's why I sent for you."
"We're on it," declared both chums.
"I thought as much," rejoined Fosterdyke with a smile. "There's onething I ought to make clear--the matter of terms."
Kenyon made a deprecatory gesture.
"Not so fast, Kenyon," protested his chief. "It's a rock-bottomproposition. Twenty-five per cent. of the prize if we are successful isyour collective share. If we fail, then I'm broke--absolutely. I'vesunk my last penny into the concern, because I'm hanged if I'm going tosit still and let a foreigner be the first to make an aerialcircumnavigation of the globe. Now let me introduce you to the airship'Golden Hind.'"
The Airship Golden Hind Page 2