Page:O que eu vi, o que nós veremos (1918).pdf/79

 visited a huge factory in the United States. I saw thousands of skilled mechanics engaged in the construction of airplanes, produced daily in numbers of 12 to 18.

Improved by the needs and demands of war, the airplane — diverted from its destructive purposes — will prove its incalculable value as an instrument of the useful objectives of the human race. At the present time it is quite possible that any of the present great machines could make trips from New York to Valparaizo, or from Washington to Rio de Janeiro. A fueling point could easily be installed every 600 miles of the route.

The main difficulty for air navigation is in the precarious progress of the engines. Frankly, the current engine has not yet reached what it should be. The airplane itself has developed faster than the engine.

I think, however, that soon the airplane engine will be so perfected that it will have no more imperfections than those of the best and most perfect automobiles made today.