a wide semicircle over the coast
The Pacific Ocean and now goes to the same Andes from the southwest. Here they
are seen hardly noticeable zazubrinka on the horizon…
– Уф! – Hans zasvistat a march again.
– What did you rassvistetsya there? – Vinkler from the next cabin speaks.
– Very well we fly! – Hans answers, going to Vinkler.
– On the airplane so would not whistle! – Vinkler speaks. He sits at
little table also considers something in the notebook, puffing
unseparable tube.
– I only in water am not able to whistle, – Hans answered. – And in the airplane —
as much as necessary.
– The same effect that in water: stops the engine.
– It is right, – Hans agreed. – Here it is absolutely silent. As if you fly on
balloon. Even explosions are not heard.
– Quicker than a sound we fly, because and it is not heard. Four hundred. We slow down
the course also we decrease. Height is only fifteen kilometers.
– But here temperature has to be much lower, than on
the Earth’s surface, the speed of a sound decreases with decrease
temperatures…
Vinkler nodded in the affirmative.
– . reaching at zero three hundred thirty two meters per second.
Now probably the motor is switched already off.
– And what ceiling?
– Twenty – twenty two kilometers. It is the most favorable height if
not to chase record speed.
– Mosquito take-off. Two hundred – three hundred kilometers – all right! Five hundred
– six hundred is the real height! – the voice of the third was heard
passenger.
Smoking the Egyptian sigarette, Henry Blotton approached Vinkler’s chair.
The lord was dressed in warm light brown sports overalls though in
to such “prozodezhda” there was no need: cabin of a stratoplan
it was well heated by electricity and supplied with clean air. In it
it was warm, cozy, with comfort, as in a compartment of the pullman car.
– Aeroplanny champions of height, certainly, pottered about in dust on
to comparison with us. For all these “saunders-Valkyries”,
“pharman-sou-pergoliafov”, “yunkers” twelve – fifteen thousand meters
were already almost extreme height. Researchers of a stratosphere rose
higher. But they rose on balloons. And recently in Taymsa I
read…
Blotton rode out the favourite fad and began a never-ending conversation
about height records, about rivals who can challenge its monasteries, about
chances of a victory of the same champions, as it.
– You will go to an interplanetary travel and at once will beat all
the rivals, – Vinkler told. Blotton did not understand a sneer.
– Yes, but., I am afraid that about it it will not be printed in Taymsa and
my rivals just do not learn about a new record, – melancholically answered
it.
Stratoplan decreased and reduced speed. Mountains on the horizon grew, dark
color of the sky turned pale, turned blue, stars, as one by one died away on
dawn.
Far below, at a foot of mountains as the bright green ocean, spread
violent tropical vegetation.
– The Andes – the South American continuation of the Cordilleras, – Vinkler told. —
Behind them the desert lowland, and further – the Rocky Mountains the republics
Ecuador.
– Surprisingly! It is difficult to get used to it. What speed, what
victory over space! – Finger exclaimed and once again Endured all
flight.
Europe – as if the big card. On the right – the Azores, at the left —
the Cape Verde Islands, hardly distinguishable even in the strongest sea
field-glass, South America… The basin of Amazon with its inflows similar on
tree branches… A semicircle of “atmospheric braking” over the Great ocean and
again coast of South America, already western.
– Yes, quite good way of studying of geography. It is better our school
books and maps, – Henry told. – But speed turtle. Other business —
space flight!
– Space flight! Turtle speed! – in Blotton’s tone continued
Vinkler. – That twelve mean some – eighteen kilometers in
second of space flight in comparison at least with thirty kilometers
flight of Earth? And star fogs! Some of them fly from huge
speed.
– ? – Blotton asked.
– About one thousand kilometers per second – usual average speed. But
there are also exceptions. According to the latest data, a fog Big Dipper
number twenty four flies with a speed of eleven thousand seven hundred
kilometers per second, Lev number one – nearly twenty thousand kilometers.
– Yes, such speed is pleasant to me.
