The exact moment of departure is indiscernible to anyone not closely watching the ground. To these observers on the promenade decks, the only indication of motion as the long ship slips its mast is a gradual awareness that the ground is receding – accompanied perhaps by a shout from the crowd below. There is no other indication that the flight has begun – no inclination of the rock-steady decks, no roar of engines, no tense moments of acceleration, no perceptible motion of any sort. And yet in a matter of moments the air yacht is at a thousand feet, moving swiftly forward! The flight, which may carry as many as two hundred party-goers on a scenic flight of several hours duration, is in progress.

A fascinating panorama of the scene below unfolds before the eyes of these entranced voyagers, but those who can turn away from the view will find other interests aboard ship. A favorite gathering spot at this point might be the ship's bar located in the smoking room on "C Deck" or a trifle later a visit to the dining salon on "B Deck" where tables laden with canapes will be attracting throngs of aerial epicures – for nothing sharpens the appetite like a cruise among the clouds in an airship!

And the cruise, all too soon, will approach its end. With the advent of darkness the graceful behemoth of the skies turns homeward, seeking out its mooring mast where a full moon casts a magical aura over the entire scene. For the 200 guests and service personnel of 40, this fantasy flight with its aerial gala will remain a vivid memory.

A truer picture of the full capabilities of the air yacht may be gleaned from a sketch of a more ambitious cruise than the one just completed. Here the owner, accompanied by a select group of friends or associates, boards his ship for a journey which in some sixty hours will take him from his New York base southward along the Atlantic coast into the Gulf of Mexico, thence on a broad sweep of the Caribbean and finally homeward to Manhattan.

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A Deck.

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Owner's Suite. Guest or Owner's Suite. Guest Cabins. Space above Lounge. Gallery. Dome over Dining Salon. Dressing Rooms. Linen Storage. Baths.