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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0730.PDF
If LIGHT ! EDITORIAL It cannot be otherwise than distasteful to Military tne patriotic British journalist in touch in France. w*tn tne Progress of aviation to be constantly under the necessity of pointing out how much better the Governments of foreign countries do things than our own. But we should be entirely wanting in the fulfilment of our duty were we to ignore the strides that are being made abroad in the perfecting of a system of aerial defence, and particularly in the case of our one time hereditary enemy, now fortunately our very good friend and ally, France. It is not so much the fact that the French Government is alive to the exigencies of the situation that gives us to think furiously as that the Press of the country and even that somewhat nebulous individual whom we know as the man in the street exhibits a grasp of the subject and a knowledge of its effects and its working which is altogether wanting on this side of the Channel. So far as the latter aspect of the question is concerned, it is fair, perhaps, to argue that it is for the Government to give us a lead. Even now aviation is in its swaddling clothes, and to some extent our friend in the street can hardly be expected to manifest a thorough grasp of a subject in which he is still relatively uninstructed. He has already realised to the full the fact that aviation is now to be ranked among the assured sciences, and having grasped so much he has something of an idea that the aeroplane and the dirigible may happily have some sort of an influence on the warfare of the future. But all the details of this he leaves to those he employs for the purpose of ensuring that he may rest quietly in his bed. If they tell him that it is a matter of urgent national concern that we should spend a million on aeroplanes he will possibly pull a wry face at the prospect of still further additions to his burden of taxation, but he will reason that these people are experts whom he pays for their knowledge of their business and will pass judgment accordingly. If they pooh-pooh the necessity, then he will agree with them, for they are his advisers in the matter. Now, the position is that his advisers have taken up the latter position—and there is no more to be said. The pronouncements of those who are able to see ahead are as voices crying in the wilderness— and our possible enemies go steadily ahead of us. Contrast this with what is going on in France. Next month will see the inauguration of the French War Depart ment trials of aeroplanes, and already the Press of the country teems with discussion—well-informed discussion, too—of the possible lessons to be learnt from these tests. As in all matters which are open to argument, there are two schools of opinion, one of which, led by Gen. Cherfils, holds that the balloon, spherical or dirigible, is as dead as Herod, while the other argues that balloons still have their military uses. We are not concerned in the least —at the present moment, at any rate—which of these schools may be right, but we do think that the mere fact of there being two sharply divided schools of thought argues that aviation has obtained a grip of the national mind which must be of infinite help in the progress of aviation. It is thus, by a ready grasp of the possibilities of the future, that France, led by its Government, has obtained the lead in aerial science and will retain that lead until we—or some other more progressive nation— wake up to the realisation that there is really something in it. The French authorities and the nation itself see AUGUST 26, 1911. COMMENT. quite clearly that if the portents convey a proper index to the trend of things, the next great war will be decided in the air, and to that end they are working with a view to making France the undisputed mistress of the air. It stands out plainly in the columns of every responsible journal in the country. The people have had it drilled into them until they realise it to the full and as a nation are fully and intelligently instructed in all they need to know of aviation. Here it is still a species of nine-day wonder, and we are again minded to ask, " How long?" • • •• In the foregoing we have to some extent , . traversed the want of real understanding of Aerial Traffic, aviation which is really the salient point in the public regard of the science. We have inferred that little or no real interest is manifested in it by the ordinary person, and we maintain that we are right from the point of view from which we have approached the subject. There is, however, one section of the public which exhibits some sort of interest in the movement, and that is the one which has a chronic desire to see restrictions of some sort placed on everything, from flying to backgammon. There has been an outcry of sorts lately regarding the alleged laches of the Brooklands contingent, and we hasten to say that there may possibly be some ground of complaint regarding the behaviour of one or two on certain isolated occasions. We have nothing to say in defence of the aviator who makes of himself a public nuisance. The remarkable thing about such complaints as have been made, however, is that they inevitably bring in their train a whole series of suggestions for dealing repressively with the complete race of aviators, ranging from shooting on sight to the simple summons for trespassing in the air above the village common. It is deplorable that these things should be, for they argue what we have already endeavoured to point out, a want of proper understanding of the true incidence of a new science. By all means let us agree on some sort of codified rule of the air as soon as things are ripe for its application, but it does seem a thousand pities that good brains should be wasted in the evolution of futile suggestions whose whole trend is in a repressive direction. «•••*• „ A Once again we notice that a public-spirited Old Clo'" c,tizen nas come forward to get the Government out of a hole. " An English man from Beyond the Seas " has given the War Office the substantial sum of ,£10,000 wherewith to provide a rifle range near to one of the most thickly populated towns in the United Kingdom—and the War Office has accepted the gift. We are getting used to this sort of thing now, this charitable coming forward of the individual to do what the State should perform for itself. There was the Lebaudy airship of unhappy memory. Then there was the Daily Mail airship garage at Worm wood Scrubbs; the four Valkyries presented to a grateful Government by Mr. Barber; and the gift of a stud-farm for the breeding of army horses. What will be the next thing? Perhaps we shall hear before long of a movement among the Israelitish dealers in " old clo' " for presenting the nation's " cast-offs " to the Government for distribution among deserving members of the—well, we will not specify the particular department we have in mind. But seriously, it is coming to something when we as a nation are driven to progress through the medium of charity. % 2
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