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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0223.PDF
MARCH 9, 1912. every plane, it can carry a superior offensive weapon, and it has the immensely important advantage of being able to stand still while using it. In a combat between airship and airship, superior marksmanship and navigation would necessarily be determining factors. Personally, I think the correct tactics would be to run away, if it can be done with the wind, or in any direction that will expose the enemy to artillery fire from the ground. It is, moreover, practically the only manoeuvre that avoids the liability of exposing your own craft broadside. There is also the question of airship versus artillery, and having seen much artillery practice at various kinds of aerial targets during the last six years, I have come to the conclusion that air-craft travelling below 1,000 ft. elevation run a most serious risk of being disabled by ordinary field guns and howitzers, such as are possessed by every army. At an elevation of 4,000 ft., I think an airship is reasonably safe if the speed over the ground is at least 15 miles per hour. Ascent and full speed with the wind would be the safest tactics to pursue in order to avoid such fire. But, it is important to remember that the proper role of the air ship is defensive and not offensive where hostile aeroplanes are concerned. The airship must be able to protect itself, and this, I consider, puts out of court the small airship of less than 100,000 cubic feet, since nothing short of that size could carry a suitable weapon and ammunition, and, at the same time, possess sufficient speed to withstand ordinary weather conditions. The control of an airship is a subject of considerable interest, •which I will review by mentioning sonic features of its evo lution at Farnborough. On " Nulli Secundus" the balanced rudder was abandoned, only to be brought into favour again quite recently. The boat-shaped car for the crew was likewise abandoned, and has similarly been re-introduced. The need for a fixed horizontal or vertical plane soon became apparent. On dirigible No. 2 an elevator was situated in the bows, and was found to be much too powerful. There was a fixed horizontal plane aft. In 1909 the airship "Baby" was built, and subsequently converted into the " Beta," which is now three years old, and as good as ever, a record which has not been beaten in any other country. Originally it had three fins on the tail of the envelope, which were found to be too unwieldy for practical work. The uppermost vertical pin was first removed and replaced by a triangular sail, which was found to have a tendency to pocket the wind, and also to lack rigidity. At present there are three fixed planes, two horizontal and one vertical. There is also an unbalanced rudder and two small planes in the bow. •" Gamma" was the next airship that was built ; it had balancers on the tail, also elevating planes both front and rear, all of which have since been abolished. A box kite arrangement was fitted to the stern end of the frame, and is if anything too powerful. The most important point about " Gamma" is the swivelling propellers, which are so arranged that they can be turned so as to push the airship up in the air or pull it down. It is an invaluable device, and I regard it as an essential feature on a military airship. The crew of an airship should, I think, consist of a pilot, steers man, engineer, wireless operator, gunner and observer. The pilot ® ® WORLD'S Vedrines Improves on His Speed Records. NOT satisfied by the speed attained in his record-breaking flight on the 22nd ult., Vedrines set to work to try and tune up his Deperdussin machine still further, and at Pau, on the 28th ult., he was unofficially timed to cover 10 kilometres at a speed of i67"25ok.p.h. On the following day he started off on another trial, but had to come down after 50 kilometres. His best speed then was 162 k.p.h. On the 1st inst., he made another trial and this time got up to 166-821 kilometres an hour. He only continued flying for a couple of minutes beyond the hour, but by that time he had covered 170 kilometres. The new records, as well as the old ones, are shown in the following table, and his time for 170 kilometres was 1 hr. 1 min. 55 sees. New records. Old records, iokiloms. ... 3 mins. 35* sees. ... 3 mins. 435 sees. 20 „ ... 7 .. J4 .. ••• 7 >> 27 » 30 ,, ... 10 ,, 53f ). ••• 11 ., iOs ,. 40 ,, ... 14 .. 32s ., ••• 14 ,, 54» .. 50 „ •• 18 ,, 10; ,, ... 18 „ 38gr ,, 100 „ ... 36 .. 22>l » - 37 ., 22I .. 150 „ ... 54 .. 351 » ••• 56 » J7 .. 4 hour. ... 40-374 kiloms. ... 39'303 kiloms. * „ ... 80-374 „ - 79'303 .. 1 i64-43i » — 159-303 » The greatest speed record only stood for twenty-four hours as on the next day he was at work again and was officially timed to cover 10 kiloms. in 3 mins. 34H sec. at a speed equal to l67"9I0 kiloms. an hour, (over 104 miles an hour). pGHfj is the captain of the ship, and is responsible for the course, the elevation, and the maintenance of the pressure in the envelope. Wireless can be worked on board an airship successfully, but signals cannot be heard without stopping the engine, which however is not necessary for sending information. Code messages are, 1 think, essential, and some simple coding apparatus would be most desirable. Among the functions of a military airship 1 place reconnaissance first and foremost. Aeroplanes are suited to obtain general infor mation, but for collecting complete and exact details I think an airship is invaluable. If the information is transmitted by wireless the airship might also prove more expeditious in its work than an aeroplane. Bomb dropping is another important branch of its work, and this is a business that requires the entire attention of one man. I do not think that the observation of gun fire is practicable from an airship, as after six years' practice at it from captive balloons and kites, I feel that the difficulty of transmitting observation sufficiently quickly to be of use quite puts this work out of court. Telephonic communi cation is necessary for the purpose, and there is endless confusion and trouble when the telephone breaks down, as it so often does. In night work, the airship practically has the field to itself and should be able to do much useful work, particularly by stopping the engines and listening for sounds that might betray the movements of troops or supply columns. To conclude, I will give a brief outline of my personal idea of an ideal military airship. Its size, I think, should lie between 150,000 and 200,000 cu. ft. The Lebaudy which came to England was 350,000 cu. ft. capacity, and the Clement-Bayard 250,000 cu. ft. The " Beta " is only 33,000 cu. ft., and the " Gamma" 95,000cu. ft. With hydrogen giving a lift of 70 lbs. per 1,000 cu. ft., the ideal military airship would be able to raise 10,500 lbs. This 1 should apportion as follows: car, frame, envelope, &c, 4,000 lbs. ; foui engines of 100 h.p., 1,600 lbs. ; crew of seven, 1,050 lbs. ; the gun, 300 lbs. ; 650 rounds of ammunition, 500 lbs. ; wireless, 500 lbs. ; hydrolite, 500 lbs. ; fuel and oil, 1,000 lbs. ; ballast, 1,040 lbs. The speed should not be less than 45 m.p.h., which ought to be possible with 400 h.p. An altitude of 8,000 ft. should also be possible. The airship should be constructed on the semi-rigid principle, with a long girder close to the envelope ; by this means alone can head-resistance be minimised. The car would be in the form of a narrow boat, and 20 or 30 ft. in length, and about 4 or 5 ft. broad in the bow. Fuel and ballast would be carried below the deck level, also the hydrolite and ammunition. I would suggest the use of a vertical hole and rope ladder to give access to the top of the envelope for a look-out. The envelope would have two ripping panels, and a valve on top, in addition to the usual automatic valves on the lower side. The control levers and pedals I should arrange as on a motor car, so that everything is within reach of the steersman. Those who discussed this paper at the meeting, and others who desire to comment thereon, are invited to embody their remarks in letters to the Editor. ® ® RECORDS. Tabuteau Gets Two Records. TABUTEAU is, like Vedrines, persistently working at Pau and improving the speed qualities of his Morane monoplane, and while Vedrines was revising his figures for the speed records up to 150 kiloms., Tabuteau started off and made a two hours' flight securing the record for that time and also for a distance of 250 kiloms. The first 60 kiloms. were completed in 25 mins. 39 sees., 100 in 51 mins. 7I, sees., 150 in ih. 16m. 32s., and 200 in ih. 42m. I7ifs. In the first hour it covered 115-231 kilonis., while in 2 hours he more than doubled this distance, covering 234-431 kiloms. He went on till he had covered 250 kiloms. in 2h. 7m. 54s., and then came down. The new and also the old records are shown in the following table :— New record. Old record. 2 hours 234-431 kiloms. ... 227-454 kiloms. 250 kiloms. ... 2h. 7m. 54js. ... 2h. 22m. 57js. ® ® ® ® The Balloon Distance Record. AFTER conferring with the Kieff Aeronautic Society the Aero Club of France has decided to accept the distance of 1,953 kiloms. 898 metres as the distance of M. Emile Dubonnet's balloon voyage from Lazmotte-Bruille to Sokolowska, made on January 7th and 8th last. This is a world's record for distance, and it won for M. Dubonnet the Lahm Cup, while the Aero Club of France has also decided to give M. Dubonnet a gold medal. 223
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