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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 1070.PDF
1/yCHT] It will be remembered that in our issue of the 19th ult. we recorded a 30 hours' flight of this vessel, which is officially stated to have commenced on the 13th and ended at Johannisthal on the afternoon of the 14th October. If the German version of the dates on which this voyage took place is to be relied upon, then it is manifestly impossible that the mysterious craft which is said to have passed over Sheerness on the evening of the 14th could have been the Zeppelin. That is a mystery which can only be cleared up by the statements of those who formed the crew and passengers of " Li," and it is scarcely probable that any explanation will be forth coming which would tend to confirm the view that a German airship did indeed pay a visit to the estuary of the Thames on the date in question, or on any other occasion, for that matter. The main point to which attention should be drawn with some insistence, is the distinct probability, or at least possibility, of such visits from foreign aircraft. In the minds of many of the public there is a disposition to regard the whole thing as a pure fiction on account of its inherent improbability. Without committing ourselves to any definite opinion as to whether or not "Li" has in fact flown over Sheerness, we say that there is not the slightest reason why she should not have done so. According to the German official statement, during the 30 hours' flight of this vessel, she covered over a thousand miles—a distance which would be almost exactly accounted for by a straight-away flight from Friederichshafen to Sheerness and across to Berlin, and, it may be said, a good deal more than the return trip across theNorth Seafrom Emden. It is not only possible for such craft as the Zeppelin to cross the North Sea and get back in safety, but such flights as this may be said to fall quite within the ordinary compass of these vessels. To Great Britain as a nation the moral is so obvious as to need no emphasis. It is one thing to be able to see a moral that if, metaphorically speaking, a very " sky-sign " for plainness, but it is often another matter to understand the ways and means of giving it effect. The one thing necessary, so far as we can see, is that more money should be forth coming for aeronautics in the Estimates for next year, and to this end we can imagine nothing more useful than that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should become personally imbued with the importance of this matter NOVEMBER 23, 1912. from the national point of view. When France makes a display of aeroplanes, someone asks in the British Parliament what we have to equal it. When Germany is rumoured to have visited the Thames by dirigible, the question is again asked in the British Parliament whether we could do the like. This is the polite parliamentary way of calling attention to facts, and in the long run it will, it may be supposed, have the desired effect. As, however, England already has the nucleus of a first-class organisation in its Royal Flying Corps, Central Flying School, Royal Aircraft Factory and Advisory Committee, we really do think that the Government might well come to the conclusion that the time has arrived for genuine liberality. With the tension of international affairs what it is, the policy of letting the other fellow get there first is a shade too risky for our liking. «• • • • From time to time we feel called upon to Military direct attention to the enormous strides in France. wmcn are being made in the creation of a real " fourth arm" in France, until the matter is becoming almost one of habit. The latest phase of military activity is in the seconding of still another large batch of officers and non-commissioned officers for service with the air-corps, numbering 99. What the exact number of qualified pilots at the disposal of the French war-staff may be we do not know at the moment, but we do know that this last detachment alone is far stronger than our own tiny force as represented by the Royal Flying Corps. Another eloquent evidence of the intense seriousness with which the problem of aerial defence is regarded across the Channel is the recent publication of a list of more than 120 points at which there are good landing places, in most cases equipped with hangars, for military aeroplanes. Apparently the sites for these aeroplane stations, as they may be termed, have been selected by- local associations under the direction of the A.G.Ae. which is a patriotic body formed and directed for the purpose of encouraging military aviation. We in this country, needless to say, have no association of the kind. Not that we have not enthusiasts enough to form the nucleus of such a body, but what is wanting is the necessary public interest and, truth to tell, we almost despair of the possibility of arousing that interest. Photo by Mr. M. Pirkis. The aeroplane tents en Farnborcugh Common In connection with the military machines, and, on the right, one of the Army balloons about to make a journey. I0;0
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