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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0204.PDF
'EBKUARY 22, 1913. The article in the Review of Reviews Plain to wn,cn we nave already referred, and in Speaking, connection with which we reproduce on page 206 a very graphic argument in the form of one of the pictures which appear in that publication, gives much food for reflection on the present aerial position of nations. It is far too long for us to quote in exienso, but it will be useful for the purposes of the argument which we ourselves have addressed to the Government and the people on many occasions if we quote some of the more striking passages. Dealing with the present position, the article says :— *' At Heligoland, Kiel, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Dusseldorf, Frankfort and Cologne are housed German air warships, any one of which is capable of arriving over this country within seven hours, without any warning, without any possibility of interrup ion, and with the freest possible hand with regard to potential destruction. It is interesting to know that whereas Germany has concentrated eight airship stations in face of our new strategic frontier, she has only thought it necessary to have one air-camp on the Russian frontier, one near the Austrian frontier, and three or four on the French frontier. If Germany's naval increase is sufficient to change the entire strategic plans of the British Government, even although it is loudly proclaimed that the German fleet is really no serious menace to British naval supremacy, it is time for this extraordinary concen tration of the German aerial force, against which we can pit nothing, to receive the earnest attention of British Ministers. If they any longer neglect their duty towards the nation, they will be betraying the future of this country in the most cold-blooded and unpardonable fashion. In the past the mistakes of Ministers have been retrieved and this country has muddled through ; but with regard to a pos able attack from the air there will be no pos ibility of muddling through, and the disorganised and panic-stricken survivors of the population of London will have the sole, although sorry, satisfaction, belore passing under German domination, of hanging the guilty Ministers." These are weighty words indeed, and that they do not exaggerate the situation there is only too much reason to know. Sorry satisfaction indeed if our only prospect is to ornament the lamp-posts of Whitehall with Ministers of the Crown after the damage is done. Better by far that they should bow to the necessity of the moment by providing adequately for the establishment and expansion of our present air forces. Now is the time, as Orville Wright said to a represen tative of the Daily Mail during his visit to Olympia on Tuesday: " The show proves that here you have the workmanship and the brains for the construction of a magnificent aerial fleet. If your Government is consider ing any such scheme I may say that from what I have seen to-day, now would be the time to give the orders, for you have the material at hand." Other nations have realised that the time is at hand long since for them, and that they have the manufac turers willing and able to do their part. Thus, let us quote again from the Review of Reviews on this point of the utility of the airship in war :— "Hitherto the public has understood that airships may be of some service for obtaining information. Within a twelvemonth it will realise that they are to be instruments of the most dreadful character for effecting destruction. Surely even the lay mind will realise what can be done by an airship with an independent speed of 45 miles an hour, a range of action of several hundred miles without alighting for replenishment of supplies, and capable of lifting guns and ammunition, not by the hundredweight, but by the ton"! During recent practice a small canvas float was set adrift on Lake Con stance. From an airship about 3$ miles away, and circling in the air at an altitude of about 3,000 ft., a gunner got the exact range with his third shot, which was fired only a few seconds after the first. The target was quickly riddled, and though the exact results were kept secret by official order of the German Government it is known that the percentage of hits was close to 100. Manoeuvring in fairly brisk wind.-, did not make it impossible for the gunners to get perfect range. Again, the Z III while at practice, manoeuvring at battle speed at a height of 6,000 ft., shot to pieces in 17 mins. the target, a silhouette of a whole village arranged on the manoeuvring grounds several miles out of Badeux. Equally successful results have been obtained at the artillery groundsjjat Juterbog and the aerial school at Metz." Assuming all this to be true, is it not well that we, "a Great Power, should at least be equally to the fore. The present international tension is no laughing matter, and compared with Germany and France our aerial fleet simply does not exist. " Turning to England, where the sarety—and, indeed, the very existence—of our Empire may in the near future depend upon the efficiency and strength of our aerial fleet, what do we find ? After years of talk, and bushels of promises, Ministers are still trifling with the nation in this important matter of defence. On April 12th of last year, it was officially stated that twenty-five aeroplanes were on order for the Army. Nine months have elapsed, and in that period Col. Seely has added exactly one aeroplane. And yet it is possible for a prominent War Office official to make the following declaration : ' I think and believe that, even with all our mistakes and omissions, we have laid the foundation of a plan which will ensure that this country in the long run, and sooner rather than later, shall be able to hold her place in the air as she has done in the centuries past both on land and sea.' " The simple truth of the matter is that the English people have not awaked to a realisation of the true significance of the conquest of the air. The Government should have done so independently, but instead of taking on its own shoulders the responsibility of immediate and rapid expansion it economised and has thereby caused most serious, even vital, delay. Now, the people must speak, the Press must speak, and Members of Parliament must see to it that the next grant for aeronautics is to be at least a million. m • • Armv ^e cu'aw particular attention to a letter Require- m our Correspondence columns written ments in by Mr. Mervyn O'Gorman, Superintendent Aeroplane 0f the Royal Aircraft Factory. He has Engines. wrjtten in order to correct a misapprehen sion that he has heard is prevalent as to the conditions that have to be satisfied before the authorities will consider the purchase of engines for use on the R.F.C. machines. As there are several constructors now engaged in the perfecting of new designs it would be well that they should read Mr. O'Gorman's letter with care, and in any case it is surely the best plan for anyone in that position who happens to be in doubt to make some sort of direct effort to find out what is essential and what merely desirable from the Royal Flying Corps standpoint. It is perfectly obvious that R.F.C. aeroplanes ought to be equipped with British-built engines, and we have always supposed, and indeed Mr. O'Gorman's letter makes clear, that the precise attainments of other motors are not regarded as a sine qua non, although they may be used as a standard of comparison. It is desirable of course that, other things being equal, an engine should approximate to a weight not much exceeding 3 lbs. per h.p. It is equally desirable that it should be able to run for twenty- four hours, and that it should provide for a propeller speed in the neighbourhood of 900 to 1,200 r.p.m. These things are desirable, no doubt, and we mention numerical values that will have occurred to anyone who has even superficially studied the present situation. We should be sorry to think, however, that a variation in any particular from what is at present usual would prejudice the chances of success of an otherwise good engine, and we feel sure that British constructors should in no wise be discouraged from pushing forward their designs from any misapprehension that the authorities have a pre conceived notion of precisely what is essential and will consider nothing else. 208
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