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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0356.PDF
[/DGHT] a very high authority drew my attention—that the aeroplanes at Fariiborough were rotting away ; and a picture was drawn of gloomy men who could not fly because they had nothing on which to fly. This i* how that stands :—Since the date of the formation of the Royal Flying Corps—that is, since May 13th—and practically the whole of it has been done since August- the machines have flown for 1,550 hours, and S2,ooo miles have been flown—that is more than three times round the world—by the officers who are engaged either in learning flying or in conducting these experi ments. I with now to gee how dangerous tins is to our officers. This is a point of vital importance. It is very un fortunate that our great success in the air has been attended by great loss ,.f life. We have lost six valuable lives in a very short time. You may say we flew 82,000 miles, but six valuable were lost. If, however, you take the Central Flying School, which, of course, has this advantage, that, though it is cross-country flying, a great deal of its flying is done over Salisbury Plain, where 1 In difficulties of landing are so much less owing to the absence of hedges, there have been 670 hours of flying since last August, and over 36,000 miles have been flown, and of serious accidents there has been not one. I think it will be a consolation to the House, though indeed, one must touch wood, to know that this difficult business can be conducted with such comparatively slight loss of lilt as compared with the dangers that were incident 10 it not so very long ago. 1 have dealt with Ihe fursonin! we have, with the aeroplanes that we have in possession, and I have indicated that we have in our judgment the best aeroplane in the world, which we ouiselves have devised and can manufacture in any number that we please. Capt. Jessel : May I ask how long it takes to manufacture one of these aeroplanes? Akock winning the Easter Aeroplane Handicap at Brooklands on Monday on Mr. Ducrocq's H. Farman. 362 MARCH 29, 1913. Col. Seely : A very short time—a matter of a few weeks or less. Arrangements could easily be made to manufacture a great number, far more than we should ever require, and far more than are in the possession of any other country within a short time. The difficulty with regard to aeroplanes is the engine. The weak point is that, although we have produced the best aeroplane, and although we have many good aerial engines, !hey are produced in small numliers, and, so far as they have yet been produced, they are less efficient—if by efficiency you mean the speed that can be obtained with a given weight—than those of foreign Powers. We have decided that the best way to meet this difficulty is to offer a prize and a promise of a large purchase. I have arranged, in conjunction with my right hon. friend the first Lord of the Admiralty, that the Admiralty and the War Office shall together offer a prize for the best aeroplane engine. Details of the competition are at this moment being settled by a sub-committee of the Air Committee of which I am chairman. We propose to give a prize of something in four figures and to give a promise of the pur chase of not less than 50, possibly more, engines either to the successful competitor or one of the competitors. Those who compete will know that if a satisfactory engine is produced orders for at least 50 will follow. I am advised that is the best way of stimulating this industry. Once the matter is set going I think there can be no doubt we shall find it possible to excel in tne production of aeroplane engines in the same way as we have been able to excel in the production of engines for motor cars and in the produc tion of the aeroplane itself. It may be said, you leave all the big aircraft to the Admiralty. What about the safety of this country from invasion by hostile aircraft ? What about the large number of airships of great size which may come from a hostile country ? That n surely your affair at the War Office. I can only say that the whole matter is naturally somewhat confidential, and I ask not to be pressed upon it. For many months past it has been receiving very careful attention and our efforts have not been without success. With regard to the fear that the whole of our stores of explosives and cartridges might be blown up, I can only say that no Power is quite so foolish as to put all its eggs in one basket, and we have not made that mistake either. With regard to the means of meeting attack. It may be that the best way in the long run to meet attack from an enemy's aircraft would be to have another aircraft—not to meet him in the air, but to do the same amount of damage to him, that he could do to you. I leave that point to my right hon. friend, who is more fully conversant with it than I am. With regard to the question how far it is possible for one of these large engines of war to hover over a defenceless country and wreck its brutal will upon it, I may say it has been thought that the diffi culty of hitting an aerial target was very great. It was thought to be great, first, because it would be impossible to overcome the mechanical difficulties of having a real efficient quick-firing gun to fire at a really high angle. It was thought that when you get to angles of 30 and 40 or certainly 50 degrees, mechanical difficulties of vertical power would be almost insuperable, if the fire was to be accurate and rapid. In the second place, the idea was that in the absence of anything to range at it would be impossible to hit the target. We have been con ducting for a long time very careful inquiries and experiments on this question. I do not wish to go into any detail, but this much I may say from ex periments I myself have witnessed—that all the mechanical difficulties have been completely solved, and that the actual difficulty of hitting an aerial target at a considerable height moving at an un known speed and at an unknown height have been enormously exaggerated, and that everybody con cerned has been surprised beyond measure at the comparative ease and the remarkable accuracy which can be attained in firing at aerial targets. Mr. Hunt: Can the right hon. gentleman say how it is to be doae at night ? Col. Seely : My hon. friend anticipates me. I was about to say it is quite clear, in our view, that any idea of hovering over a battlefield or a defence less country by day at any height an airship can now attain must be abandoned. The hon. gentle man asks about the position at night. If we could not see the airship it would be very difficult for the airship to see us. If we could not see the
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