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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1026.PDF
(/OCHT the horizontal without any regard to the angle of incidence. The machine would continue forward till, through the loss of momentum, its speed would become so reduced and its angle of incidence so great that it would be exposed to the dangers of diving. The pendulum and mercury tubes have other serious faults which render them useless for regulating fore-and-aft equilibrium. If the machine suddenly meet with a greater resistance to forward travel, either as a result of change in direction or of meeting a stronger gust 6f wind from in front, and its speed be ever so slightly checked, the pendulum will swing forward, and instead of turning the machine downward, so as to maintain the normal speed, will cause OCTOBER 9, 1914, the machine to be inclined upward in front and thus further increase its forward resistance. The pendulum has proved itself an exceedingly useful device, however in regulating the lateral stability of aeroplanes. In this case the' effects of momentum and centrifugal force act on the pendulum in the proper direction to produce desired results. I believe the day is near at hand when the flyer will be almost entirely relieved of the work of maintaining the equilibrium of his machine, and that his attention will be required only to keeping it on its proper course and in bringing it safely in contact with the ground when landing. ® & ® ® AIRCRAFT AND THE WAR. WRITING on Saturday week in the Daily Telegraph regard ing the re-shuffling of the German troops which had taken place during the week, Mr. W. T. Massy said:— "Acting on the principle that the longest way round is the shortest journey, they took the troops fully IOO miles by rail by a semi-circular route, hoping thereby to escape the vigilance of the flying sections, which have become the eyes of armies. If they anticipated that they could move several army corps without the aviators catching sight of them, they have been woefully disap pointed. The movement was noted before it began. " The part the aviator is playing in this war will receive its due praise from the historian. The generals of the Allied forces have already commented on the energy, enterprise, daring, and soldierly qualities of the flying men, and to-day they must congratulate them selves upon the support the aerial scouts have given in the latest phase of the campaign. Reconnaissance work by flying squadrons disclosed the fact that a vast quantity of railway stock was being concentrated in the eastern theatre of war. It was not all on the lines close to the positions held by the enemy. That would have meant congestion, and no aviator would assume that crowded railway tracks would mean a speedy entrainment for another portion of the battle-line. But the fact that every siding for thirty or forty miles held an empty military train suggested that an important new move ment was about to be started. " Various reports from the aerial scouts had to be compared before the real motive of the enemy could be discovered. Did it mean that the Germans intended to evacuate the whole line ? That idea was dispelled by the absence of any report by the British and French aviators on the west that large quantities of railway material were being assembled in the regions they watch so closely. East, centre, and west would have to begin together a general retirement, and if one commenced an operation without any reply from the other it was obvious that retirement was not the object.'' In a message describing the shelling of Albert on the 29th ult., a correspondent of the Daily Mail writes thus of the work of the German aeroplanes :— " There were French batteries at various points round Albert, but none within a mile of the town. At four o'clock yesterday afternoon a Taube monoplane made a reconnaissance some 7,000 ft. above them. " 'Ah,' said one of the gunner officers at the battery on the Pe>onne road, ' there is that wretched bird which haunts us. In an hour or less we shall begin to be aware of the report it has given.' " He was curiously accurate in his prediction. At ten minutes past five German shells from heavy guns began to fall." Italy has utilized her airships in connection with mine- sweeping operations in the Adriatic and it is said that when the airship was cruising at a height of 250 feet it detected several mines. In Japan both sides have been making extensive use of aeroplanes; a message from Tokio on the 30th ult. stated that the pilots of two Japanese biplanes and of one monoplane report that they have dropped bombs on German vessels from a height of about 2,300 ft. Al though the wings of the machines were riddled with bullets, all returned safely. In the attack on the Japanese positions at Tsingtao on the following day it was reported that the German war ships were assisted by aeroplanes. Japanese waterplanes reported that considerable damage had been done to Tsingtao by the bombardment. On the 1st inst. a Zeppelin airship was reported the previous night successively over Moll, Rethy, Turnhout, 1026 Bourz-Leopold, Merxplas, Brechr, Poostmalle and West- malle, and at 3.30 the next morning dropped bombs near Fort Broechem, but inflicted no serious damage. It then approached Antwerp, but was put to flight by the forts. Writing from Antwerp on September 30th, a corre spondent of the Morning Post, regarding the attack on the city, said : — " Our aviators, who have made in all ten reconnaissances, have also found no indications of great masses of infantry. In aerial reconnaissances one very plucky Belgian feat is to be recorded. The aviator, flying very low over the German position, was heavily bombarded with shrapnel. He retreated, rose to a greater height, and then returned to his reconnaissance." Information to hand from Dutch sources states that one of the German n-in. howitzers was located by a Belgian airman, and put out of action by concentrated fire from the Belgian lines. On the same day at the shelling of Termonde the work of the Belgian aviators resulted in the silencing of some of the German guns, according to a Daily Tele graph correspondent. " Their (the Belgian gunners') success was probably due to a clever aeroplane reconnaissance which I witnessed. - One of the machines flew over the enemy's positions. As it returned it was tired on by the Germans with shrapnel. I saw two shells burst below it. The aeroplane, however, was flying very high, and, untouched, it disappeared behind the Belgian lines." The difference in the effect of the appearance of a German aeroplane, upon the civil population and soldiers who have been in the firing line is thus graphically put by an officer in the Army Service Corps :— "While I was at the station a German aeroplane came over; there was something terrifying about it, it was so aggressive-look ing, black, and hawk-like. Instantly panic prevailed among the people, women fainted, screamed, and rushed here and there. Railway officials blazed away with rifles, which only added to the confusion. Several English wounded were there absolutely un moved and smiling indulgently at the excitability of the male portion of the panickers. The invader had short shrift, for soon, like a bird, one of our aeroplanes shot up in pursuit, followed swiftly by two others. Up they went, circling and manoeuvring until one got above the German, forcing him down until a shot brought him down with a rush—dead." Another message from the Morning Post corre spondent, dated Antwerp, October 2nd, giving a thrilling picture of the perilous work of the aviator on active service:— " A little after four a biplane rose out of Antwerp and headed for the German lines between Willebroek and Heyndonck. These machines fly with almost incredible swiftness. This one passed a fast motor car going in the same direction as easily as a swallow passes a sparrow. " As soon as the aeroplane got over the German lines, where its object was apparently reconnaissance, it came under fire of the German guns specially designed to attack aviators. Two of these guns engaged the aviator. They fired first ranging shells, which, on bursting, left a thick ball of black smoke. These shells, appar ently fired with a difference in elevation of 500 feet, were designed to ascertain the elevation of the aeroplane, but the aeroplane teemed to shape its course so as to avoid passing near the smoke balls, which were in any case at a greater height than itself. '' The German guns then began with shrapnel fire as if satisfied
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