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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1045.PDF
non-stepped, and placed comparatively close together. They are built up of two layers of mahogany over a frame work of ash, and are supported from the fuselage by stout streamline struts. 17. The Rumpler Flying Boat does not differ materially in its general arrangement from the various well-known American flying boats. The hull or boat has a single step placed approximately under the 17. The Rumpler Flying Boat. centre of gravity. The bottom of the boat behind the step has a concave curvature, gradually flattening out towards the stern. In front the boat is flat bottomed. Constructionaliy it is built up over a framework of ash covered with three-ply and six-ply wood on the sides and bottom respectively. The two seats, which are situated ® ® SOME interesting information as to the difficulties experienced in reconnoitring were brought out in an interview given by a wounded British officer to a Daily Telegraph representative. " On a recent occasion," he observed, a number of airmen were sent out on reconnoitring duty over the German lines, their main object being to discover whether the enemy was being reinforced. They were absent several hours, but reported on their return that there were no abnormal movements of the Germans, except that for some miles in their rear there was an enormous number of transports—miles of them—proceeding rapidly to the front. This incident was reported to headquarters, but was not deemed sufficiently complete, and immediately day broke on the following morning the airmen again rose and passed over the enemy's lines. They then found that reinforcements to the number of three army corps had arrived during the night, and were rapidly taking up their positions for attack. " It was quite evident to the flying men that the miles of covered transport wagons which they had seen proceeding to the front on the preceding evening were packed with German soldiers. The important news was at once conveyed to the British and French commanders, and necessary measures were taken on our side to meet the new condition of affairs, with the result that the Germans were repulsed with heavy losses, no doubt to their intense surprise, as the points they attacked in such overwhelming numbers had not been strongly protected. "An extraordinary case of a whole German army corps being lost by our aerial and land scouts occurred a few days ago. ' Two German army corps,' the officer continued, ' were observed by the British scouts to be marching to the woods at Vermand, and a sharp lookout was kept to observe the direction they took. Subsequently one corps was seen to reinforce the German troops at St. Quentin, and the other was completely lost sight of. It is supposed that the men concealed themselves in the forest at Vermand, where they could be observed neither by aircraft above nor by scouting parties on land. Probably the soldiers lefc the woods in small numbers at different times, and joined the main body at a previously-arranged rendezvous. Such an incident would, of course, greatly confuse their opponents. A similar disappearance of an army corps took place some time ago at the forest of Compiegne." just in front of the leading edge of the lower main plane, are placed side by side, the pilot sitting on the right Control is by means of rotatable hand-wheel, mounted on a vertical pivotted column, and a footpath for the rudder. The engine, a 150 h.p. 6-cylinder Benz, is mounted on a structure of steel tubes approximately half way between the two planes. It drives directly a pro peller placed behind the main planes, of which the upper one has the trailing edge cut away in the centre to pro vide the necessary clearance. In front of the engine, and mounted on the engine bearers, is the radiator, whilst the petrol and oil tanks, which have a capacity sufficient for a flight of four and a half hours' duration, are placed down in the hull, whence the fuel is forced up to a small service tank near the engine by a pressure pump. The upper main plane, which has a considerable over hang, the weight of which is taken by struts sloping out wards from the bases of the outer inter-plane struts, is built up in five sections in order to facilitate transport. The outer sections or extensions are hinged, and may be folded down, thus reducing the overall span of the machine to that of the lower plane. The inter-plane struts are of streamline section, and built up of two pieces of spruce hollowed out and glued and bound together. The tail planes are built up of frameworks of steel tubing covered with fabric. They consist of a fixed horizontal tail plane, to which is hinged the divided elevator, and of a triangular vertical fin, to the trailing edge of which is hinged the balanced rudder. Two small wing-tip floats, supported on steel tube structures, provide the necessary lateral stability on the water. ® ® Writing to the Daily Mai/hom Paris on Tuesday week, Mr. George C. Curnock gave the following details of the wounding of a British pilot, whose name was not given ; " Vieil-Arcy, a village behind the British lines, between Soissons and Rheims, was the scene four days ago of one of those battles in the air between British and German aeroplanes which have been recorded more than once. If there is any moral to the story, it is that the aeroplane should always carry two men. "In this case the British pilot was single-handed. 1'luckily steering for an approaching aeroplane, he saw it duck while he rose. In this position he made haste to drop a bomb upon his enemy. He was a fraction of a second too late. The German observer was equipped with the deadly little pistol which all Taube flyers carry. As his pilot steered under the machine he turned and fired upwards, striking the British pilot with a bullet. Terribly wounded, the British airman still kept control of his machine. With grim courage he planed down, alighting close to his own ambulance. He still lives, but it will be a long time before he can take to the air again." The Daily Telegraph correspondent at Bordeaux on the 7th, thus describes an exciting duel in the air which took place on the 5th inst. at Jonchery, near Rheims :— " Here is a good story of an aviator's feat, for which the French War Office vouches. Sergeant Frantz and his mechanic Quenault, in an aeroplane mounted with a maxim, pursued a German aero plane of the Aviatik pattern, which had flown over the French lines, attacked it broadside, exploded the oil-tank, and brought the machine down. Two Germans in the aeroplane were found, one burnt alive and the other previously shot dead by the maxim. " All the French troops on the spot forgot the danger of passing shells, and jumped out of the trenches to watch the air fight. Sergeant Frantz, who already had the military medal (the French Victeria Cross), was awarded the Legion of Honour, and Quenault was given the military medal." A message from Amsterdam stated that it was reported from Berlin that two German officers were killed on the 6th inst. at Jannowitz, in Posen, through the fall of their aeroplane. AIRCRAFT AND THE WAR. 1045
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