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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0345.PDF
MAY 14, 1915 shows this to be the case ; it is a fact otherwise well known to those who have practical experience of propeller design. As this point is made abundantly clear in the investigation which follows, it may be dismissed from immediate consideration. The question of the weight of the propeller also evidently tends to act in the same direction as the diameter limitation ; apart from other limiting factors, it is evident that if, firstly, a propeller I* designed for highest efficiency a reduction of diameter could be made without sensible loss of power, whilst a definite and measurable /OGHT] gain would by this means be effected by the reduction in weighi. At first glance it might be presumed that to meet the artificial restrictions such as those under discussion, all that is necessary is to calculate a higher value of y to correspond with the now (higher) pressure constant, and to plot, or select from the plottings already given, the appropriate efficiency curve, and on this to b«se the design of a propeller as before; a little consideration, however, shows that the matter is by no means so simple. (To be continued.) » ® ® ® AIRCRAFT AND THE WAR. A Daily Mail correspondent at Hazebrouck sent the following message on the 5 th inst.:— •' Two Taubes were recently brought down near here by the British anti-aircraft guns. One of the airman, it is reported, was killed, another had both his legs broken, and a third, a lieutenant, was made prisoner. One of the machines was wrecked at A tw»l» „ was made prisoner, unc 01 tne machines was wrecked at Abeele a village between Poperinghe and the station of that name, and the other near Armentieres. The Salonica correspondent of the Echo de Paris, in a message on the 5th inst., said :— "Two Turkish aeroplanes which left Sedd-el-Bahr flew over the Franco-British fleet and dropped a number of bombs, all of which fell into the sea. " They subsequently made for the open sea to reconnoitre over the islands of Lemnos and Tenedos, but the Anglo-French ships opened fire on them, and they were speedily brought down. Tne German aviators were taken prisoners." An Exchange correspondent at Athens, writing on the 5th inst., said :— " It is reported from Tenedos that British ships yesterday con tinued to bombard the Turkish positions in the Straits. A fleet of hydroplanes co-opsrated in the work, and carried out recon naissances "An Engiish aeroplane flew over Panormos to-day, and destroyed a big bridge." The following extract is from an article by Mr. E. Ashmead Bartlett, one of the special correspondents in the Dardanelles:— " When your ship forms part of the squadron which is off duty, you lie at anchor off Tenedos, and have little to do except to watch the aeroplanes soaring upwards from the aerodrome—a fine natural piece of ground, which might have been specially designed by Nature for the arrival of Commander Samson and his gallant crowd of aviators, observers, and mechanics—and then disappearing towards the Straits, which are only eight miles away. " Then one evening it is your turn for patrol, and you know that for the next forty-eight hours something exciting may happen. That night we are off the Straits, and watch the enemy's powerful searchlights, which still flash defiantly seawards. We cruise up and down, and at dawn are just off the entrance. We are on the bridge, examining the enemy's positions, when a sharp-eyed signalman calls out, ' Aeroplane coming overhead, sir.' We pick it up with our glasses, and see it is one of the latest which has just arrived from England ; it is flying high, and passes over Gallipoli. Then another signalman calls out, ' They've fired at it, sir.' " These remarks have been addressed to the captain. Just beneath the yellow wings, so it appears, but in reality much further off, a little ball of white smoke unrolls itself against the blue sky. It is shrapnel, and a little later the faint boom of a gun is wafted across the glass-like water to our ears. It is followed by another ball of white smoke, and yet another, but the shots are not very near. The aeroplane takes not the smallest notice, but continues on its way like some wild duck in full flight, undisturbed by the pellets of some sportsman who is almost out of range in the marsh beneath." An Evening Neivs correspondent, wiring from Rotter dam on the 6th inst., said :— " The Allied r,arplanes are very active along the coast, and the German aerodrome at Ghistelles has been badly damaged by bombs." The following information appeared in the Temps of the 7th inst.:— "According to information received in Paris the German battery of 15 'n. guns which bombarded Dunkirk last week was successfully located by a French aviator. He descended to within 150 metres of Ae concrete casemates near Dixmude, under which the guns were hidden, and took photographs which enabled him to fix with absolute precision the position of the battery. With the help of this information over 200 shells were dropped on to the casemates, and it is believed that the batter)- was destroyed." Writing from Bale on the 7th inst., a Daily Telegraph correspondent sard:— " No aeroplanes have been seen near the Swi«s borderland for some days. My despatch of April 28th, concerning the unfortunate loss of a Franco-British aeroplane, which had dropped bombs over the railway station at Iialtingen, is now continued. The biplane carried two aviator;, one French and one British officer. It was returning to Belfort, after crossing the Rhine. The machine was fired upon from the batteries and fell. The pilot was apparently first wounded by shrapnel in the hand, as three of his fingers were shot away, and he had bandaged his hand during the flight, which was bravely continued. Finally another shot hit him in the head, probably killing him instantly, whereupon the aeroplane dashed to the ground in a vertical fall. The accompanying officer seemed to be unwounded by the shot, and was apparently killed only by the fall. The Germans are taking greater precautions than ever against aviators." A correspondent of the Morning Post, in a description of the French Headquarters in the Champagne district, said :— "In this district the French aviators seemed to have asserted their supremacy over their German rivals in no doubtful manner, and the German aeroplanes that venture over the French lines are comparatively scarce. The quarters of the men attached to this aeronautic station were particularly spick and span, and they have displayed much originality and cleverness in making them as neat and homelike as possible." From Athens on Saturday a Daily Telegraph corre spondent reported the following :— "It is reported officially from Mitylene that an aeroplane flew over the Allied lines in the Dardanelles and caused some damage." In the " wireless" news sent out from Berlin on Saturday it was stated :— • " Near both La Bassee and Vitry, east of Arras, a hostile aero plane was forced to descend." According to a telegram from Paris a Taube on Saturday morning flew over Montdidier and threw two bombs. One fell near the gasometer without doing any damage, and the second claimed one victim. An Exchange message from Athens on Sunday, stated :— " A German aeroplane flew over the Allied Fleet, and was fired at and brought down by the Oueen KKtabeth." A Daily Telegraph correspondent at Boulogne, writing on Monday regarding the new battle for Lille, said :— "This new battle started on Saturday afternoon with a fierce artillery duel, but the German guns were soon located and put out of action by our airmen." Mr. James Dunn, writing from Rotterdam to the Daily Mail on Tuesday, said :— " A Zeppelin has passed north of Holland going in a westerly direction. An American woman who has just returned here from Berlin tells me that she was urgently warned by people in high quarters not to go to England during the next fortnight as a big raid is contemplated. She declares that the ruling passion in Berlin is to injure England at all costs. The more liners there are destroyed the better the Germans will 1« pleased. An airman told her that the Zeppelin flights hitherto made over England have been merely trial trips to test the British aerial defences. 345
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