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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0377.PDF
MAY 28, 1915. will descend in a slow flat glide to the surface of the sea. It is just possible, however, that the glide will not be quite as slow and fiat as anticipated, if it ever comes within range of one of our men-of-war's anti-aircraft guns. D XXX An American pilot who has done a lot of passenger- carrying, and who seems to be in addition a good deal of a psychologist, ventures the following dictum, which appears to me to have more than a grain of truth in it: " Many a man takes a flight for the same reason that the same type of man takes a cold bath—to brag about it for the rest of his life." XXX Ever since the earlier part of the war there have been in circulation numerous more or less fantastic rumours differing considerably in detail, but all being to the effect that Hellmuth Hirth, the well-known German aviator, had been found guilty of espionage, and shot. It is always difficult to trace the origin of such stories, but a letter from Hirth, written last November, apparently to lay the rumours, has been published in Flugsport. In this he relates his movements during the weeks imme diately preceding the outbreak of hostilities, but it would seem to indicate but a poor foundation on which the rumours have possibly been built. XXX Hirth, it will be recalled, took part in the London- Paris-London race on a Morane-Saulnier monoplane, a choice of machine for which, by the way, he was severely criticised in the German aeronautical press, on the con tention that a pilot of his standing could have had the pick of German machines if he would have made known his desire to take part in the contest. In his letter Hirth recounts how he and Garros, after the race, stayed in this country for a week, during which time visits were paid to various English aircraft works. One cloudy afternoon he and Garros started for Paris, each on a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. They kept to gether as far as the Channel, where Hirth lost some little time in climbing to what he considered a safe altitude. His engine, which had, it may be remembered, been constantly giving trouble during the race, was by now running perfectly, but he had only covered about a mile of the cross-Channel trip when one of the cylinders began to miss, owing to a sooted plug. As the machine flew quite well with only eight cylinders firing, Hirth decided against turning back, but he had by then run ® ® The Work of the R.F.C. IN moving a vote of thanks to Mr. F. W. Lanchester for presiding at the Wilbur Wright memorial lecture of the Aeronautical Society last week, Lieut. Col. W. S. Brancker, R.A., Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics, gave some interesting details as to the work of the R.F.C. in the present war, which he said had ful filled some of Wilbur Wright's wildest dreams. We put in the field a great number of different types of aeroplanes, and it was soon proved that British design and construction were far superior to those of our Allies and our enemies, and, backed up by the magnifi cent courage of our pilots, we soon established virtual command of the air. Every German pilot who put in an appearance was attacked at once and driven off, and it became almost the invariable rule that no German would face a British aeroplane. Lately, however, the German machines had greatly improved in speed and climbing power, probably due to the fitting of improved engines. At the present time the enemy were using machines which were faster than many of ours, with the result that their pilots had become bolder. Although the German pilots had, to a large extent, discontinued attempting to reconnoitre above our lines, they now attacked British machines which were observing artillery fire or reconnoitring. In order to combat this, the R.F.C. now sent up machines in pairs, one to reconnoitre and the other to fight. into a bank of cloud, and as his compass was not very reliable, he put the nose of the machine up in an attempt to get above the clouds, and get a glimpse of the sun. While shut off from the sight of land or sea, he thinks he must have overclimbed the machine, which felt for a short while as if it were going backwards. Suddenly it plunged forward again (probably after having stalled), and the sudden rush of air swept his cap and goggles overboard. xxx After flying in the clouds for nearly an hour, he cautiously came down lower, to try to get his bearings. Transporting a German aeroplane (Fokker) by road. Suddenly fields and trees appeared, hardly distinguish able through the fog. Turning more to the west, the coast was reached, and flying over the sands he came to a town near the mouth of a river. Realising that he had gone too far south, he turned and again followed the coast until he came within sight of Hardelot, where Garros' monoplane was already at rest. Filling up with petrol and oil, both aviators resumed their journey, and arrived in Paris without mishap. Here several aeroplane factories were visited, and Hirth invited Garros to come with him to Germany, to see some of the German aeroplanes. As Garros had never been to Germany, he accepted the invitation, and motored in company with M. Saulnierand Hirth to various aircraft works. Arriving in Berlin four days before the outbreak of war, Garros only stayed till Friday afternoon, when he returned to France. On the Sunday war was declared. " ,4'lOLUS." ® ® The reason of the approach ot the German aeroplane towards equality was due to the tact that at the outbreak of the war the aeronautical engine trade in England was comparatively unde veloped. But already higher-powered British engines had made their appearance at the front, and our aeroplanes were again showing their superiority. For fighting in the air il was necessary for the machine to have weight-lifting qualities in order to carry the requisite armament, firearms or bombs, as well as such accessories as field glasses, cameras, wireless equipment, &c. Naturally the pusher type of machine had been proved superior for the use of weapons. Armour was necessary as a protection against shell splinters. The stable aeroplane had become a standard type, and its stability had proved of great value ; it enabled a pilot, flying alone, to have his bands free for offensive or defensive tactics, using his glasses, taking photographs, &c It was possible for the pilot even to kneel on the seat and look over the rail. A further point was that it was the only type on which a hastily-trained pilot could lie trusted to fly, and at the present time it was necessary for pilots to be turned out rapidly. Improvements were still being made to our machines, and no doubt as the war went on the demand for speed, climbing power and ease of handling would be entirely met.
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