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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0616.PDF
f/OGHT] AUGUST 2G, 1915. EDDIES. ACCORDING to the American aeronautical press, the Russian Government has ordered two large Curtiss aero planes of the flying-boat type for its Navy. Russia's new flying-boats will be of the same size as the " America," on which Commander J. C. Porte was to have crossed the Atlantic, but whereas the total horse power of the "America" was af>out 168, that of the new flying-boats for Russia will be 320, furnished by two engines. The hull will be different in design from that of the "America," Adjudant-Aviateur Louis Noel. and will be specially arranged for mounting a gun and carrying a large supply of bombs. The speed of the new machines is expected to be about 80 miles an hour, and if our contemporaries are correct, they will be able to carry a useful load of 3,000 lbs. XXX Adjudant-Aviateur Louis Noel, Escadrille M.F. 44, who is as usual in the best of spirits, and " still going strong," is this week again amongst my correspondents from " over there," as witness the portrait and snap which appear on this page. About himself Noel, the modest, has very little to say, though the decorations on his breast speak for themselves. He is still flying a Maurice Farman, and seems to like it, in spite of its stately pace, which allows the faster German machine to get clear away. Evidently the service M.Fs. are as good gliders as were the older machines on which Noel and Verrier used to do their flat glides at Hendon, for Noel says that the other day he stopped his propeller at 2,700 metres, and planed down, watch in hand, the vol plane taking fifteen minutes. Noel is full of praise for another old-time Hendon pilot, Charles Hubert, who, he says, is indeed doing very well, and is already Sergeant His 'bus has been hit several times, and if he keeps on like he has been doing, he will probably obtain " distinction " before long. Noel, once again, sends greeting to his many friends over here. From a correspondent in Holland I have received a report of an accident that happened to a well-known German pilot, Kanitz, at the Niederneuendorf Aerodrome near Berlin. " Kanitz," my correspondent says, " who had been in the field since the beginning of the war, and had been awarded the Iron Cross, was only a few days in Berlin in order to put a new machine through its trials at Niederneuendorf. One afternoon he went up with a mechanic as passenger, and made a long flight over the aerodrome. While coming down to make a landing, the onlookers saw the big biplane dive down from a height of 50 metres and crash to the ground. Arriving on the spot, they found the machine totally smashed and pilot and passenger killed." XXX The same Dutch correspondent sends the following translation of a report appearing in a German paper: " The Albatros biplane of Lieut. Gr. was reconnoitring over Solec (Poland), when he was attacked by three Russian Moranes who seemed to be keeping guard over one of the bridges on the Vistula. Lieut. Gr. tried to escape westwards in the direction of the German lines, but each time he was cut off by the faster monoplanes, which kept flying round him at a distance of 200 metres, getting more impertinent every minute. The wind was very strong, so the big biplane hardly made any headway, while the light Russian machines kept peppering him with machine guns every time they had the chance. The sun was setting, and it was getting darker and darker. The German pilot was growing desperate, as the Russians would not let him escape. The only way was to the south, where the Austrians were. A lucky shot hit one of the Moranes and forced hjm to come down. The German took the chance immediately, and plunged in a southern direction. The Russians followed him for a little while, but, as it was by then getting very dark, they ultimately had to give up the chase." If the report A suggestive phots, from Louis Noel. Pont-a-Mousson as is to-day. Note the handiwork of friend and foe, including aviators' help. translated by my correspondent is correct, it would appear that the Russian army is employing not only the huge Sikorsky biplanes, but finds a use for the entirely different type, the little fast Morane monoplanes. XXX During a chat the other day with a friend who has seen several months of service out at the front, a remark was dropped which, quite unintentionally on his part, 616
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