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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0815.PDF
OCTOBER 22, 1915. l/DOHTl MY recent experience of getting someone else to deputise for me was so pleasant, I endeavoured to lure other members of the staff on to try the experiment of writing these notes, but without success, so there is nothing for it but to resume responsibility myself once more. As a matter of fact, there is but little to report this week, for although both Saturday and Sunday last were ideal for flying, for some reason or the other the airwork on these occasions struck one as being rather "slow." Perhaps the reason for this was that I had only recently returned from a place where many different types of aircraft were to be seen busily engaged on "war service" and that I was over critical. However, it must be admitted that there was no lack of flying, if it was only very much of the usual. There were two incidents, though, of more than usual interest. First, early in the afternoon someone arrived on a pusher biplane and put up some astonish ing, not to say at times alarming, stunts at a terrific speed, and then disappeared as quickly as he ap peared— graciously leaving us the roof of the pavilion intact. The second incident consisted of two excel lent loops executed by some pilot unknown, on a B.E.2C As regards the other flyers, these comprised most of the usual Hendon pilots and machines. The G.W. stud, Marcus D. Manton, M. Osipenko, J. S B. Winter and the latest addition, C. Pashley, were all busy <C?uJtn on on the G.-VV. school 'buses. Of course J. H. Moore was out on his 55 h.p. 'bus, and on one occasion he asked me to join up for a joy ride and see what the 'bus was like with the new engine—an invita tion that was not refused. She flew well enough before, with the 45 h.p. engine, but now she seems to be able to do anything. Our get-off reminded me of the one I experienced with Chevillard on the Henry Farman. We cruised about for some 15 minute?, being for a greater part of the time at 2,000 ft. Here Moore brought out the various good points of the 'bus, such as speed variation, banking, &c. As Moore, said it is certainly " some 'bus." J. H. Stevens was out on the 45 h.p. Hall-Caudron, W. Roche-Kelly banked on the 50 h.p. Beatty-Wright, and the "two Baumanns' did their turn on 60 h.p. R.-B.-Caudrons. A. S. Barrs took up the 125 h.p. Mann biplane for a 35-minute flight with a passenger. He made a fine trip, reaching an altitude of 3,500 ft., and executing all sorts of stunts. On Sunday the programme was much the same—the same pilots and the same machines. In addition, however, C. M. Jacques made a flight on the 45 h.p. L. and P. biplane, and a Naval Lieutenant flew for his brevet, which he took in fine style on one of the new 60 h.p. Ci.-W. 'buses. A. E. Barrs made two flights on the Mann, which has now flown about 600 miles and taken up nine passengers. ® ® ® ® AIRCRAFT AND THE WAR. THE war correspondent of the Kblnische Volkszcitung on the western front, in a report of the recent operations in the Champagne district, stated :— " Enemy airmen are also showing extreme activity, which indicates, he thinks, the intention of the enemy to resume the offensive." Karl Rosner, the correspondent in Champagne of the Lokalanzeiger telegraphed on the nth inst.:— " The artillery fire of the French during the day is directed by a very strong air service, and its aim is to interfere with our rearward communications and to shatter with iron our salients into enemy's positions." A message to the Journal from Hazebrouck dated the 13th stated :— "A German aviatik flew over the village of Lestrem, near Merville, ar.d threw two bombs. One fell into a canal and the other on to the corner of a house, doing insignificant damage. The Echo de Paris on the 14th reported :— "A Zeppelin at 11 o'clock last night flew over Chateau Thierry and dropped 5 bombs, which fell outside the town, killing no one and causing no damage. The raider succeeded in regaining iti lines." A Central News message from Amsterdam on the 14th stated :— " During the recent air raid on Ghent ten German soldie.s were killed and several injured by the bombs of the Allied airmen. A Reuter message from the some place reported :— " Aviators have dropped letters on Ghent bearing the words ' Courage, we are coming. You will soon be liberated from the German yoke.' " The Times correspondent at the British Headquarters, writing on October 14th said :— " The capture, or destruction, of German airplanes is too common an event to call for special mention in each instance, but there were special circumstances about the bringing down of two on Monday last which, perhap--, justify the facts being put on record. " The fir't machine which was driven to earth was a brand new type of Albatros, and I saw both it and its two occupants to-day. The two German airmen gave me a spirited account of how they were attacked both by our anti-craft guns and also by four British airplanes. They professed to make light of the shooting of our guns—though the pilot declared that one shell burst v> near him that his airplane was nearly capsized by it—but they declared that our airmen manoeuvred on all side-, of them, and poured such a hot fire in upon them that gradually, having only a carbine with which to reply, they were forced down from 7,000 ft. to 300 ft., and eventually were compelled to land. "The Albatros, it must be slated, showed no signi of this terrific struggle. Everything aboard her was as spick and span as i< the case with a new machine, and the only scars she bore were two bullet holes in the fuselage just behind the second (the pilot's) seat. The version too, which I got from our own men went to show that the machine was not handled with as much skill and daring as German airmen have frequently displayed. The Albatros came to ground very rapidly after fire had been opened on her, and neither of the occupants was touched. The observer's complaint, however, that he only had a carbine was an undeniable fact, and I saw for myself that there was no attachment for a machine-gun on the fuselage. " The second machine—which was an Aviau'k, and fitted with a mitrailleuse—put up a more gallant fight. It was chased by seven of our machines, which pursued it in the direction of Lille. The German machine managed to elude all our airplanes except one, which headed it off and drove it back towards our other airmen, 815
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