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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0234.PDF
represented, if only in an advisory capacity. Whilst welcoming most cordially the inclusion of Lord Montagu on this body, we are not surprised at the choice by Lord Derby, who is ever sound in his selection of the right men to work with him in any organisation of national importance, such as aviation, with which he is concerned. In this appointment we see far-reaching possibilities of a momentous character. Lord Montagu's life was not spared from the " Persia " for nothing. It was somewhat of a quaint position which emerged in the House of Lords on the Wednesday, when Lord Montagu, following up his campaign previously opened out, for the creation of an Air Minister, desired information from the Earl of Derby, as representing the Inter Departmental Committee on Air Service, as to the functions of that body, and as to the work it had done. Before the question came to be answered in the House Lord Montagu had already been approached by the Prime Minister to become a member of the Committee, and had consented to serve the country's interest in this capacity, so that, except for the public interest which attached to the information, he might well have supplied the answer to his own query. As it was, for the first time, detailed official enlightenment as to the real scope of the Committee's powers was forthcoming. From this it would appear that the Committee will have their hands pretty full for some time, and in their policy of "avoiding clashing and overlapping," and the "securing of full and harmonious development," it would seem as if they had exceptional openings for the adjustment of delicate positions which may, and probably will, arise. It is a source of satisfaction to know officially that already they have been able to straighten out some of the anomalies existing between the two branches of work of the air service. By finding out the specific needs of one depart ment, the Committee were able to place at the disposal of that particular branch the special kind of aircraft required, other machines of more use to the naval department being, per contra, in turn released for the R.N.A.S. We have evidence that this was one of the delightful rocks through which a good deal of wreckage of good intentions was brought about many many months ago. Neither side would approach or work with the other, with the result that a number of machines urgently required by one service were lying idle and useless with the other Service. The language which our informant—who has since had distinctions awarded to him—used over the situation at the time was decidedly not parliamentary. But could the situation have been laid before the House at the time, the facts as detailed to us would, we think, have created a bit of a sensation with the general public. Bringing the two branches into closer and harmonious working will indeed be a great achievement in the interests of the country, and this position, through the medium of the air, we have for long foretold is likely to be brought about between the two great British Services themselves, a conclusion to be earnestly sought for. The unequivocal way in which Lord Derby was able to assure the House that he would, without abandoning his MARCH 23, 1916. other important work, be able to carry out the duties of Chairman should be a source of considerable relief to all wishing the Air Service development well. At the same time, we have our doubts upon this] working out in practice. We hardly think even yet the vastness of the Air Service has been grasped. • • • It is a valuable indication of the growing Dirigibles importance of aeronautics as a science .. *" . that leading technical papers, in other Atmospheric °. r „ , • Conditions, spheres of science, are carefully analysing the possibilities of Zeppelins, and endea vouring to demonstrate by engineering facts and figures, the directions in which possible developments are likely to incline. For instance, in an article upon the recent visit of the Zeppelins in a snowstorm, the Engineer points out that from the observed facts of the last Zeppelin raid three alternative conclusions may be drawn. " In the first place it may be suggested that our visitors did not fly through falling snow, but came across well above the snow clouds. In the second place," the Engineer says, " it may be possible that the airships were actually caught in the snow, and that for once the German meteorological service belied its reputation. We have shown previously that a layer of snow 1 in. thick spread over the top quarter of the envelope of a modern Zeppelin will account for a weight of 2,000 lbs., a figure which at the time of writing we took to be equal to the weight of explosives carried. It may be noticed in passing that the Zeppelins which visited Paris in January dropped bombs, some of which weighed 130 lbs. and some 220 lbs. We do not know how many of each kind were dropped on England last Sunday night, but if we suppose that of the ninety half were small and half large, the total weight represented comes out at 15,750 lbs. There were three airships, so that on the average each dropped a total weight of 5,250 lbs. It is reasonable therefore to suggest that the airships dropped all the bombs they carried, and that they did so because they found they were accumulating a load of snow, which was eating up their reserve buoyancy. Lightened of their load of bombs, they would be quite capable of accumulating a load of snow of equal —and even something greater—amount without having to perform their journey back under more unfavourable conditions than attended their passage across. The danger to a Zeppelin in a snowstorm lies in an encounter with it when fully loaded on the way across to England. It is not necessarily a fatal danger, for if the accumulation of snow on the envelope is not too great, the reserve buoyancy at the command of the navigator by reason of the compressed air in the ballonets inside the gas compartments, will be sufficient to accommodate the extra loading without entailing a descent to a lower level." Supplementing the remarks of the Engineer, it may be pointed out that even should the fall of snow on the outward journey be so heavy that the weight of snow on the top of the Zeppelin exceeded the reserve of buoyancy provided by the ballonets, it would still be possible to continue the journey since the surplus of load imposed by the snow could—and probably would—be made up for by discharging some of the bombs. That this did indeed happen appears to be confirmed by the fact that in the first official report of the raid it was stated, it may be remembered, that bombs had been dropped in the sea without doing any damage. It would therefore seem 234
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