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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0077.PDF
Flight, January 25, 1917. First Aero Weekly in the World. ? ^ » v" Founder and Editor: STANLEY SPOONER. A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 432. (No. 4, Vol. IX.)] JANUARY 25, 1917. rWeekly, Prie* Id.I Post Frew. Ijd. J Flight. ial Office: 44, St. MARTIN'S LANK, LONDON, W.C. Telegrams : Truditur, Wejtrand, London. Telephone : Gerraid i8a8. Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free. United Kingdom .. 6r. 6rf. Abroad xis. ati. CONTENTS. . Kditorial Comment: • ^ '- PA*;E " German Ambitions in the East" 77 Light on the German Ideal 8 The Domination of Asi a 78 Pcussianism Run Riot Bo The President Again ! .. > 80 New Clubs, for Old .. .. . .. 81 Units Employed in Recording the Results of Wind-Tunnel Experiments . 8;t The Royal Aero Club. Official Notices 85 How German Pilots Fire " Through " the Propeller 86 Answers to Correspondents .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 87 Armchair Reflections. By the " Dreamer " 88 Airisms from the Four Wind.s .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 80 Personals 92 The British Air Services 9; The Roll of Honour 04 Some Problems in Aeroplane Construction. By Capt. V. E. Clark, Capt. T. F. Dodd, and O. K. Strahlmann .. .. 95 Aircraft Work at the Front. Official Information 0.8 Models 99 EDITORIAL COMMENT. N a recent issue of the Times there appeared a most interesting and illuminative letter under this heading. It had, in its main incidence, only an indirect bearing upon the future of aviation, but the matter of air supremacy is so much a part of the whole of the questions involved that the letter will bear examination in that connection. The writer premises that there are numerous indica- ti tions that after the war Germany willAmbitions cliange her Imperial plans. As all the in the East." world knows, Germany began this war • in the hope of destroying British navalpower and establishing German world dominion on a basis of sea supremacy. This ambitious plan notonly violated every tradition of Prussian policy, but was contrary to the most inspired teachings of Bismarck.Bismarck was always a Continentalist, and to the end of his life remained a believer in the fact thatGermany's destiny had Continental limits. He believed that if German - was ever to hold world dominion it could only be with the active assistanceof, and in alliance with, Holland, Austria, Russia and Italy. And there are ample signs that Germany,before many months have passed, may be compelled to abandon her dreams of sea dominion and return tothe theories of the Iron Chancellor. Within the past f«w months a German-Persian Union and a German-Chinese Union have been established. Nine months ago a prominent member of the Prussian Diet de- livered a lecture to the members of the last-namedorganisation, the burden of which was that German world-empire could be established only on a basis ofan overland dominion extending from the North Sea to China by way of Turkey and Persia. The speakerargued that after the war then* would come an era of commercial strife, and that many of the world's markets would be more or less closed to Germany.In any future war the British Navy would be able even more effectively than now to prevent rawmaterial and foodstuffs reaching Germany from the Americas. A British blockade, however, could be rendered absolutely ineffective if Germany controlledthe ancient highway from Europe to the East known as the " Silk Street." Persia and China could easilyprovide the legions of 1927—the date of Germany's next attempt—with all the food, petrol, copper and cotton required finally to establish the Teuton as themaster of Europe and Asia. It is known that at the present moment Germanyis busily negotiating for valuable railway, canal and trading concessions in China ; that her system of commercial and political espionage has beenstrengthened and ramified throughout the whole of Siberia, in the Ukraina, from the Black Sea throughIrkutsk and Teheran to the Far East ; and that the powerful Siemens "Combine, which owns all the rich copper ores in the Caucasus and in Armenia, hasrecently sent bodies of specially trained experts through Persia with the object of discovering andopening up new sources of mineral wealth. A mere cursory perusal of the " Veroffentlichungen des Reichskolonialamtes" at Berlin (" Publications ofthe Berlin Colonial Office) for 10,16 is sufficient to prove that the German authorities are not only aliveto the commercial possibilities of this new idea, but also to its political and military value, for these; publications contain frequent reports of Asiaticexploitation and point out the important results, commercial and strategic, which will accrue. Martin, the Prussian writer and Privy Councillor,in a remarkable book entitled " Berlin-Baghdad," published in 1907, declared that Germany's future" lies in Asia and in the air." Perhaps the most significant chapters in this book are those whichcontain a close and clever exposition of the strategical value of the region between the Altai and the Hima-laya Mountains, known as the Gobi Desert. This
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