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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0182.PDF
the Government wisely decided, close on the heels of theirfirst announcement, that their 50 per cent, reduction in rates should take effect forthwith, so that Lloyd's and the otherinsurance pickers-up of trifles have in like manner come into line, and are prepared to take risks at the reduced rate de-manded by the State. But why anybody should bother to go outside the Government air raid policy is really a thing" no fellar can understand." " P.B." publishes in The Imperialist of last week his secondinstalment of " My Life," and this is perhaps even more in- teresting than the first, as it sets forth matters of more recenthappening within the scope of easy remembrance by the average gleaner of news of the day, A third instalment thisweek is to conclude the story, and in the meantime Mr. Pemberton Billing makes it fairly clear that most people areunder a misunderstanding as to his intention to resign his seat in Parliament and seek re-election. In his own words heputs it: "So far I have held five meetings in the constituency and in each case a unanimous vote of confidence in me waspassed. If this proves to be the case throughout, I shall have to consider the numerous representations I have re-ceived not to force an election on the constituency until a new register is formed." WE may therefore look forward to some caustic interpella- tions on the motion of Capt, Burgoyne as to the administration of the R.N.A.S. INTEREST in Lady Drogheda's Aircraft Exhibition at theGrosvenor Gallery shows no falling off, and during the past week amongst the many notable visitors to see this really de-lightful show have been Her Majesty Queen Alexandra, attended by the Hon. Charlotte Knollys, the Grand DuchessGeorge of Russia and her daughters, Mr. Winston Churchill, Lady Jellicoe, Lady French, Lady Robertson, &c. Thosewho do not wish to miss the chance of seeing the exhibits should pay their shilling quickly, as it will not be possibleto keep the show open for many weeks longer. And don't forget the proceeds go to the Flying Services Fund (adminis-tered by the Royal Aero Club) and to the Red Cross. ALL the to-do in the Press just now about the acknowledg-ment by the Huns of the failure of the Zeppelins is un- commonly suspicious. Of course, President Wilson had to bedragged in. But methinks it is a case of " trust them not." There is a lot of method in these Uriah Heepish inspiredmoralisings. If the Huns by these tactics imagine they are likely to lull our watchfulness to sleep they will probably geta rude awakening should they suddenly shift round to their old way of thinking. BY-THE-BYE, it is more than gratifying to know officially,that all the machines which our pilots used to strafe the Zepps. with, were fitted with British magnetos, designed inBritain and made by British labour in all-British factories. It would nevertheless have had a touch of irony in it had thedestruction of the pirates been brought about with the help of a few accessories " made in Germany." QUITE a nice little proportion—six out of thirteen—for theR.N.A.S. of the Honours announced in the Gazette last Friday, including one D.S.O., four D.S.C. and a D.S.C. bar. FEBRUARY 22, 1917. WHEN the responsibility for too much light gets to th^acute stage of magisterial interviewing, excuses, from the ca upwards, are quaint and varied. We think, however, a full2 ozs. extra bread rations has been earned by a well-known Greenock man who was charged at the local csurt on Mondaylast with having infringed the lighting order. He pleaded that when baby boys were being born into the worlddomestic arrangements were usually upset. That happened on this occasion, and he thought what was going on insidethe house was much more for the good of the country than any harm caused by the lights showing outside for a quarterof an hour. But the advent of the offspring cost him a pound just the same. TEN YEARS AGO. Excerpts from the " Auto." (" FLIGHT'S " precursor and sisterJournal) of .February, 1907. " FLIGHT " was founded in1908. FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OF THE LA VAULX AIRSHIP. Further excursions were made by the La Vaulx airshipon the 10th inst., uvspite of the mist which prevailed. The first flight was made to the village of Montesson for the purposeof giving the inhabitants a view of the machine. The second took place to Vesinet and back again. On the return fromthe second excursion the petrol feed-pipe to the carburettor of the motor broke in two, the airship had to be brought torest, and the defect remedied with a bit of rubber tubing, after which the motor was restarted, and the airship underher own power was brought back to the aerodrome. This forms the fifty-third day that the balloon has remainedinflated, and only 55 kilogs. of ballast was carried. On the previous Friday the La Vaulx also went out at 25 mins. to 12in the morning, and took the direction of Saint Germain at about between 50 and 70 metres from the ground. Theturn was effected between Pecq and Vesinet, and 22 mins. after setting out the airship returned to the shed, after havingdescribed a big circuit of 12 kiloms. In the afternoon of the same day at 20 mins. to 5 she went out again in the exactopposite direction, i.e., towards Trouville, and again returned without the slightest accident, that making the tenth occasionon which the Count de la Vaulx had been out in the airship, and the 203rd time that he has been up in the air. THE MILITARY USE OF THE AIRSHIP.In a lecture delivered on Tuesday last at Aldershot, Col. Capper, head of the Aeronautical Department, had someinteresting remarks to make regarding the role that is likely to be played in the near future by airships. After recognisingthe value of both balloons and kites for collecting informa- tion within a radius of 8 miles, Col. Capper continued :— " In the near future we may expect to see both dirigibleballoons and motor-driven aeroplanes used as aerial scouts. The former suffers at present from serious limitations, and itsgreat bulk seems to render it most vulnerable in the day- time. But it exists in the French Army, and we must takeit into account. " The aeroplane, when it comes, will be different. It willmove fast and will be little liable to injury, as bullet holes in the surface will cause but little damage. It will be able to goconsiderable distances, even against strong winds. " Possibly during this year such an aeroplane may makeits debut, and I think that considerable numbers will be in existence in five years' time." A '« Mirage •• Collision in the Air. THE following remarkable story of a mirage in theclouds is told by a young Flying Corps officer in the following letter to his father. The incident has received pictorialtreatment in this week's " FLIGHT " on page 173 :— " I had often wondered what it would feel like to see amachine coming straight for one and to know that a collision was inevitable. I had the experience this afternoon, onlythe collision did not take place. 1 was on patrol with five other machines over the lines—by the way, I am writing thislike a novel, but I feel like it—and had just gone into a cloud bank. Just before going in I saw the 'bus on my rightturning to cross in front of me. All of a sudden I saw a machine just the same as my own appear out of the cloudabout 50 ft. away, making straight for me. Instinctively I jammed my nose hard down and went as near a nose-dive aspossible ; the other 'bus did the same. I turned ; the other turned into me. I was in a cold perspiration all over by thistime, so I thought ' Here goes ; if I am going to crash it might as well be complete.' So straight for it I went. Wegot closer and closer, and biff! my machine and—its mirage in the clouds met. " It seemed like a hideous nightmare, and I can still see that machine doing its utmost to crash into me. I think I can say I have had the full horrors of a collision in the air without its actually taking place. I finally got out of the clouds, and had not the faintest idea where I was, but about 15 seconds after ' Archie ' reminded me that I was a little too low over his lines. Having got that off my chest, I think I will go to bed." More Aeroplanes from the West Indies. THE West India Committee have forwarded to the Overseas Club £819 4s. collected by Mrs. Perez, of Trinidad, to complete the payment for a second aeroplane presented by Trinidad to the Royal Flying Corps. The Combined Court, having also voted money for the purchase of a second aeroplane for British Guiana, the strength of the British West Indian aeroplane flotilla is now raised to nine. A German Airship Lost ? THE Amsterdam correspondent of the Morning Post reported on February 13th that a heavy fall of snow, followed by a severe frost had caused the roof of a building at Leipzig, in which an airship was being constructed, to collapse, with the result that 40 workmen were injured. 182
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