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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0230.PDF
MARCH 8, 1917. Headquarters, 89 aeroplanes were accounted for duringFebruary. In January the losses officially recorded were 88, and in December 72. OF the 89 machines which came involuntarily to earth, 60belonged to the German Flying Service. British airmen claimed 41 of these, and the French 19. The followingparticulars of those which fell to our airmen are official :—- Eight were destroyed, 27 were driven down damaged, threecame down in our lines, one was brought down by anti- aircraft guns, and two were brought down in air fights. Oddlyenough, the British Flying Service accounted for the same number in January. Our successes were largely in excess ofour losses. Last month 23 British machines were reported as " missing " or " brought dovun." In January the propor-tion was 41 to 15, in December 35 to 10, and in November 57 to 32. THE French successes were classified as follows :—Onedestroyed (in flames), 13 brought down, three fell in French lines, and two by anti-aircraft guns. It is almost certainthat many of those brought down were also wrecked. THE number of Allied machines officially claimed by GermanMain Headquarters, partly in air fights and partly by anti- aircraft fire, was 29. An interesting feature of the Germancommuniquis for last month was that, for the first time since Boelke's death in October, an airman was singled out formention by name. This was Lieutenant von Richthofen, who was said, on February 15 th, to have achieved his 20thand 21st victories. It is worth pointing out that none of Richthofen's previous successes has been officially mentioned. DURING the month the French airman Guynemer received well-deserved promotion to the rank of captain. He has 30 German " victims " to his credit, and, though he did not improve his position in February, he is still well ahead on the list of French airmen. WHILST the affairs of the Deutsche Bank in London stillremain in a state of " suspended animation," the head office in Berlin is busy keeping things financial moving, and isparticularly interested in the welfare of the Zeppelins and their constituent parts, doubtless having in mind a littlerevenge on their own as a set off against London's treatment of their secret service branch in England's metropolis. Underthe heading " Do not Forget our Zeppelins," an appeal for subscriptions is issued by the bank for the widows and childrenof" the German airmen who in an attack on London lose their lives and so help to make Germany's most cunningenemy, who has hitherto felt himself safe behind the silver girdle of the sea which encircles his island, feel the horrorsof the war which he let loose in Europe." Judging by general results, however, the appeal is not creating any wild rush tosubscribe, in fact it may be stated to have fallen very flat indeed. In Cologne, an individual interest is reported by theCologne Gazette, it being recorded that " One of our fellow- citizens, who wishes to remain anonymous, has given, inaddition to a large sum for our U-boat crews, £1,000 to help to support the families of any Zeppelin men who may losetheir lives in an attack on London and thus assist in making our worst enemy feel the horrors of war on his own body.The great-hearted benefactor hopes that many Germans who, like him, expect an early and victorious peace through tHeefforts of our U-boats and Zeppelins, will follow his example." The affair is quite official, you know, as the appeal notifiesthat contributions should be paid in to the account of the General Commanding our Air Forces, Deutsche Bank,Berlin. IT is to be hoped human-made monoplanes will not be stricken in these war times with microsporidiosis, in like manner to one of natures mono.'s, else might they all be decimated and our aerial fighting powers come to an un- timely end, after the fashion ascribed by protozoologists to the common or garden bee. And the worst of it would be, that for the moment things would have to go at that, as the report upon an antidote is for the time being hung up. Thisemerged in the House last week in response to an enquiry by Sir W. Essex from the Parliamentary Secretary of theBoard of Agriculture as to the progress of the enquiry into that virulent apiarian scourge, known as the Isle of Wightdisease, when Sir R. Winfrey announced that the Board's expert adviser on protozoology—who appears to be one of thegentler sex—had flitted at short notice to South Africa, whence the report had been promised to be sent later on. A WORLD'S record stands to the credit of a well-known British pilot whose name under present regulations perhaps had better be left blank. At a London aerodrome this week, with one passenger, he attained the altitude of 21,000 feet. The previous record, so far as can be ascertained in these strenuous times, was held by Lieut. Bier, with an altitude of 20,237 f TEN YEARS AGO. Excerpts from the " Auto." (" FLIGHT'S " precursor and sister ^Journal) of March, 1907. " FLIGHT " was founded in 1908. THE KAPFERER AEROPLANE. Of the machine designed by M. Henri Kapferer—engineerto M. Henri Deutsch—the following details will be of general interest. It is composed of two superposed aerocurves.The length of the upper aerocurve from end to end is 11 metres, the lower one being a metre less ; the width of thesurfaces is i£ metres. The machine has a double horizontal rudder in front, connected to the main body of the aeroplaneby a covered girder, which is pointed at the forward end. With a view presumably to increasing the horizontal stability,the Kapferer machine has copied the Bleriot aeroplane in having, some distance to the rear, two superposed aeroplanesof the same width as the forward ones, but only 4 metres in length. These are connected by three vertical surfaces,one at each end and one in the middle, thus dividing the rear portion of the machine into two compartments. Themotor is, as usual mounted in the centre of the aeroplane proper, and the propeller is situated just behind it. Thepropeller is two-bladed, the blades being mounted tangentially in the boss. The 24 h.p. Buchet motor has diagonal cylinders,the total surface of the aeroplane amounts to 24 square metres, and the entire machine is mounted on two bicycle wheels,to get up the necessary speed for starting. It is intended to replace the 24 h.p. motor subsequently by a 50 h.'p. machine. ACCIDENT TO THE DELAGRANGE AEROPLANE. The Delagrange aeroplane went out on the last day of February, at a quarter to four, in the presence of MM. Santos Dumont, Archdeacon, Kapferer, and others. It was mounted by M. Gabriel Voisin, who sat on a small saddle almost in the middle of the machine, and, the motor being started, the aeroplane got under way at tolerably high speed, running on the three wheels which form its support. A speed of 20 kiloms. per hour was soon attained, and after travelling some 60 metres over the rough ground, which was very bumpy, the whole construction doubled up. The exact causes of the catastrophe are not at present clear, though it would seem probable that the running on three wheels had something to do with it, that the front wheel was too far in advance of the others, and that the whole structure was not strong enough. M. Voisin was fortunate enough to jump off in time to avoid being injured. THE VUIA AEROPLANE. The Vuia aeroplane was successful on the 2nd of March, in leaving the ground and proceeding in flight some few yards through the air. At ten o'clock it went out at Bagatelle in a rather thick mist, and being run at speed over the ground first of all, rose about a metre from the surface and effected a flight or leap of five metres in length before again touching, while on another flight the height attained above the ground amounted to some two metres, and the distance travelled in free flight to ten. The machine consists of a single aerocurve spread out like a bat's wings, and is driven by a 12 h.p. carbonic acid motor. ' Air Work in Kut Retreat. IN his report of the retreat of the Turks from Kut, Mr. Edmund Candler, writing from a bivouac, west of Shumran, on February 25th, says :—" Our aeroplanes, flying low, harried the retreating Turks, dropping bombs on them and emptying their Lewis guns into their ranks." Another Zeppelin Reported Lost. A MESSAGE from Amsterdam on March 2nd stated that according to Belgian correspondents a new Zeppelin, while making speed trials at Ghent on February 26th, caught fire and was completely destroyed, the crew being burned to death. It is also stated that two Belgians who were reported as having witnessed the fire were arrested and taken to Germany. The story, however, lacks confirmation. Dutch Buying Aeroplanes from Sweden. THE Dagens Nyheter is the authority for a statement to the effect that Holland has placed an order with a Swedish factory for 120 aeroplanes. 23O
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