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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 0393.PDF
APRIL 26, 1917. IDENTIFICATION OF GERMAN AEROPLANES. (COPYRIGHT.) (Continued from page 368.) IN our last issue we published sketches of six different German aeroplanes, all shown from the same point of view, i.e., three-quarter rear from below. This week the series is continued with the same machines from a different point of view. The reason for illustrating the various machines all in the same attitude is, as was pointed out last week, that by so doing comparison is facilitated. Later on, when the machines have been illustrated in what appears to us to be a sufficient number of attitudes we may collate the different sets in groups showing each machine in its different attitudes, thereby illustrating, not so much the differences between the various machines, but all the special features of each. -From the views published this week it will be seen that such features as dihedral angle and backswept or, as the Americans call them, retreating wings, do not appear to be of much help for identification purposes, since some machines possess one feature, some the other, and some both or neither, and it will often be found impossible to determine whether the slope of a wing is due to one or the other. The relative size of the machines is, as before, well brought out in this view, as are also such distinctive features as the overhang of the top planes, the shape of the wing tips—whether raked, straight, or rounded— and the form of the ailerons. A further peculiarity which may be helpful, and which is emphasised in this set as well as in that published last week, is the size and shape of the cut- out portions of the trailing edge of^the wings. Thus it will be noticed that in the Halberstadt the opening in the top plane is of rectangular shape, while the lower planes ha,ve not been cut away near the body. The Reprisal Air Raid. :~* A MESSAGE from Berlin sent through wireless stationsof the German Government on April 16th, and intercepted by the Admiralty, per Wireless Press, stated :— " On April 14th, at noon, a hostile squadron composed of12 aeroplanes attacked the open town of Freiburg. The attack was repeated at five p.m. by two more squadrons,with altogether 23 machines. Several human lives were sacrificed to this iniquitous attack; seven women, threemen, and one soldier were killed ; 17 women, eight men, and two children were wounded. The hostile flyers also aimed atthe new theatre, the university, and the clinics. The anatomy section was considerably damaged. The attackwas not fully carried out, thanks to our efficient counter- measures. During air combats with our defensive flyerstwo hostile machines were shot down near Schletstadt and Markirch. A third fell down in air combat with the assistanceof anti-aircraft guns. It is characteristic that the three machines brought down were British, with British crews. " The commander of the attack, a British Lieut.-Colonel,fell into our hands. According to his declaration and to the text of a pamphlet dropped, the attack was a reprisal for the , torpedoing of the ' Gloucester Castle.' The justification ofsuch a foundation is most categorically contested. Our Government communicated in time to England that the plyingof so-called hospital ships could not be further tolerated within the exactly delineated zone. If the British neverthelessdo not heed our warning and misuse the Red Cross and under- take transports in the barred zone, they must bear the con-sequences of their proceeding. It is cheap glory to attack open towns for vengeance. At Freiburg there are no objectsof military importance which could justify this attack, which is thus a worthy successor of other attacks against defencelessvillages in southern Germany, which are not justified by anything, and are a sad paragon (sic) (? counterpart) to theassassination of children at Karlsruhe on June 22nd last vear." In the Albatros Bu the trailing edge of the lower planes also runs right up to the sides of the body, but the top plane has a wide semi-circular portion cut away. Of the four larger machines the L.V.G. is the only one that does not have the trailing edges of the lower wings cut away near the body, and the opening in the top wing is quite small. The other machines have both upper and lower wings cut in varying degree, the size and shape of the cut-away portions being clearly indicated in the illustrations. While the shape of the tail formed such a dis- tinctive feature in the view published last week, this is less apparent, although still quite useful, in the present set. What is, however, most clearly shown in this view is the shape of the body in front. Thus it will be observed that the Rumpler and Aviatik have a very pointed nose, the Halberstadt is slightly less pointed, the L.V.G. and Albatros are much wider and more rounded, while the Albatros Bu is of circular section in the nose, and has a hemispherical nose piece over the propeller boss. Other distinctive points will readily be discovered after an examination of the illustrations, • which, we think, speak for themselves. The following table gives the approximate dimen- sions of the various machines:—- '.."i. .:J'. : Name of Machine. AlbatrosC. III.. Albatros BG. .. AviatikHalberstadt .. L.V.G Rumpler ; .. Span. Top.ft. 39 28 41 28 42 40 ' The Properties in. 2 4 0 6 10 10 of Bot.ft. 37 26 35 26 37 36 in. 3 9 4 0 10 10 Gap. ft. 5 56 4 5 5 Aerofoils in. 3 3 46 6 9 and Chord. ft.6 56 Ss 5 in. 1 91 0 10 6 Length. O.A. ft. in.26 4 24 0 26 324 0 27 0 26 4 Aerodynamic Bodies." UNDER this title Mr. A. W. Judge has written a volume,which forms a companion to his " The Design of Aeroplanes," but which is, nevertheless, complete in itself to the extentindicated by its title. The merits of Mr. Judge's latest volume do not so much lie in any great originality or additionto present-day knowledge, as in the fact that he has collected and arranged in convenient form all the more important dataalready available on the subject of wing sections, bodies and struts. Extensive use has been made of the results publishedby the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and by Mons. G. Eiffel. Although these works are, of course, well known tothose who have made a long study of aeronautics, there can be little doubt the rapidly increasing number of more recentstudents are not so familiar with them, and have in many instances found some difficulty in collating the variousexperiments, due chiefly to the different units employed in recording the results. Also, Eiffel's latest books have notyet been translated into English, a fact which, added to the difficulties of following with the desired closeness the ex-pressions in metric units, may have prevented many students from making full use of the wealth of information containedin these excellent works. It is to these that Mr. Judge's latest book will especially appeal, as the author has convertedEiffel's results intb the " absolute " coefficients employed by the National Physical Laboratory, thus making comparisonof results obtained at the two institutions considerably simpler. A point which should help to recommend the bookto those just taking up the study of aeronautics is that the mathematical side of the subject, although the theory of thecambered plane and the principle of aerodynamic similarity have been touched upon, has been kept very brief, and is sosimply treated that anyone with a reasonably good education will have no difficulty in following it. The book, which ispublished by Whittaker and Co., is obtainable from the Offices, of " FLIGHT." The price is 15s. 6d. post free. 393
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