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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1395.PDF
DECEMBER 27, 1917. Paris, December 16th. " Our chaser aeroplanes were active yesterday. Five enemy machines were brought down by our pilots. It is confirmed that three other German machines crashed to the ground in the course of engagements fought on December 13th and 14th." " Sahnica.—About 30 Allied aeroplanes bombarded toe depots and the station of Cestovo. An enemy aeroplane was brought down by our anti-aircraft guns." Italian. Rome, December nth. " Two enemy aeroplanes were brought down during air fighting ; one fell at Noventi di Piave and the other, for which our Allies' airmen accounted, near the Ponte della Priula." Rome, December 12th. " Two enemy machines were brought down by British airmen." Rome, December 14th. "Three enemy machines brought down by our airmen fell in Val d'Assa, north of Asiago, and north of Mt. Grappa ; a fourth machine was brought down by artillery fire in the vicinity of Susegana." Rome, December 16th. " On the night of the i4th-isth inst. movements of troops in the enemy's lines of communication were effectively bombarded by our airships. " A hostile aeroplane was brought down by a British airman near Ormelle, and one of our own airmen accounted for another machine to the west of Serea Valley." „ _ Rome, December 17th. On the whole of the front the aerial activity was marked on both sides. In the zone to the north of Mont Grappa one of our Caproni squadrons and re- connoitring machines bombed and attacked with machine-guns on severa . occasions enemy infantry which had assembled at this point." German. Berlin, December nth. Following strong reinforcements of the flying forces violent aerial combatstook place, especially on the French front. The enemy lost ti aeroplanes and one captive balloon." Berlin, December 12th. In November, the losses of the enemy's aerial forces on the German fronts amounted to 22 captive balloons and 205 aeroplanes, 85 of which fell behind our lines. The rest were seen to tall on the other side of the enemy's positions. We have lost in battle 60 aeroplanes and two captive balloons." Turkish. Constantinople, December nth. ' Bombs have again been dropped on Imbros. All our machines returned safely." THE LAZILITE FOR DRAWING OFFICES. WHEN draughtsmen are as scarce, as they are at present it isof the utmost importance that those who are available should be given the means to enable them to work efficiently, and,as those who have any experience of drawing office work know, one of the primary considerations is proper lighting. Atthis time of the year, when so much work has to be done by the aid of artificial light, the difficulties of the problem areemphasised because of the necessity for adjusting the illumi- nation in order that the draughtsman may not be hamperedby the shadows. Electric light lends itself to adjustment to varying positions, because of the flexibility of the cables,but when working on a drawing it is often desirable to shift the light from one place to another, just a short distance, in orderto avoid shadows. With the temporary expedients which are often deemed sufficient that not only entails a certainamount of lost time, but there is a break in the continuity of the work, which provides an opportunity for errors tocreep in. There are, therefore, strong claims for the Lazilite fittingwhich is shown in our sketch. It is a simple arrangement— an adaption of the " lazy-tongs " principle—but is so madeand balanced that the slightest touch is all that is necessary to open or close it, while it will " stay put " at any inter-mediate position. The arm is mounted on a wall fitting, and has a hinge joint which allows it to be swung fron\ sideto side. The combination of the two movements permits of the light, which is suspended from the end of the arm,being shifted to any position over the drawing board. Where it is desirable to vary the height of the light the ordinarycounter-balance can be used so that with the Lazilite the illumination is instantly adjustable in three dimensions . The advantages of this infinite range of movement areso obvious that it is unnecessary to dwell upon them, except, perhaps, to point out that, although attention has beenspecially drawn to the value of the Lazilite for drawing office work, its use is by no means confined to that. We under- stand, as a matter of fact, that it has been adopted in several machine shops with very good results. The cost of the installation is not really a very serious item, especially when the economy and increased efficiency is borne in mind. The use of the Lazilite will often mean that one lamp will suffice where, with fixed lights, it would be necessary to have two or three in use in order to secure the requisite illumination. The fitting is well-made, and is practically indestructible, its extreme flexibility enabling itto stand a great deal of hard and rough use with impunity. An adaption of the Lazilite fitting is made to carry a tele-phone. This can be supplied either for screwing to the table, or for attachment to the wall. In either case it permits ofthe telephone being out of the way until it is required, when a touch adjusts it to a convenient position for speaking ;when it is finished with, another slight touch sends it back. A WIDENING INDUSTRY. BEFORE the war there was one department of the aviationand motor industry on which—apart altogether from the notorious example of the magneto—we were depen-dent mainly for our supplies on foreign and principally enemy sources. We refer to balls and ball bearings, whichplay so important a part in the constructional part of both industries. True, there was at least one large firm, to saynothing of smaller concerns, engaged upon the manufacture in England of these essentials, but even so the home pro-duction of balls and of finished ball bearings fell very far short of the total imports from Germany and America, whilein the total of imported balls and bearings Germany easily led the way. One day last week we were privileged to visit a certainworks in a certain town in the Eastern Midlands—we dare not be more precise* in naming localities, with the penaltiesof " Dora " hanging over our heads—and the main result of that visit was the conviction that the day of Germany asour source of supply in this direction is past and done with for all time. The name of the firm concerned—we'do notthink we come within the provisions of Orders and Regula- tions in giving it—is the Ransome and Marie Bearing Co.,and the story of its entry into this branch of the business is almost a romance. Originally, the parent concern wasengaged, and is now engaged, in the making of wood-working machinery, in which a certain number of ball bearings areused. At one time the firm bought these bearings complete. Then it bought the balls and made them up into bearings for itself. Next certain patents were taken out and acquired,covering certain types of bearings. From that it was only a step to supplying other people, and one of the things thatsurprised us during our visit was the knowledge imparted that more than one famous English car has used these bearingsfor a considerable time. Like most other firms engaged in similar trades, the warbrought the Ransome and Marie Co. a great deal of Govern- ment work, mainly in connection with aeroplane enginebearings. One result of this influx of work is that really enormous extensions of the works have had to be undertakenand are now nearly completed. A new ball-making plant is being installed, and when this is completed and working thecompany will be absolutely self-contained and independent. More than that, it is evidently going to be a very largeproducer of its specialities, and the directors look forward to the time when, as soon as peace reigns again, they will notonly be able to supply all the needs of home manufacturers, but will be able to meet and beat foreign competition in theoverseas markets of the world. Needless to say, we can describe nothing that we saw on our visit, but this we mayput on record ; that we are fully satisfied of the ability of the firm to carry out its full programme. Which is excellent, asindicating that British enterprise is ready, awake, and willing to take advantage of the openings developing as a con-sequence of the war and the misdoings of the arch-enemy of civilisation who aforetime was our most formidable industrialrival in the world's markets. 1377
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