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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0175.PDF
FEBRUARY 14, 1918. coincides with or is a multiple of the number of revolutions of the motor. Such a phenomenon of resonance can be countered by modifying one of the dimensions s or d. The following examples show the method of using the graph :— (1) Centre Section Strut.—Streamline section. Steel of <>o kg. per sq. mm. (82,500 lbs. per sq. in.). Factor of safety = 6. Length, 7 ft. Compression in strut, 670 lbs. Thick- ness s = T^ in. From the diagram it will be seen that the •circular tube has an external diameter of 36 mm. (iTv in.). Streamline tube having same strength, d = 36:1 "5 = 24 mm. (fi in.). As the fineness ratio of the strut is three, the dimen sions should be about 1 ft. 3 ins. (2) Chassis Strut.—Streamline section. Steel, 60 kg. per sq. mm. (37 tons per sq. in.). Factor of safety, 6. Length 5 ft. Compression under normal load, 1,020 lbs. Thickness •5V in. The circular tube indicated in the diagram as being of the requisite strength for this load has an external diameter of 45 mm. (iyij in.). Streamline tube having same strength d = 45:1 "5 = 30 mm. (i^f in.). As the ratio of * to d is less than 1/30, it will be advisable to adopt a thickness of ¥\ in. In that case d = 41:1 "5 = 27*5 mm. (i3V in.). HONOURS. Honours for Mesopotamia. IT was announced in the London Gazette of February 7th that the King has been pleased to approve of the following reward for distinguished services rendered in connection with military operations in Mesopotamia. Dated January 1st, 1918 :— The Military Crosc. Lieut. (Temp. Capt.) L. J. Bayly, R.G.A. and R.F.C. A mendment. The following is the correct description of the under- tnentionsd officer whose reward (the Military Cross) was announced on January 1st :— Lieut. J. V. Tunbridge, Aus. F.C. ... Gotha Destroyers Honoured. IT was announced in the London Gazette on February 8th that the King has been pleased to approve of the award of the Military Cross to the following officers :— Temp. Capt. G. H. HACKWILL, Gen. List and R.F.C. Lieut. C. C. BANKS, R. Welsh Fus. and R.F.C. For conspicuous gallantry displayed when they engaged and shot down a Gotha raiding London. During the engage- ment, which lasted a considerable time, they were continually under fire from the enemy machine. [It was during the raid on January 28th that the Gotha was shot down, and, as recorded in last week's " FLIGHT," the names of the above officers were announced by Mr. Macpherson in the House of Commons on January 30th.] Military Medals. IT was announced in the London Gazette of February 5th that the King had been pleased to approve the award of a Bar to the Military Medal to the following : 7773 1st Air-Mech. H. R. Deane, R.F.C. The King has been pleased to approve of the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the following :— 44243 2nd Air-Mech. F. F. Dawson, R.F.C. 25362 Cpl. S. H. Platel, R.F.C. REVIEW. Chasseurs de Baches. By Jacques Mortane, L'edition Franqaise Illustree, 30 Rue de Provence, Paris. Price 4/r. " Un as" it may be explained, is merely the pre-war French for an ace of any suit. Since 1914 the only correct suit has been one of horizon blue : and the only kind of '" as " deserving any mention in patriotic circles, is that particular ace of trumps who is a chasseur de Boches, and •has furthermore, brought down at least five of that particular •quarry. About him, then, as the most spectacular unit of the fi'th arm of modern warfare, M. Jacques Mortane has written, not only the most comprehensive history of French military aviation that has appeared since the war, but a remarkably close study of the technique of aerial warfare. Added to which he has written it in a style which is some- thing well above the somewhat cold precisions of newspaper French, although—may one suggest—something short of the dramatic touch of a Faroux or the delicate prose of one of the great classics. Yet mere questions of literary style, fine as that of M. Mortane is, are less the point of the present matter than his clear analysis of that very technique of war-flight. The impression one gathers from his meticulous descriptions of the method of each of his great " as " is, that as with great violinists there is no specially approved technique, superior to all; but that each has his own manner. For instance, Roland Garros and Navarre as cases in point—one will be purely a virtuoso, an acrobat; another, notably Guynemes, " Vas des as," purely classic and methodiste—the sense does not express itself well in English—while yet a third, as for instance the marvellous Nungesser appears as a Sarasate, a Kreisler, a phenomenal master of all tactic and technique, and gifted with the ability to fit invariably the appropriate method to the given occasion and circumstance. So much, for those who survived long enough to identify themselves and their method with any given style, or who like Nungesser himself, still remain to astonish us with their marvellous maestria. But it is, perhaps, not the least merit of M. Jacques Mortane's work—one that does infinite credit to his perceptions of the matter au large—that he gives no less prominence to such pilots as Rene Dorme—the " gloire disparue," who had he lived yet a little longer, might well have shown himself to be among the greatest of his craft. So too with the others, Maxime Lenoir, Delorme, Auger Pourpe, Lecour-Grandmaison, and—only too many that have passed. And yet mournful though this long and brilliant story may be, it is not without its touches of humorous incident, and no less permits one to hope that all the giants have not departed, that there still remain others, who may prove as great or greater. As for instance that extraordinary soldier of fortune, Raoul Lufbery. . . . Altogether a book which, in the hackneyed phrase, " no enthusiast's library should be without," truly so for once ; one that as a record, must become a classic of flight. From Germany to Holland. INCLUDED in the party of British officers and men which arrived at Scheveningen on February 7th from Germany for internment in Holland were Capt. R. A. Boger, R.F.C., Capt. Robin Grey, Grenadier Guards and R.F.C., and Capt. V. S. E. Lindop, R.F.C. Another French Pilot Home from Germany.AT his fifth attempt Sergeant-Major Boudon, a French pilot who was shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans,has succeeded in escaping from Bavaria. German Leaflet Droppers. AT a time when the Germans savagely sentenced two British aviators to ten years' imprisonment for dropping leaflets in their lines, their aviators were busy pelting the Italian front with this form of propaganda. " German and Austrian machines have been very busy lately dropping leaflets on and behind the Italian lines," writes the Times correspondent at the Italian Headquarters on February 5th. " These are signed, ' the Austro-Hun- garian soldiers,' and incite the Italian Army to conclude peace with them, and giving the designedly false impression that Bolshevist formations are arising in the Austrian Army. Others declare that Italy is ' the latest British colony,' with a British censorship in Naples and a Kommandantur and military governorship in Rome, and that British troops have fired on rioters in Milan—all, of course, preposterous non- sense. There is good reason to believe that the night raiders on Padua and other towns are all Germans flying A.E.G. three-seater bombing machines, and belonging to specially trained formations from the German air camps in Belgium. Several of the German flights, other than bombing squadrons, have left for the Western Front, supposedly to take part in the talked of great offensive."
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