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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0733.PDF
Flight, July 4, 1918. ENGINEER? ft* ftJi -.,..-. First Aero Weekly in the World. * Founder and Editor : STANLEY SPOON ER. A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. No. 497. (No. 27, Vol. X.) JULY 4, 1918. [Weekly, Price 6d.L Post Free, 7d. and The Aircraft Engineer. Editorial Office: 36, GREAT QUEEN STREET, KINGSWAY, W.C. *. Telegrams: Truditur, Westcent, London. Telephone : Gerrard 1818. Annual Subscription Rates, Post Free: United Kingdom .. a&s. id. Abroad 33J. od. CONTENTS. itjii » Editorial Comment: PAGE The Delayed Offensive 731 The " League of Nations" .. .. •• .. .. .. .. 732 Sir W. Weir on Aircraft Design .. .. .. .. .. .. 732 Honours 734 Report on the Friedrichshafen Bomber .. .. .. .. .. „ 737 The Royal Aero Club. Official Notices 742 The Roll of Honour .. .. 742 Aeronautical Inventions .. .. 743 Report on Aluminium Pistons from 230 h.p. Benz. Engines .. v .. 744 Airisms fr*m the Four Winds 746 The Chevrons Club 748 Some Outstanding Problems in Aeronautics. By Dr. Durand .. .. 749 Personals.. .. „ 752 Aviation in Parliament _ 753 The British Air Services 4 Aircraft Work at the Front. Official Information 756 Trade Parliaments and their Work.—XI. By Ernest J. P. Benn .. .. 757 Side Winds 757 " Newspapers are an essential part of our war organisation."— (Sir Auckland Geddes, Minister of National Service.) N all probability before these lines appear in print the renewed German offensive will have opened and the great battle for a decision in the West •will have again been joined with even greater violence than ever. There is no question, however, about the blow having been delayed beyond the calcu- lations of the enemy command. For some time it has been known to the Allied Staff that Ludendorff's preparations for what we believe must be the ultimate effort to force a favour- able decision of the war have been practically complete, but the attack has hung fire mainly through the pertinacity and skill with which our aerial offensive has been conducted. It is true that there are reports to the effect that the delay has been partly due to an epidemic of influenza among the German troops, but it is impossible to say whether this has reached proportions which would account for the apparent unwillingness of the enemy to strike. On the other hand, we do know that his The Delayed Offensive. preparations for the offensive have been seriously hampered by our aircraft, which have persistently, and with great success, struck at the vital points on his lines of communication, doing a vast amount of damage which has consumed valuable time in repairs before the ordinary routine of transport could be re- sumed. Further than that, certain of the German points of concentration have been so heavily attacked from the air that the enemy has been compelled to evacuate them. Bapaume and Peronne, in particular, have been so constantly and effectively bombarded that they have become untenable. At the same time the enemy's munition centres beyond the Rhine have been receiving constant attention at the hands of our raiding airmen, and it is fair to assume that their operations have also had a certain amount of effect on the enemy's plans. While it would be too much to claim that these aerial operations are exercising a directly decisive influence on the course of the war, it is nevertheless certain that they are producing effects which may in the end help very materially to the victory of the Allies. We know that so far as the .Germans are con- cerned time is the whole essence of the issues. We know—and the enemy realises it to the full—that unless they can take full advantage of their present numerical superiority and of the initiative which they hold at the moment before the American armies arrive in sufficient numbers to redress the balance against the Allies, their chances of victory are gone beyond hope. * As the Americans are arriving in thousands every week it is quite clear that every day the offen- sive is delayed is in our favour and against the enemy. It may well be, therefore, that while they are so effectively bombarding behind the German lines, our air squadrons are literally winning the war for us'. Apart from the magnificent work they, are doing in this direction, the ascendancy our airmen have estab- lished over the enemy's air service makes the latter's observation of what is going on in rear of the Allied lines comparatively poor, while so active are our own scouts that nothing which happens by day can be hidden from them, and the German Command-is com- pelled to carry out all its movements and concentra- tions of troops under cover of night. We are doing well in the air, beyond a doubt, as Sir Douglas Haig'=; message to G.O.C Roval Air Force, France, emphasises; but we must still strain every nerve and resource we have to do even better. The losses both of pilots and machines are -heavy,
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