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Aviation History
1918
1918 - 0974.PDF
that it had been added by way of experiment, and that itwas of a more or less makeshift character. It had, for instance, evidently been necessary to open out existing holes and cutnew holes in the course of erection. The armour is attached by set screws to clips clamped on the fuselage members, asshown in Fig. y. •..-..-, Armament. - "" In this machine the pilot is not provided with a gun, but the observer has to control three, of which two (Spandau) are fixed on the flooring of his cockpit, whilst the other (Para- bellum) is carried on a rotatable mounting. With regard to the fixed guns, these are secured to a couple of tubular steel brackets, mounted as shown in Fig. 8. The oval-section steel tubes, of which these brackets are composed, are welded to a light steel base, which forms a sort of tray, and is in turn bolted to the panel of armour which forms the floor of the cockpit. Adjacent to these two guns, which fire forward at an angle °* 45 deg., is a bracket carrying the belts of ammunition, which are fed from a large rotating drum. In the right-hand front corner of the pilot's cockpit floor is a circular hole, which he would appear to use for sight purposes. i he fixed guns are controlled by Bowden wires and triggers mounted on a diagonal frame member, convenient to the gunner's right hand, as shown in Fig. 9. The movable gun is of the Parabellum type, and the mounting is of the usual built-up wood variety. The gun cradle is, however, novel, the fixture for this purpose being illustrated in Fig. 10. It appears to be rather more handy than the usual German device, but is by no means lacking in weight. This fitting was in a very badly smashed condition. The vertical carrier is swivelled at its base, and is secured in position by sliding bolts engaging with teeth cut in the turned-up base plate. These sliding bolts are worked by a direct acting thumb lever. The turn-table is made of a single hoop oi wood reinforced AUGUST 29, 1918. at the point where the gun is mounted by glued-on strips of ply-wood. A locking device of the type shown in Fig. 11 is fitted. The transverse bracing in the immediate rear oi the gunner's cockpit, at which point is mounted the armour bulkhead, suggests that it was the original intention for this aeroplane to carry a gun or guns firing downwards and backwards through a hole in the fuselage. The transverse arrangement of steel tubes and bracing wires is shown in Fig. 12. Wireless and Heating. •. ""' - The machine is fitted with the usual wireless leads and apparatus for heating, the dynamo being carried on a bracket attached to the fuselage immediately in front of the pilot's seat, where it is directly driven from the engine through a hand-controlled clutch. No wireless fittings, other than the dynamo and the leads, were found on the machine. Instruments. TheJ instruments fitted to this machine are of standard type, and possess no new features of interest. Fabric and Dope. The fabric throughout is of good quality, but 11.e ("<Te appears to have been badly applied, as in many pcir.ts it lid completely peeled off the fabric. Camouflage.The colours used are dark purple and daik gietn,' aiul in contradistinction to the usual method by which they aiearranged in well-defined polygons, are applied so as to[gne a cloudy effect, and appear to have been sprayed on. Steel Analysis. A sample of the wing spar yields the following analysis :— Carbon .. -OQ8 per cent. Phosphor -014 per cent. Silicon .. "on per cent. Manganese '461 per cent. Sulphur -017 per cent. Chromium '036 per cent. London's Lord Mayor Over Rome. . APPARENTLY not the least enjoyable event ,of the Lord Mayor's visit to Rome was his trip on August 23rd in a military dirigible. It was a bright sunny atmosphere, and there was a splendid view of the Apennines and the Mediter- ranean coast. The Lord Mayor said it certainly was a splendid means for a traveller in a hurry to study the ancient and modern topography of the Eternal City. The Lord Mayor on Sunday, accompanied by Signor Chiesa, Commis- sioner of Aeronautics, visited a number of factories at Genoa. Lord Weir on Aviation. INTERVIEWED by Mr. Edward Marshall, Lord Weir has given some of his far-sighted views with regard to the peace- time uses of aviation. He said :— " One great satisfaction of connection with the Air Ministry is the conviction that one's efforts here must tend not alone toward furthering the destructiveness of war, but must develop forces which will be of great constructive value when peace comes. Unfortunately, at present we must consider the destructive effort first, last, and all the time ; but it never- theless remains the fact that in so considering it we cannot fail to be developing many abilities which will have high peace- time value. The manufacturers of all types of aircraft which I have catalogued as being necessary to the successful conduct of our air offensive against Germany will after the war manu- facture aircraft which will tend to increase the scope of com- merce, facilitate the study of the world's now hidden places, transport passengers with hitherto unknown rapidity, accel- erate postal service, and otherwise increase the fulress of existence. " We have come to the conclusion that to commence a system of aerial posts at present would inevitably result in the waste of effort which might be devoted more usefully to the battle front. We are even a little doubtful of the effective- ness of trying to train fighting airmen through the medium of air-postal services. At present, we believe, every ounce of the Allies' air energy may be put very profitably into actual warfare. The training of an aerial postman and a war- aviator must differ most materially." More Italian Propaganda Work. THE Widenski Dennik states that Italian aeroplanes lately appeared over Agram, dropping on the city and environs a large number of manifestoes. People thought at first that they were Austrian machines come to make propaganda for the war loan, but it was soon found that they were enemies, dropping manifestoes in favour of the Slav idea. In one machine was M. Samlinarz, a Deputy in the Hungarian Parliament and member of the Serbo-Croatian League, who on^the outbreak of war fled to Russia and then came on to Italy. Ten Weeks' Results in Italy. ~ " INFORMATION was published in Rome on August 24th to the effect that during the past 70 days 302 enemy aero- planes and 10 balloons have been brought down on the Italian Front. One hundred and fifty-three of the aeroplanes and five of the balloons were brought down by the British.^. The Italians lost 24 aeroplanes, and the British 13 machines and four balloons. A Slander Refuted. THE slander published in the Kieler Netiesie Nachrichten on June 15th, under the heading " English Brutality," has been amply refuted. The paper alleged that in July, 1917, when H.M. trawler Iceland rescued the crew of a German sea- plane, Lieut. Douglas, R.N.R., and his crew stole all articles of value from their prisoners, on the plea that they wanted the articles as souvenirs, while a sick berth steward spat in a glass before giving one of the German officers a drink. The most severely wounded of the officers, according to? the article, was clothed in his damp uniform next day without underclothes, as the latter were still quite wet. These accusa- tions are lies. What took place has been reported by Lieut. Douglas, who states :— " After the prisoners were taken on board my ship, Lieut. Becker, who bad lost a foot, was brought into my cabin and placed on a settee, with two pillows under hist head. I at once arrested the bleeding by using a tourniquet" as his thigh muscles were too strong to use the thumb. I next removed all his wet clothing, dried his skin well with a bath towel, and gave him a new singlet, shirt, drawers and stockings of my own. Then I washed his wound in warm water, using friar's balsam to remove the dirt, bcund it up, and elevated his foot above his body. In response to a request for a drink I gave him a glass of brandy. " With the assistance of two A.B.'s, I lifted the officer up and put a clean sheet on the settee, laid him down, and covered him with three blankets. Orders were given to my cook to prepare supper from the stores on board, and he provided tea, bacon and eggs, toast and butter, biscuits and cakes. Cigar- ettes and tobacco were given to Lieut. Becker, and I, leaving the room at his disposal, went on the bridge to navigate the ship. His heavy clothes were put on the engine-room cylinders to dry with the other prisoners' clothes. Lieut. Becker wanted his mechanic with him as a companion, and his request was granted. His man was also supplied with cigarettes, and I noticed that when he came from aft he was wearing a pair of slippers of the mate's and some overalls of the engineer's. As far as I am aware, no clothes or any other articles were taken from them. The souvenirs were given by ' the officers to myself and my crew, two of the articles being a gold wristlet watch and a silver one, given to the signaller, and cook. . . . I did my very best for these officers." 972
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