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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0430.PDF
APRIL 15, AIRCRAFT WORK IN THE BALTIC IN his dispatch, dated February 9, 1920, and published in a supplement to the London Gazette on April 11, Rear-Admiral Sir Walter Cowan, commanding First Light Cruiser Squadron, describing the operations in the Baltic, during the year com- mencing January 6, 1919, makes several references to aircraft. In the skirmish with Bolshevik forces off Seskar on May 31, . he says a Bolshevik aeroplane appeared overhead and dropped • bombs among the British force and flew off eastwards after being fired at. The Fort Krasnaya Gorka had a kite balloon HP-Describing subsequent operations Admiral Cowan says :— " Latex in the month (July) our flying operations started,consisting at first of reconnaissance and photographic flights, and then on the morning of July 30 a bombing operationagainst the ships in Kronstadt, the main objective being a destroyer depot ship with five or six destroyers lying alongsideher. The whole was under the command of Squadron-Leader David G. Donald, A.F.C., R.A.F. Sixteen bombs in all weredropped, and one hit, at any rate, was registered on the depot ship, which disappeared from her accustomed position in theharbour, and was not seen again. All machines returned safely after passing through a heavy anti-aircraft fire from theships and batteries defending Kronstadt. " On the morning of August 18, with the object of removing,as far as possible, the threat which existed to my ships and also to the left flank of the Russian advance to Petrograd by thep^jeence of the Bolshevik active squadron, an attack on the . ships in Kronstadt by coastal motor boats and aircraft wasmade. " The position of the ships in the harbour had been ascer-tained by aerial photographs. Frequent bombing raids on the harbour had also been made at varying times in the weeksbeforehand. " The attack was planned so that all available aircraftco-operated under Squadron-Leader D. G. Donald, A.F.C., R.A.F., and that they should arrive and bomb the harbourso as to drown the noise of the approach of the coastal motor boats. " The time-table was most accurately carried out, with theresult that the first three coastal motor boats, under Com- mander Claude C. Dobson, D.S.O., passed the line of fortsand entered the harbour with scarcely a shot being fired. " Each boat had a definite objective—six in all. Of these six enterprises four were achieved, the results being gained'not only by dauntless disciplined bravery at the moment of attack, but by strict attention to, and rehearsal of, everydetail beforehand by every member of the personnel, both of the boats and also of the Air Force. " Of the latter there is this to say, that though all their"arrangements for bombing were makeshift, and the aerodrome, from which the land machines had to rise in the dark, was-a month before a wilderness of trees and rocks, and in size is quite inadequate, not one of the machines (sea and land)failed to keep to its time-table, or to lend the utmost and most effective support during, and after, the attack to the coastal,motor boats. . " After this nothing bigger than a destroyer ever movedagain, but a certain amount of mine-laying and sweeping was- observed near the approaches to the harbour. " During September our ships constantly bombardedBolshevik positions on the Southern shore in Kaporia Bay, in support of the Esthonian left flank, whilst the aircraftwere employed in bombing Kronstadt and attacking their small craft whenever seen." Dealing with the retreat of the Russians and Esthonians in.October to the Narva-Peipus Lake line, Admiral Cowan says:— " Unfortunately the Erebus (Captain John A. Moreton,D.S.O.) arrived only after the attempt was doomed to failure,, and by that tune also the weather had broken, making itvery unsuitable for flying in order to direct the firing of Erebus ; also our machines and many of the pilots were, fromhard service through the surflmer, rather past their best. The type of machine, too (Short seaplane)", was unable to getsufficient height to avoid the very severe and accurate anti- aircraft fire from these two forts. " All that could be done by our ships (light cruisers anddestroyers) besides Erebus, in the way of shelling positions and covering the advance, was done, and always within the rangeof Fort Krasnaya's Gorka's 12-in. guns, and under the observation of its kite balloon. . ." The losses of R.A.F. personnel were — Killed 4 oiljeers, 1 man, • ' H ounded , ._, - - 2 officers. The Handley Page Aeroplane Wing IT is stated unofficially that the new type aeroplanewing to which Mr. Handley Page referred in a lecture recently, as permitting the wing area of machines to bereduced to half the present size, and yet possess the same carrying capacity, has been tested independently at theNational Physical Laboratory, and the tests are said to have fulfilled the claims made by Mr. Handley Page forthe wing. Air Services in Norway IT is now definitely stated that a dally air service from Toensberg via Fredrikstad and Moss to Christiania and back will be inaugurated about the middle of May. The organisers are a Norwegian firm of aircraft constructors. Sahara Flight Completed. MAJOR VUILLEMIN and Lieut. Chalus, by flying fromPtambagunda to Dakar on March 31, completed their flight over the Sahara, during which they had flown 3,500 miles.They started from Algiers en February 6. A Fast Trip by Roget ON April 7 Lieut. Roget, with a passenger, on a Breguet,fitted with a 300 h.p. Renault motor, equipped with a new turbo-compressor, flew from Villacoublay to Lyons in 1 hour50 minutes, his average speed being 165 m.p.h. During the trip the machine kept at-an altitude of between 18,000 ft.and 20,000 ft. A Memorial to Vedrines RENEWED efforts are now being made in Paris to raisea fund with the objects of erecting a monument to the memory of Jules Vedrines, the airman, and providing for his mother,widow, and children. The members of the organising committee include M.Poincareex-President of the French Republic; M. Briand, Marshal Foch, General Berthoulot, Military Governor of Paris ; Comtede la Vaulx, Vice-President of the Aero Club of France ; and the Marquis de Polignac. The treasurer of the fund isM. Labastie, 7, Place de la[_Bastille,^Paris. The French Lady Looper IN connection with the •festivities at Rouen during the Easter holidays, Mile. Bolland looped the loop 25 times, and flew with a passenger under the transporter bridge. It is announced that Mile. Bolland has been engaged to give a series of exhibitions in various towns in the United States during the coming summer. U.S. Dirigible Station'Sold THE United States Navy has sold the naval air station at Akron, O., to the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co., wha intend to use it for the development of dirigibles for com- mercial purposes The equipment includes a hangar capable of housing four 163-ft. airships and a hydrogen plant which can produce 100,000 cub. ft. of hydrogen per day. It is also proposed to organise a school for airship pilots. A Ford Dirigible FROM a report published in New York it would appear that Mr. Henry Ford has made an offer to the United States Navy Department to erect a plant at Detroit and build an airship of the Zeppelin type for the Government, payment for the airship not to be made until it had carried out its trials and been accepted. It is suggested that a Zeppelin should be purchased, dissembled, and taken to Detroit to serve as a pattern. ' . The Flying Horse Up-to-Date THE uses to which the aeroplane is being put are gradually extending, and a noteworthy departure was made on April 8 in California, where a horse, entered for exhibition at Santa Barbara, arrived in a specially constructed aeroplane from Los Angeles. The trip was made without incident, but the start was delayed until the Humane Society was officially convinced that no cruelty would result to the horse. The Teutonic Idea AN ex-German flying officer recently applied to Handley Page, Ltd., for a position as a pilot. He enclosed recom- mendations from German Squadron Commanders under whom he had served on the Western Front, and he stated that he was familiar with English territory, having flown over the Eastern Counties on many occasions ! " No vacancy." 430
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