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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0202.PDF
was that it would keep in existence an aircraft industry with its research, designing, technical, constructional and experimental staffs, capable of quick and wide expansion. The nation which first substituted aircraft for other means of transport would be more than half-way towards the supremacy of the air. We are, said Sir Frederick, in sight of the economic machine that is wanted, and the question now to be answered is : how to carry on until it can be evolved and produced in sufficient numbers ? It can never be evolved unless there is a demand, such as an Air Service provides, and the only method by which commercial aviation can be carried through its experimental stage is by the aid of Government subsidy in some shape or form. As to aviation in war, the Controller-General appears to think that it will almost completely revolutionise naval warfare. He believes that its potentialities in this direction are even greater than in land war. Incidentally, this opinion is rather flattering to ourselves, since it coincides with that we expressed many years ago and continually since, the last reference being only a week ago when discussing recent experiments made by the United States naval and air authorities. Sir F. Sykes believes that there is every indication that torpedo attack by aircraft will reach a point where the very existence of opposing fleets consisting of the giant capital ships of the present day might be jeopardised. For the cost of one battleship 1,000 torpedo-carrying seaplanes could be built, and it is already questionable if a battleship could survive an attack launched by even a small force of this mobile arm. Another form of air operation may be gas attack, assisted by submarines. It seems to us that if only a portion of the develop- ments prophesied should eventuate into actuality, war between two Great Powers will become im- possible—that is to say, war in the real sense. What it will come down to is that where one party to a dispute feels that the aggressive can be taken with safety, an attack will be launched by combined air and sea forces, and so terrible will be the im- mediate consequences that the other side will be rendered impotent to reply. If that is so—and we believe it is—the argument obviously is that we, in order to secure ourselves against such a sudden attack, must be in such a position of relative power that no other Power contemplating aggression can be certain that it is strong enough to bring off the stroke. In other words, we come down to the last reduction of the argument that the best manner of ensuring peace is to be prepared for war. To be prepared we must be strong in the air. To be strong • • ." MARCH 24, 1921 in the air we must see that civilian aviation is given a real opportunity to develop, else we shall encounter the day of wrath without those reserves and that capacity for immediate expansion upon which Sir Frederick Sykes very rightly lays so much stress. Aviation and the Navy In introducing the Naval Estimates, Lord Lee of Fareham, the new First Lord of the Admiralty, informed the House that the decision had been taken to abandon altogether the use of lighter-than-air craft for use with the fleets, but that a heavy appropria- tion was being asked for the increase of the numbers available of seaplanes and amphibians. Not being naval experts, we have a perfectly open mind regarding the substitution of the heavier-than-air types for the airships which rendered good service during the War. It is quite possible that the lessons of the War had led to the legitimate conclusion that the airship is too slow and vulnerable to the attack of aeroplanes to be dependable as the eyes of a fleet. If that is so, the Admiralty is to be applauded for its decision. There would be no sense in pinning our faith to aircraft that fall short in any essential particular of the requirements of naval war. But the experts should make very sure they are right before they continue to maintain their scrapping policy. Without question there can be no sentiment in war, and the true policy is to ruthlessly scrap that which is obsolete. Before, however, such a policy is finally determined upon it would be interesting to know upon what premises it is based. There are certain directions in which the airship possesses marked advantages over the heavier-than-air machine. It has an enormously greater radius of action, and is, if it may be so put, a very much steadier observation platform. As to its vulnerability to attack by aeroplanes, we do not know exactly to what altitudes the latest British rigids are capable of ascending, but the records attained by certain of the later Zeppelins seem to indicate that they could reach heights which made aeroplane attack, except by individual machines, extremely difficult if not virtually impossible By the use of helium gas and improved gun armaments, the big airship should not have a great deal to fear from the solitary aeroplane. We agree that these are not the only considerations. The airship of sufficient size to work with the fleet is an exceedingly costly vessel to construct, while the arrangements for housing and mooring are infinitely more costly and complicated than in the case of the heavier-than- air machine. All things considered, including present financial reasons, the decision of the Admiralty may probably be the wiser, even if later it is thought tit to revise this policy. German Maps of Holland from the Air VERY suggestive information was published last week in Holland in the Telegraaf, showing the anticipatory work by the Germans during the War. This Dutch paper prints a number of reproductions of German bird's-eye maps of Holland taken from the air. The collection comprises a total of 30 maps, headed " Luftorienterungskarten : Holland "; they are marked " secret," and they were printed by the German Admiralty in 1916 and 1917. The fact that two or three years after the outbreak of the War the Netherlands were still considered as a possible " Angriffsobjekt "—object of attack—for German airmen is not without interest even now, and proves again how thoroughly Germany's activities in neutral countries were carried out. Forts, railway bridges, wireless stations, gasworks—indeed, all places of military and economic importance—are marked on the maps. The " Roma" Makes a 300-Mile Run. A SUCCESSFUL non-stop flight from Rome to Naples and back, 300 miles, was made on March 15 by the " Roma," the Italian dirigible acquired by the United States Government. There were 52 persons on board, including Mr. Johnson, thf American Ambassador to Italy, with his wife, and a number of American officers. Lunch was served as the craft was passing over the Isle of Capri. Prague to Hold Second Aero Show ENCOURAGED by last year's success, Czecho-Slovakia is organising its second Aero Exhibition at Prague from September 25 to October 2. _ • Ecuador-Colombia Air-Mail AN " air-mail " has been carried from Carchi in Ecuador to Pasto in Colombia by Signor Guicciardi, an Italian pilot. this being the first mail by 'plane between the two republics. 202
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