AIRSHIPS IN WAR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 616, 20 September 1909, Page 11

AIRSHIPS IN WAR.

o /WHAT THE- GOVERNMENT IS DOINqI l; : -. ?J : -.;': v: : ■ In.the House of Commons on August 2, ■ in Committee iof Supply onCivil, Service 'and Revenue Departnieuts, Estimates,' and ■ Supplemontary ■ i'stimatcsV the vote/included a subl for -Bciontifio.. investigation: : ■■-,'': \ '■:. -. ■ .-' •' ''/ ■: ..'•Mr. Halddne, who spoko of the uso of airships for. the.-purposes of war/said he did not believe/any very,-rapid progress had' been made : anywhere all over the world. Great strides had beppi'niadp i'in" the preparations : for machines, but it •waß;nbt.enbugh:io.,niako machines. They must/ he proceeded, be machines available for tho.purposes of difficulties were still so-.'grca'tthat progress, could only bo made by exact 'and: careful study, and application/of inventions; :as they wero . brought forward,' to the l peculiar' conditions which -must ; bo. ; fulfillod -'it 1 effectiveness, in >ar ; wore '.to be ■ 'se-'. Cured. Accordingly, the: Committee of ImBorial: ;PefencOi investigated 'the 'subject by va technical sub-committee, and 'tho repqrt was ready:in. ft comparatively short-time. .• ' ; .That report wds to. the. effect' that machines must be/divided Into threo classes—tho. rigid dirigible/ the. non-rigid dirigible, and tho aeroplane. '.For naval> purposes, tho rigid dirigible ■was wobably tho only instrument of> the kind which' was'of :roal value.' ..That was in tho pro-eont'istate-off knowledge'on the sabject; : or tho vArmy, the-rigid dirigiblp'was. more difficult' to-uso than for: tho Navy: .therefore,: it sijemed :that the nonri'igid dirigible was 'tho best. .The aeroplane jmight becomo valuable .for Army, purposes; but at present hadcer-. .tain'defects; / For instnncu,. it , would have to .riso , miich. higher, than- at-presont beforo. it' would be safo for reconnoitring. , ' The remarkable pventa 'of ; recent days,: M. Bloriofs flight across : the Channel, and other happenings in tho United' States and.foleewhere, pointed-to: this—that ■ some .time- horei>t«r; the • aeroplane would bo an instruments wflich would bo\capable of effecting,"'in : all .probability, great', results, j .That. was .not 6o; however, at this moment.-' r In- these .circumstances, the..work had bcon-distributed.'/To the-Navy had been-as-signed the 'duty 'of possibilities, of -the - , rigid dirigible, , -ana-'to'.-the Army oiperimeiits 'with.; the non-rigid dirigible ma- : chine of/varying • height,, and: also with aeroplanes! bit the Committee of Defence felt that tho, non-rigid dirigible , , for .Army purposes was a;long .way further, on than,the. aeroplane at the present time. ;■ ■'■. ... '. .. / ::' . . ■'.-." ... , The-flying machine, was a'simple machine, and'..it could ! .not. bo. kept a 'secret: for long. .Therefore, he could not say he.felt much con:' cernthat this country had not made the pro-gress-that had been.made in Germany or.in America.- Much the sauie thing had happened in' : tho.case of submarines and.motor-cais. It was obligatory that ecience should come fiist The "Advisory Committee , had held several : irieotirigs.' .' Its duty ...was not to construct or, invent, but.'to'advise on special questions, and.'to." scrutinise inventions submitted to it One important thing was that the committee *as mating a', system .of registration'for getting ' tho fullest .knowledge of.what .was going on in aeronautics all over the world. Tho first dnty of i the -committee had been to determine the general'.'questions, to be studied.. It had , mapped out the general field of.its work in aero-dynamics, and'it had entered into communication with the Aeronautical. Society and other private.bodies,-with.tho.objoct of afford-." ing-assistance,to> priynto , inventors. In order to avoid any: difficulty,-., persons submitting their inventions for examination by the Government: would havo to secuvo a patent iirst. The Committee wore, of course, also in close communication with tho Admiralty and AVnr .Officbi'.- .The 'Admiralty's efforts at presont were concentrated on buMing a rigid dirigible of the.very largest type which was being built at / Barrow-in-Furnpss,: by Messrs. ■ Vickors, and it was hoped to see its results 6orao time next spring.. The -War Office was reorganising :tho factory\at Aldershot They wero gotting a larger shed, and had" also ordered a gas-bag! balloon of considerable size. • (Laughtor.) Tho Government hoped to bo in possession beforo long 'of-.-two' , aeroplanes, which would bo. ox-1 porimented with..: The .Advisory., Committeo was 'making- experiments with non-rigid dirigiblos./ Tho total sum being spent this year was *gronter than last year. The Admiralty was epending atont jC35,000,' tho War Ofiico altogether over ! .£3GiOoO,/. and the Advisory Committeo £7000. This was. a: total of .£78,000. He, thought it would ,be • seen that in the future wo'would l)0,no more behind in the race of: nations than. : W wero to-day with submarines. ■■ /.:,;.: ■ •■-.-■' ": ' ■■' '