PROGRESS IN AVIATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 995, 9 December 1910, Page 4

PROGRESS IN AVIATION.

The year 1910 has witnessed a re markable development in aerial navi gation, but a determinate and un prejudiced inquiry into the problen: of flight as it now stands cannot fail draw the_ conclusion that the science is still in- the' experimental stage. Aviators now travel as many miles as three years ago they did yards, and the reports of theii achievements and successes make alluring reading; but the economic and military value of the airship is yet to be established, and until it is the airship will remain very little more than a costly and adventurous sporting toy. Mr. Edison, the American inventor and a leading 'authority on mechanics, .is strongly of-opinion that aeronautics along present lines cannot hold out much hope of real and permauont success, and this belief, it cannot be questioned, is amply supported by facts. The extraordinary number of accidents within the past twelve months, in which many leading aviators have lost their lives, cannot, it is to bo regretted, in. the-majority of cases, be-explained. When an aeroplane crashes to the ground it is obviously impossible to ascertain the precise cause of the accident, the machine, in almost every instance, being reduced to a mass of wreckage. A break-down or a brief stoppage of the motor which mayarise from a hundred causes, or the slightest rupture of the planes which a'gustof wind may occasion, 'places the aviator at the mercy of gravitation with only one possible result. In the present year approximately twenty-two _ leading aviators have lost their lives, against-one in 1308, and three in 1000. Perhaps the most important, and certainly the least expected and most disappointing circumstance of the year's progress in aerial science has been the virtual abandonment by the German military authorities of the dirigible- in favour of the acroplano for military purpose*. The uniformly disastrous career of the Zeppelin airship may be held as sufficient proof that no amount of .mechanical skill can enable the dirigible to do reliable work in any stress 'of weather, and this ii the problem that now ranks as tlmmosfc vital in aerial navigation. It is a notable fact that only moderate ..weather destroyed five out of seven''Zeppelin's, and if these costly machines are to depend entirely on fine weather conditions for efficiency, their military or commercial adaptability becomes of little account. It is true that under favourable conditions they_ attained a high speed, a wide radius of action, and were manipulated with. remarkable .ease, but the absolutely trustworthy type under all conditions is yet to bo evolved. The Swiss National League for Aerial Navigation opened a competition for the purpose of obtaining the'.best design for an aircruiser and no fewer than 165 projects wero entered, . many of which embodied remarkable features, but none evidently able to meet the absolute test. Perhaps the costliest airship ever built and tho most perfectly equipped with every device making for safety, speed, and stability was tho America, with which the intrepid explorer Wellman attempted_ to cross the Atlantic. The calculations of experts on the probability of this feat being accomplished wore in many ca«flf the excess of optimism. After a delay of several weeks awaiting favourable conditions the airship set sail, tho voyage coming to a disastrous conclusion less than 500 miles from land. Throughout the adventure the America. Was at the absolute mercy of wind and weather—perhaps the only fact the attempt clearly established. It is at once evident from experiences to date that the dirigible type of airship cannot serve in a broad and useful sense a military or commercial purpose, and it is also very evident that its use for.naval purposes is too hazardous and uncertain to merit serious attention. Tho Krupp firm, as we pointed out some time ago in our defence notes, now constructs guns for use against airships and aeroplanes, capable of firing a shell from 20,000 to 35,000 feet into the air, and if these guns are finally built on the rapid-fire principle and cheapened in cost they will utterly dispose of the airship peril. Aeroplanes, to be effective in warfare, must be employed in immense numbers; for purposes of invasion they must come to earth in the enemy's country simultaneously, unaccompanied with artillery, and within a definite area. Their use •appears to defy every military canon; they must depend on chance, not strategy;. carry the smallest quantity of ammunition and the fewest weapons with no source of supplies or lines of communication. They may possibly be used for purposes of reconnoitring, but only subject to certain restrictions. Many other considerations point ■to tho wisdom of guarding against a natural tendency to view with exaggeration and an undisciplined enthusiasm any new science or discovery which at first appears to be possessed of unlimited possibilities but which has not been submitted to the crucial test of time.,.-.-, ■■.■;':■■■.