AERONAUTICS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1057, 21 February 1911, Page 5

AERONAUTICS.

-4- { A FAST FLIGHT. By Aseociatlon-Copyriirht ' (Rec. February 20, 9.20 p.m.) Melbourne, February 20. Mr. Hammond, tho British aviator, biplaned from Altona Bay to Geclong, a distance of 45 miles, in 55 minutes. . Mr. Hammond, in a fiuo (light of 31 ' minutes in a Bristol biplane, reached an altitudo of 3000 feet. ■ . i FRENCH AIR CORPS. ! (Rec. February 20, 11.25 p.m.) Paris, February 20. ] The army'authorities have purchased , fifty ; aeroplanes. They have a hundred \ airmen in training. r,m I '-iii 'ir! '•:■"' ',■' THE NEW ARM. Military aviation becamo a reality last year ,ih connection with tho manoeuvres' of the- British, French, 1 and' German Armies.' At the German manoeuvres . dirigibles.'and aeroplanes fulfilled, to tho • satisfaction of all, almost every one of the missions assigned to them.' Tho aeroplanes supplied information to both sides, and connected one of them with llonen. A dirigible scut to Paris by the director of the manoeuvres remained during tho whole of its journey connected with'its starting point nnd with Paris by wireless telegraphy. ; Tho aeroplane has-been accepted by the French military authorities as tho "fourth arm." Tho new Army, model, with which it is hoped to furnish the .various French Army Corps early this year, and for 'which the authorities have offered a premium of .£400(1, will bo required to lift about six hundred-weight, to fly 18G miles (300 kilometres) at •; u stretch, and develop a minimum speed of thirty-seven--wiles an hour. With rare gbod sense the French military authorities have not shown tho sligntcst tendency to exaggerato the importance of tho rolo which mo airmen will play in "the final war." There is no bomb-dropping nonsense in the instruction at tho Army Hying schools. Tho aeroplane is to bo nothing more or less than a scout, which, however, will also have to wage war on hostile air-vessels, since it is generally agreed in aeronautic circles at present thut —despite tho Krupp air-gun—the only effective weapon against the ncropliiuo is the aeroplane. Therefore tho French 'Ministry of War demands of its aeroplane contractors first of all and last of alia speedy machine, which must also bo reliable for long-distance flight if needs be, but in the main is to be utilised for dashes from the bnso of an army to the rear of tho enemy's forces, spying out the location of the guns, of tho reserves, and noting tho damage dono by its own ; pnrty's artillery lire, i A fleet of forty monoplanes has been - ordered to bo completely finished by . early spring for the German "War Office. ' At the same time six aerial guns have ' been ordered from Krirpp's, each mounted , on a CO h.p. motor-car, especially coui structed with a wide platform and ar- > moured- side shields against rifle fire. . These guns siioot a sort of bursting shrapnel to 'any height up to 12.000 U., and 1 tho detonating force is sufficient to wreck - or capsize any aerial mhchino yet conc structed if the charge explodes within 100 : ft. of it. Tho shells leave a trail of J black sinoko showing tho IracV they havo taken, so that it is not difficult to cor- " rect (ho range immediately. The guns i! can fire twenty-four. 81b. ' shells per 0 minute. A new form of grenade has been • mado nt Krupp's by which opposing , troops at distances up to 800 yards can be asphyxiated in their trenches. It * looks like n little round metal bnllnon t with a tail' piece that lies in tho riflia<» of the ordinary field piece muzzle. This ! is shot out to a distance of half a mile, 1 and, bursting on impact, releases eases far more deadly than the ancient Chin--0 cse stink-pot. Such an nrm will be very valuable against entrenched positions.