ENGLAND'S AIR FORCE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1732, 24 April 1913, Page 8

ENGLAND'S AIR FORCE.

» ADMIRALTY ACTIVITY. ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT POSITION. In an interesting nrticlo 011 the present position of Britain's air fleet, a writer in tho "Manchester Guardian" states: Events in the organisation of an aerial forco aro moving so rapidly, and so much sc-crccy is observed, and .successfully observed, in regard to the equipment with which it is provided, that an account of it is bound to bo tentative and indefinite in many particulars, it is believed, however, that the following short statement of our present position in aerial defenco will be a surprise to .many who liavo taken too easily tho very pessimistic viow of our preparations and resources in this matter common in the Opposition press. Our scheme of aerial defence is based on the co-operation for tho purpose of tile two services, Navy and Army, and of the general public. The Royal Flying Corps, which is our air force, has two main wings, naval and military, and a special reserve composed of civilians. Tho principle 011 which the corps is founded is that of united service of men and machines from whichever branch they conic, should tho use of the w'holo forco together be advisable or necessary. 111 a purely land war tho naval fliers as well us tho civilian reserve will bo available with tho Army. In a naval war the Admiralty can draw, if it wishes, on the full strength of tho nominally land branches of tho corps. In the Army manoeuvres lasb autumn naval lliers worked with the troops 011 either side.

Tho headquarters of tho whole Royal Flying Corps is the Central Flying School at Salisbury Plain. Here there is accommodation for sixty officers under instruction, and as tho course of instruction is given in three terms of four months each there is provision for the instruction of 180 officers each year, these officers being drawn from the Army, from tho Navy and Royal Marines, and from tho ranks of civilian airmen. The organisation of the school, which is at Upavon, on Salisbury Plain, consists at the present moment of a commandant, Captain Paine, It.N., five instructors in flight, an instructor in construction, one in metoorology, and an inspector of engines. There nro at present a considerable number (no exact figures are available) of military officers under 'instruction, fa's well as nine naval officers. The number of aeroplanes cannot be certainly stated. On •January 9 last, wlißn tho last detailed returns wero given, there wore twentysix, of which nineteen were in flying order—the remaining seven being, it is believed, monoplanes. But in tho last two months progress has been very rapid, tho variety of types originally used has been reduced to some uniformity, and probably thirty aeroplanes, all of a modern type, aro available.at tho school. The Royal Flying Corps: Military Winn. Tho military wing, whoso headquarters aro at Farnborough, under tho command of Major Sykcs, is to consist of eight squadrons. The following table will ■show the present position of the force:— Ist Squadron (airships and kites)—S. Farnborough. 2nd Squadron (aeroplanes)—Montrose. 3rd Squadron (aeroplanes)— Salisbury Plain (Larkliill). ■lth Squadron (aeroplanes)—S. Farnborough. sth, 6th., 7th, and Bth Squadrons (aeroplanes)— Not yet formed. The airship squadron has three branches cl' work entrusted to it. It contains tho organisation which was previously tho balooning section of tho Royal Engineers and experiments with free balloons. It has a kite section with, at present, two (lights of military kites with which experiments nro taking place. Only tho other day an otlicev and two men ascended to a height of 2000 feet. iu one of lhe;o sets of kites. Finally, i't contains the tlireo airships which aro at present our effective dirigible force. These aro the Beta, tho Gamma, and the Delta, all tlireo small airships designed for manoeuvring with troops and for strategical reconnaissance, but. not meant for longdistance flights away from their base.

Plaiu (Larkhill). •Xtli Squadron (aeroplanes)—S. \Farnborough. sth, 6th. "

Tlio particulars of tho Delta, which has been most recently built, arc as follow :— It has a gas vessel of ISO,OOO cubic feet capacity, two engines of a joint power of 210 liorsc-jpower, capable of' propelling the ship 41 inilca per hour, and a ca» 28 feet long, which carries wireless apparatus. Experiments, lmvo proved it possible io ascend at tlio rat© of 1000 feet in. two minutes and to attain an altitude, ut its normal capacity, of over 5000 feet. Its speed compares favourably with tlio German airships, rigid and non-rigid, but of course its dimensions and its lifting power are very much less. It is, however, to bo observed that tho country round Farnborough, and indeed England generally, is quite unsuitable for tho manoeuvring of large rigid, vessels, and that for our purposes this small type of airship is probably in every way more satisfactory. Tlio array aircraft factory is handicapped for luck of funds, but if reasonable provision were made in tlio Estimates, specifically for dirigible work, thero is no doubt that we can produce a fleet of airships more suitable for our military conditions than any imitations of foreign types would be.

Aeroplanes, As will be observed from the table, only three of tho aeroplane squadrons! aro are at present constituted. The completed schemo will provide for seven aeroplane squadrons of twelve machines each—that is to say, a total of eightyfour military aeroplanes, each equipped with its pilot and observer. Of the squadrons at present constituted ono is on Salisbury Plain (No. 3), one has recently been removed to Montrose (No. 2), and No. i is attached to the headquarters of the military wing at Farnborough. Tho Salisbury Plain headquarters have recently been {shifted to tho main military depot at Bulford Camp. Tho Montrose squadron is not yet quite at full strength. It is commanded by Major Burke, ono of the five squadron commanders in the R.F.C., and lias one flight commander and five flying officers attached,. as well as the necessary complement of air mechanics. Tho other two squadrons aro practically at full strength. Already a certain measure of uniformity has been attained in the machines used by tho various squadrons. Tho Montrose squadron is equipped at present with three B.E. biplanes and three Maurice Farmans. Four monoplanes have also been sent north, and very shortly, so far as material is concerned, tho squadron will bo at its full strength. No. 3 Squadron has also its complement of. B.E.'s and Mauricc Farmans, with, in addition, machines manufactured by tho Avro Company. No. 4 Squadron contains two Cody machines, on which, however, no flying oflicer has sn far done much, and a number of Breguet biplanes and of B.E. machines. In each case there are a certain number of monoplanes attached. No monoplane flying, however, has been done siuco September last, and a good deal of overhauling will be necessary boforo it is recommenced. It will be seen from theso paVticulars that the army is concentrating itself on certain types of acroplano which have been proved particularly efficient for military purposes. Enormous activity has taken place lately in the purchase and delivery of aeroplane?, and scarcely a. day passes without tho delivery of some new machine at Farnborough or Salisbury Plain. It may be safely said that the number of effective military aeroplanes is very much in excess of tho estimates so far given in the press on tho subject. A London newspaper recently set down 23 as the number belonging to the military wing. If we include the machines used for instruction at the Central Flying School, 100 would bo very much nearer the mark. Of tho B.E. type alone, which is the Government's own design, 30 are either delivered o" on order for immediate delivery, besides which the military wing possessed (at the last definite information available), 14 Avro?, two Codys, 'and a considerable number (the figures cannot be given) of Breguets and Maurice Farmans. The Naval Wing, The ilaval wing of the Royal Flying Corps is divided into two sections—ail aeroplane section, which is under the command of Commander Sampson, (lie well-known airman, and which has had its headquarters at Eastehureh, in .the Isle of Sheppey, and an ail -hip seel ion, which, fur Ike cuuvcuieuco of jjrosimily

to the Royal Aircraft Factory, has been based on Farnborough. The airship section at present possesses one experimental airship of the Willows type, and a number of free balloons. In addition, a Parscval dirigible has been ordered from Germany and will be delivered in the course of t:lie next three weeks, and Messrs. Vickers, the Admiralty contractors, have acquired tho right to build this type of airship in this country. It is also rumoured tlint tho right has been acquired to build tiie Schutto-Lanz rigid airship, but this is unconfirmed.

Sinco tho accident to the naval airship No. 1 no further experiments, so far ns is publicly known, lmvo taken placo with airships of tho Zeppelin type. Tho forthcoming Naval Estimates will disclose a very greatly increased activity on this side oi l naval aerial work.

The neroplane section of the naval wing, which is based at Eastchurch, in the Isle of Sheppey, is under the general direction of Commander Samson himself. Unlike the AVor Oilice, the Admiralty publishes no details either of the disposition of its neroplanes or pilots or as to the number of machines purchased or on order. It would be contrary to tho public interest to disclose any information one might have 011 these matters, but a few quito general points may bo staled. In the first place, as to machines, it is understood that the Admiralty possess not only a number of short hydro-aero-planes of 'high power and with a range of from 100 to 500 miles of flight, but that they have a very large number of machines 011 order, and that within the present year thero has been a constant stream of deliveries both of monoplanes and biplanes and of machines intended to rise from the water and from the land. T'Uo ban on monoplanes issued •by the War Office in September last was not copied in the navy, and monoplane flying has been going on continuously botli in tho water and land types withont mishap of any kind'. The Admiralty, too, unlike the War Office, are extending their purchases over a very wide range of types. It is their intention to supplepient tho baso nt Eastchurch by a series of naval aeroplane stations extending all along tho coast from Portsmouth to tho Orkneys. One of these 011 the Islo of Grain, wliUh commands tho estuaries both of tho Thames and the llodway, is already in full working ordo-, and thero are slieds already built at Harwich, ClecthoTpes, and the Firth of Forth.

• Personnel. Even from tho details which have been given, and which, it must bo remembered, are rather an under than an overstatement of our strong-til in material, its 1 will bo obvious that so far as aeroplanes aro concerned ■wo aro by no means so behindhand as some of the critics of the Government think. Even moro striking aro tho figures of our strength in personnel. Thcro are, exclusive of those under training and of tho first and second classes of tho reserve, which include some very capable civilian pilots, fifty officers in tho military wing of the Royal Hying Corps and rather moro than half that number in the naval wing. But of tho men from which these are drawn there, is a very much larger number. This includes (1) officers and men of the army possessing the l!oyal Aero Club' flying certificate, (2)' naval officers and men with tho certificate, and (3) civilian airmen. The Koyal Aero Club had up to yesterday granted 170 certificates to officers and men of tho army. Six of them Jiavo been killed in flying accidents, so that tho total now arailab!o is IG4. In tho same period CO certificates have been granted to naval airmen, of whom one has been killed. Besides these, thero aro probably 50 civilian flyers who will bo available in tdmo of war. It cannot be pretended that all of tho military flying men are sufficiently competent to take their place in the aeroplane squadrons in the military wing either at present or in the near future. It is easy to gain a flying certificate without being by any means a highly skilled pilot. But tlieso 'represent tho material /that the Central Flying School possesses out of which to form a national air force. Iu tho case of the navy, considerable progress is boing mado in training bluejackets as pilots and probably the service cau command to-day moro competent flyers than appear even on tho lists which have been quoted.