THE FLYING CORPS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1785, 25 June 1913, Page 8

THE FLYING CORPS.

/' . A DEFINITE MOVE.. , v BRITAIN'S 150 AEROPLANES. The arrival, of aeroplanes iit Sydney for the Australian defence forces, and tho definite steps taken in New Zealand also to make a beginning in aviation, direct attention to what is being accomplished in this department of warfare in England. - As a contemporary remarks, very few peoplo even in England realised) what progress ,was being made during lost year in tho aviation. . wing of tho .'British'army until' the Secretary ofi 'State 7 for War,' Colonel Seely, made his somewhat- sensational statement on' the point in introducing the British. Army Estimates '■ on March 18 last. The country was quito taken by 1 surprise by his .statement that no fewer than 101 aeroplanes were already possessed by the Royal Plying Corps, and that by May 1 tho number, of aeroplanes in, tho army; would have been increased to 148.

Of course, an entirely new organisation had to be invented for this new arm. Just as artillery is divided into batteries, so the aeroplanes are now divided . into "flights." "Each flight consists., of ..five aeroplanes; and three'&ights* are'brigaded together into a "squadron." To each squadron there are attached three spare aeroplanes; so that a squadron of .aeroplanes consists of 18 machines.. The 148 aeroplanes which British Army was. to possess by the.beginning of tli9 current month were divided into seven squadrons. Three or four of these squadrons had already, been _ stationed_ |at various points of vantage .in',the British Islea early in tho year, and all important points in the United Kingdom will probably before long be within the iange of ono station or another. The naval mar chines, which are hydro-aeroplanes, or "water-planes,", aro' separately organised ond stationed at tho ports. It is probable that although some 150 machines are now, possessed by the British army, these figures include'a proportion which would notbe'eohsidered altogether serviceable. At the same time the type of machine which • the British Army experimenters have evolved is Tinquestionably one of the-most serviceable in existence. Considering the miserable funds which the British War Office has been allotted in comparison with Foreign War Departments, they have been surprisingly successful in their experiments. There is no doubt that the biplane turned out by the Royal Aircraft Factory are as satisfactory as any in tho world. "K.A.F. aeroplane, mark 8E2," the biplano recently exhibited by the British Government factory at the. aeroplane show at Olympia, in London, is in some respects probably the most efficient machina in existence] It can fly from 40 to 70 miles an hour for i'j hours with two persons. It rises 1000 ft. in 2A minutes, a matter of geedt. importance .if "it lias to chase an :eneiny. • And the particular .machine exhibited had .carried a pilot and passenger to a height of 10,5G0ft. Most aeroplanes advertise their presence for miles-around'l>y tho portentous racket created by their unsileuced engines; but the engines of this machine are duly silenced—a very ..important advantage in war-time.

The reputation'of the British Army biplanes do3s not rest on conjecture, but on the actual solid work performed, by the machines. On Monday, March If, the new B.E. biplane in four tests, with tho wind against it, made an average speed of 91.4 miles an hour. It is claimed to have a remarkable range of speed—a most necessary .quality, ' because although it may bo a great advantage to move at 100 miles an hour when high in the air, it is likely to .cost the aviator his life if ho has to land' at anything lilco that speed in a narrow, field with a fenco at the end of it.

Every day,, winter ; and summer, on which flying is in any way feasible, numbers of officers are now being trained at tho flying school on Salisbury Plain. Close secrecy; is maintained as to most of tho performances and .experiments, and, as the Secretary for State said, "officers engaged in the dangerous business of flying have made it a. point of honour never to allow any of their performances to appear in the press." Two actual feats, howover, he: instanced, without giving names. One officer took out a machine in a galo blowing 57 miles an hour. Ho took out tho noroplano "with no one to know about this daHng act except tho Commandant, the time-Keeper3, and other oflicials. Whon tlie machine, facing tho wind, was let go, so violent wn.s the wind, that it rose perfectly straight into the air np to ,100 ft.; and then it took him 1G minutes to cover 400 yards!" On another occasion an officer, by way of experiment, took out a machine in such a gale tha 1 " it took him an hour and a quarter to reach a measured point 21 miles away. 110 then turned, and covered the return journey, with the wind, in 12 minutes—a speed of 115 miles an hour. On March 31, 1912, there wero 12 officers in tho Army who could fly. By tho middlo of March, 1913, thero were. 123.