AIRCRAFT IN THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2969, 5 January 1917, Page 6

AIRCRAFT IN THE WAR

AEROPLANE AND AIRSHIP RAIDS V THE FUTURE OF FLYING □ (By the Aviation .Correspondent of tho London "Observer.") S 'l'lie visits of solitary hostilo ai:roplanes to tno Sout : li-J!i»»t of Jingland f ana the Thames Jiistuary are obviously - reconnaissance trips; tile enemy cannot, - pretend that any serious damage is done. Last Sunday's raider was de--1 strayed during his return journey, 'llio 1 one uiat came on the following day i was flying at such a height that he i could not have sccured any important r information. -If tno enemy liad any o lurtiicr intentions tliey nave not yet 0 been manifested, Possibly the scoiit '• reported adversely. It is an opportune ' moment to repeat tho reminder that t bur own airmen are frequently seen t over German territory, and to far more • purpose. 1 \\ u know from experience that cold 1 ■ weather, provided the times are favourable, does not prevent Zeppelin 1 raids. One reason is that the motors s can be rendered immune from the ins terfcrence of frost. As to tho lifting " power of tho gas, ifc is increased by !1 low temperature provided! there be no J violent lall of temperature during lliglit. J On that score the winter is favourable, • there being a smaller temperature decline with altitude at; this season. As 3 to tho ollicers and ,crew, they can be 3 protected against extreme cold. An "aviation expert" is reported\by 1 a contemporary to have said: "lire ■ temperature at an altitude of from ' 8000 to 10,000 feot is uniformly cold 5 all the year round, and in the coldest } month of the year th? temperature 'up- • stairs' is the same either on a warm • ill- cold day on earth." : That is not tho case. To arrive at ' the level of uniform seasonal tempera- • ture it would bo necessary to ascend ' to tremendous and at present unattain- ! able altitudes. According to Gold and I lianvood (British Association report, 1909) at a height of 3 kilometres (9810 l'eet), the difference in tomperaturo between January aiid July is about 9.S Centigrade (about 17.6 F.), whereas on the ground tno difference is about 21.9 Centigrade (39.4 F.). Even at 5 kilometres (16,400 feet) the difference is 8.6 C. (15.4 F.). At thrice 5 kilometres the difference between Januarv and ' July is 9.1 0. (10.4 F.). U.S.A. and the Colonies. In attempting ta forecast the peace future of flying America must be into very serious consideration; Europe might, m a moment of ignoble >ianic, adopt a repressive policy towards aviation —more drastic than tho mere licensing of pilots and the regulation of, aerial navigation. This policy—and tho the writer would again sound tho warning—would take the form of the retention ou one pretext and another of present war restrictions. To avert it we must liavo intelligent statesmanship. The public must never be allowed to forget hoiv Germany succeeded in developing the only ftrstclass airship the best aoro-motor, and tho biggest aoroplane fleet; it was.by the encouragement of private experiment and industry. There is a lesson nearer home: throughout the early part of tho war tho Royal Naval Air Service had the best and' widest' choico of machines simply because they were not tied to tho apron strings of the R.A.F. Hie War Office aeronautical department won through only as ifc was forced, under the exigencies of war, to go further afield than the R.A.F. Across the Atlantic. Apart from Jlie invaluable work of early investigators, Ohanute, Wenhani, M'tiurdy, Curtiss, the Wright Brothers', Montgomery, and others, America has played a disappointing part in tho development of flying. In this direction, as in some others, she has exhibited an uninspiring side ■ of democracy that offers a glaring contrast with, for example, the French democracy. But the moment has arrived for a great change; although so jejune, and futile, and blatant are some recent activities of American aeronauts and aeronautical interests that it needs ! the eye of perception to see tho better time that is at hand. America will not subscribe to proposals for prohibition, or for unreasonable repression. And America has her own problems of industry, transport, politics, and war to consider ; and the restless energy of her people is another factor in tho situation. Tho Atlantic will bo crossed by aeroplane,. and that soon. Is it to bo < imagined that Great Britain will for- ; bid this, or, after it is accomplished, i eay "Thus far but no further" P There 1 is scarcely any limit to the folly of <

f nations; but wo may be sure that eves' if England and Jim-ope prohibited further flying, tho Americans would not como into liiiOj any more than will Australia and Africa and China. With regard to the crossing of the Atlantic, projects are already afloat, and tho autumn of 1917 or 191S is indicated as the probable date of the first successful attempt. The achievement will be ono of many factors introducing the big aeroplane as a commercial possibility. More about the development of big aeroplanes, as well o as tho demand that will ariso and bo met for small inexpensive craft, in another article; meanwhile, a woru about other United States and British y colonial aviation activities. ' g Mails by Air. The United States Post Oflicc Deo partment recently advertised for proy posals for carrying mails by aeroplanes. 0 Eight routes were indicated, the dist tances varying from 52 to 380 miles, y For example, the.route between Newd Bedford and Nantucket is .52 miles. t aud by aeroplanes it could be covered e in less than ail hour. By existing 1 methods it takes six hours. Maohines , carrying 5001b. of mail could be used „ up to the number required, and the fuel and oil for such a short journey I being a small item the project appeals . quite feasible. As to the longer ~ routes, intermediate landings would have to bo. made for fuel. ■ To take 3 another example, tlie route from Valdez to Fairbanks, Alaska, 358 miles, three = times a week throughout the year, is 1 to occupy two days. Penalties are 1 prescribed for non-fulfilment of con- • tract if the failure is the fault of the > contractor. The offer is not yet likely to be ac- ' cepted, although there is nothing' es- ! sentially impossible in the conditions. Some of the suggested services could ' bo started at once. As to the more ■ difficult ones, they are a hundred time:; i more probable than appeared the Lonl don-Manchester race project, which, ■ two years before it was actually ful- - filled, came in for the derision nf a i section of the London Press. The French showed what could bo 1 doue in colonial aviation by the regular services they inaugurated,jn Africa. 1 long before the war. Australia and Canada could profitably use aircraft for the linking up of widely separate posts, tlie connection of which by railway is at present not financially justifiable. One apprehends'difficulties in the coldest parts of Canada during the winter, but a seasonal interruption would not be a very serious drawback. Certainty of the Future. AH these projects are possible with' aircraft of tho present day; but the satisfactory introduction of the big machine driven by at least triplicate, power plant, and capable of non-stop journeys of, say, ten hours with a. heavy, useful load—even allowing nothing for any improvements in the way of clieaper power, which are confidently expected by engineers—and the place of aircraft in tho development of the colonies is assured. No more need be said on these points, but it remains only to consider the probable developments of the big machine, and at tho other end of the scale, of the small cheap aeroplane and facilities to fly it.