GREAT BRITAIN AWAKE,

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2027, 12 March 1907, Page 1

GREAT BRITAIN AWAKE,

It is a relief to know that Great Britain has no intention of letting her neighbors get the better of her in that aerial warfare which wo are told is to be possible before long. That ingenious romance by fi German professor, summarised in these columns last week, in which Germany subdues the world with her aerial warships, does not in the least alarm the British officers who are working at the conquest of the air. In fact, these experts ridicule the professor’s theory, and the Daily. Express, which is inclined to be alarmist, and does not lore the Government, says that a tour round the camp occupied by the balloon section of the army at Aldershot shows that there is god ground for this optimism, *‘lf a foreign Power were to launch an aerial- fleet against Great Britain to-morrow, the Express was tftld by an officer, “Great Britain would be able to meet it in the air.” For some time the British Government has been making experiments with a view to a, possible aerial war, and ararngements are being made for a home and an attacking forge c\f balloons, kites, and, aeroplanes. Nearly 500 moil arc being trained for aerial service. The commander of the hub loon section at Aldorsbot, Colonel Capper, says that an aerial fleet attached to the army is an absolute necessity if Great Britain is to maintain her position in the world, and predicts that in the future —pcrlmps in twenty years—airships will be so common that there will be legislation for them as there is now for motor oars. The Colonel’s only regret is that be lias not greater secrecy for experiments. The best photograph be has seen of bis work was published in a French paper, and he is naturally rather indignant, for if he took a photograph of experiments on the Continent, his camera would be smashed, and he himself thrown into prison. It is significant that an association has been formed to do for British progress in aerial warfare what the Navy League does for the navy. The association lor the Promotion of Flight hopes to stimulate interest in aeroplanes in England, and impress an the Government the necessity of keeping abreast of its rivals. It will also co-ordinate the experiments in aerial navigation of various inventors, and bring them so far as possible under cine control. It is not fcnpidcd as a commercial scheme, but to provide tbo.se most suitable to conduct experiments with sufficient funds* to, enable them to bring their experiments to a successful conclusion.:—Press.