SERIAL NAVIGATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 104, 23 October 1911, Page 5

SERIAL NAVIGATION.

THE AERO-HYDROPLANE. Ej Cable—Prcßs Association—Copyright. Received 22. 5.5 ]). m. New York, October 21. The aviator Robinson, in the course of his Minneapolis to New Orleans ilight, arrived at Rock Island. Illinois. His aero-hydroplane landed in the Mississippi waters and safely proceeded later.

THE AEROPLANE IN WARFARE. Speaking to a representative of the Paris Temps on the use of the aeroplane in naval warfare, Lieutenant Conneau ("Beaumont," ef Daily Mail air race fame) said that much nonsense had been talked about the question. "We must first get rid," he added, "at all events for the moment, of the idea of the aeroplane as a weapon of offence. 1 'inn th j height at which an aeroplane must k(ep in order to be practically out o. range, it is absolutely impossible to dvop a bomb on the target aimed at, even ii this were a battleship of the largest size. One might, perhaps, attempt night attacks, but then the great, difisemty for the, aeroplane, as for the torpedo-boat or the submarine, is to di.-eou; the enemy.

'"Hit only possible use for the aeroplane is that of scout, and this is already possible. The monoplane of today eat. 11 y into the wind —much better than the biplane—and permits of flights over I lie sea, where eddies are rare, even' in 'very fresh' winds. It is objected that it cannot take up a passenger; but for the information, inevitably very simple, which a scouting vessel has to collect—the position and number of the enemy's ships—is it 1 really necessary to have an observer as weil as a pilot? In my opinion, it is quite unnecessary. TRANSPORT QUESTION. "The aeroplane will naturally have to be carried on board a ship specially arranged for it. There is nothing very complicated about (hat. and a platform can lie easilv fixed on the deck of a cruiser: or. betler slill. of a liner, sufficient to allow the airman to start and alight. "As for its employment. 1 conceive that the aeroplane should be a sort of captive balloon—or. more precisely, a periscope. There can be no question, except in tlie «\s(> (if ail emergency, of sending the airman a hundred miles ahead. If amthing goes wrong, that is the end of the airman—a discouraging prospect, and besides, a useless risk. When it is desired to explore the horizon. the airmail will simply have (o rise as high as possible, almost on the spot—that is to say. without going more than four or five miles from his ship. If he perceives smoke or a vessel it is desirable to reconnoitre, (he ship, after having taken the airman back on board, will resume her course in the indicated direction. When a suitable distance has been traversed a fresh ascent will be' made, and fresh observations will he transmit ted liv wireless telegraphy. If by chance something goes wrong, if the airmail falls into the water, one lias merely to go and pick him up with him machine as one picks up a target. There is nothing Utopian in this; it is all perfectly simple.