THE NEW FLYING MACHINE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 273, 15 May 1912, Page 4

THE NEW FLYING MACHINE.

The art of aviation is, for practical purposes, only about five years old, but it has already attained a level of efficiency that its pioneers could hardly have conceived possible in so limited £ time (says the Auckland Star). It is an unfortunate commentary upon the nature of our boasted civilisation that ill the highest and best achievements of 'tflj.iee are so speedily utilised for naval ard militarypurposes, and are made sub"rv'ent to the one great purpose of dcs!ruction. •Ehis has been the fate of t'na balloon, the airship, the aeroplane, and now of the latest development in flying machines, the hydroplane. The advantages that this new device offers apparently are that it is much more s-taMe anil controllable than its predecessors, ord that it can rise equally well from water and from land. As an aut'Uiry in t'e great scheme of- naval drfen':e, the value of such a machine as was described in our cable colu.nus recently may well prove inestimable. Judging by the available evidence, 'here ]« no doubt about the reliability of the hydroplane or its devastating power. A machine that will enable aeronauts to rise unexpectedly out of the night from the sea, to swoop down upon their prey with high explosive bombs, and to descend to sea level again to escape detection in the darkness or the distance, evidently has almost incalculable possibilities before it. A certain dramatic interest is lent to the advent of the hydroplane by the King's offer to test its capabilities by a personal experience. If the naval authorities approve of this suggestion we can be. certain that the margin of risk is. in their opinion, practically negligible. But it is at least clear that ' in the hydroplane the British Admiralty has foifhd a weapon of offence and d«fenee that »ay prove to be of deadly efficacy in naval warfare and may easily serve to counter-balance that relative deficiency in aeronauts and airships which our naval experts have so long deplored.