THE AMERICAN AIR ARMADA.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1917, Page 2

THE AMERICAN AIR ARMADA.

"miS MEANS THAT NO GERMAN MACHINE CAN LISAVE THE GROUND'' .WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW l'i>: PHOTS LEARN THEIR WORK FOR THE GREATEST CAUSE OF IaBEKTY. London, Oct. 12. ''There is an army of airplanes moving against Germany that is so numerous that where the -French and British now have one machine there will be eight or ten, and' this will mean thai no German machine can leave the ground, that the ■German heavy artillery will have to iire toy guesswork, that every railroad and transport train behind lines that moves by -day witHjcSfcombed, thatj the air planes wiM establish a zone of desolation 'behind the^jerman.lines, and' that the planes will be in such, numbera. as to destroy utterly such cities as Bssen, Zeebrugge, and any other such points." Thus writes B. J. Headrick in the World's Work, of New York. He writes of-the coming American air amada, and of tho-traitting of-italieroic pilots. AJBPLANE WGKBS. "It will take thsee-or "four months, perhaps, to transform our automobilefactories and other estalbiistaents into airpkme- works, butonee tWe is done we can turn out the product *t aifcenoneous rafc. Since airplanes make awkward freight and take up-large shipping space, it might be weH torsend American worknien to France and esta&neh American factories there, and, as-suggested by the French Minister of War, we may make parts and send them abroad to be assemTiled, as Pond cans are sent to assembling stations all over the country. TBAJMNB FLYEKS. "The equally important work of train-. ing flyers 1b already under way. Fortunately, we caa.4md«plaoeßan theJQnitedStates where this training can go on all the time. Canada has already suggested that in tbe-wjnter>time>,her flyers; might receive their training' in this country. Itvis not .oiotikely that England and France may send*theirair recruits Ee*e for instruction. The final training of all flyeis, of will; take place in France near'the scene-of warfare. Tbaa country must be transformed' into'a huge 'recruiting ground >i or airplane service. R is the one thing which, above others, we must do and do quickly. "Speed, hurry! It'is ; the essence of -war and the vital thing^before.us. Every* month without the control of the air means at least lOOjOOOxasualties. Five months will kill off as many men as we are now preparing to train for our new army. Belay is akin to murder." ABOVE THIS MAP. " Another article in the World's Work gives some interesting information as to way in which airmen arc trained toi their dangerous work. "Probably the most interesting work done by an American *«ation*studcnt isthat performed in the miniature range. This gives the student that preliminary instruction in artiWery spotting which is. perhap»"the most useful service rendered by the airplane. On, a huge table in one of the science hatts is an immense" picture map of a section of Belgium. It shows the city of Ypres and all the surrounding country, including everv farmhouse, barn, country road, open field, river and pond. "In a gallery, about ten feet above thin map sit several of our future aviators. They are supposed to be in airplanes, six thousand feet in the air. The scale of the map is so graduated that, as they gaze down upon it, the terrain appears precisely as it would look wove these men actually flying in the air at that height. Their business is to locate exploding shells and wireless back to their own batterie»>the accuracies or inaccuracies of the aim. Atnd shells are actually exploding all the time on this miniature sketch of Belgian territory below them; not real shells, perhaps, but representations that convey a complete illusion. Under the map, which is of /paper, and therefore transparent to light, are located hundreds of little electric lrignt*ulbs. TO WIRELESS BACK. "The professor, by touching the appropriate button, can light Ms selected bulb the little flash appearing on the map giving a complete representation of an exploding shell. The apprentice airman in the gallery selects the German battery which his own men. are attempting to destroy. The professor touches off his imitation shells in close proximity to this battery—these are supposed to represent American attempts to reach the mark.

"As soon as the shell explodes, a tapping is heard up in the little gallery; ithe student is wirelessing to his friends, telling them how for ftev have come from hitting the object. "The wireless message may take -such cryptic form as telling the American bsttery that it is 'ten o'clock and three .Jrandred yards.' This may puzzle most people, but it locates precisely the spot where the shell lias fallen.

"For purposes of signalling the German battery is taken'as the centre of a clock, with twelve o'clock pointed perhaps due north. When the airman signals ten o'clock' this means that the 9lwll has exploded on an imaginary line which would represent the clock pointer Jit this direction. The 'three hundred yards' gives the distance between the exploding shell and the German battery. "The business of the student is to locate these exploding shells almost instantaneously. Unless he gains great '.proficiency hi a short time he has no future in the American air service." AN AVIATOR MUST KNOW THE STARS. Even astronomy plays her part in the war, and especially in the airman's flight in the great spaces of the sky. An aviator must know the stars—for they will guide him home. "The average college boy would groan at the prospect which faces students in the American Aviation Corps of having so extensive a curriculum rammed down his t'hroat in the short space of eight weeks. Only a visit to one of these aviation schools .gives a faint idea of the large amount" of information which will be found useful in piloting an airplane six thousand feet up in the sky. The professor of astronomy can give tin* prospective airman a thousand useful tips. He takes the candidate so far afield from the present war as the North Star, the Pleiades and (ho constellation Orion. "Why is a kii.iwledge of tin- staW-flnd the conslell.. 1 • valuable.t.' n,„ aviator? When , iiinks of it- '•-••""■■ an. y information conki serve a bk , a l purpose. One of the young men's forthcoining duties in France will be night flying, especially when on bomb droopinc

■excursions over the German lines. Then h"K C-nowledge of the stars will lead him safely hack from Germany to his own, lines. • ' ABOIIT tite wavs-of tiijb ah;. "The same professor gives many ci|uallv pertinent lectures on the behaviour of the upper air, which, at times, is very iperculiar. 'He places at either end of a long table two air blowers, one elevated somewhat higher than the other.\ Then in the middle of the table, lie two American flags, one likewise flying higher than ita companion. When the experiinentol winds are let loose, the students percieve how two flags, placed side by side, one slightly higher than the other, can blow in opposite directions. What shall -the aviator do when be suddenly drops from one of these air currents into ■the other? Practical airmen will tell Sysou this kind of a contretemps happens sbMc frequency. \

i "in tins same room the students also learn the theory of flight, illustrated,by a unique apparatus bearing certain resemblances to a miniature plane, and also receive essential instruction in photography, the compass and meteoro*°J3r-" In such ways are the coning hosts being trained. In six weeks the largest flying school in the world ,at Dayton, Ohio, was turned from the tranquil use ofnfifteen farmers into one of the best of 1 aviation camps.