WAR BALLOONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8539, 20 September 1907, Page 3

WAR BALLOONS.

BRITAIN NOT BEHIND. Although no English dirigible balloon has emulated the exploits of the French airship "La Patrie," it must not be supposed-that the War Office isAehind hand in this matter. But the chief hope of the British aerial navy lies not in the balloon, bat in the aeroplane —the machine which is heavier than air.

A great bulk such as "La Patrie" cannot travel at the best more than 24 mies an hour. An aeroplane of the same size could fly through the air at more than 100 miles an hour. At the Aldershot balloon tactory there are two designs of aeroplanes, but the one which is practically completed is buile on the principle of the Wright Brothers' aeroplane, that is to say, it is built on the "glider" principle. It is worked with a petroleum engine, and its speed will be at least 40 miles an hour. In about two months it is hoped that experiments will be made with it out of doors, but for the present it remains in the great shed, where the machinery is being tested. Only recently a curious accident occurred during one of these indoor experiments. It was desired, says the Daily Express, to test tne power of the engine, and for this purpose the machine was strongly anchored. But, when the engine strted, the pro • petlor shot suddenly from the shaft, smashed clean through the iron wall, and buried itself in the common outside.

The strictest secrecy is maintained among the workers in the camp. Men and women—for there are women making the balloons—take an oath not to divulge anything, and the walls of every building are placarded with the Official Secrets Act, 1889, which warns them that the penalty may be imprisonment for life, and warns those equally who incite the workers to betray a secret.