THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, MAY 23, 1910. THE KINGDOM OF THE AIR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10049, 23 May 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, MAY 23, 1910. THE KINGDOM OF THE AIR.

Apart from the possibilities of endowing the aeroplane with great stability under all conditions, there is naueh speculation going on just now both in England and on the Continent as to how far it can be made to sustain loads. Already Farman has carried three passengers in safety over a distance, and if this can be done there seems to be no ieason why 1 machines should not be built with much greater lifting power. It has yet to be proved, however, that large increase in size would not intensify the difficulties of control. But were the development not to proceed beyond the point at which it at present stands, the aeroplane is established as an instrument of exciting sport, as an instrument again for the carriage of light.freight; as, for instance, mails under certain conditions, and as a military scout. For military purposes there seems no doubt as to its great usefulness, though it is not certain that it will become so all-important in war as some bold speculators have assumed. At the present time expert military opinion is disposed to ascribe the greater war value to the dirigible balloon, notwithstanding its bulk, expensiveness, and liability to disaster in rough weather. The essential points in the comparison have been put veiy clearly by a recent writer in the "Times." Apart from

the demonstrated capacity of diri- f gibles of the Zeppelin [type to carry J crews, guns, and a considerable sup- i ply of explosives; he draws attention | to the advantages they possess in being able to reach greater altitudes than has yet been possible for the aeroplanes, and to do so by direct movement in much quicker time than the aeroplane could wind its way up in a succession of spiral curves. In other words, it would be possible for the dirigible to keep beyond the | range of gunfire from the earth's sur-1 face. On the other hand, the fact that the aeroplane, as at present designed, can only remain aloft while it is in swift movement, restricts its possibilities as an offensive instrument, while at the same time detracting from its value for observation purposes. In all such comparisons, however, allowance must be made for the fact that the aeroplane as we now know it may be so greatly improved upon in the near future as to be capable of use in ways not at present contemplated. In the meantime it is interesting to observe that Germany has already a fleet of fourteen dirigibles in commission, with nine others under construction. France, we learn this week by cablegram, will shortly have fourteen. Britain, on the other hand, appears scarcely to have any, unless they are being built secretly. But it would seem that no country can now consider itself equipped for war unless it has at command both airships and aeroplanes.