The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1925. FLYING HORNETS’ NESTS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 17 October 1925, Page 6

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1925. FLYING HORNETS ’ NESTS.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Jlangatoki, Kaponga, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley,' Mokoia, Whakamira, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road, and Ararata.

Readers of the school-books of last generation will recollect the old Gaelic fable of the test of strength and endurance in flight which resulted in the tiny wren being crowned the king of birds. At a great gathering of the feathered folk it was agreed! that the bird which could fly highest should be the ruler of the kingdom, and the prize was considered already to be in the claws of the eagle. 'But the fable relates the resourcefulness of the wren, which cunningly concealed itself in the feathers of the larger bird and then, at the moment the eagle had exhausted the last ounce of its strength in the mighty climb into the skies, popped out and fluttered a few feet higher to win the coveted crown. The experiments now being carried out at Pulham aerodrome, in England, with dirigibles as aeroplane carriers, although they are to decide no disputed question of sovereignty above the clouds, bear a strong resemblance to the situation 1 of the fable. The people of our New Zealand port towns enjoyed the spectacle, when the ships of the American Fleet drew near the coast a few weeks ago, of the flight of squadrons of herald ’planes, released from their mother ships with the fleet. And all who troubled to think about -it must have been struck with the new strength that is given to a naval arm. in the power to send ahead of it a flock, of spying eyes.. Equally valuable would it be to an attacking air force if it could carry ’planes as it were in the pouches of its airships. The Zeppelin raids on London are sufficiently fresh in the minds of the people for a proper understanding of the new development. Germany could not have Raided the English coast with aeroplanes —her base was too far distant. She did not make a huge success of raids by airship—the big craft were too easily held in view once the searchlights had picked them up, and too vulnerable. But the long preliminary flight was nothing to them. Think then, of the .advantage of being able to approach within twenty or thirty miles of London with attacking ’planes tucked safely beneath the bag of a dirigble, and then to release them for the actual bombing assault. Possibly the ’planes would not be able to hook up to their carriers again in the dark, and few of them might be able to fly right back to their own territory; but they could do the damage. It would be worth the cost of a dozen aeroplanes and the lives of their •complement if an enemy could blow St. Paul’s to pieces—that is assuming the enemies of the future to have equally barbarian ideas of warfare. This latest development in military aviation promises to unite the advantages of heavier-than-air and of lighter-than-air craft, and so to overcome the weaknesses of both types. Thrilling and spectacular though it may be, it is also intensely practical.