AIRMEN AS SCOUTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXII, 6 May 1912, Page 3

AIRMEN AS SCOUTS.

The recent announcement that the Admiralty is taking steps to encourage the construction of hydro-aeroplanes was received with satisfaction by people who have watched the development of the flying machine. The peculiarity of the hydro-aeroplane is that it can rest securely on the surface of the sea except in very rough weather. In place of the wheels that carry the ordinary monoplane or biplane it has floats, in the form of aluminium cylinders. It can easily be equipped ' with light wheels in addition, so that it may be equally at home on the land, on the water or in the air. The most successful type is the Curtiss, which has attained a speed of sixty miles an hour in the air and fifty miles over the sea. Piloting one of these machines, Paulhan, the hero of the London to Manchester air-race, flew on March 1 from Juan-les-Pins to Nice, alighting on his way in the Mediterranean. He returned to his headquarters at Juan-les-Pins and several times descended to the sea and ro:si3 again. He declares that during the summer he will fly from Calais, alight in the Channel, rise again and descend finally on the Thames in London. Two British naval officers Commander Schwann and Lieutenant Longmore have made successful journeys in biplanes, and the Admiralty proposes to form an aviation corps and secure a number of hydro-aeroplanes for use in connection with the fleets. The machines will be able to render enormous assistance to a squadron at sea. They can rush forward for twenty or thirty miles and rise to a height of several thousand feet, thus commanding a view of a vast stretch of ocean and possibly sighting an enemy whose presence could not be detected by the ordinary scouts. Having secured the desired information, they can return to the battleships with their news or j:>erhaps communicate direct with the flagship by means of wireless telegraphy. The hydro-aeroplane is expected to be a very valuable adjunct fco coastal defence. It probably will be used in connection with the torpedo-boat squadrons, which will provide it with fuel and an occasional change of pilot. The makers of armaments are preparing already to meet the new danger by building special guns for attacking flying machines in the air.