Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1913. DEFENCE AND AVIATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 11 March 1913, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1913. DEFENCE AND AVIATION.

IT wil] be remembered that cables recently brought the news that statements to the effect that Great Britain's aeroplane fleet is inadequate have attracted widespread attention. A member of the flying corps established) in connection r with the British army directed attention to the fact that Great Britain had neither an aeroplane nor a dirigible that could cope with one of the German Zeppelin dirigibles. He pointed out further that the British anti-aircraft armaments icpnsisted of a few experimental qnick- ' firing guns, in the handling of which no one had yet been trained, and these were not provided with suitable shells. Following upon- this criticism came the announcement that theßritish Admiralty had ordered. 21 extra aeroplanes. A statement made in the House of Commons last month by the Secretary of War (Colonel Seely) showed that the "effective flying force" of the British army at present is only 26 aeroplanes. According to Mr. Grahame-White's estimate there are 500 military aeroplanes in hand or on order in France, and 200 to 250 in Germany. A serious crisis has been reached in the British aviation industry. At a time when every great Power is developing this latest and not least important military arm with the utmost possible rapidity and energy, at a time when the lessons of the Balkan war and of the operations in Tripoli are still fresh in the mind, aviation in Great Britain is stagnant. And stagnation means decay. , * * * » The French army at the end of .last f year possessed a completely equipped ,

fleet, of 400 aeroplanes, effective, ready lor instant mobilisation, and fit in every way to take the field. The German aerial forces take second place. Italy even, though its native aviation industry has but recently been horn, possesses 2CO aeroplanes, 011 a reasonable basis of computation. Moreover, in placing its recent heavy orders for military machines with foreign firms, the Italian Government has wisely stipulated, that all such machines shall be manufactured in Italy, thus equipping the country at once with an efficient aerial fleet and building up ut flourishing home industry. To examples such as these one may add those of Russia and Austria, both of which countries possess military aircraft in large numbers. "Contrast with this," said the aeronautical correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," in an article last month, "the aerial strength of Great Britain. Its efficient military aeroplanes, as the Secretary for War has himself stated in | the House of Commons, are less than 30. The navy owns a. few more machines of different and, for the greater part, experimental types. In any case, the total is insignificant as compared with the number of craft owned by foreign countries." * * ■» * An. energetic policy of construction, however, this writer goes on to point out, might succeed in filling this alarming deficiency, even though much time would necessarily have to elapse before it was completed. But energy is the very opposite to the course at present followed by the War Office. And the fruits of this policy of inaction are even now ripening. For the British aviation industry is dying. It is within his own personal knowledge, he says, that several aeroplane constructors are on 1 hepoint of closing their works. The reason

i.-; not far to seek. Boldly stated, it is the simple lack of Government orders. Meanwhile, the Royal Aircraft Factory is flourising apace. This State factory has produced an aeroplane which is unquestionably a good machine; but it is certainly more than doubtful whether it represents the highest type of the designer's and craftsman's skill, and even more doubtful whether it is of all others the one most suitable for military purposes*. The largest airship works in Germany—those' founded by Count Zeppelin on Lake Constance, at Friedrichshafen—have recently been considerably enlarged. The airship shed, which has just been reconstructed, now measures 630 feet in length (the largest Zeppelin dirigible in existence, it should, be noted, is only 525 feet long), and is capable of housing two dirigibles side by side, so that two airships can be constructed simultaneously. The lengthening of the shed, which formerly measured 590 feet; seems to forecast an increase in the size of future dirigibles. The whole works j have been extended. With' its improved j equipment, the firm is now able to turn I out eight dirigibles a year, each dirigible requiring three months to complete from the time the keel is laid. down. Two airships are at present under construction. The first, a new craft destined for the army, is ready for'its trials; the other is a third airship, to be known as the Sachsen. ordered by the German Airship Company for its passenger services.