FIRING FROM THE AIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 5 (Supplement)

FIRING FROM THE AIR.

TESTS WITH NEW _ GUN* Fboji the public as well as from the military, point of view some; tests'' of firing from mid-air, . which were carried, out recently at Bisley by the Birmingham "Small Arms Company, proved '. of ' extraordinary interest. They were also highly successful.' It is now known that it is possible to fire a rapid succession of shots from an aeroplane in flight, arid to hit a 30ft target from a height of 500 ft eleven out of fourteen times. Of course, firing from an aeroplane is not. altogether new. The military authorities are understood to have been privately testing its practicability for some time past. On that occasion, however, people were able to see the thing done for themselves.

The object of the experiments was:to show' the use of a new gun, the invention of Colonel I. N. Lewis (United States : Army, retired, who directed the. proceedings), and known as . the Lewis Aircooled Machine Gun," which J it is claimed, supplies the need of a weapon of precision. possessing i the mobility •of the' rifle with something of the' deadliness • of the field gun. The army' flying authorities are, it is said, now experimenting with such a weapon adaptable . for firing! from! aeroplanes, which weighs some 3001b. The; Lewis Automatic Machine ' Gun ' has a weight of - only 26$lb. ' '■' ' " ">

The weapon was fixed to a 50-b.p. Gra-hame-White . biplane, piloted' by' Mr. Marcus D. Manton. Lieutenant Stellingwerf, of the Belgian Army, acted as gunner. Together with his gun, he occupied a seat ' beneath the pilot and ' under the lower plane. At, 11.45 a.m. .'the' machine rose in. the air over. Stickledowtußange, under gusty, and even dangerous, ; conditions, 1 and, from a height of some 500f* and at an agle of about 50deg.,-the gunner hit a white 30ft-square target eleven times out of fourteen shot fired? in-rapid succession. In the afternoon: a / second ascent was made, when, from a ■similar height and angle, ' the gunner fired- -a magazine round of forty-seven cartridges, making eleven hits.

Describing the experience Mr.-. Manton, the pilot, speaking for ..the .gunner and himself, said :— '

"We were, as you 6aw, badly rocked about in a high, and variable wind, and had to descend. At the second attempt, although still flying under the same gusty conditions, Lieutenant Stellingwerf had no difficulty in manipulating and firing the gun, and neither of us felt any recoil. I do not think that the firing of the gun affected the stability of the biplane in the least. In the ordinary way we had arranged an electric signal apparatus of lights, but this got broken before we started, so Lieutenant Stellingwerf had to direct me by pulling my jacket. On the afternoon flight also --we experienced no recoil from the fifing of the gun." In the interval between the air flight experiment*, the Lewis gun was put to satisfactory tests at 200 and 500- yards range. In the rapidity tests at the latter distance Mr. Wykes "hit the target 282 out of 470 shots, many of .them being bull's-eyes. Various British and foreign officers subsequently fired with the gun. The principle features of the weapon are claimed to be its simDlicitv of design, its light weight (26ilb), its-rapidity of firing (normal 500 rounds per minute), the absence of appreciable recoil, and the fact that the air-cooling is so Effective that the gun may be fired continuously without over-heating.