LONDON'S AERIAL DEFENCES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14586, 23 April 1918, Page 5

LONDON'S AERIAL DEFENCES.

COVER VAST AR^A-ANIVCJOST MIL--LIONSO^ BOXJNi)S;< s ■■■<-. .*.\

■■■■■: >■■-■■■■■•>. LONDO-Nr January 'B: - Flying at a speed loif" 80 td : i4o'!m:Hes ait houi 1 and at: a" height' 1 tf& 2000- tp 8000 feet -in am of:th6 latest Aii^d' 'fastest Britislt battleplanes^ ia correspondent inspected the dutet ail 1 " defences OjF-Loii-dom' -■'■ ?(•■■■•■•' ■'- --''•.•'.-;. :~w.i

Millions of" founds have 1 B6en sp'erit oiithem and an army is ctinstiahtly '^Miployed in manning and maintaining them. . - ■ - -•■ ' ■•■■ - - t

s A iflolor chv the corvespoiident to "somewhere in the Outskirts of*London,"'where it passed- through roads camoitflaged by shrubbery to a gre&t aerodrome, one of the finest, iu'England. ■- _ < •-, ■•..;■, •',-. " ~'\- ■•."•;■'"■ Upon the :party ; 's arrival. England's cr^ck daredevil :flyer\£Ut-6ii :fa This man, irho'looks'inore 'lifcd a'jneek, mild-mannered dry- goods cletfc' tjistn • a wizard of the air, put th^ machine through a series; of performances that mad© -even .some of v the Veteran 'flyers who watched from belowr - hold ttieir breath. Looping the loopi liose,' diving, banking,' ; volplaning '-•' \to r 'witjifh '" a 'fewfeet 1 of the earth kfidtljeii' pointing thb nose 'of the machine Skyward f<si* at express train sp%ed? -^ere^ But &' : fe^r of the riioves this pilbi weht thrfliigh with bis observer. A Wh«iilhe ctittne tadxrii the : corresporideht' ■was e taken^Tip f fn tlie «dme; macnihe, 'btft "^ith another' pilbt, fot*' a ride througlv 'the clbticis arid a bird's-eye ' Vifew r 6f ' the outer defences' of ■thi^baa-tictilarp^rt of "Ldndbii. >J: " ''' - Thfsiftabhhie Avas l^ 1 fighter^Thi^^e of %achiiie,;nVb'tintihg ; ' it. " s^iYdßrbfiisted iiia^Hine- gurii 1 1Vas i earnetl t)ie rebutatiph of' 1 bising'-- .p'efnajbfe I ' th^' ; ' most 'reli4ble the fighting pl^e8 I »turned.' : oiit by the British mahuf acturei : s. " ', r : ''. ', ■"; • ' v- ' TKe machine" l-ose t6i ; 8000 feet Iri'^teh minute's; !iH If s'tai-teri -bffHl# "gWundwith a, tremendous rush the instant lt ia #as l'eleasediv - 'As Hit ' 'ioiah sntobfchly,' higlier and higher,\the-Bej^sition ( -Mas father "of fchfcr, earth, onovirig'^aWriay: -Ironi. -the;^machine tliah" the niaclune irioving froiiii the eijrth. '? -There tiros ,arbrlßk^wihd--rf-fHe. pilot 'said it was. blowing- between twenty^five and thirty miles -ah hmlr^ and the . sky .was- lull 3 of fast-moving ;clofuds.. '-v. ''■" -.V "'}*:* r v.-*- v.;: :■' . •:'■■,' -. The' befit view> of things below 1 -was h4d .atr 2ooo feet. -" Aei^odiiome?' %ith batikplanes ev-ar^reSdyr for the German- rafders v could <be seenTdfttting !the landscape. Bi?i.tterjes ,nb ahti-'ifvircraf^-gviiis discerned' <htive ntfd there. *•■■.■>• •- •- r,' 'The fliglit -arduhd' the' 'outer '"city tr as thfed© at jtf\ - ."avera ge • , speed r of ' 'eighty mites : ari' hbur,; over factories and suburbe/ a great -arsenal, 'a faindus «6hool, ■an<ia J .towjrbßst khowrt ior-Sts American^ cbl6ny. • Up- aloft the ; Vveatlier was typical 6f the- Najv YbrTc autumnal' day. There was just a hint of frost on the rdof tops;' which' mside 1 them" 1 sliow up more plainly 11 than usual through the light mist. All was "quiet and peaceful in an area * which the' 'pl'eSencd "of " the Gothas would • in ' an instant I '- transform nito a w batibl&; i rblit,? •encif cldd ' by f the ban'iigo 'from' the' " aiiti-aii'craft guns UiDUsattd!i^f-*fecfc I>elonr." '" ' ': v ■?• '•■ r-';

.'After ;«ompiethtg tho circle ;.0f r fth» metrbjfolifiTvthte fighiiug 'plane? sl^fced'tiatok to ! earth At 140 iniles^ii: hbui*. * 'That's not reaHy'fasM'Vramarfced^he' pilot; rs In a'chial fighting r tfe ofteir have to f Mou 300 mills' tin hour, .and' the 'plane' ;c is bnilt'Ho fitand 1 that - speed .without, the slightest danger.'* > •:.■:.• ■■■'>}. .;.•; -l?. •■..'■