THE PELORUS GUARDIAN and Miners’ Advocate. TUESDAY, MAY 15, 1917. MASTERY OF THE AIR.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 37, 15 May 1917, Page 4

THE PELORUS GUARDIAN and Miners’ Advocate. TUESDAY, MAY 15, 1917. MASTERY OF THE AIR.

One of the outstanding features of the war has been the extraordinary prot gross made in aviation. On the outbreak of hostilities ordinary machines were able to fly at only 40 to 60 miles an hour, and were unable to “hover" or maintain stability at a reduced speed. A recent visitor to Wellington was Mr Hill, a well-known Hendon instructor, who has come out to take control of the Aviation School at Christchurch. He describes the progress of aviation since the war began as extraordinary. . The latest British machines are now so stable that they will fly without any hand on the control. Air pockets, which were the terror of the pioneer types, are no longer feared by the present day aviator, and wind is of little consideration. When the Germans worked havoc with the Immelmann and the Fokker machines, the British replied with a superior “pusher" type of machine. But when it took the field the Germans sprang another surprise which beat it. Now all these models are obsolete, and the machines of to-day are enormously more capable of manoeuvring and rapid evolutions, and possess climbing powers which were not considered possible in the earlier days of flying. The French inventors have been scarcely less brilliant in perfecting machines that more than match the latest produced by Germany. Mr Hill considers that there is no doubt that British fliers have again asserted their superiority over the German, both in numbers and quality. The British fly literally in flocks nowadays, and operate far behind the enemy lines. They literally constitute the eyes of the army, and in an offensive direct the fire of the heavy artillery. Referring to a recent cable which stated that a special committee was set up in England to consider the utilisation of the army fliers after the war, Mr Hill considers that there are infinite possibilities of mail carriage and rapid transit now that machines are so reliable. Britain is already making big aeroplanes capable of carrying great weights and many passengers at high speed for long distances, which should solve many problems of rapid mail transit, and the pooling of ideas and stimulation of construction wh ch Ire war has brought about will have placed aviation on a totally different h'.sis to that before the war.