OUR AIRMEN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 857, 8 November 1916, Page 2

OUR AIRMEN.

WHAT IS BEING DONE. GREAT DEEDS WITHOUT LIMELIGHT. London, miracles? Of course they never happen. But so rapid and extensive has been the expansion of Britain's military air service during the war that it suggests the miraculous declares Mr Edward Price Bell, the special correspondent of the "Chicago Daily News."' In (he mailer, indeed, there was a magician's wand: it was the wand of money and skill and labour. Men have had not only money, not only skill, but the will lo work to the verge of exhaustion.

Al the outbreak of Hie war Brilain's total lighting strength in (he air consisted of six squadrons of active aeroplanes—so in number—manned, approximately, by 250 officers and 1,000 men. To-day Britain counts her air squadrons by tens, her officers of the Royal Flying Corps by hundreds, her machines by thousands, and her air mechanics by lens of thousands.

Before (he war the military wing of (he aerial lighting forces of Britain regarded itself as fortunate if it obtained for its purpose an appropriation of £1,000,000. At the present the annual expenditure on the Fly-ing-Corps mounts into many millions of pounds. It is probable that (he country's total investment in military aircraft is not short of some £38,000,000 or £40,000,000. It may he very considerably more.

From 7 Rooms to 375

11l August 1914 the Royal Flying Corps found an adequate home in six or seven rooms in the War Office building in Whitehall. The rooms for officer occupancy were three or four, and those for the clerical staff two or three. Now the Royal Flying Corps occupies an immense building of its own, formerly De Keyser's Royal Hotel, Blackfriars. This structure contains "375 rooms, and the Corps continues rapidly to grow. In lhc earliest days of the war, without a day's loss of time, lhc authorities decided upon an immediate 500 per cent, expansion. "At (he start of the war we were in advance of the Germans in the air," said an able officer of the Corps lo myself. "About a year later the Germans, with their great organising and constructive power, got somewhat ahead of us—at least equalised the position. Almost immediately, however, we surpassed them once more; and ever since we have been superior to them in the air on the West front. All this talk about our inferiority to the enemy in the air is nonsense. Unsurpassable Efficiency.

"Of course, the Germans have thrown up a few genius pilots such as Iminclniann, now dead, and Boelcke.

"Even Immelniann finally was. vanquished by our boy McCubbin. I Our policy is not lo advertise partial- j; lar men—not to ' star' anybody. Our ~ belief is that while we have not I produced an Immelniann, a Boelcke, j we have produced unsurpassable I efficient fighting men uniformly. |' Many of our men have brought down I five, six, or seven opponents, and we j have not turned the limelight upon j them. |l

" Man for man we undoubtedly are j masters of the air on the West front.! This fact I attribute to the mental j and physical training we give our I boys in England. We develop spirit, originality, initiative, and nerve.

" Our youngest pilots have done I wonderfully well. They learn quick-! ly, arc intensely keen, have great I alertness of mind, act instinctively.! We have found almost universally that men approaching forty, unless ! exceptions, have about reached the j age limit for this business. Problem of Stability Solved. I

"We gel our best pilots from the ! class of man that follows hounds , well over stilfish country, that can ! sail a boat close to the wind, that | has a fondness for adventure and for speed, and that has the sort of - will ! power which counts in rowing races and in long-distance running. Of course, we have many instances of j shattered and lost nerve. It is not I every man, however promising, who ■ has the sternness of quality—what one may call the moral fortitude— I to endure the strain of deadly confiiets in the air."

British aeroplanes are now inher-' ently stable. That is lo say, the engi- j peers have solved the problem of automatic stability. The machine! may lose its equilibrium, but il speed- ; ily rights itself automatically. j German machines operating al' night land by means of underground illumination which defines a large binding area. It is supposed thai this illumination is accomplished by! means of electric light under glass, j The British, now doing much flying; al night, land by means of the light of flares made from petrol in buckets placed in different positions about the aerodromes. The light is strong and has a peculiar colour, which enables the Hying men to distinguish' between the aerodrome lights and ! others. j

Measures Against Zeppelins. Before the war British measures i

and machinery for meeting Zeppelins in the air compared with the measures and machinery of the present moment as chalk to cheese. At the beginning the British lacked experience in night Hying. They also lacked proper facilities for landing in the dark. Now British flying men are thoroughly experienced night flyers, and have satisfactory arrangements for landing. Moreover, their machines are equipped with very effective guns. On their more recent visits the Zeppelins have heen given so hot a time that they are believed not greatly to relish future efforts in this direction.

Among the wonderful things accomplished by British aeroplanes during the war is that of dropping 100,0001bs. of food into General Townshehd's camp at Kut. This operation was attended by great danger, and a considerable number of men was lost. The day of the British flying man in the Big Push is four to eight hours. In other words, he is in the air every day between four and eight hours, constantly under fire. Ordinarily along the British front the dying men are in the air from two to three hours each day.

There have been cases of two or three British machines accepting battle with as many as 20 Fokkers. It is believed by the British that the Germans have more ground accidents than do the British, on account of the fact that the German machines land abruptly. Many arc the instances of British airmen chasing German machines to the ground, and firing upon them from a height of 50ft. From this level they shoot at the Germans as the latter scramble out of their machines. They even land and fight with the enemy on the ground. There are numerous exciting stories of wild chases in the fields.

During one period of two months on the Western front, though the weather was almost uniformly had, and the machines suffered from constant exposure, there were only 13 days on which reconnaissances were not made from the air. During these two months British flyers covered a distance of approximately 100,000 miles. Up to the present.British Hying men on the Western front must have flown entirely over the enemy's lines much more than a million miles. British aeroplanes have been known lo continue Iheir work when riddled by 300 bullets. Much flying is at low altitudes, but reconnaissances are made from a height of 8,000 or 10,000 ft., where shrapnel hits the machine frequently, often in vital spots.