AERONAUTICS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144198, 15 September 1913, Page 3

AERONAUTICS.

THE MIOHELIN CUP. AN AIRMAN’S PASTIME, BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. —COPYRIGHT. (Received Sept. 15, 8.20 a.m.) PARIS, Sept. 14. Foumey, who is competing for tho Michelin Cup for the greatest distance covered before the end of October, has covered 8032 miles in eighteen days, and hopes to complete 20,000 miles. He flies low in order to amuse himself by watching tho peasants and also motorcars racing with his machine. AN AUCKLAND FLIGHT. PER PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, September 13. Two young engineers named Sandford and’ Miller, who have devoted most of tho past year to work in the perfection of a flying machine, on Saturday afternoon saw their efforts culminated in success, a magnificent flight being made over a distance of, three miles. A fortnight ago the machine was successfully tried in a flight from Avondale towards New Lynn. On that occasion, after travelling a couple of miles, the aviator, Sandford, found that the engine of Ills machine was inclined to give trouble, and was compelled .to alight in a small held near New Lynn. On Saturday afternoon the machine was fully tuned up for another -attempt and at 5.25 o’clock, in tho presence of a small crowd of spectators, Sandford mounted his machine. Tho engine was set in motion, and with a short preliminary run across a small field, the biplane left tho ground and soared gracefully into tho air. , There was.au exciting moment for tho airman and for the spectators when the machine rose to negotiate a lino of tall trees which enclosed tho ground. It meant a quick ascent, and was a critical .tost for tho machine, but the obstacle was successfully cleared, and after that it was all plain sailing. ' Rising to a height of 300 feet, Sandford turned his machine right round until ho faced Ids destination, Avondale. Then, he soared back over tho heads of iho waiting crowd at tho starting place. The airman made a straight flight for the racecourse. The three miles’ journey was negotiated in ss many minutes, and volplaning easily and gracefully, tho machine was brought to earth without trouble of any kind. AIRSHIPS AS FIGHTERSTHEIR POWERS AND DEFECTS.

THE DROPPING OF EXPLOSIVES.

Aircraft, especially .in their warlike aspect:, have been so prominent in the public eye during tho past few days that all sorts of ideas as to their powers are prevalent. The Scientific American publishes an interesting article on the offensive powers of tho dirigible. Tho aspect of a huge rigid airship of tho Zeppelin type, 500 ft, m length, of 25,000 cubic meters capacity, capable (as they soon will be) of attaining a speed of -70 miles per hour, carrying machine gnus, both in the cars below tho envelope and on a platform on top, and transporting a load of 8 to 10 tons, with a range of action of 3000 miles, and implying tho menace of tho. release of half a ton or more of explosives at ono “drop” on dock gate, arsenal, or warship, is extremely formidable. When one considers that the dirigible can travel at night, and hover silently with stopped engines over tho target which it is intended to destroy,'the menace is more serious still. There is, however, another sido to the question. In the first place these largo airships aro very awkward to handle near tho ground, and onco aloft must keep there until they can return to their Special shod. They cannot rido out a storm at but must either try to drivo through it on their return from a voyage, which is a risky proceeding if the wind is contrary* or they must drift and lose ground and be driven far away, from their shelter. Their supply of fuel is limited, so that in either case they may havo to uso it up, and onco it is exhausted they aro doomed to destruction. If they carry explosives they must reduce their fuel reserve. . j Secondly, the airship, as an ongino of war, and not merely amieans of reconnaissance, has yet to prove its value. Mr, Hudson Maxim declared somo years ago in a lecture to the Brooklyn Aeronautical Association that a. high explosive which should bo so powerful and destructive when employed in aerial bombs as to fulfil tho expectations and predictions of tho scaremongers, could not bo made; even dynamite to do much damage required to be confined. Tho 1 destructive. power of shells and torpedoes is undoubtedly enormous—always provided that tho conditions nr© favourable, but never so great as- the average man supposes, especially if ho has boon through a short course of blood-curdling aerial fiction. Tho effects of tho battering of modern heavy naval on a battleship and its crew, as described by eyo-witncsscs on board Russian vessels in the RussoJapanese war, arc impressive to a ..degree, but tho shells in such a case arc directed with enormous propulsive force from rifled guns against solidly resistant-structures of'wood and metal, not merely dropped from a considerable height to'the earth, among buildings.

Experiments with dropped livo shells and explosives have shown that while they might land within a remarkably short distance of the target, it was just that distance which made all the difference in the resulting; damage, for the effects of high explosives are very local and 'the momentum attained by any hoary object falling from a considerable height is such that it buries itself in tho ground, apd the force of the explosion caused by a percussion fuse is therebv neutralised. This does not imply that bombardment from aerial machines would be entirely ineffectual, but if wo may judge from the analogy of the results within the memory of man of artillery practice against towns and villages, it would not bo worth tho expenditure of time, energy and ammunition, nor the risk of life involved, 1 Ladysmith stood tho battering effects of twenty-odd thousand shells with practically no damage. Similar results attended the bombardment of tho forts round Pretoria, and lyddite shells, though they dug cavities and made openings in the walls of the Dervish fort outside Omdurman, did little or no real damage. In none of these cases was tho bombardment a factor compelling tho surrender of the garrison.

Thirdly, tho dirigible is notoriously a large and very vulnerable target for artillery, if it should descend to within SODOft. That it would he difficult to hit while going at full speed cannot bo doubted, but it cannot make use of its superiority over tbo aeroplane as a platform for bomb-dropping, unless' it

stops its engines and hovers vertical!} over the target at a height well within easy range pf the guns. It is difficult to believe that the most practised bomb-dropper could hit any of sthe smaller buildingsj otherwise, than by chance, from a height of 5000 to 6000 : foot, and the gunner would have a good opportunity of bringing down the air- ■ snip while it remained stationary. It may bo presumed, therefore, thaE the efforts of the dirigible would bo confined to reconnaissance by day . with , a view to marking down certain points <■ for attack by night. .. With a favouring ' wind and under cover of darkness the pilot would subsequently endeavour to place himself in a position to drift silently, with stopped engines, until approximately over the chosen target, the bearings of which would have been ascertained by reference to the map, aided possibly by espionage during peace and checked by previous reconnaissance. The bomb-dropper would then employ the searchlight turned on at intervals, and having located tho position would drop his bomb, and tho airship would cast out ballast and use engines and planes in order to rise quickly and to get out of i, artillery range and away from the scene of action. By this time, of course, tho alarm having been given, the enemy’s searchlights would have been sweeping the sky and might or might not pick up I 1 the aerial intruder. Until recently it .was considered a matter of difficulty to do so, but the French, in conducting searchlight experiments to trace the whereabouts of tho Adjutant Vinccnot just before the liuncvillo incident, appear to have found it a comparatively ’ simple matter. p...-. . d vi;|;;; !