The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, OCT. 15, 1910. PROGRESS OF FLYING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14325, 15 October 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. SATURDAY, OCT. 15, 1910. PROGRESS OF FLYING.

Although tlie successes of the airmen have been purchased at a considerable expense of life and limb, it is plain that every month increases the degree of man's command of this unstable eleThe feat of Mr Moisant in carrying a passenger across the | British Channel on his Blej riot monoplane, and, what is i more remarkable, steering hirn- ! self by compass over a. sea. and land he had never seen before, is noted by the '' Spectator '' as one of the most significant of recent triumphs. Previously it had always been found that the needle of the compass darted about incessantly owing to the vibration set up by the engine. Mr Moisant put his needle in glycerine, and successfully steered himself straight to his mark. His performance indicates that the aeronaut need no longer be familiar with the land marks which he passes over in order to direct his flight. Signals by white flags and_ so forth may be employed again for special reasons, but they will never be absolutely necessary. Mr Moisant's discovery will do much to enhance the value of the aeroplane for the purposes of military scouting. The "Spectator" finds the most remarkable fact in the progress of aeronautics in the last few weeks to be the proof that flight is neither an acrobatic feat nor a tour de force in mechanical skill and knowledge. " When aeroplanes were being used by half-a-dozen men of quite exceptional dexterity and daring, most of us were content to look on without feeling that iba. J?Jisu3g§f bors ™"-h r -

lation to our own lives. The thing seemed as muck apart from us as Blondiu's walking on Hie high rope or the descent of Mr Spencer by a parachute. Now we must contemplate the possibility that within a few years some friend will alight at our front door in an aeroplane and ask us if we care to come for a fly for a couple of hours. The necessity of deciding whether to fly or not lies ahead of all who have not, let u.s say, passed middle age." This may seem to be a far-fetched conclusion, but it is justified by the successes of fliers who are pure amateurs in the art at Home. There is no doubt that the new science will cause a great deal more study to be given in future to the character of winds, the direction and nature of the main air-currents, and the effect on them of the configuration of the land. An interesting speculation is suggested by a belief of Mr Moisant that flying in England is immeasurably more difficult than flying on the Continent, owing to the variety of air currents. If this is so it seems reasonable to suppose that British airmen may receive a sterner framing than their European rivals, and that, if ever the aerial navies "grapple in the central blue," they may possess the same advantage of superior skill as compared wjth their opponents, which British sailors owed to the insularity of their country in the days of the "wooden walls."- It is satisfactory to learn from the 'Spectator" that the Admiralty and War Office are taking thorough measures to increase the present knowledge of tho conditions of aerial flight.