early military aircraft (1912)
TRANSCRIPT
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8/12/2019 Early Military Aircraft (1912)
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ALUE
try," "
Its
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pa
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as
a few year mo, whn Wilburrrilla the flrstof the bird-me- n,were lifting
air In flrat crudetlo what the
of the future would be. Theyofbattles In the
ofand byof fleet sir The
were scoffed at asbeen slnoe the world began, butdreams are
has not yet olimbed to the butthe and thebecome an
ofallgreats. Italy owes part of the success
In to the valueng menos scouts.
which has taken the leadinthe 'fourth arm' of
foundIn the great annual
mostlyon herIs rapidly fleets
Thisin the of
avier than air forhas used the
to on the bor-nd Is to train army andofficers in and to
offlrlnss no longer tos in the clouds. The
fleet ofParis and
has thslon of the Frenoh War
for such an, andthe are worked
ith as much asita on or sea. Theracenations in and
armies bids fair to beby the to
fleets,
OF AIRSHIPS IN WAR
4, K8&
Ires
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In aroas now as of thesea. Flying are likely to be-come, in the ofan weapon of offenceand defenoe.
As to whloh will be the moreor heavier air
that is a that will not be Anallysettled for a few years. Hoth haveuses. As soouta the have
their ItIs an fact.
When the Italian army onthe coast of and faoed
in the desert theoame really into Its own as a--
arm of service. ThoItalian aviators took the air,far into the located with easobodies of Turks and Arabs In distantoases, the afew bombs for moral effect and scuddedback with their Witha failure the Italians were able to knowin what move the enemy was
and weremade
It has not yet beenthe is as
as the as a means ofattack. A heavier than airwhich must fly or fall, can moroeasily its target: but it haslittletimetodirect itsbombs. On the other hand, a
canslowup,andevon hover,over Its pointofattack. Itcan carryagreater weight o fbombsand can dropa greater Itcan gaugo and a given altitudewith and can keepltsolf level and Its thuogMng a better for accurate
Tho is themore usefula ameans of arebeing now that can carry
'a dosaa men, but the greatc eaauy
y toDemonstrate the Practical Use of
Aeroplane a Military Weapon Nations
Arming Their Aerial Progress WithHydro-aeroplane- s in American Navy.
Wricht,themselveaunsteadily
their machines,dreamers Imagined
ed oloud. whirlingaeroplanes attaoklng mammoth
les, themselvea attackedons destroyers.ers dreamers
true.fare
aeroplane dirigibleIndispensable adjunct
militaryestablishments
campaigns Tripoli
nce,ping warfare,lready aeroplanes Indlapen--
manoeuvresany, relying Immensebles, assemblingoplanes. country, somewhat
recognizing possibilitiesmachine military
ses, nevertheless ma-chl- nisadvantage Mexican
preparingaviation acquire
numbers machines.Impossible Imagine
possibility
invading aeroplaneshoveringdropping tremendouslves seriously engsged
Department.resisting
troylng invadersprecision theoretical
land betweenbuildingbattleships
gmentingaWsd competition axes!
Aeroplanes military equipmentnecessary destroyerssquadronsopinion military experts,
important national
valuable,dirigibles than machines,
questiontheir
aeroplanesproved already superiority.
establisheddebouohed
Tripoli unknowndangers aeroplane
workable,p ra ct ic al m il it ar y
swoopedinterior,
mappe d c ount ry, dropped
reports. scarcely
advancemaking. Surprises ambushes
practicallyimpossible.demonstrated,
however, vwhother aeroplanevaluable dirigible
rnachino,swiftly
appraoohattaok.to dinchnrro
dirigible
weight.maintain
greater accuracydiminish vibration,
opportunity.shooting. dirigible
transport. Aeroplanesconstructed
Zeppelinsuenaaay
First the
Fleets
the
coming
Invasion
THE SUN,
5
IMS?
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tar
PHOTO
With France and Oermany In a spiritedcontest for the mastery of the air, withEngland rapidly preparing to back herdominion of the sea with a powerfulequipmentofair scouts, withItaly givingthe flrat aotual and practical demonstra-tion o f the uses of aeroplanes In warfare,It is especially interesting to summarizewhat the United States bos done and Isplanning to do in the use of the 'FourthArm."
The United States Government firstIntorcsted itselfIn aviation backin 1809,when Samuel P. Langlcy was conductinghis experiments on the Potomao River.But an unluoky serios ofaccidentsbroughtthe Langlcy experiments Into ridiculeand Congress refused to appropriatemoney for further trials. In December,107, after the Wrights hod proved thatflying was something no man could laughat, tho War Department advertised speci-fications for an aeroplane to be used inmilitaryservice.
Tho advertisement showed, a s h asbeen pointed out by Henry" Woodhouno,that the authorities at Washington luid athorough knowledge of the aeroplaneanda lucid conception ofIts pouslbllitloH.The Department wanted a machine thatcould bo quickly and easily assembled,
that would curry two persons, fly at least125 miles at a speed of more than thirty-si- x
miles nn hour and that should be de-signed to ascend in any country "thatmlKht bo encountered In Hold sorvloo.
The Wright brothers worn tho onlyones to submit a complota mnchlno andfulfil, the requirements, The first trials,made by Orvllle Wright at Fort Myer,1808, resulted In a record flight of1 hour14 minutes so seconds. The Wright ma-U- m
which. fuiOlkd ttooootUOou tai
SUNDAY, MARCH 17,
4Efe&u 3C
MS
1912.
($AN AlRhlF&CUTll
August, 1000, was the old type Wrightbiplane, which had a spread of 40 feet, a25 hoino-pow- motor, front elevntorand nkld.4 instead of wheels. Tlio flightsmado during tho teat ut Fort Myer In-cluded a flight of 1 hour ?0 minutes 30soconds nnd ono of 1 hour 23 minutes20 seconds with Lloul. Frank P. Lutimas pasongor.
The conditions set by tho United Rtntes(lovernmont In tho specification of 1007-10-
formed tho standard by which mostGovernments Judged aeroplanes
for military work until tho closeofMl, vbau tto Itemo mlUtary oou--
PROVED IN TRIPOLI
my,
R6NCH
?Horo BY
TO
FROM
5,
... V.SV1CK PHOTO j
petition took place. Sixteen Frenchconstructors, among thorn Blerlot, HenriFarman, Nlouport, Volsln and Puulhan,all oolobrated flying men, put forwurdthirty-fou- r machlnos, monoplanes nndbiplanes. The rcnult of tho comotltlonwent far to place tlio aeroplane firmlyas a noccssary branch of military
Speed had Increased to upward of 100miles an hour. It was shown that aitaeroplane was capable ofstarting fromheadquarters with two offlcera . andseventy-fiv- e pounds of explosives andfly to aoy potat vithla a radlua of I7t
ASRLCAN ARMYAEOPLftN ON THE
DROP BOMBSONftN ENEMYacfCNTinc,ftVlGRlCW
estub-llnlunon-
IN.AtBOPLAN&.
S6oRG GRA'NTHA'MBAN
irr4
23
ft v Wl
7m
miles nnd eitherdrop fifteen pound bombon vulnerable places, like military orcivil centres, arnenals or ships, or dyna-mit- o
bridges, railroads or bases of sup-plies. It was demonstrated that ma-chines with ono man could curry 300poumta of ammunition, provisions ormail nt high speed to any point withina radlui of 300 miles.
All of theso things convinced militaryexports that military taotlcs had beenrevolutionized; that where warring na-tions onoe depended solely on artillery,Infantry and cavalry, now another ammust bo, uaed. Biao that remarkable
II
LEVICK
competition aeroplanes have been con-structed spoedler, bigger, more dependa-ble. Theirradiusofactionhas Inoreased.They cancarry moro weight. More Impor-tant thnn this, army aviators have beendeveloped. at greatcoat of life, In Franceespecially, who have obtained firm andsure knowledge ofthe possibilitiesot thenew arm.
Theseexperimentshavehadgreatweightwith our Government. Spurred by theremarkable strides of European Govern-mentsIn building up Immense aeronautlofleet for military and naval uses theUnited State Government Is making seri-ous efforts to obtain a formidable corpsof aeroplanes for the army and navy.Tbore are ten such machines In servloeto-da- y in the Amerloan army and navy.Thearmyhas seven, the navy three.
The fact that England ha sixteenaero-planes already In service, has ordered111 and Is preparing to build 150 mote,and the fact that France will have atleast S50 machines In the air by July 1,1011, with the prospect of buying 800mors, has led the Washington authoritiesto make a determined fight In Congresstoobtain appropriations b y whloh a fleetof at least fifty aeroplanes may belaunched In the present year.
Since the Government purchased thefirst machine from the Wright brothersat a cost ofS23.000theSignal Corps, whichcontrols army , aviation, has bought
elevenother machines at prices rangingfrom $3,500 to 17,600. Aeroplanes havecheapened as factories multiplied. Ofthese five wore only lately ordered andare to be dellvored within the next twoor three montlis. Out ofan appropria-tion of $125,000 which was granted byCongress for aeronautlo work a balanceof $05,000 remains, with which three orfour other machines will probably bepurchased within the next few weeks.The larger part of this appropriation hasnecessarily been expended in conductingthearmyaviation school fortho trainingof army officers and enlisted men at College Parle, Md., In the summer and atAugusta, Ga.. In the winter. The machines which went to Augusta last October will bo returned North on April 1,when tho fivenow machines will be addedastheyare delivered.
The navy, which hesitated to take upaviationuntilitspracticability was clearlydemonstratedby thearmy, Is now makingconsiderable progress with the limitedmeans provided. Ofita three machinesone Is a hydroaeroplane of the Curtisstype. Handled by Lieut. T. O. EUysoriand Lieut. J. H. Towers, it has made anumberofvaluabledemonstrations in longdistance flights over land and water,landing and rising without assistance.
The first noteworthy Ilignt or thismachine was made from the summeraviationschool oftho navy, which was establishedat Annapolis last August, down Chesa
peake Bay to HamptonItoadsana return.Ofthe two other machines one is a Curtissand tho other a Wright biplane. Navalauthorities are convinced of their prac-ticabilityfor use as scoutsforwarshipsatsea. Seoretary of tho Navy Meyer andCaDt. W. I. Chambers, thoUtter in chargeofthe navy aeronautlo division, are en-deavoring to build up the naval flyingsquadron as rapidly as possible, with the-
-
object or having ono aeropiana on eaonbattleship, cruiser and collier. This willrequire more than fifty machines.
Their value, it is snucipaiea, wouia oeInsooutlngtrorkintlmeof war. Equippedwithwireless (andexperimentsIn wlrelese--in from aeroDl&neehaveneon remaraaoiysuccessful) they would afford valuablemeansofcommunication Detween aquaa-ro- ns
andIndependentshipsand In report-i- n
the movement ofthe enemy.
Thomas r. uaavnn, uauieuuit joafmander.U. B. N director of target prao-tlc- e
and engineering competitions, fin da
another practical uie for aeroplane aa
anavyadjunct"Atthepresenttime, saye Commander
Craven, "tho aeroplane can be used to ex-
tend the range of vision ofthe fleet, butwhen operating beyond tho sight of Ita
base, the parent ship or land marln, itkhampered forscouting purposes by U:kofnavigational faollltles for the deter-
mination or oourse and poaWon- -it u nrobable that these will come,
and with them will also oome a vast in-
crease in the value of the aeroplane as anaval scout. As a station from whichto obaenw and oorreot the fall of shot theaeroplane will be of service, particularly
where long range. Indlreot, high anglefiring isused, as In the case ofa bombard-ment. The hydroaeroplane, which is aaAmorlcan development,and which may bolaunched from a vesseland alight In thewater alongside after a trip aloft, further
CoftJinu' on 7tMlAraft.
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