early military aircraft (1912)

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  • 8/12/2019 Early Military Aircraft (1912)

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    ALUE

    try," "

    Its

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    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

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    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,

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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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