Aircraft : $b its development in war and peace and its commercial futureDavid, Evan John
History
Aircraft : $b its development in war and peace and its commercial future
David, Evan John
Aeronautics; Airplanes
Considering all the chances taken by the Hun and the Allied fliers
during the Great War, and the kinds of machines they flew, and the
circumstances under which they flew, it is amazing how successful
they both were in their night-raids on one another’s territory, and
the amount of damage they wrought. Every night, rain or shine, the
British and French and Americans dumped from forty to fifty tons of
high explosives on German objectives, and it is truly amazing how few
machines were lost.
Night flying for commercial purposes, though, might easily be developed
into a comparatively safe means of aerial transportation. The machines,
however, ought to be constructed like the Sopwith Camel, with a very
fast climbing and a very low landing speed, in order to get clear of
obstacles quickly and to come to a stop as soon as it reached the
earth. The wing-tips should be equipped with lights, and small red and
green lights, called navigation lights, should be installed on port and
starboard struts. Under the fuselage a signalling light could be used,
and Very lights, rockets, parachute flares, or Borse flares could be
employed, as in war, to illuminate the fields, give the pilot a clew to
his whereabouts, and at the same time reveal to the wireless-telephone
operator on the ground the position of the ship in the air. This would
also prevent collisions. Care should be exercised so as not to blind
the pilot when he makes his landing. An electrically lighted “T” with
observation-towers would also aid in the safe landing of an airship at
night.
With the growth of flying, lighthouses and captive balloons poised
high above the fog or clouds will undoubtedly be established all over
the land, equipped with different lights so as to indicate to the flier
just where he is located. The French have already developed such a
system.
Of course a forced landing at night is very dangerous, and this may
happen at any moment. It was reported that a pilot was killed every
night patrolling over the cities of Paris and London looking for
Boches. It was also reported that every Hun plane brought down during
a raid on Paris cost the French Government $3,000,000 in ammunition,
aircraft, etc.
With the establishment of municipal aerodromes at regular intervals,
equipped with proper lights, signalling devices, wireless telephones,
night flying can be made as safe as night sailing along the coasts, and
with the increase in the size and number of aircraft, night flying will
become as commonplace as day flying.
STUNTING
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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