The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-04
BALLOONS FOR WARFARE
nov FAR Conquest or THE AIR
HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.
Essentials OF al Airship for Military Use
-Diriklbie balloons In Germany and
France-Can he Used for war Only on
calm Days SO Far-Matter OF Descent.

w. eahth
France-Can he Used for War Only on
calm Days SO Far-Matter OF Descent.
In its entirety there il no subject more
fascinating than that Of aerial navigation,
and especially is this true Of its military
aspects. Dreamers of world power to be
suddenly achieved invoke the aid of some
wondrous invention which gives it's owners
the absolute dominion of the air and the
consequent supremacy on lane and sea.
Here certainly is a splendid field for specu-
lative romance.
As long as the visionary nature of the
dream was frankly acknowledged, writes
j.. II. Ledeboer in the London Daily Mdii,
well and good. But quite recently it has
been gravely and repeatedly asserted by
responsible persons hat this conquest
of the air is almost, il not entirely, a fat
accom- pli, that future wars will be fought
out in the air by fleets of flying machines
and squadrons of airships. Nations are
soberly said TO be constructing these new
engines of war in all secrecy.
When we come 20 look closely into the
matter, however. we find that the only
existing facts in this direction are two
dirigible balloons n in France. the other
in Germany. Both have had several trials;
both nave been very fairly successful.
But before Il is possible to estimate in how
far they are suitable instruments of war,
it is essential 10 lay down clearly the pur-
poses OF military a~eronautics, 30 often mis-
understood. These are: To direct the
artillery fire on the enemy's position; to
reconnoitre the enemy's lines and spy out
the disposition of his forces; to destroy his
troops, stores and Notifications by dropping
explosives; and. lastly. to transport troops
with speed and safety. possibly over ground
that could not be covered by any other
means.
For the first Of these purposes a dirigible
balloon is scarcely 80 suitable as an ordi-
nary captive balloon, and certainly less so
than a man lifting kite. Its huge bulk
would offer far too obvious a target for the
enemy's guns
For the other purposes, however. no more
admirable instrument could well be devised
thar a dirigible balloon. provided that Ii
fulhls certain conditions. The proviso.
however, is essential. Briefly. to be Of any
use from a military point OF view IN airship
must possess the following qualities:
high speed and large lifting power in order
TO move against the win and escape the
enemy's fire. either by moving rapidly at
a fairly low elevation or by temporarily
rising to a great height; extended radius
Of action to enable it to return to It's base;
perfect stability during fight; dirigibinty
against head winds and cross currents,
and absolute safety in ascending. and more
especially in landing. undo adverse circum-
stances.
In how far now can La Patrie and Count
Won Zeppelin's balloon be said to possess
these essential qualities2 To begin with.
the all important question OF speed. From
the official reports relating to the perform
ances of both airships, to which the writer
has had personal access, it appears that La
Patrie has in favorable circumstance de-
veloped an independent velocity Of twenty
three miles and the Zeppelin a speed Of
thirty miles an hour.
IL is. of course. well known that the wind
often reaches this speed and as often sur
passes IL. II IL is true, as shown recently
by a Belgian scientist, that the wind, even
at moderate attitudes. attains a greater
force than twenty miles an hour on an aver
age during half the days in the year. il fol-
lows that the French dirigible would only
be serviceable during half the year, and
then onlv at moderate elevations. save on
exceptionally calm days. The German air
ship, whose more rigid aluminium frame
work-the French aerostat only pre-
serves it's rightly through the pressure OF
the gas with which II is infiated-allows it to
move at a slightly higher speed. 10 30 I'M
wieldy that it cannot ascend during q
breeze of anything like this strength. II
it did succeed in rising in the air it would
certainly never be able TO land again with
out being totally destroyed. as happened in
January. 1903.
At the present day no higher speed could
DO given to a dirigible without exposing IL
q critical speed, beyond which it cannot
60 without losing its rigidity under the
pressure Of the air and buokling up. In the
case Of La Patrie this critical speed u twen-
ty-sevsn miles; wkh the Zeppelin it oannot