The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-11
AERORLANES IN war.

Recent dsvelopmenta IN asroplanes hav'
greatly Increased their value for var pvr'
poses. u appeared az 6rst that none Of
these heavier than air machines could carr
much more than the aviator himself. which
would Of course greatly limit their use. q,
the aviator would have all be could do "a
attend 20 his machine without doing recon
noisaance or other work
The recent aviation mssA at los Angeles
Impressed ell the army officers Who Wit
messed che fights with the certainty. speed,
ease and apparent safety Win Which such
machines could Be- operated. The trials
clearly suggested the possibility Of using
these machines In time Of war. not only for
recOnnOisaance and other work Of that kind
but also for The purpose % attacking hostile
forts tneld or permanent land forts or
coast forts an well a. hostile armies In
The field. whether marching OF entrenched.
by dropping on them from . considerable
height missiles containing high explosives.
The effective use OF the aeroplane
either for reconnaissance or for throwing
explosives has been made possible by In
creased carrying capacity. The French ma
chine exhibited a. Los Angeles. for example.
could easily carry $50 pounds Of explosive
missiles In addition TO two men. one a.
aviator, the other a. observer or 10 throw
the missiles
The Chief Of Ordnance in his Last annual
report aays that his department IL prepared
to furnish both hand Erehades and rife
shTapnel grenadea. designed BY Lieutenant
Colonel =. B. Babbitt. Ordnance Depart
meni. In any reasonable quantity. and these
would probably be Of use In Aeroplanes; but
in addition a heavier grenade Of greater
destructive power Il needed. especially for
action against forts Of ell kinds.
The great dinlouliy In the way Of using
aerOplanss for destruction n 10 attain any
sort Of accuracy In placing the missiles when
dropped from the machine. inasmuch a. u
must fy At such q height and with such
speed ~ TO reduce 10 . minimum all danger
from an attach made by small Srms or bat
leries on the ground below. and under those
circumstances Il would be very dificult to
Bit any particular object aimed a. when
large masses Of troops are exposed or long
entFenchm rats or large areas inside Of forts
there wound be no dificulty.
To determine the degree Of accuracy
attainable Lieutenant Paul W Beck. Signal
Corps. made some tests by dropping small
hays Of sand from a height Of 80 feet while
moving a. a rate Of about forty miles an
hour on a tarErt Indicated on the ground
By marking the centre and corners Of
square. about twenty-five feet on a side.
with squares Of white cardboard. The re-
suits, although not very satisfactory ~ n
accuracy. showed that practice would no
doubt soon enable an operator 20 drop the
explosive missiles with . degree Of accuracy
sufficient for ell practical purposes Many
A. he lar a. A..
Of considerable sizs. especially in coast
forts. entrsnchsd camps. &c.. and for these
no great degree Of accuracy would BE- re-
quired.
Captain Bottoms. Coast Artillery Corps.
who observed the trials at Los Angeles. has
suggested q system by means Of witch
accuracy MAJ be greatly increased. IL il
simply q question Of dropping the grenade
az such q point that. allowing for the speed
Of the machine tho target will he hit To
determine this II IL necessary to have teIe-
scope mounted for reading vertical angles.
80 arranged hat the trunnions can BE- held
a. ell times horizontal
BY selecting any object on the around
below and determining the time In seconds
required by the asroplane 10 travel from he
point az which this object hears Is degrees
~ degrees downward ana multiplying this
time BY the sreeh a second Of tho aeroplane
lobtained b. simply reading the aeromateri
We obtain the height from the ground.
This method IL simply another applica-
ton Of ire principle u finding the distance
from ship 10 point on shore nv taking
What Il called four point bearing on
the spot
Erovn .{,,rt. ,,-4,.f,t.. - -..t-
table can be- constructed showing for ali
speeds and heights likely 10 arise in prac-
lice the angle o. depression At which the
grenade should be released in order 10 hit
he target The retardinR effect OF the
aiF mus, Of courue be determined for vari-
Gus heights and speeds BY experiment and
The necessary correction applied. since the
leroplans can generally move in q direction
perpendicular 10 the direction Of the wind.
Just near the target. the effect
of the wind can usually be neglected
A. Captain Bottoms suggests, develop-
ments must take place along these lines In
order 70 increase the value Of the asroplane
for military use. Even II the future may
show that u 10 not advisable 70 use these
heavier than air machines Extensively, the
same means must 10 applied dsfensively 70
temoFaliHe hostile force attempting 10
bring down the machine
The military Importance Of asronlana.
has thus suddenly assumed new pronor,iops
and they will undoubtedly be utilized In
future vars That our army appreciates
this fact IL shown BY the statement In The
report ~ the Chief Of Ordnance % the effect
that -the attack Of diriEibls balloons and
aeroplanes. Of which the nee in future var.
~ least for purposes u observation "a
highly probable. IL receiving consideration
Experiments for tho accumulation Of ds,a
are In progress and q gun and carriage are
being destined