Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1910-03-03
AEROPLANES FOR
COAST DEFENSE
Clifford B. Harmon Tells How
to Guard American Shores.
NEED FEAR NO HOSTILE FLEET

One Machine Can Carry Enough Elk
plosives to Blow Fleet of Dread
noughts to Pieces, Says the Aviator
Incidents Of Trip Out to Sea.
with twenty such master navigators
of the air as the Wright brothers, Paul.
han, Curtiss and Hamilton" says Cliff.
ford Il. Harmon of the Aero Club of
America. the United States need feaI
the approach of no hostile fleet. \
single aeroplanc can carry enough eX-
plosives to blow a fleet to pieces, even
fleet Of Dreadnoughts"
Harmon, who is n pilot Of the Aero
club, owns the spherical balloon New
York and holds the American record
for length Of time spent continuously
in the air. With Harmon at the levers
the New York stayed in the air IS
hours and % minutes. It's owner re-
Gently left New York for San Antonio
Tex, where the New York now is, t.
go after the Lain cup and the world 5
record for continuous flying.
obIloeJe TIT ilTHcS
While attending the aviation meet in
Los Angeles Harmon first had his at
tention drawn to the effect aeronau-
tics would have on warfare. Paulhan
took him in his aeroplane twenty-siX
miles out to sea and showed him the
terrible ease with which missiles could
be dropped on the decks of vessels a
thousand feet below.
Later on" says Harmon, II wit
messed n series of experiments carried
on by Captain Beck Of the signal corps,
stationed at a Golden Gate fort, assist
ed 10y Glenn Curtiss. At Los Angeles
Curtiss took Beck up 800 feet or more.
from which height Beck threw bags of
gravel into 4 square of less than 100
feet marked in broad white lines on
the ground beneath. Inside the square
was a bullSeye ten feet square. and
the gravel bags struck this an aston
ishing number Of times"
How much explosive could be taken
up in an acceptance"
"Paulhan took me up, extra weight,
as high as 5000 feet. and | weigh 1S5
pounds. He told me he felt able TO
carry go pounds. Now. scientists are
constantly making explosives of higher
and higher power and go pounds of
guncotton can do some little damage.
Remember also the ease with which
the aeroplane can reload. After Paul
hans twenty-siX mile flight he came
TO earth again within ten feet of the
place of starting. That means abso-
lutte control of the airship by the driv-
err. 1t means that airships can rise
from and return To forts and defenses
with little difficulty"
"Wil Put Stop to War;"
Harmon was shown n dispatch from
Berlin stating that the kaiser and the
ministry of war; convinced of the inn
portance of aerial navigation in war
fare. had ordered as many military
officers as possible to learn to aviate
and that Captain Engelhardt, a pupil
OF Oryille Wright. had been directed
to form corps of experts to be dis
tributed through the army.
"Well, it's only natural" said Har-
mon, that Germany should realize
the importance OF the airship quickly,
with her extensive borders to protect
and her ultra military policy. But all
nations will come to II sooner or later,
and in the end, as is plain to see, the
battleships of the air will put a stop
to war. There can't be much fun for
any one concerned when airships tug
a ton Of dynamite up in the air and
drop 1t PUNK on some defenseless
town"
But can't airships be attacked in
turn? Can't cannon be turned on them
and shot be sent through their appa-
ratus?"
mot unless the airship Is much
nearer the earth than Il prudent avi-
ator is likely TO be ut such a time. |
recently carried on series Of expert
ments with my ship, the New York,
shooting at it from the ground when
the airship was going at fair rate
Of speed four or five hundred feet up
I'm the air. 1t was found impossible
to make q hit. 1t is incredibly hard
TO take and hold aim at a moving OBJ
ject high i'm the air. and often the
shot IS spent by the time 1t reaches the
altitude necessary to reach the air
ship ii Is aimed at.
when the airship enters war II
will, think, be found to have every
advantage on its side. Not the least
thing in its favor is that with a crew
OF one or two men it can take care of
practically thousands