Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-30
IN TIME OF WAR.
Recent Brilliant Exploits Of Aero
planes in TripoIi.


planes in TripoIi.
Military activity in Tripoli, If the
unwearying labors Of the engineers are
ignored, has for some time past been
confined to operations in the air.
The work Of the aeroplanes has
been very remarkable. and If certain
especially brilliant exploits linger ir
the memory. such as Moizo's flight to
HONS and back. the flights of Moizo
and Plaza to Gharian and Tarhuna and
the daring reconnaissance Of Gavott
after the battle Of Gargaush, these
must not be allowed to eclipse the
lesser achievements, the regular re-
ports as to the enemy's whereabouts
and the gradual acquisition of mate
rial for accurate sketch maps.
Nor can one have watched the work
Of the aviators from autumn to spring
without being profoundly impressed
by the value Of aeroplane scouting In
warfare. Such scouting has, Of course
very obvious limitations, imposed by
weather conditions, but, making ev-
cry allowance for these and for the
fact that here there have been nc
hostile aerial craft to limit the sphere
Of action and decrease further the
margin Of safety, the experience gain
ed has been of the highest import
ance.
1t may be that in war between two
powers, both provided with aero
planes. the aerial fleets will merely
neutralize each others efforts. What
has been made perfectly clear is that
no general can afford to be without
some means of checking or prevent
ing the work Of the enemy's aero
planes.
Various types of aeroplanes have
been used in Tripoli, and 1t is interest
Ing to note that a consensus of opinion
favors the Nieuport monoplane. Its
great speed gives it an immense van
tage in military work, and the flying
men are quite content with its stabil-
ity.
The superiority in speed was strik-
ingly indicated on the day when Moizo
and Gavotti flew to HONS. MoiZo, in
a Nieuport, covered the sixty miles in
l hour and s minutes; Gavotti, in a
Farman biplane, took As minutes
longer. The Nieuport is undoubtedly
the most popular machine among the
Italian military aviators, but the De-
perdussin has its adherents. and opin-
ion is very favorable to a British ma
chine. the Bristol; so much so that
several "Bristols' have recently been
ordered by the Italian government.
During the last fortnight the aero
planes have been reinforced by the two
dirigibles, the appearance of which in
the air was delayed three months by
the destruction of the nearly finished
shed in December. These airships are
Of the Crosse Ricaldoni type, and
were designed by the Italian officers
whose names they bear. They are
comparatively small, 64 metres lonG
with a gas capacity of 4,250 cubic me-
tres.
They are propelled by a Clement
Bayard motor Of 120 horsepower, and
attain a maximum speed, in a calm
Of about 35 miles an hour. The en-
velope is shaped like a fish. without
the tail and fins, and the effect in the
air at a distance Is extraordinarily
fishlike. The resemblance Is height
Of two colors, the upper part being
silvery, while the lower is yellowish.
Inside the outer skin Of the envel-
ope there are seven separate gas COM
partments. Two larger specimens of
the same type are being built in Italy
at the moment. while an exactly sim
liar airship is on the point of being
dispatched to Benghazi.
The larger types are Of TO- 900 to 49,
600 cubic metres capacity. The first
is to be fitted with a Fiat motor and
the second with Wolseley. and they
are expected to develop high speed in
calm weather.
The car Of the type in use at Trip
oil is small wooden boat. strong and
seaworthy, with room for nine pas
sengers: during the voyages In the
neighborhood of Tripoli a crew Of four
has usually been carried. Up to the
present the furthest point explored has
been Zania, thirty miles west of Trip
oli-Tripoli Cor. Chicago Inter-Ocean.