Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-10
USE Of A|RP[ANES
| BY BALKAN ALLIES
Necessary to Fly at Higher
Altitude in Order to
Escape Bullets.
AVIATORS KEPT IN DARK,
HAMPERING THEIR WORK
Balkan Generals Jealous of Military
Seerets-Improvements Are
Deemed Necessary.

| Owing to the extreme jealousy with
| which the Balkan allies have guarded all
their military secrets, it has been slow
and piecemeal work to find just what part
aeroplanes played in the operations. One
aviator who has just returned to Eng
| land from the scene of operations is
SnoWden Hedley, an aviator of the Sop
! with School in England. He was with
| the allies as an aviator from October %,
| just before the decisive battle of Lule
Burgas to the signing OF the armistce
| that suspended hostilities December A. =
His story Of active military flying is in
! teresting. because it removes military
| aeronautics from the domain of theory
and peace maneuvers to actual practice.
where scouts are looking for vital infor
nation and their opponents are using
| ball cartridges and shooting to kill.
| Hedley says that when he arrived at
| Mustapha Pasha just before the battle
| Lule Burgas. there were eighteen aero
| planes concentrated at that point alone.
| This was a surprise, because it was not
generally known at that time that the
allies had that many aeroplanes alto
| gether. All of the machines were strictly
| up-to-date. Some were German, some
French and some Austrian. The pilots
| were drawn from the English, French and
eight native Bulgarians who had been
| trained in the schools around Paris.
Aviators Kept in Dark.
The aviator says that even with the
aeroplane corps, as he was, it was hard
to get an idea OF. what was going on. as
the military authorities trusted the avia-
tors with little general information. He
says the aviators could have done more
effective work had they not been COM
PEELED to work so much in the dark.
One practical point that he brings out
is that the aeroplanes are forced to OPP
crate at a much greater height than was
thought would be necessary. Six thou
sand feet was the usual scouting height,
while it had been generally thought that
half that would be ample. At that height
| aeroplanes We're tolerably immune from
rifle fire. but some were hit at 5000 feet.
1t was Impossible to tell whether these
were chance shots. but if they were 8the
effect was the same !.
One Of theefew accidents, that happened
| to Hedley.s machine furnished one OF the
| most thrilling episodes Of his experience.
He was 5000 feet up. directly over the
Turkish lines at Adrianople. when some
thing, possibly only a NAL flew loose
from his planes, and. striking the pro-
pelier. shattered both blades This seems
| like trif1ing thing to work such damage.
'p
revolutions minute anything that
strikes it is liable to wreck it.
Had to Glide for Miles.
| The aviator was hanging there in mid
heavens with his power plant useless and
| his engine racing madly. He cut off and
| showed his elevating rudder down. He
says it probably was only fraction of
a second before the machine answered
her helm and showed she was not STALL
ed. but it seemed like whole minutes and
several of them.
Even then the situation was bad enough,
for the aviator had to glide back home
over miles of country where descent
meant certain capture and probable death.
He managed to make it, but he says the
experience impressedz him with the reali-
zatiOn that small gliding angle was a
vital necessity Tin a military aeroplane.
One foot of drop to six fleet of forward
progress is the minimum allowed by the
American military authorities, and He'd
ley says that this should be the extreme
minimum.
On another occasion a Bulgarian avia-
tor. Lieut.. Kelinof. was directly over
Adrianople when his motor stopped and
| he was forced to glide ten miles across
country to his own lines.
Protective Armor Necessary.
iieuleS says tndt protective aTmOT IOT
| aeronlanes is a military necessity.
though it need be capable only of turn
ing rife fire at 5000 feet. He says his
machine was hit. but fortunately not in
jured. at 1900 feet. while over AdrianopIe,
and that one of the Russian aviators at
ESQ feet had his foot rest shot through
| in three places.
| AS to the practical results of the scout
| irg informa ton obtained. Hedley says 1t
| is difficult to estimate it. owing to the
| secrecy of the authorities. He and his
observer. a Bulgarian officer. located one
| big magazine in Adrianople. that as
| result was destroyed by artillery fire. He
| says they had no accurate method of
| bomb dropping, and most of the damage
/ done in this way must be called chance
shots. He Is thoroughly convinced. how
ever. of the prime utility of the air. corps
as the fourth arm Of the service.