The Calumet news., 1914-09-14
Fiahtina of FLYING Machine.


Fighting of Flying Machine.
The aeroplane has introduced new
and confusing element into the art OF
war. for it's rapid development has
made it one OF the best means for OBJ
tanning information concerning an enc
my; and not only can they be used Tor
dropping bombs within the enemy's
lines, but the big airships are even
provided with rapid fire guns.
There are two means OF combating
flying machine. Many military stu
dents contend that the way to destroy
an aeroplane is To put machine rihe
| In another aeroplane and attempt TO
combat II in the air. This will prob
ably be the method followed in mod
ern war at the present time. Another
means is To provide field artillery guns
able To fire in the air, and many ball
loon guns OF this type have been tried
out by various countries. one notable
cannon OF this type is the Deport field
gun, which is so arranged that it can
be used as a field artillery gun for low
targets, but may be trained for aerial
| targets as well.
! There are a number OF difficulties
connected with firing against balloons
or aeroplanes, and extensive expert
ments have been carried on in various
countries for the purpose OF solving
this problem. The large ordnance man
ufacturing concerns OF the Krupp and
Ehrhardt companies in Germany have
designed and manufactured guns firing
l3 inch projectiles mounted on auto
mobiles or on wheels, but so far no
definite conclusions have really been
reached as TO the most effective man
ner of firing at balloons.
Among the difficulties experienced is
the fact that the aeroplanes move very
rapidly, making 1t difficult to follow
them through the sights OF the gun.
Another difficulty to be encountered Is
the fact that the required angle of de-
parture for a projectile to reach GER
tain range varies as the target moves
above the horizon. For instance, tar
get on the same level with the gun at
5000 yards range may require an angle
OF departure OF IL degrees, while If this
target should he located 45 degrees
above the horizontal the supereleva-
tion, which is the elevation Of the gun
above the line drawn from the gun to
the target, would " only 4 degrees or
8 degrees. II the Eeroplane should be
r the same distance but vertically above
r the gun, no elevation over the line OF
) sight would be necessary.
1t is also a difficult matter to esti-
mate the distance to these balloons
and the use OF range finding instru-
| ments, due to the rapid movements of
: the targets, is at times almost impos-
, sible In some cases experiments have
been carried on with a view OF firing
projectiles with burning tracers at
tached to them. These tracers, by
, burning in the air, will show the path
OF the projectile, and will show how
close the projectile may be to the tar
get.
That rifles or small guns can be fired
from aeroplanes has been demonstrate
ed. While these guns would probably
not be very effective against troops or
the ground, there is small doubt but
: bombs dropped from balloons would be
, n very dangerous inconvenience for the
enemy. Experiments carried on have
: shown that these bombs can be drop
ped with great accuracy from n con-
siderable height. and a sighting ar
2 rangement for dropping them has beer
, fairly well perfected. The principle OF
such a sighting device is to set the
t sight at certain elevation, depending
on the speed OF the aeroplane and its
height. aim at the target and release
the bombs as soon as the sight is or
r the proper target.