Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-09-08
BATTLE N THE ARR
British Aviator Stands Aeroplane
on Its Tail.
Altman Risks Death by PIunsIns
Earthward and Directing His
Weapon at His Enemy
Above Him.

London.-Mr. c. G. Grey, editor Of
the Aeronaut, writes as follows in the
Daily Express:
Within the last few days l have
had the luck to u across some Of
u people who happened to be at
Dunlirk when the Ramsgate Zeppe.
lin vas attacked by naval seaplanes.
Their account of what happened eluci:
dates several interesting points.
When the Zeppelin was first sighted
from the French coast it vas compare.
lively low down and seemed to be
steering wildly and paving from side
to side as if it had been hit. Soon
afterward naval aircraft were e in
pursuit.
Apparently as socn as the aero.
planes were sighted by the Zeppelin
the big machine made frantic attempts
to rise, but seemed to make little
progress till it heaved overheard two
big masses of stuff to tighten itself
None of the ye-witnesses could BIZ
perfectly sure what these masses 0,
material were. Each seemed to be
about the size of a man, and some peo
pie were inclined to ssume that they
hove overheard the bodies of men who
had been hit. Others were of the opin
ion that they were simply cases OF
spare ammunition, or. perhaps, even
machine guns.
Whatever it was, before the aero
planes reached her she was already
climbing rapidly, with the result that
only one Of the aeroplanes actually
managed to get directly over the shiI
to drop its bombs.
The pilot of che OF the other aero
planes, which was a small and very
fast single-seated biplane, carrying a
machine gun, finding that he was ua
able to reach the height OF the Zeppe
lin in time to get within range of her
started firing at her from below. AS
the machine gun was a fixture On the
aeroplane and had to be aimed like
the gun on Judson's "datiron gunboat'
In Mr.. kipiing's famous story, by
wearing ship to suit the only way
the pilot could bring his gun to bear
on theSsllip was ~ standing the aero
plane on its tail and deliberately fall
ing backward while he was firing.
The watchers on the ground thought
at first that his machine had been hit,
but when they saw him recover and
repeat the performance several times
they came to the conclusion either
that he had gone mad and was giving
the crew of the Zeppelin an exhibit
ton Of fancy flying or that there was
some method in his madness and ne
was really attacking.
Whether he actually managed to
hit anything or not could not, CT
j course, be known, but a machine gun's
only chance against a Zeppelin is to
put a bullet INTO the petrol tank OF
into an engin-. In such a case it may
with luck cause a petrol fire ii one
of the cars and so set the whole ship
alight, or it may put tho engine out
of action, so that the airship is unable
to make Roadway against the wind,
but no amount of ordinary machine
gun bullets would ever bring a Zeppe.
lin down simply by perforating the
gas bags.
It is pleasing to. know that the one
aeroplane which did get over the Yep.
pelin and undoubtedly did some dam,
age to it was Of that essentially Eng
lish make, the Avro-in fact, a sister
machine to those which made the sue
cessful raid on Friedrichshafen.