The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-19
OvEMBER Of the present year
will mark an epoch In naval
aviation. For the FIRST time
in the history OF mechanical

in the history OF mechanical
fight an aeropiane was launched from
the deck OF "A speeding m~an-of-war,
the arrnored cruiser North Carolina
of the United States service. The
public may not yet recognize the sig
n%ifcance of this performance. bu;
from a purely military standpoint that
act Is potentially momentous.
The United States may be behind
most other nations in It's naval and
military aviation corps. but this flight
will go a long way toward discount
ing the general shortcomings in this
field. We have. in effect. advanced
years by hat achievement. After
something more than two years of
study and experimenting Capt. Wash
ington I. Chambers has developed n
thoroughly efficient and practical APP
paratus for the catapuiting Of n sea-
plane from a fighting ship under way.
What does this mean?
All Of us know how vitality the n.y.
ing machine has figured In the mill
tary operations upon the hattlefields
OF Europe. In some particulars aerial
scouting has revolutlonized tactics and
strategy. The element of surprise
has been largely eliminated through
this medium. Up to date the n.y.
ing machine has not so figured In
naval operations. strictly speaking,
although at the Dardanelles aero
planes have been used by the British
for reconnaissance work and in
sporting" the fall Of shell hurled at
hidden batteries by indirect Are. For
this purpose the British Admiralty
converted a cargo steamer by cutting
away the upper works for hat Of the
ships length forward.
We are speaking Of the Ark Royal.
This afforded a long. wide, level plat
form from which small scouting aero
planes Of limited radius Of action could
be given a runway or takeof for a
flight. the Ark Royal. however. being
stationary at tho time and anchored
in some sheltered bay.
An admiral so safeEuarded would
have an incaiculable advantage over
ar enemy not similarly protected. The
squadron forewarned in this fashion
could either escape or man9uvre so
as to gain the advantage Of wind and
light when attacking. But this pre-
supposes the launching Of the air
craft from speeding men-of-war, and
until Capt. Chambers's apparatus was
perfected this was practically out of
the question. True. four years ago q
long cumbersome runway was built
upon the after main deck Of the u. s.
s. Pennsylvania. and the late Eugene
Ely not only landed upon the snip af-
ter a flight from San Francisco but
left that vessel again by running down
the sloping runway. The ship was
stationary and the platform completely
covered her after turret guns. Capt.
Chambers's problem was to produce
q compact apparatus that could be put
on top OF a turret. where II would
not interfere with the service Of the
guns. Here Is how he has overcome
the various obstacles.
Instead Of an inclined runway a
hundred and more feet long he m
ploys two rails about forty feet In
length. and upon this track rests a
car which In Its turn bears the hydro
a~eroplane. The a Is drawn forward
by means of a wire rope. and the rope
Is actuated by the movement of a pis-
ton impelled by compressed air. In
short, It IL substantially an adaptation
Of the elevator mechanism used In
many Of our skyscrapers. However.
instead Of being designed to lift a a
it's purpose Is to pull It forward on
the level rails. From s~tandstill to full
speed the a bearing the s~eaplane
can he moved the desired distance In
the very brief interval Of a second and
a half. but In that time full velocity
u attained % smoothly that the air