The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-09-02
AIRSHIP SCOUTING
The AerOplane as a Range Finder
In Modern Warfare.
AIDING THE MAN AT THE GUN.
How the Enemy Target Is Located and
the information Conveyed to the Ar
tilIery ofieers-A Code System That
Is Simplicity Itself.

the information Conveyed to the Ar.
tillery offieers-A Code System That
Is Simplicity Itself.
Range finding by avIators is a rec.
Ognized part Of modern warfare, as
carefully worked out as any other
branch Of the service.
The big guns range is estimated in
miles nowadays instead of in yards, as
formerly. More often than not the
gunuers do not see the target at which
they are aiming. and the men In the
target DO not see the spot whence de
structlOn is being pumped at them.
High hills and broad valleys probably
intervene But circling about In the air
is the busy aerop.ane which is estab-
fishing contact between the gun and its
objective point
1t is essential, Of course, that the
man In the airship and the man at the
gun have constant system OF com.
munication. Seemingly difficult, this
is a feat that is simplicity itself The
airship carries certain lights or smoke
bombs with which 1t can convey infor-
nation 20 the watchers on the ground.
The gunncrs have great strips of white
material which can be formed into let
ters of the alphabet and can be seen
from the alrship.
The rest is merely n letter OF codes
and mechanics. II the letter X means
observe for range" and the letter
means Observe for effect OF fire" the
air man can convey to the marksman
whatever information they may de-
sire.
The first thing, Of course, Is to locate
the target The air man goes up to a
prcarranged altitude and scouts about
until he finds It. When he is directly
over It he drops various lights in some
understood combination of numbers or
colOrs. The aviator's height Is known,
and the distance at which the lights
are dropped can be ascertained by In
struments The distance then between
the gun and the target becomes a sim.
pie problem of triangulation.
The location and distance being
known, as well as the proper dlrec-
ton. the aviator gets the signal, "Ob-
serve for Tine of fire." A shell or so
Is thrown In the general direction of
the target. As soon as the correct line
Is found the aviator gives the proper
signal and then gets the signal to "ob-
serve for range" The first shell falls
short. The second perhaps overshoots.
The third perhaps reaches Its mark.
The aviator signals Range" and the
real bombardment is on.
If the gunner wishes to know wheth-
er his shells are timed to explode at
the right place he signals to the avia-
tor, "Observe for fuse" If he wishes
to learn the effect of the cannonade he
signals, observe for effect Of fire."
In this way complete check Of all
that is going on is obtained.
Rarely, except Oh the preliminary
scouting expedition, does the aviator
attempt to fly over the enemy's posi-
ton. Once he has located the target
that part of his work is done. 1t is
naturally the riskiest part, for his ap-
pearanCe Is certain to make him the
target for defensive aerOplane bat
teries and probably for n duel with a
safer zone.
His subsequent position is decided
largely by weather conditions. When
the sun is shining he tries to keep from
being between his battery and the sun,
because If the gunners have to face the
sun to find him 1t Is hard for them to
read the signals accurately. If the sun
is shining toward the target the avi-
ator gets behind his battery. If the
sun is behind the battery the aviator
gets between 1t and the target
In the early maneuvcrs, when he is
signaling the line of fire, he tries to fly
In regular eIlipse at a stated altitude
When observing for range" he flies
tn an elongated figure 8. The purpose
of this is to enable him to move to-
ward the target in his turns. In this
way fire can be observed at every mo-
mcnt
1t Is obvious that to insure the ef.
fectiveness of all this scientific and
mechanical knowledge must be re-
quired, Modern shells are so construct.
ed that they can be exploded at any
desired height or distance. A Shell
that bursts too soon is practically val
ueless, while one that bursts too late
loses much of its efficacy An error Of
few feet In the calculation Of the
aeroplanes height or in the targets dis
tance would seriously impair the eff
fectiveness of the fire.
The captive balloon is used for simi.
lar observation purposes. but 1t is not
nearly so valuable as the aeroplane be
cause Of the latters greater mobility
and It's ability to get right over the
target and then get away against.
Louis Post -DiSDatCh