Albuquerque morning journal., 1915-09-05
AERopLANEs As TARGETS.
PeaTsOn's WeekIy)


All or nearly all the German planes
are armored. The "Aviatik. which
is the bipane most generally used
/ bv them for bomh-throwng and rec
onnaissance, has all the front and the
/ vital parts protected by a thin sheet
of tough steel known as the 'capot
! The rest Of the "fuselage, or body Is
also armorod. and the planes them
selves IRE coated with a liquid which
! prevents their catching fire from I'M
| flammabe shells or bombs
The ordinary Albatross monoplane.
( the machine commonly called the
! Taube. from its dove-shaped wings
( is also steel-clad In fact the only
! German machine which has no pro-
lection is the small fast, one-seated
/ Argo.
on looking into the matter Iit-
/ tie more closely we find, however
1 that the armor cuts both ways. True,
! it protects the airmen and the engine
! from bullets fired from below on
1.-the other hand it adds SO greatly to
/ the weight of the whole that an ar
mored German plane has not the
same speed or rising power as that
Of the unarmored machines.
This being the case, the British
/ flying man usually manages TO rise
above his adversary, and since It is
( impossible to carry overhead armoI-
! the latter is then at the mercy OF
I the lighter plane, and can often oe
I brought down with a pistol bullet
Whether plane should be armol-
ed or not is still an open question il
plane We're meant merely for traN-
cling over the head Of the enemy
there would be no need for aimoI.
| Tn flying man could sail alons 'l
! 1000 feet, where he would he pfa,-
/ tically safe from any anti-alrcral'
artillery
But this is not the case IL has
/ been found that 1000 feet is aboul
the limit at which any useful ohsei
! walton work can be carried on, ana "1
this low altitude the airman is az tne
mercy Of well directed rifle bullets
At 1000 feet nothing less lhan
three miliimeters (roughly, one-elB1ln
of an inch) of tempered steel VIII
stop rifle bullet. and this is about
the thickness which the Germans uSo
to protect their machines.
Anything less is worse than useieS7'
for a "mushroomed" bullet accom-
panied by scraps Of broken steeI =
infinitely more dangerous to the Pi'o'
than an ordinary bullet
70 armor a plane with steel one
eighth of an inch in thickness adds u
it a weight equivalent TO that q y
third passenger and naturally SLOWS
il very considerably.
our own experts declare tnat ~
military work. the best proteclloh ~
obtained by making the plane Trans
parent" to rifle fire. This SOUNDS a'-
surd, but what is meant is that ul'
wings, tail, controls struts ana Ky
peller should be SO constructed ll"'
bullets can pass through them WIN"
out doing vital injury.
Then. if the pilot, the observer anu
the engine itself are protected oN
three -millimeter sheet of best sle'
The whole machine and its occupants
are safe from rifle fire so long @'
they do not descend below the -'VV0-
foot level.
But not from the modern antI-alI,s
craft gun. Krupp has built tntee w
these terrible cannon. when ta
shells varying from ten to tuiI54
pounds in weight, and the largest
able to hurl its projectile to a heiS"
Of rather over four miles into Jhe an.
1t would be utterly Impossible ~
present to build an aeroplane PIool
against the missiles from these WeaP,
ons, but on the other hand II mus
he remembered that. at any heisI'
above 5000 feet an aeroplane w
sents such tiny mark that TO ni'H1
IL down would be on par WIN
man armed with a rifle (not q shUl h1o
gum killing a flying swallow az -V'
yards.