The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-02-22
NEW. TEUTON AIR !.
RAFTDESTRUCTNE
Hem In Enemy Plane With Cone
Of Fire-Shoot Through
Propeller

quently. since that time we have read
more and more in the official dispatches
OF the work Of the German aviators
with the names Of Immelmann and
BIocke repeated again and again. This
great increase In the activity Of the
Germans has caused several Inquiries to
be made in the House Of Commons and
replies Of Harold J. Tenant, parIia.
mentary under.secretary of war have
not been satisfactory TO all. e..
The German policy Of mentioning the
names OF their aviators in official re-
ports 10 due to their belief that if once
they can inspire the allied aviators with
terror Of the deadliness Of 1mmelmann
and Blocke and Of the Fokker mono
planes In which they fly, every allied
aviator who sees Fokker coming for
him will run for HIS life. A young
British aviator recently wrote: That
Herr Immelmann Is the very devil, ne
flies Fokker, shoots through his pro.
peiler and flies beautifully. / have met
him twice and got off drums of ammu.
nftiou ut him, but with no result on
either side barring Q few holes in the
Tho Poker Machine " g..
! The Fukker machine is the inventor
OF 0 young Dutchman who lived in Ger.
many. About 1919 he built an uncap.
STABLE monoplane which flew quite
well long before the scientists of other
countries had put their theories into
practise and had produced the Iuher.
entity stable biplanes, of which so much
has been heard. Britain contemplated
importing some OF these Fokker mono
planes, but the officers sent TO inspect
them sent in reports advising against
such action. The new Fokkers are a
great Improvement on the early makes.
The attempt at inherent stability has
been given up and they are designed to
be absolutely under control of the pilot
in any position. This makes them dan.
'gerous opponents, as they can maneuver
with extraordinary speed. 90.
In general appearance they look en-
'tirhly like the French, Morane mono.
plane. Most Of the machines are fitted
with rotary engines, German copy of
the Gnome. They give about one hun
'dTed and twenty horsepower and eohse-
quently can move at great speed and
climb at b Tremendous rate. Those
flown by Iinfelmanh and BIoeke are
fitted with huge engines OF fixed cylin,
der motor car type Of about one hun
dred and sixty horsepower and have a
speed Of more than one hundred miles
anshonr. y Most OF these machines carry
q passenger In front who works ma,
chine gun. but Others have the yum
fixed on top of the engine and fire
through theIpropeller, or rather tractor
screw, TO be technically correct. In the
latter case the gun Is aimed at steering
the whole aeroplsne.. - r .l-@5 Z
Method 6f Attack @its'.. 49,. NTas T.
The usual method of attack Is for the
Poker TO get UP high to about 1900
feet or SO and hang around Until one
Of the Allies machines appears in sight
below. Then, If Of the fixed gun type.
the Fokker stands on its head and dives
straight for its victim, letting of a
stream OF bullets as soon as il gets
within range By making the descent
ever so slightly spiral, the straight
stream Of bullets becomes cone of fire,
with its apex at the gun, AMI
with the victim inside so thar
whichever way the lower ma.
chine tries to escape it must pass
through that cone. When the FokKer
gets close to the enemy, If he be not
already hit it approaches directly from
behind, firing straight along the body,
so as to have pilot, passenger, tanks
and engine all in one line Of dire, and
unless the pursued machine is evry
quick on its controls and is able to
dodge like rabbit some vital part is
bound to be hit sooner or later.
Many Fokkers fire through their pro.
Pellers. 1t appears that the propeller
blades are fitted with deflector plates
to turn aside such bullets as hit the
blades. Only about five or six bullets
in q hundred are likely TO hit the plates,
and the remaining ninety odd pass
between the blades straight for the tar
get. This deflector dodge was first
tried by the French aviator Garros. who
was shot down. and captured in Elan.
ders some months ago. ~ -"
Fokkers which do not fire through
the propeiiers most always attack their
victims from behind, diving under their
tail and coming up in such position
that, while they can shoot up into The
body of the pursued machine. the mas.
senger ID that machine, even If sitting
behind the pilot, cannot shoot at the
Fokker for fear of blowing his owl
tail.uf. N,as 81
Germans "Come Back -.. p ,.
DO When Sir John French In October.
1914, spoke of the marked dominance
of British ayiators over German.
Royal Flying Corps machines WEIR Oh,
an average better than the old taube
tlonoplanes the Germans were using.
and the new big, powerful German bI.
planes we're not produced in quantities
sufficient to be of great Importance.
Moreover, most of these biplAnes were
used on the East in trout. Then for d
period, about the time of the heavy
around Ypres, the big biplanes
showed up In numbers and gave some
trouble, as they We're faster and climb
ed far higher than most of the British
and, French machines They were met
and 'dafeated chiefly by small, very
fast. single seated British scouts of the
Bristol and Martinsyde types by the
French MorRine and Nieuport planes,
also evry small, fast machines, and by
the Vickers biplanes, carrying q ma.
chine gun in front. Thereafter the big
German aeroplaneS disappeared, and for
weekssat q time from April onward no
German ,aeroplanes appeared over the
British lines, and again the experts
sang about the British aerOplanes hold.
ing command OF the air. Ii was only a
month afterward that the British dis