Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-11-08

| est branches OF the art, tselI III INC coui sc VI
rapid development is the operation OF aeroplanes
| by night At the outset OF an article on Night
| Flying" contributed by Henry Woodhouse to
Flying" this author tells US that while as early
as 1910 various aviators flew in moonlight, and
while hundreds Of them have been flying at night
in the war zone or for exhibition purposes, these
are not really navigating the air at night with
knowledge and certainty.
1.-THE aeronautic movement and the military
authorities welcome, therefore" he goes on ANY
developments in this line, such as Lawrence B.
Sperrys recent night-Aying experiment
This fight Of Sperry is the first demonstra-
ton OF the possibility OF water flying at night.
The youthful inventor few from Moriches to Am
tyville, fifty miles away, in pitch dark, lighting
his way over the dark waters Of the bay with
specially arranged lights attached to his aero
plane and guiding his course by compass.
"Mr. Sperry accompanied by his mechanic.
| started from Moriches at 8:22 on the evening OF
September / to fly to his hangar at Amtyvlle.
His flying boat was equipped with new night
flying outfit, constructed by Mr. Sperry, After
the lights were switched on and the aeropane
started. the machine sped through the black sky
with weird effect The machine, entirely oper-
ated by the Sperry automatic pilot which con.
trolls its course and maintains its even keel, and
directed by compass few without trouble to and
landed at Amityville.
THE Sperry nght-hyng outfit consists Of
, bank Of three stream-lined searchlights of fifty
candle-power each. Through the use of parabolic
rehectors each lamp throws a light beam OF ap-
proximately 10000 candle-power. These lights
are mounted on cleverly designed fitting which
secures them to the leading edge of either the
upper or lower plane. This mounting is so con-
structed that the lights can be tilted in vertcle
plane, making it possible to use them Tor signal
ing purposes and at the same time rendering
them most efficient for landing. The fitting of
the lights is secured by turning small knob
fastened within easy reach of the pilot so that the
lights can be operated without interfering with
the control of the machine,
1.-THE lights themselves are controlled by
specially designed push switch, normally held
open by aspiring, which is operated like tele
graph key for signaling and, by giving the top
quarter turn, locks in closed position when de-
sired
THE current supply is secured from very
paeity, mounted on convenient part Of the ma
chine, where it will not be in the slip stream, and
is driven by means of wind turbine at 1000 rev.
olutions per minute By means of an automatic
cut-out one of the three lamps remains lighted
should anything happen to cut off the main cur
rent supply. A compact storage battery is auto
matically thrown into circuit, which is otherwise
floating on the line"
The night Zeppelin raids, we are told, have
scale. The Allies were forced to establish aero
plane patrols by public demand, which had to be
met, although no could say just how the avi-
ators were to go up at night, whether they could
see other aircraft in the dark, how they could
maintain their machines at an even keel, how they
were to return to their starting place and land
against the wind, etc. Blunders were committed
and lives were lost before working plan was
reached. r4Is$
The writer proceeds 81
while the navigation of airships by night is
a comparatively easy matter, such is not the
of the aeroplane. which cannot stop in mid-ar
for the purpose OF inspecting the ground under
meath. And, whereas aeroplane lands with
velocity seldom less than forty miles per hour,
it is imperative, if aeroplanes are required to fly
by night, to provide adequate landing and navi-
eating facilities
First, the aviator must know his relative
position to the ground. For this purpose the
machine must be fitted with an atimeter, for in
dcating the height, an thermometer for indicating
the aeroplane's inclination, and, finally, position
lights showing the transverse position of the
wings The latter requirement is attained by
small electric bulbs (colored blue so as not to
blind the pilot nor reveal his presence to the
enemy which are fixed on both wing tips; the
current is furnished by storage battery which
is also used for lighting the blue lamps, which
permit reading the navigating instruments.
"The same battery may, furthermore, be used
for working small searchght, with the help Of
which the pilot might hope to effect landing if
forced down by engine trouble. The use of
on aeroplanes as 1t might reveal the aviators
presence to the enemy.
"The second and principal requirement for
night hying-assuming the engine to be of the
reliable kind-consists in providing adequately
lighted landing stations"
In recent article in London Aeronautics
Mahgni- Eltten gives interesting information on
night flying, with special regard to conditions
obtaining at the front. Mr.. Woodhouse sum-
marizes this as follows:
THE conditions of night flying in England
and in France are vastly different; in many in
stances pilots fresh from England have had no
previous experience in it, while others who have
flown a lot are not up to the same flying standard
as those who are initiated out there, and, anyway,
they all require lot Of practice from. military
viewpoint.
Tits interesting to note that the French have
an excellent landing system, very similar to our
own, and II has been extensively used during the
recent and present Verdun operations. Barring
unfortunate contingencies French machines are
not permitted to land until they get the signal
All clear from below. When French pilot
arrives over what he thinks is his own aerodrome
he circles round, sending his own special letter
in Morse by searchlight; this should be answered
by one of the ground projectors, and machine
should never land until the call has been an
swered, the main idea being to prevent machines
landing hostile aerodromes or even on those
OF neighboring squadrons
THE method in use in British squadrons is
that pilot approaching an aerodrome, and
wishing to descend, will fire one of his Very
lights. The signal-predetermined- be an
swered from the ground. If the signals agree,
may accordingly land. If the signals do not
agree he will recognize from the color of the