The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-09-25
man behind the gun.

S~@SS~A ~SAAAAANt VAAS y sAAAs
Henry Woodhouse, governor of
the Aero Club of America, to
whom / am indebted for the basic
facts OF this article, has written
the first work on this subject. His
forthcoming Textbook of Mill
tary Aeronautics' Will shortly be
published by the Century Co., and
will be used as a standard work
for the instruction of our aviation
and artillery personnel.
Aerodromes are located from / 0
to 10 miles behind the front fir
ing line. Enemy positions are
often hidden behind hills miles
away, out of sight of the batteries.
When battery is ready for ac~
ton, the aviator assigned to 1t for
"spotting" Is instructed to have
his machine over gwen object
We at a specfed tine.
On his flight out he "hovers"
over his battery to receive final
signalled instructions. He is pro-
vided with special, infinitely
scaled map covering the sector i'm
mediately in front of the batteries
| Zone aviator may spot for from
one to four batteries) to which he
is assigned.
This map is marked off In
| 15-fOOt squares. The letters
and numbers designating
/ these squares, signalled back
to We battery, enable the
commander to place his shells
with unerring accuracy on
practically any square foot Of
territory within range Of his
guns.
A battery commander who
expends more than three
shells In locating target is
considered inefficient!
The observer, having located
the position of the target and con-
veyed the information to the ar
tillery, receives in return the sig
nal "Observe for line" Keeping
on the side of the battery furthest
from the sun, so signals can be
read easily, the observer spots the
first shot to see IL the battery has
the right fine.
When this is done, the signal
"Observe for range" comes. The
observer now flies in en- elongated
figure eight, always turning to-
ward the target, and spots for
range, signalin If the shot is
"over" or short" of target.
Range having been obtained,
the signal "Observe for fuse" Is
sent, and the observer tells the
battery whether the shells are
bursting directly over the target
or not.
When the signal '1and" is sent,
the aeroplane comes down at a
place previously selected.
The methods and codes used for
signaling from and to aircraft
have been greatly developed and
simplified. Four methods are
used: Wireless, lamps, Very's
lights and Smoke Puffs. Code is
used, of course. When radio fails,
Very's lights are used. These are
colored lights shot from a special
lily designed pistol. Combinations
of green and red flashes tell
whether the shots are "over" or
short" or out of line right" or
left"
As IL is impossible for an
aviator to receive" by wire
less, a novel method of sig
Mailing from the ground to
aircraft has been worked
out. Strips of white cloth 2
feet wide are arranged in the
form of letters II feet long.
These can be seen from a
height Of 5000 feet.
Special training for aviators
doing spotting work is necessary,
in order to distinguish the puffs
fof smoke of hostile anti-aircraft
guns from shell smoke OF artil-
Iiery. He must be familiar with
the various uses of artillery-for
instance, that field guns are used
for barrage fire, while howitzcrs
are used for counter fire on enemy
batteries.
He must keep an eye on the
sky above him ready to dodge the
downward plunge of some enemy
fighting machine which has es-
capped his own battleplanes and is
ready to spray him with machine
gun bullets, for his duty is to
spot" not to fight.
While engaged.in spotting,. aero
lplanes habitually fly in circles
and figure Fights, changing direc-
ton frequently to dodge hostile
anti-aircraft fire.