The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-01-12

in the bottom Of the fuselage. BY means Of this
last gun 1t can defend itself from enemy ma
chimes attacking it from below and behind, a POI
sition in which all other machines but the Gotha
are vulnerable.
The Germans have been most ingenious in de-
signing their airplanes for maximum effectiveness
of gun fire. Their single-seated Albatross D.. 1
and d III, Fokker D, Halberstadt Roland d, and
Ago d have two fixed guns firing ahead through
the revolving propeller, and these machines are
able to carry 1000 cartridges for each gun. Their
two-place reconnaissance machines Albatross,
Rumpler, Aviatik and L. V. G. have one fixed for
ward gun firing through the propeller and a sec
ond lighter gun on a swivel mounted behind the
planes and firing to the rear over an angle of $50
degrees. The French have adopted this system
for the airplanes of similar type.
The most ingenious armament, however, is that
Of the new Pomilio scout plane. 1t is not advis-
able to betray the secret of this plane at present,
but it is permissible to say that the single pilot
controls five guns, all shooting ahead simultane-
ously, and that four of these are so perfectly
concealed that even a photograph does not show
where they are situated. 1t is in reality a five
barreled Calling gun on wings. This machine is
now on its way to America, If indeed 1t has not
already arrived.
Talk Ig with the Italian a~viators now here
about motors, l found them deeply interested in
the new Liberty motor, but none would venture
to express an opinion about 1t.
81 could not judge of its value" said one of
them, until 1 had taken it up 5000 or 100000
feet in the air and watched how it behaved there.
The Fiat company, which has been making mo-
tors ever since these were first invented, needed
two whole years of experimentation before it was
able to turn out a satisfactory %airplane motor.
Several times it thought it had it; several times
1t offered a motor that performed perfectly under
the most eXacting laboratory tests, but each time
it failed when tested in the rarefed air of 10000
feet above the earth. After two years of trial
the Fiat people produced the wonderful motors
now so extensively used. The Isotta-Fraschini
company had a similar experience. We all adj
mire the perfection of mechanism of the Liberty
motor and we all hope that actual flight will
prove it to be as perfect as 1t looks, but no one
of us would venture to givesa verdict on it until
he had flown with it at all possible attitudes"
These men, all Of whom are youths who have
had thrilling experiences in actual warfare, are
fond of discussing the probabilities Of a flight
across the Atlantic. Any one of them would be
willing to attempt 1t, but they disagree as to the
machine most likely to be the first to make it.
Some say the giant Caproni, which would need at
least "a hours, and probably 40, to fly from New
foundland to Ireland (the shortest route), while
others say some such machine as the S. V. A., as
it could make the flight easily between sunrise
and sunset. In the one case it would be like q
giant condor relying on the power of its wings to
sustain it a day and a night in flight, in the other
case it would be a sea gull or a swallow relying
on terrific speed to carry it over by daylight,