Evening star., 1918-02-03
SEES
LOND0N'S AIR DEFENSE
Flies at Speed of 40 Miles an Hour
at Height cf 800 Feet
Cver Aercdromes.
correspondence of the Associated Press.

Correspondence of the Associated Press.
LONDON, January 25.-Flying at a
speed of so to 40 miles an hour and at
n height of 2,000 to 5000 feet in one of
the latest and fastest British battle
planes. a correspondent of the Associ-
ated Press inspected the outer air de-
fenses of London on a crisp morning
recently.
Few Americans have any adequate
idea of the magnitude of these de-
fenses and their present high state of
efficiency. Millions of pounds have been
spent on them and an army is con-
stantly employed in manning and main
tanning them.
a motor car took 'the correspondent
to somewhere in the outskirts of Lon
dom. where it passed through roads
camouflaged by shrubbery TO "A great
aerodrome. one of the finest in England
This aerodrome boasts several Ameri-
cans among its most efficient flyers, but
it is not permissible to give their
names.
Filler PUT on Show"
Upon the party's arrival England s
crack daredevil flyer put on a SHOW" ;"
This man. who looks more like a meek,
mlld-mannered drygoods clerk than a
wizard or the air, put the machine
through a series of performances that
made even some of the veteran flyers
who watched from below hold their
breath. Looping the loop, nose diving.
banking, Volplaning to within a few
feet of the earth and then pointing the
nose 9f the machine skyward for a rise
al express train speed were but
a few of the moves-this pilot Went
through with his observer When he
came down the correspondent was taken
II n a anna ,,
other pilot. for ride through the
clouds and a bird's-eye view of the
outer defenses of this particular part of
London.
This type of machine, mounting a syn
chfon!zed machine gun, has earned the
reputation of being perhaps the most
reliable of the fighting planes turned
out by the British manufacturers. The
pilot on the trip was a young member
of the Royal Flying Corps. who was to
go TO France the next week. The night
before this flight he had been up fight
ing with German Gothas at a height of
between 1000 and 1900 feet.
Rose 5000 Feet.
The machine rose to 5000 feet in ten
minutes. 1t started off the ground with
a tremendous rush the instant it was
and higher. the sensation was rather of
the earth moving away from the ma
chine than the machine moving from
the earth. There was brisk wind
the pilot said it was blowing between
twenty-five and thirty miles an hour
and the sky was full of fast-moving
clouds.
The best view of things below was had
at 1000 feet. Aerodromes with battle
planes ever ready for the German
raiders could be seen dotting the land
scape. Batteries of anti-air craft guns
could be dscerned here and there.
The flight around the outer city was
made at an average speed of so miles an
hour. over factories and suburbs, a
great arsenal famous school and "A
town best known for it's American col
ony. Up aloft the weather was typical
of the New York 'autumnal day There
was ust a hint of frost on the roof
tops. which made them show up more
plainly than usual through the light
mist. All was quiet and peaceful in an
area which the presence of the Gothas
would in an instant transform into 4
battlefront. encircled by the barrage
from the anti-aircraft guns thousands
of feet below.
After completing the circle of the me-
tropolis the fighting plane slanted back
to earth at 140 miles an hour. That's $
not really fast" remarked the pilot.
"ln actual fighting we often have to
make 800 miles an hour and the plane
is built to stand that speed without the
slightest danger"