The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1918-12-20
A PERFECT WIRELESS TELEPHONE IS
AMERICAS GREATEST WAR SECRET

field the squadron went through sew.
eral maneuvers, forming right lines
and left lines, breaking on In differ
ent directions and swinging back into
line again. Everything was done with
perfect precision.
Colonel Culver explained that Major
Rossell was giving every order by
word OF mouth and that every man In
the fleet was getting orders at the ex.
act instant.
| Nov IL you want to you can stand
here on the ground and hear Major
Rossell give these orders. and you can
at the same time that you hear them
see them carried out" said Colonel
Culver.
He led us to a small shack from the
roof OF which dwarf aerials project
| ed, put receivers over our ears, and
| a moment later heard q strong voice
say:
by the right flank" Then there
was second Of hesitation. followed by
stentorian. long drawn-out Go" and
away Off In the eastern heavens saw
the long line of small dots swing off
to the right, and for the moment. out
of sight. And those words came from
Major ROssell. spoken In an ordinary
tone. 5000 feet In the air and fully
five miles from where ! was standing.
And l was informed that it would
have been just the same II he had
been further away. However, the
range of the new wireless telephone
is one Of the secrets that the division
of military aeronautics Is not reveal
ing just now.
For mare than an hour heard
Major .Rossell put his squadron
through drill and ut the same time
/ that / heard his orders saw them
executed. These things took place
while these 10 airplanes were rushing
along ut more than hundred miles
an hour at an altitude ranging from
| 1000 to 1000 feet, and with the man
giving the order fully two miles from
the nearest of his men.
| The apparatus used for wireless
teIephoning Is so simple and SO COM
pact that one would never notice
either the transmitting or receiving
devices on an airplane unless his ut
tention was called to 1t. With the
consent of General Kenly, Colonel
Culver gave me a great deal Of in
formation about these devices and the
following facts are the first published
about what perhaps Is the greatest
invention of the war.
Description of Device.
! The transmitting set consists Of n
power plant, set box, q transmtter
or microphone and an antenna sys-
TEN. The power plant consists of
generator driven on the windmill prin-
ciple by the passage Of the airplane
through the air. 1t Is placed some
where in the open. usually on the run
ming gear or on one of the wings, and
its tiny propeller blade whlrls vigor-
ously as the airplane travels along.
The so-called set box receives the
power from the generator, converts 1t
and places 1t on the aerials in the
form of sustained or undamped waves.
| The voice entering the transmitter
ynries the electric current on the
wires, which are connected as In the
ordinary telephone. In the set box
the variations received from the trans
mitter, are converted and act to effect
"a meditation Of the continuous or I'M
dumped waves already referred to.
The antenna system consists of an
aerial of one or two trailing wires OF
| approximately $50 feet In length,
strung out from the wing tips. This
| is counterposed by the wires and 9TH
er metallic parts Of the airplanes all
bonded together. These two elements
of the antenna system are analogous
10 large overhead wires and to the
ground" of land wireless station.
| The receiving set consists Of re-
ceiving set box, head receiver, q
source of power and an antenna sys-
TEN. The latter Is the same as the
nntenna system In the transmitting
set. The source Of power is small
storage battery. The head receiver is
built into the aviator's helmet In such
n manner as to exclude sounds from
the motor reaching The pilots ear and
interfering with his hearing. The set
box proper contains apparatus quite
similar to the receiving apparatus Of
n tirst-class wireless station. How
ever, IL possesses a number of refine
mpnts over these which increase the
audlbillty Of incoming signals, with.
stand vibration and minimize weight.