The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-09-22

| and at the same time we developed :
| ring mounting in the shservers coeiDi&
Il thus became . race not only IN ma
chimes but also In gunnesy ~ 70 who
could bring the most effective Ere -
bear on the adversary In the anenaa
lof 1915, experiments were made wi4ls
the virscrs Gun firing through the.pso-
peiler. The blades were pxokec&ed by
steel plates called deflectcrs. which were
| so placed that when bullet struck the
blade 1t glanced off, No form Of
synchronizer gear had then been evclv.
ed. but it was the beginning of system
which is now universal. Late in 1915.
the Fokker made its appearance. This
machine had not great speed. bat il
DID have synchroniring gear, g.. Q
gear which enabled the machine gun to
fire through the blades of the proceiler
without hitting the blades and without
any loss of efficiency Il had owite .
success for q time until the Fsench not
out the Spad gear and the Britishxfhs
Vtcken gear. The latter was used By
ms quite extensively over the lines, but
owing to the difficulty Of training Ne
chanics IN its use, and the small anouut
that was known Of it in those DAYS, Il
left quite lot to be desired. This vas
followed by the Constantinesco gear.
which proved very satisfactory. Here. I
then, was definite progress in aerial
gunnery, and to-day we have on every.
| machine two or three or four machine
guns two firing through the propeller,
and two being used by the observer be-
hind. In the case Of two-seater. IL
you consider the amount of rounds /
which can be fired on the enemy, from,
machine. you will understand what =
menac: It Is. You can ERE 600 1ouuds !
per minute from each gun: hence tho !,
pilot can hra 200 rounds per minute.
and the observer can reach the sarne
inquire with his two guns
MANY DIFFERENT AAcn1nrs
Machines, of course. are snect.ii.eA
here are sfngie-seater machines. WHICH
depend entirely on their power Of man.
oeuvfe ana ganflre- There are tve- |
scatter fighters where the pilot and oh. I
server have to work together the vf,ola t
ome. There are machines designed for
cooperation with Artillery which carry
an observer and wireless. There an /
large machines foe day bombing and3
still larger machines designed for nsgAea
bombing. Owing 10 the pace at wis3ra1i
maeh:ne' n'anoeuvre the sighting Oft
In@cnlne guns becomes very important
factor. To hit an object IN vital SPOT. |
going iIU miles an hour, when yotaf |
own machine is travelling at the samo /
pace, requires vast amount of trainis,r.
for pilots and observers, who practice |
gunncry continuously from the timc !,
they so on the ground school rntifstiaev |
f,, L.
perhaps the most note worthy develop. |
r1ent was compensated forc-siphe
which allowed automatically for the
speed OF your own machine but tn !
most valuable adjunct TO air fiRhdnrsd
was the Tracer bullet, bullet neifhera
explosive nor flaming, but which iesves1
phosphorescent trail. You can Tins l
see if your bullets are going the r,sV |
you want. and are entering the uacs;ns
aimed At
CLoUD FoRMArrosr FLYrro n
An extremely interesting form of ~. !
ing has been perfected recently-cioud |
formation flying.
In the oiden days. and until most re,
Gently. pilots have been chary about |
going into clouds except as a means OF |
defense. Actual cloud flying has been |
regarded with certain amount Oh
skephcism- But cioud flying to-day y |
progress over French and Belgiaa land |
Il Is obvious that we mast make tho |
Bochc realize what it win mean when |
We get on his land
The old maxim OF cutting the enemYs
communications h only possihie Ct the |
present moment by the air, and Ne can
reach hm IN the air now With our
forctaste OF what war will Sc vflen We. |
are in German territory We rnss vvruls~