The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-10-24


and the early part of 1915 pilots and observers
carried rifles and the pilots, at that time, "a
behind. There machine guns on air
planes. Men undoubtedly fought in the mir, bu
these scraps generally resulted in two machines
mnneuvering around cach other and occasionally
getting in shot. Sometimes machine OF
the other was forced to land for lack Of gasoline
1t was extremely lucky II you could put in shot
that would either disable the pilot or knock out
the mnrhine. Not until the advent Of the Lewis
gun did aerial gunnery really begin to make ttseli
felt. These handy little weapons were mounted
swvelpins ench side OF the machine and Gu;
down to decrease weight. This. however, though
the beginning. was never satisfactory, and the
stoppages In the machine gun were frequent. Ir
the middle of 1915 the German avlatk had sin
gle movable gun In the rear cockpit which caused
QUITE lot of trouble to the allies THIS wai
followed by the French Neuport machine. Which
hnd a Lewis gun mounted over the top Plane nnt
at the same time developed n ring mounting
in the observers cockpit. 1t thus became II rnct
not only in machines but also In gunnery tt
who could bring the most effective fire to bear or
the adversary. In the autumn of 1915 expert
ments were made with the vickers gun irinf
through the propeller. The blndes were protected
by steel plates called refiectors which sf
placed that when bullet struck the blade Il
glanced of. No form of synchrOnixer gear hat
been evolved but 1t was the beginning Of a sys
tenn which Is universal. Lnte in 1915 thu
FOkker made Its appearance. This machine hat
not a great speed. but It did have synehronlxins
sear 1. e.. gear which enabled the machine CUR
to fire through the blades of the propeller with
out hitting the blades and without any loss o,
efficiency. 1t had quite n snccess for time unit
the French got out the Spad gear and the British
the Vickers gear. The latter was used by nj
quite extensively the lines. but owing to thu
difficulty Of training mechanics In its and ths
small amount that was known Of It In those days
1t left quite u lot to be desired. This was fol
lowed by the COnstantinescO gear. which proved
very satisfactory. Here. then. was definite
progress in aerial gunnery, and today We have OF
every machine two or three or four machine guns
two firing through the propeller and two beinf
used by the observer behind. In the case Of {
twoseater. II you consider the amount of rounds
which can be fired on the enemy from a machine
you will understand what a menace It is. Yor
can fire 600 rounds per minute from each gun
hence the pilot can fire 200 rounds per minute
and the observer can reach the same figure with
his two guns.
Machines. of course. are specialized. There art
single-seater machines which depend entirely or
their power of maneuver and gunfre. There arr
twO-seater fighters, where the pilot and the Oh
server have to work together the whole time
There machines designed for cooperation
with artillery which carry nm observer md wire
less. There large machines for day bombing
and still lnrger machines designed for night bomb
ing. Owing to the pace Mt which machine,
maneuver the sighting Of machine guns becomes
a very important factor To hit an object In
vital spot. going 12O miles an hour. when YOU
own machine Is travelling at the same pace, re
quires a vast amount Of training for pilots ant
observers, who practice gunnery continuously
from the time they go on the ground school unit
they 20 overseas.
An extremely Interesting form of flying ha.
been perfected recently-coud formation flying.
In the olden days, and until most recently
pilots have been chary about going into clouds
except as a means Of defense. Actual cloud fy
Ing has been regarded with certain amount o.
skepticism. But cloud flying today is a necessity
Every day Is not fine day. and cloud flying ha'
chimes to go In formation through the clouds ant
meet above them and continue that formation
on a compass bearing to their objective. com'
down through the clouds. bomb their objective
20 up again and come home. That sounds simple
but it is simple only IL pilots properly tranet
for 1t. and have the right instruments.
Long g-distance air raids into Germany nov
quite common. An Independent force of the r. A
Independent OF the army and carries out boml
raids only from Its headquarters In France
would like to write something about aeria
photography, that most useful adjunct Of tn
work of the general staff. but considerations o
space forbid have endeavored to show tn
vital Importance of the air force both offensiv
md defensive My message be summarize,
in very few words Send your Liberty en-
glnes IN thousands. Send over your bright youn
American flyers in tens Of thousands and tn
end of both the and the Hun will be Il
sight.