The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1918-09-19

aAAu ~ IlS Sdluc NlHS VIC oCfE4Opc0
J ring mounting in the observers cockpit
: It thus became a race not only IN MAJ
chimes but also in gunnery as to whs5
I could bring the most effective fire to
bear on the adversary. In the autumn.
} OF 1915 experiments were made with
the Vickers Gun firing through the pro-
lpellen The blades were protected By
} steel plates called deAectors. which vert
50 placed that when bullet struck tha
. blade 1t glanced off No form OF
! synchronizer gear had then been evoisS
} ed but it was the beginning of a system
} which is now universal Late m 1915,
the Fokker made its appearance This
machine had not a great speed. but q
did have synchonizing gear, 4 &, y
gear which enabled the machine gun To
fire through the blades of the propefles
without hitting the blades and without
:, Eany loss of efficiency Ii had quite =
success for a time. until the French got
out the Spad gear and the British ths
Viclxers gear The latter was used ha
us quite extensively over the lines. buk
owing to the difficulty of training rre4
ehanics in it's use, and the small arrouut
that was known of it in those DAYS. 81
left quite a lot to be desired. This waa
followed by the Constantinesco gear
which proved very satisfactory. Here
then, was definite progress in aerial
gunnery and to-day, we have on every
machine two or three or four nachins
guns, two firing through the propeller.
and two being used by the observer bc,l
hird In the case of a two-seater. II
You consider the amount of rounds
which can be fired on the enemy from
machine, you will understand what 4
menace 1t is. You can FIRE 600 rounds
per minute from each gun: hence thu
plot can fire LOO rounds per ruinutn.
and the observer can reach the sanaa
figure with his two guns
MANY DIFFERENT MACHINES
Machines, of course, are Specialized
There are single-seater machines. WHICH
depend entirely on their power OF man
oeuvre and gunfre There are twc,..s
scatter lighters where the pilot and OH
server have to work together the whole
time. There are machines designed foS
Incorporation with Artillery which carrI
an observer and wireless. There are
large machines for day bombing and
sun larger machines designed for niphH
Oomblng- Owing to the. pace at whichl
machines nanoeuvre the sighting al
machine guns becomes a very inporta1N
factor. To hit an object IL. a vital cot
going lZ0 miles an hour. when vorr%
own machine is travelling at the sans
pace, requires vast amount of traininaF
tor pilots and observers. who practice
gun11ery continuously from the tinn4
they go on the ground school until thevS
i go overseas. In the matter of siphf#
perhaps the most noteworthy dcvelouM
ment was compensated fr,rs-es0I,A
which allowed automatically for fh@
speed OF your own machine. btf+ 4hXl
most valuable adjunct to air 60itinM
was the Tracer bullet, a bullet neitbsa
explosive nor flaming. but which leaveI +
la phosphorescent trail You can linz
see If your bullets are going the va
you want and are entering the rnachin@
aimed at
CLOUD FORMATION Flying y
An extremely interesting form of f3vs.
ing has been perfected recentiy-clossH
formation flying
In the olden days, and until most ras
Gently pilots have been cl1ary aboua
lgclng into clouds except as a means al
defense Actual cloud flying has beefq
regarded with a certain amount NJ
Iskepucisfn. But cloud flying TODAY ~
a necessity. With the fighting xtiTl ~
progress over French and Belgian iand
lit is obvious that we must male ~
Boche realize what it will mean whedB
we get on his land.
The old maxim of cutting the .enenvksys
COMMUNICATIONS is only possible at fh5
present moment by the air, and we carsl
reach him in the air now with orrsl
large machines We can give him al
foretaste of what war will be when W.
are In German territory. We can malses
it exceedingly hard for him to feed his
troops in the field. By the best method
in the world we can make It still harded
| for him to maintain the output of hiaY
factories by destroying them.
Every day is not fine day anft-cioas4g
flying has become the fashion. If ~
now possible for machines TO 90 In forS
nation through the clouds and meet
above them and continue that formation
lon compass bearing TO their objective
Icome down through the clouds, BOMB
their objective, go up again and CON-
ihome. That sounds simple, but If
simple only if pilots are prope
trained for il, and have the right
struments.
RADIEG GERMkggY Now
Long-distance air raids into German7
Iare now quite common An indcoenE
dent Force of the R. A F. has beea
formed for this purpose alone. L
independent of the army, and carrfeA
Tout bomb raids only from its headauarI
tiers in France. The following figures
may be of interest: q
behind lines Load r..
d be reached fbornbsg
out 20 .----4.--.---~.--eAbous 81
out 70 .~-~-.----,-.-.---,--- About 101
80 SVV -.-s----4-----a------.- About go