The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-01-10

in the bottom of the fuselage. By means of this
last gun 1t defend itself from enemy ma
chimes attacking it from below and behind. a po-
sition In which all other machines but the Gotha
vulnerable.
The Germans have been most ingenious In de-
signing their airplanes for maximum effectiveness
of gun fire. Their single-seated Albatross ID.
and d III, Fokker D. Halberstadt Roland ID, ana
Ago d have two fixed guns firing ahead through
the revolving propeller. and these machines are
able to carry 1000 cartridges for each gun Their
two-place reconnaissance machines AlDatrosS,
Rumpler Aviatik and l.. V. G. have one fixed for
ward gun firing through the propeller and a sec
ond lighter gun a swivel mounted behind the
planes and firing the over an angle OF I'D
degrees The French have adopted this system
for the airplanes of similar type.
The most ingenious armament, however, Is that
of the Pomilio scout plane. 1t Is not advis-
able to betray the secret of this plane at present
but 1t is permissible to say that the single pilot
controls five guns, all shooting ahead simuitahe-
ously, and that four of these are SO perfectly
concealed that even photograph does not slio"
where they situated 1t Is In reality h'e-
barrcled Gatling gun wings This machine Is
now on its way to America. II indeed 1t has not
already arrived.
Talki .g with the Italian aviatOrs now here
about motors, found them deeply Interested IN
the Liberty motor. but none would venture
to express opinion about 1t.
81 could not Judge of its value" said one OF
them until l had taken 1t up 5000 or lOoooo
feet in the air and watched how 1t behaved there.
The Fiat company. which has been making mo-
tors since these were first invented. needeo
two whole years of experimentation before 1t wns
able to turn a satisfactory airplnne motor.
Several times it thought it had it; several times
1t offered n motor that performed perfectly under
the most exacting laboratory tests but each time
II failed when tested in the rureied air OF 1OOOO
feet above the earth. After two years OF trial
the Fiat people produced the wonderful motors
now so extensively used. The lsotta-F'raschni
company had a similar experience. We oil ad-
mire the perfection of mechanism Of the LIBERTY
motor and we all hope that actuai flight will
prove 1t to be perfect 1t looks. but no one
of us would venture to give verdict on II until
he had flown with 1t at all possible attitudes.
These men, all of whom youths who have
had thrilling experiences In actual warfare. are
fond of discussing the probabilities Of a flight
across the Atlantic. Any one Of them would be
willing to attempt It, but they disagree as to the
machine most likely to be the first to make 1t.
Some say the giant Caproni, Which would need at
least "a hours, and probably 49, to fly from New
foundland to Ireland (the shortest route), while
others say some such machine as the 8. v. A., az
ii could make the flight easily between sunrise
and sunset In the one case 1t would be like q
giant condor relying on the power of Its wings to
sustain 1t day and night In flight, In the other
case 1t would be gull swallow relying
terrific speed to carry 1t over by daylight