Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-01
STORIES OF THE WAR
Aerial Offensive,

Press}-Gern1any was just about ready, at the time the armistcie was declared, to launch az tremendous aerial offensive by means of a feet of new airplanes which had 5een per- fected after months Of experiments and tests.
 These machines-which today stand, nearly ready for service, in the former Zeppelin Works at Staaken, near Ber- lin-would probably have caused revolution in flying, for they are con structed from nose to tail and wing tip to wing tip, almost entirely Of aluminium and therefore are immune to that greatest of aerial dangers, burning.
 They are two- steated planes of the | the observation rather than the | chasing" type The only part of l their construction not aluminium is q
 small bit of the wing. the part that tilts and tips to give the machine up- ward or downward direction. And the
 ar-mistice came just in time to halt experiments that should have elimin.,
 ated even this bit of infiammadble
 material, and made the machine every /! bit aluminium. It speed it's 125 miles 1 an hour.
 l The aluminium airplanes, however, are but fraction of the aerial forces 1 which Germany was carefully perfect l ing and storing up for the time when | she should have to try to regain mastery of the air. An exhaustive trip 1 through the former Zeppelin Works, such as The Associated Press corre- 1 spondeht has just had an opportunity 10 make, illustrates what enormous advances Germany had made in avia- tion.
 Jal,1 n.i,. 1,,, ,s,al, Germany was accumulating-she had l used them little and even had lost
 one through defective orientation- is the five-motor, 1250 horse power machine, capable fo carrying a score of passengers, or a ton and a half Of bombs and chew of eight, and which, German experts claim, far Surpasses in size and strnegth, flying abil~iy and general effectiveness the largest and best of the new British or Italian air planes. They are imposing aerial monsters.
 Some idea of their size may be gain
 ed fro mthe fact that they measure
 some 140 feet in width from wing ; tip to wing tip. Each has five huge
 motors of 259 horse power capacity
 two on the left between the wings two on the right in the same posi-
 tion, and one in the rear between the
 body and the tail.
 Though now they are all being re-
 built so as to be available for peace time transportation purposes, they have, when in shape for their war like work, a cabin forward and just behind the cooling fan where mech , anician sits, cabin for the command ing officer equipped with an amaznig- ngly complicated, yet for him simple
 signal system by which he can con-
 trol the actions of his entire crew anG
 they can communicate with him a any moment, and an open fly-dool through which he can sight at in : tended marks before releasing hi
 bombs.
 ,1 Before the commanders seat tn, , registers and gauges showing the al. - titude and speed and an ingeniou
 contrivance for night flying indicating eXactly at what angle, to one sde 0 r the other or up or down, the airplan
 is flying. A register with rows o n little plugs enables him to talk witt r any of his crew. If for example tn ] man in charge of the after machin
 gun signals that the enemy is direetI, :, behind so that the tail prevents hit l, ting him, the commander can b Il pressing switch give the order t
 
 A delicately constructed compass c one of the complements of the tin s cabine, not only showing direction an 6 other details but also the tip or sian
 of the airplane. There are signals t z the man who feeds and tends the gas I oline, and behind the commandel 't special safety devices for emptying a v the gas tanks to avoid fire or explo
 sion in case of an emergency. $ Behind the commander on eithe L. lower wing are two machine guns, fac - ing fore and aft, and manned by fou II men. Farther to the rear is sti
 another machine gun in the hollo' ;. of the body of the huge bird, whic . can shoot through q hole in the foo l. at objects under the plane. g The machine travels at a speed ( $ about 80 miles an hour and can sta
 in the air ten full hours. The spec Ie and horsepower wl1ere being increas ,e ed to an eventual limit of 125 mile ,,, when the war ended.
 -s To counteract the reduced atmos
 pheric pressure at great heights, wl1ic slows the speed, the German engir III eers devised another airplane wit IS four 25o- horsepower motors, alike er size and nearly in speed to the five n, motor ship, but equipped with COT
 densed or compressed air produce in which automatically supplies air m the motor to enable the airplane 10 keep up it's high speed in rarified al ~, mosphere and oustrip all other ma ,' mosphere and outstrip all other ma J. chimes no so equipped
 to Each of the airplanes which tf
 correspondent saw cost according