The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1919-01-23
FLYING MAN NO LONGER $50
LATED.
May Talk To People
On the Ground
Can Call for Help, Ask About Land
ings and Send InfOrma-
ton He Has.

which is now beginning in the Unit
ed States, will in all probability be
greatly stimulated by that newest of
aerial inventions-the radiophone.
No longer is the flying man a being
cut off from the rest of mankind
by distance and the noise of his roar
ing motors. It is now possible for
him to converse with persons OF the
ground or in other airplanes even
when they are miles away. He may
call for help, ask about landing con-
ditions below, send back information
about the weather.
In that national system of landing
fields which is the dream of all con-
structive minded aviators and which
the army fiers r now beginning to
outline, this %radiophone will play a
part. the Importance of which can
scarcely be exaggerated. For it
means that passenger and mail
planes will be in almost continuous
touch with ground stations.
The military value of the radio
phone is even more obvious, and in
deed was demonstrated in France
before the armistice was signed and
before the secret of the wireless tele-
phone was revealed to the public.
The great value Of the radiophone
in military flying, of course, is that
it enables great squadrons of planes
to act in perfect unison under a CON-
mander. When Is planes going at
a rate of 1870 miles an hour dip OF
turn, or rock like one machine in
perfect response to an order given by
their leader in a machine two miles
above them, and the order is stimuli
taneously audible to a nan at the
aerial station 5000 feet below the
lowest plane, one must admit that
there is a new wonder of the world.
There is something quite uncanny
in the whole proceeding to the nom
scientific listener and onlooker who
is at the ground aerial station.
1t is proof of the perfection of
the wireless telephone that in all
the tests and drills which have been
held, an order from a commanding
officer has never been misunderstood
by a man under his command, and
no accidents have occurred to ma
chimes under the control of this new
and powerful instrument. This is a
great satisfaction in itself, and it
also shows the splendid discipline
and faith of an American aviator.
AS the airplanes, when in battle for
nation, fly very close to each other,
the slightest misunderstanding or
disobedience on the part of an airman
would quite likely mean the collision
of two planes and the probable death
Of both pilots.
When in battle this invention en-
| ables the commander of a fleet OF
| planes so to maneuver as completely
to surround enemy planes hidden in
| clouds, and sometimes even those in
the open. On the training field, the
wireless telephone saves skilled pilots
from unnecessary risks while direct
ing and correcting their pupils. The
instructor on the ground is enabled
| by this device to make his commands
perfectly audible to the pupil in the
air without risking his life in the
hands of a recruit. Moreover, it has
been proven beyond a doubt that the
wireless telephone is of supreme val
ue in directing air gunners and bomb
ers.
Chief credit for the invention is
| given to Col. Clarence G. Culver, of
the department of military arenautics
and Col. Samuel Rees of the royal fly
ing corps. The idea first took def
mite shape when these two officials
were on duty at the international
| aviation tournament at Belmont Park
in the fall of 1910. Earlier that
same year Colonel Culver and Capt.
H. NJ. Horton had established radio
telegraph communication from a fly
ing aifplane to an aerial station at
Sheepshead Bay, New York. Captain
Horton is credited with having built
the transmitting set and Colonel Gull
yer, the receiving set.
1t was six years later that the first
message was transmitted from one
airp1ane in flight to another on Sep
TENDER Q, 1915. Colonel Culver
continued his inventive work, and
early the next year a radiotelephone
trial was held, which resulted in the
first transmission of the human voice
from an airplane to the ground. Then,
in May, 1917, Gen. George o. Squire,