Q.-Does this mean that few avi ators are killed? A.-No. It means only that in proportion to the numbers engaged in the work, the losses are small. In percentages, infantry suffers the most casualties (just as it always has done in every war). Artillery comes next in percentage of casualty; the medical corps comes third and aviation comes fourth. This fact has now been so well established that early in 1918 General Pershing, commander of the American expeditionary force in France, recommended that the extra pay for aviators, based on the theory of extra-hazardous service, be discontinued. Q. Has anything new happened to make the aviator safe? A.-No, nothing new, unless we can call vastly increased skill and science new. The aviators have learned how to beat the anti-aircraft gun, for one thing. For purposes of destroying aeroplanes, all guns so far devised have been comparative failures. They are immensely useful for forcing aircraft to fly high and thus they hamper them in observation and bomb-dropping; but as instruments of damage they have not proved themselves. Thus the only dangerous opponent that the aeroplane has to-day in war is another aeroplane. But, except for the extraordinary exploits of extraordinary individuals, and for the distinct fighting clan of the service, the average army aviator's chief business is not to fight but to scout. Therefore, though there are very many fierce combats in the air, almost daily, the regular daily work of aviation is not combative. Q. Are there different branches of military aviation service? A.-There are four large general services nowadays in military aviation—exploration, observation, bombardment and combat. There are aeroplanes whose sole duty is to observe, others who protect the observer from hostile attacks, others who are bombarders, etc. The Lafayette Escadrille, for example, was mainly a bombardment fleet, dropping bombs upon the enemy's munition depots and railway lines before an attack. Q. How fast does a fighting aeroplane fly? A. The swift single-seat fighting_machines of the Allies at present are flying from 125 to 140 miles an hour. Each is armed with one or two machine guns, rigidly fastened to the aeroplane, and capable of shooting only in the direction of the axis of the machine. Q.-How does a fighter attack? A. One of the common maneuvers consists of diving from a sufficient distance to about 300 feet behind the adversary; dropping about 60 feet lower, and coming into position for firing by an upward dash. If the enemy has suspected nothing, it is sure death for him. Q.-Why do the Allies not send aeroplanes over Essen to destroy Krupps? A.-Presumably they have tried, and, presumably, Krupps is too well guarded. In view of the fact that this is a war of munitions rather than of men, it is, indeed, amazing that far more determined efforts have not been made to cripple Germany by destroying Krupps. It must be noted, however, that Germany has been equally unsuccessful in destroying the munitions works of the Allies. Q.-Why do not the Allies resort to reprisals upon German cities? A.-There is much opposition to reprisals in the Allied countries. Moreover, it is much more difficult for the Allies to bomb German cities than it is for the Germans to bomb England, because traveling the same distance which the Germans travel from their submarine base in Belgium to England would bring the Allies' aviators only as far as Belgium or northern France. They have, however, dropped bombs upon Dresden and Frankfort with far-reaching effect, both in the destruction of property and the moral effect upon the people. Q.-Are bombs aimed, or merely dropped, from aircraft? A.-Much progress has been made in bomb-sighting. The chief difficulty is to establish a true vertical direction. Modern bomb-dropping machines are equipped with instruments not only for sighting, but for determining allowances necessary for speed, height, wind, and so forth. Q. How much bombing material can a Zeppelin carry? A.-The Zeppelin captured by the French had provision for eighteen 120 When a lb. bombs-more than a ton. greater bomb-load is carried (often as much as four tons), fuel-load is sacrificed and safety impaired. Q. How can aviators safely have glass windows and goggles? A.-In order to keep fragments of glass from injuring the pilot in case of accident, triplex glass is used for windows and goggles. In a recent accident where an aeroplane, going ninety miles an hour, struck a tree, the triplex glass window did not throw off a single fragment. Q. What changes did 1917 bring in aeroplanes? A. The most important change is the Even the single-seater growth in size. fast fighting machines are being built larger to accommodate a larger engine with water-cooling apparatus, which also necessitates a greater wing area in order that the machine may be slowed up enough for safe landing. The fighting aeroplanes are beginning to have two machine guns timed to fire between the propeller blades, and other guns to be fired at various angles. The slower reconnaissance type has also increased its engine power. The twin-engine machine is more and more used. Both the Germans and the Allies have the pilot in the front cockpit handling one or two synchronized guns, with a gunner placed in the afterseat managing a gun on a turn-table. Q. Do aeroplane guns really fire through the propeller? A. Yes. The gun is regulated by a wonderfully ingenious yet simple apparatus that times its shots so exactly that each bullet will surely pass between the blades of the propeller, though the latter is whirling as swiftly as it can go. Q. What is the height record for an aeroplane? A. In 1918 Lieutenant Papa, of the Italian Army, reached an altitude of 23,200 feet in a flight lasting one hour and five minutes. A passenger accompanied the operator. He was prevented from attaining a still higher altitude only by a lack of oxygen. The same pilot broke the record in May, 1917, with a flight attaining 21,000 feet. Q. Why has Paris been so little attacked by air-raiders? A. Many various explanations have been given by speculatively inclined minds. 75 One explanation was that the French Q. What is a kite balloon and A.-Kite balloons are large balloons controlled from the ground by ropes. They are used for observation purposes on the fighting fronts, and by the Allied navies in detecting U-boats. The balloon is attached to the deck of a trawler, and the observer, in his basket, can easily spot a submarine even when it is below the surface of the water. Q. Have airplanes ever made use of smoke devices? A. Yes. The big German Gotha aeroplanes, which raid England from time to time, are equipped with apparatus for producing smoke clouds, which are emitted whenever the raiders are seriously threatened by anti-aircraft artillery. As the smoke is white and practically of the same formation as the clouds overhead, it is a hard matter for the gunners below to find the machines. Q. Where did the aeroplane first prove its effectiveness? A.-First mention is made by Sir John French at the Aisne, in a report to the War Office in the first week of September, 1914. He says, "Sir David Henderson and the Royal Flying Corps have proved their incalculable value." Q. What is the status of airmen caught while dropping printed propaganda? A.-There is no specific rule in international law or the rules of war to govern the case exactly. The circulation of propaganda in enemy lines by air-route is entirely new. In previous wars there was the same effort to circulate propaganda among enemy soldiers and population, but it was attended with such difficulty that it did not reach great magnitude. Q. What was done in previous wars to men caught circulating such matter? A.-Usually the case was simple, because the men who tried to spread it had to enter enemy lines in disguise, and thus were subject to execution as spies. If, however, a soldier should have stolen into enemy lines in his uniform with such propaganda, it might fairly be claimed that he should be treated like a soldier attacking an enemy line with weapons. But, presumably, his captors would not willingly take that view of it. Q.-Why is castor oil important to the success of aviation? A. It has been found to be the only practical lubricant, and it was necessary for the United States to bring a cargo of castor beans all the way from Bombay, India, to speed up the industry of producing castor oil in sufficient quantities to carry out the big aviation program. Q.-Did the Kaiser have a narrow escape from a bomb from an aeroplane? A. Yes. While the Kaiser was watching the assault on Ypres from Thielt in Belgium, a British aeroplane dropped a bomb near his position, killing several members of his staff. There was knowledge of his presence there on the part of the aviator. no Q. How does an aeroplane rise from a ship's deck? A.-Aeroplane-carrying warships are provided with a skid-way built as a superstructure over the decks and arranged in such a way that it does not interfere with the guns. Usually it is astern. The most modern type of airship-carrying vessel in our navy is thus designed. The aeroplane is lifted to the skidway, where it rests on a sliding platform or sledge. The naval aeroplane, being a hydro-aeroplane, is practically a flying boat, and, therefore, has no wheels with which it may start itself from the surface. Besides, the size of a ship is not sufficient to give a good start. There fore, instead of projecting itself forward with its own engine power, as the landplane does, the naval plane is shot from the ship by a catapult, which sends the sledge whizzing into the air with the plane on it. As the flying machine rises, the platform falls into the sea, to be picked up by the sailors. Q.-How does a naval plane return to the ship? Can it land on deck? A.-No. It returns as near to the ship as possible, and then glides to the water, where it floats on its pontoons or boats. Then it motors on the surface to the side of the ship. Tackles and purchases are lowered with sailors, who fasten the plane into a sling and the whole apparatus, aviators and all, is hoisted aboard and swung where it belongs. Q. What is the reason for the shortage of spruce lumber? A.-Spruce has been found to be the only lumber with sufficient strength and lightness for aeroplanes. Uncle Sam has found it necessary to take over the entire spruce output and has been obliged to go into the forests himself with lumber squadrons of many thousand men to get out sufficient trees to build the thousands of aeroplanes now needed for the Western front. A.-Up to this time no satisfactory substitute has been secured for spruce wood for the frames of the fuselage, the wings, the struts, and so on. It answers the purpose better than any other, resists shocks with greater strength, has a greater allround capability than any other wood or metal that has as yet been tried. Q. What responsible agency has the American Government for aeroplane production? A. The Aircraft Production Board, headed by Howard E. Coffin, a part of the Council of National Defense. This board works in consultation with the Army and Navy Boards on designs and specifications. Its chief function is to produce a maximum output of types desired by the government. It also equips with machines the government schools and the training fields, which educate 6,000 aviators a year. Q.-Could the Germans send aeroplanes from submarines to bomb the United States? A.-No attempt, apparently, has been made by the enemy to combine air-raids with the submarine. An aeroplane which might be used by the Germans for this purpose is the "Brandenburg tractor biplane," a standard seaplane, built according to special German plans. Q. Is there much bombing from the air? A. The British War Office reported that in January, 1918, the Germans dropped 1,482 bombs in the area occupied by British troops in France. In the same period British aviators dropped 7,653 bombs in the enemy areas. The Germans dropped only 221 bombs in the daytime, while the British dropped 5,900 between sunrise and sunset. OUR NAVY Q. How many ships are in the Q.-Were we very inferior navally American Navy? A.-We had more than one thousand within seven months after America declared war. This was an expansion from a navy of 300 vessels, which we had in 1916. Of course we reckon in every type of ship in this aggregate, from the superdreadnaught type to the submarine chasers and scouting craft. The vessels under construction at the end of 1917 were 800 in number, of which 425 were large craft (ranging from allbig-gun ships to destroyers) and 350 were fast types of submarine chasers. Q. How many men had the Navy before the war? A. On the day when war was declared there were 64,680 enlisted men in the Navy; in March, 1918, there were 150,000, the total number authorized being 165,000. In addition there were more than 49,000 enlisted men in the Naval Reserve force, 7,000 in the Hospital Corps, 16,000 naval volunteers, and about 5,000 members of the coast guard in service-a total of about 225,000 men. The Marine Corps has been more than doubled, there being about 33,000 men and officers in service, as compared with 13,266 enlisted men and 426 commissioned officers in April, 1917. Q. What was our naval rank in 1914? A.-Third among the great Powers in all-big-gun ships. The navies stood: Great Britain, Germany, United States, France, Japan, Russia, Italy, Austria, Spain, Brazil, Argentine, Chile. Q.-Did we compare at all in 1914 with Germany in big ships? A.-Our Navy, on July 1, 1914, included these completed ships in service: Eight dreadnaught battleships, 22 predreadnaughts, 25 cruisers, 51 torpedo-boat destroyers, 13 torpedo boats, and 30 submarines. We had at that date a naval strength of 66,273 officers and enlisted men. At the outbreak of war the German fleet had 28 dreadnaughts built and building, 20 older battleships, 55 cruisers, 154 torpedo craft, and 45 submarines. to England and Germany? A-Decidedly so. In warship tonnage we stood as follows: Q. How many German dreadnaughts were actually afloat in 1914? A. It is hard to say exactly, because there is always some uncertainty about ships actually afloat and ships nearing completion. Sometimes naval estimates carry all ships (completed, partly completed and even contemplated) to show full strength. At other times, to conceal full strength, they show only the ships actually afloat and even of these they show only the undoubtedly first-class ones, relegating older ones to a second line. An apparently conservative list indicates that when war was declared Germany had at least 16 undoubtedly firstclass dreadnaughts and battleships afloat and enough others building, or appropriated for, to make a total of 28, of which some very certainly were due soon to be launched. All these 28 were not, however, “all-big-gun" ships. Q.-How did the various Powers compare in big-gun ships in 1914? A. In big-gun ships Great Britain, according to the U. S. Navy Department, Office of Naval Intelligence, had in the end of the year 1913, 18 all-big-gun dreadnaughts alone, with 14 building. Germany had 13 with 6 building, France had 2 with 9 building. Japan had 2 with 4 building. Italy had 2 with 7 building. Austria had 2 with 2 building. Q. What are all-big-gun ships? A. They are the very last thing in naval construction, being ships whose turrets are loaded to the limit of possibility with the largest rifled steel cannon ever |