The Romance of Aircraft Part 11

The _Caudron_ is another big twin-motored machine, used by French, British and Italians. Its two rotary engines are fixed in small nacelles between the planes, while the pilot rides in a center fuselage. Somewhat after the manner of the Voisin, it carries its tail at the end of a projecting framework of four long beams, the lower two of which act also as landing skids.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright International Film Service, Inc._

A HANDLEY PAGE MACHINE TUNING UP FOR A FLIGHT]

America, like the rest of the nations, has had her secret ambition to try her hand at building bombing machines. In 1918 the designs for the _Handley-Page_ bomber were brought to this country, and on July 6th the first American built _Handley-Page_ bomber was successfully launched into the air at Elizabeth, New Jersey. The huge machine was christened the _Langley_ after one of the early experimenters with the heavier-than-air machine. It had a wing span of 100 feet, and a central fuselage 63 feet long. Small armored nacelles at either side of the fuselage carried its two 400 horsepower Liberty motors, each turning a separate propeller. Laden with its full supply of bombs, its two Browning machine guns and fuel for a long run, this giant of the skies weighs about 9,000 pounds. Our country has inst.i.tuted a program of construction for these super-dreadnaughts, and before long they will form an enormous aerial weapon in the hands of our airmen. For America, still practically a novice at airplane construction on a large scale, to be able to produce in her factories the largest and most complicated of the foreign types, speaks well for her determination and resourcefulness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright Underwood and Underwood_

THE LAUNCHING OF A LANGLEY, A GIANT BOMBING AIRPLANE]

The Allied nations have vied with each other in their efforts to produce the king among bombing planes. The Italians have undoubtedly carried away the prize. Their _Cap.r.o.ni_ triplane is among the largest in the world. The details of its construction were kept secret, as it was one of the most dreaded weapons of the Allies. Three powerful Fiat motors drive it at a speed of about 80 miles an hour. With its five tons of bombs, destined for important objectives in the land of the enemy, it is an object to inspire awe.

The _Cap.r.o.ni_ makers have long been known for their large bombing machines. Their three bombers, including a smaller triplane and a biplane, headed the list of their fellows at the front. In October, 1917 a _Cap.r.o.ni_ biplane was demonstrated in America, covering a distance of almost 400 miles in about 4-1/2 hours. It started its journey from Norfolk and landed at the Mineola Aviation field, with seven pa.s.sengers on board. _Cap.r.o.ni_ bombing airplanes carried out many historic raids, among them being that on the famous Austrian Base at Pola. To reach it the Italian aviators had to travel by night across the Adriatic, and they carried out their pre-arranged plan of attack with the utmost punctuality, in spite of the tremendous difficulties that loomed along their path. Two squadrons of machines left the aerodrome, the first some time before the second, and each airplane following its fellows at a considerable distance. At 11 o'clock at night the first of the bombers flew over Pola and discharged its rain of high explosives. In rapid succession the others followed, letting go their missiles upon stores of ammunition, docks, and every object of military importance. In order to aid them in picking out their targets the raiders made use of an ingenious contrivance which so amazed and stupefied the Austrians that for a while they failed to make any attempt to shoot down the Italian planes with their anti-aircraft guns. It was a huge parachute, to which had been attached a powerful chemical light. Descending slowly the terrifying object hung as it seemed suspended in mid-air, lighting the way for the raiding machines, who took advantage of the terror of the Austrians to drop 14 tons of high-explosives and make their escape unharmed.

The tremendous _Cap.r.o.ni_ triplane is almost impregnable. Its enemies have little chance of downing it, for it can fly even when one of its planes has been severely damaged, and with its three powerful motors it is practically immune from any engine trouble, as in case of an accident or injury to one motor the other two, or for that matter, one of them, will carry it safely home. With the great stability given it by its three supporting surfaces it can go through the stormiest weather without the slightest need for fear. Once its load of bombs has been discharged, it can rise to 7,000 feet to escape from its pursuers.

The story is told of an Italian aviator, Major Salomone, who escaped in a _Cap.r.o.ni_ when attacked after a bombing expedition by a squadron of Austrian speed scouts. His enemies succeeded in wrecking one of the big engines by their gun fire, and in killing two of his gunners and a pilot. He himself was severely wounded, but keeping control of his machine he managed to reach home safely by the power of the remaining two engines.

The triplane is by far the best type for these giant raiders that fly by night. Their requirements are great lifting power and great stability, and these, the triplane with its extra lifting surface, best fulfills.

Equipped with two or three engines so that its power-plant can be absolutely relied upon in every emergency, with accurate bomb-sighting instruments and with a compa.s.s, searchlight and other apparatus necessary for traveling by night, the triplane can be depended upon to inflict gigantic blows upon enemy bases.

The British have a big bombing triplane that was heard from in Germany: the _Sopwith_. Its three planes are equal in span, and have only one strut at each side of the fuselage, with the wiring also greatly simplified, in order to reduce the head-resistance to a minimum.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _SIDE VIEW OF A SOPWITH TRIPLANE_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _TOP VIEW OF THE "TAIL" OF THE SOPWITH_]

The _Sopwith_ was one of the first triplanes to be used for bombing and general service over the lines. Those at the front early in 1918 were equipped with a 110 horsepower Clerget rotary engine. A round metal hood or "cowl" surrounding the motor formed the front of the fuselage, overhanging the body slightly at the bottom in order to form an air outlet for the engine.

America has not actually developed any big bombing planes of the type of the _Sopwith_, although we have one enormous triplane,--the _Curtiss_ triplane air-cruiser, built for service over the sea.

And although Russia abandoned the good cause for which she was fighting, we cannot pa.s.s over the subject of big bombing triplanes without mentioning the giant _Sikorsky_, one of the largest and most remarkable weapons of destruction that were employed in the war against the Hun.

The future will no doubt write a new and fascinating chapter in the story of the triplane. The big night bombers are being built on a large scale by all the Allied nations. Their exploits opened every great military operation, they const.i.tuted a reign of terror over the lines of the enemy, and their death-dealing blows saved countless thousands of allied troops from the need of sacrificing their lives. They could make the journey straight to the heart of the enemy's country and return, with plenty of surplus fuel. Their missiles did enormous damage to railway centers, docks, bridges, aerodromes and a.r.s.enals. Carrying bombs that weigh anywhere from 16 to 500 pounds, they spread havoc in their wake, while the silencers on their engines made them veritable specters of the night. An ill.u.s.tration of their possible accomplishments was the flight of Italian machines across the Alps and to Vienna, when they dropped manifestos upon the frightened populace. Those manifestos reminded the Austrian people that only the humanity and self-respect of the allied airmen made them drop "paper bombs" on Vienna while the Germans were unloading high explosives in the midst of the civilian populations of London and Paris. It must have shown the people of Vienna what the machines of their enemies were capable of doing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright Underwood and Underwood_

AN AMERICAN BUILT CAp.r.o.nI AIRPLANE]

But the airplanes of war whose acquaintance we have made so hastily in this chapter were not used by the Allies for raiding or terrifying civilians. From the tiny fighting machines that carried so many of our bravest pilots to personal combat over the lines, to the enormous bombing planes used to scatter destruction and ruin among the military strongholds of the enemy, our machines were trustworthy and brave, but they were also machines of honor.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Copyright Underwood and Underwood_

THIS CURTISS TRIPLANE HAS A SPEED OF ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY MILES AN HOUR]

CHAPTER VII

GERMAN AIRPLANES IN THE WORLD WAR

When we read the story of the wonderful contributions made by France, England, Italy, and America to the progress of aviation and to the romantic history of the heavier-than-air machine, we must remember that it is the story of nations which, a few short years ago, had no thought of turning the airplane into a mere weapon of destruction and desolation. It was the conquest of the air, for its own sake, that appealed to the fiery imaginations of the French, and that made them, from the day when the first Montgolfier balloon went soaring into the clouds, down to the early triumphs of the airplane in France and the great contests and meetings that followed them, ardent enthusiasts over each and every form of aerial sport. England, in spite of the fact that her sportsmen fliers were winning new triumphs daily, and in spite of the public interest that was taken from the very beginning in the advance of aviation, had, at the beginning of 1911, just _one_ military airplane. America, ardent devotee of Peace, even while the World War was raging in Europe, failed to take steps to provide herself with an aerial fleet.

But when we come to Germany, the story of aviation takes an entirely different turn. The Germans as a people were never wildly enthusiastic over airplanes, for they lacked the fine sportsmanship and love of daring adventure which produced so many clever aviators in other lands.

In fact, until they saw its utter inability to compete with the heavier-than-air machine as a military weapon, they confined themselves almost entirely to the construction of the safe and comfortable dirigible. With the possible exception of such a man as Lilienthal, the Germans took slight personal interest in the subject of human flight. It was the German government that, by lavish expenditure, and by every means known to it, encouraged experiment and progress.

The whole thought in Germany, both in the days of the dirigible and later, when the airplane had proved its superiority, was solely to develop the flying machine as an instrument of war. It was for this that she began her costly and gigantic program of Zeppelin construction, it was for this that the best engineers in the Empire were set to work designing aeronautic engines. It was not without some chagrin that the German military authorities gave up their dream of world conquest by means of the Zeppelin, and set themselves to building airplanes instead.

Yet when they did, they applied to the new problem the same thoroughness, the same military precision and uniformity that had marked their earlier program. Reading of the French machines we are fascinated by the many types and patterns that the ingenious Frenchmen were able to devise. In Germany everything was carefully systematized by the government, individual designs were discouraged unless they fitted into the military scheme of things, and the airplane was produced in large numbers, like so many blackjacks, all exactly alike, to be used in striking the peaceful nations of the world.

German thoroughness went a long way in perfecting the airplane as a war instrument. When, in August 1914, her sword finally descended, she had close on to 800 machines and a thousand trained pilots, together with a small force of seaplanes and pilots. To-day, according to an English authority, she has at least 20,000 aircraft of all sorts, manned by a force of 300,000 pilots, observers, and bombardiers.

The first German machines to fly over French territory might well have struck terror to the hearts of the plucky French, for they were equipped with the cleverest instruments of destruction that Germany could devise.

The swept-back, curved wings of these standard biplanes won them the name of _Taube_ or "dove." Certainly they were not "doves of peace."

They were equipped with wireless, carried cameras for reconnaissance work, had the most accurate recorders of height and speed, dependable compa.s.ses, instruments for bomb-dropping, dual control systems, so that they could be operated by either pilot or observer, and dozens of other small improvements and accessories that made them more than a match for the French machines sent up to dispute their supremacy in the air. The challenge these machines presented to the genius of the French was taken up with vigor. It was not long before they found themselves an obsolete form of aircraft in the great war in the air, and for all their inventions and improvements, they were forced back into their hangars.

By the Spring of 1915, the French were soaring through the sky in fast fighting machines that made the air a very unsafe place for the plodding German "maid-of-all-work." The Germans bestirred themselves to think of some method of getting even with these unreasonable French pilots, who somehow refused to admit defeat. The machine which they sent out in answer to the _Nieuport_ monoplane and others of its type was the invention of a Dutchman; it succeeded in creating quite a sensation for a while in Allied circles, until like others of its company it was superseded by French inventive genius and rendered a more or less harmless craft.

This supposedly invincible fighter was the _Fokker_. In general construction it was largely an imitation of the French Morane monoplane, but it had one entirely new feature that rendered it at the time a formidable adversary. That was what was known as a synchronized gun, firing through the propeller.

The problem had been to design a machine which could be operated by one man, who became both the pilot and the gunner. In order to do this he must necessarily be able to control the direction of his machine in flight and aim his gun at the enemy at the same time. The best way to accomplish this was to point the nose of his machine at his victim and fire straight ahead of him. But here the propeller was the great obstacle. How could he fire a gun from the bow of his machine without striking the propeller blades as they whirled swiftly about in front of him? The German _Fokker_ answered that question. The machine gun with which it was equipped had its shots so synchronized, or "timed," that, impossible as it seems, they pa.s.sed between the rapidly revolving propeller blades without striking them. The _Fokker_ was a remarkable climber in its day, and in addition it had a simple device by which the pilot could lock the control of the elevating planes, steering only to right or to left, by means of pedals worked with his feet.

Early in 1916 this deadly weapon of aerial warfare made its appearance, and for a while the civilian population of England and France read with dismay of its conquests. Mounting high into the clouds, it would await its victim. The moment a machine of the Allies appeared beneath it, the _Fokker_ turned its nose straight down and went speeding in the direction of its prey, opening fire as soon as it got within range.

There was no use of the unfortunate airplane trying to escape. The _Fokker_ could, by wobbling its nose slightly in spiral fashion as it descended, produce, not a straight stream of bullets ahead of it but a cone of fire from its machine gun, with the victim in the center of the circle. Whichever way the latter turned to escape it met a curtain of bullets which could destroy it. The Allied machines could only combat it in groups of three and for a time at least it held supremacy in the skies. When itself pursued by a superior number of planes, it was quick as an acrobat, and speedy at climbing, so that it very seldom could be caught.

This was the machine in which the two famous German airmen, Immelmann and Boelke performed some of their most daring exploits. It traveled at a speed of more than 100 miles per hour and could perform surprising feats with the most alarming ease.

But while the _Fokker's_ debut over the trenches caused the British House of Commons to debate the new peril gravely, French and British airmen sprang quickly and gaily to the challenge. Heedless of the danger, they braved the bullets of the _Fokker_ in order to get a better view of its mechanism, and they soon answered it with swift and powerful machines like the British _De Havilland_. It was only a short while before the Fokker monoplane was "behind the times." Faster machines with greater climbing powers overtook it in the skies and swooped down upon it from superior alt.i.tudes, as it had swooped down upon so many of its victims. Its day of triumph at an end, it withdrew to the seclusion of its hangar, and the _Fokker biplane_ replaced it in the air. This in its turn became the steed of many of Germany's star aerial performers.

Now came the days when Captain Baron von Richthofen held forth in the heavens with his squadrons of variegated planes which the British airmen nicknamed "Richthofen's circus." These queerly "camouflaged" planes were German Albatroses. The _Albatros_ was one of the best designed of the German airplanes, and although the first models produced were not remarkable for their speed, they were good climbers and weight-carriers and thoroughly reliable. They were later developed in two distinct types: a fast "speed scout" biplane single-seater, equipped with two machine guns both firing across the propeller; and a slower reconnaissance airplane, for general service over the lines. The latter carried both a pilot and an observer, and had two machine guns, one to be fired by each of them.

It was not long before the Allies had several captured machines of this type in their possession. An Austrian _Albatros_ reconnaissance biplane, taken in 1916, afforded an interesting opportunity to examine what was at that time one of the very best of the enemy's planes. Its general construction did not entirely meet with the approval of expert airmen who looked it over. Its upper wing was much longer from tip to tip than the lower, producing a very great overhang. From the point of view of the pilot this had its advantage, for the shorter plane below him allowed a much better range of vision, but it undoubtedly weakened the whole structure. The biplane was exceedingly slow in flight, a great drawback even in a machine not built for fighting purposes. One curious feature was its very large fixed tail plane, to which the elevating plane was attached; while a decided defect from a military standpoint was the entirely unprotected position of the pilot and the observer.

Obviously the Germans had not yet solved the problem of air supremacy to their complete satisfaction. But their engineers and designers were busy thinking it over, and soon they had ready a number of swifter airplanes, foremost among which were probably the _Aviatik_ and the _Halberstadt_.

The _Aviatik_ made great claims of superior accomplishments over the front lines. German pilots boasted that it had a "ceiling" (a climbing capacity) of almost 16,000 feet with pilot, observer and a fuel supply.

This was over 4,000 feet greater alt.i.tude than that which any other Allied or enemy machine could reach under similar conditions. The machine had an upper wing span of 40 feet, 8 inches, while its lower wing measured 35 feet, 5 inches from tip to tip. It had a strong armor of steel tubing surrounding the compartment or "c.o.c.kpit" which held the seats of the pilot and observer.

The _Aviatik_ was an efficient bombing biplane of its day, although larger and more powerful machines have since come into the field to supersede it. It was fitted with metal bomb-launching tubes at either side of the bow, and the bombs were released by pulling a cable connected with the releasing trigger. The _Aviatik_ was armed in addition with rotating machine guns, able to fire in any direction in an aerial battle.

The _Halberstadt_ was a swift fighting machine or speed scout, which made its appearance in the third year of the war and proved efficient and reliable. This and the combat planes that followed it showed greater and greater speed until by 1917 the scout machines were flying at 150 miles per hour and climbing to alt.i.tudes as high as 22,000 feet.

It was the bombing plane, however, that appealed most strongly to the German mind as an instrument of destruction. Tired, perhaps, of their efforts to produce a fighting machine which should be without its match in aerial warfare, they focussed their attention about this time upon the bomber, which in 1917 was playing an ever more important role in the struggle for air supremacy. Early in 1917, the flower of their creative genius took to the air. It was the _Gotha_ biplane, and at the time of its debut it proved one of the most difficult machines to attack and down of any of those flying for the Hun. The _Gun-tunnel Gotha_ it was familiarly called, owing to the unusual means of defense against pursuers that had been devised for it.

Up to this time one of the best methods of attacking an enemy plane had been to come up suddenly and fire on it "under its tail." The gunner in the machine thus attacked could not get in a single shot at his pursuer without striking the tail planes of his own machine. The portion of an airplane which can be fired on in this way without danger of return fire is said to be its "blind spot," and it was this blind spot that sent many a well-armed and powerful airplane crashing to earth when its pursuers had succeeded in outmaneuvering it.

The _Gun-tunnel Gotha_ had practically no blind spot. Its designers had constructed it with a tunnel that ran the length of the fuselage, from the c.o.c.kpit, or compartment where the pilot and gunners sat, through to an opening just under the tail planes. A machine gun in the c.o.c.kpit could be pointed through this tunnel and fired at the unsuspecting victim who came up back of it according to the most approved tactics.