How the Zeppelin Raiders Are Guided 

 by Radio Signals 



An ingenious system not unlike that of the flashing 

 light which guides mariners along the rocky coasts 



A ZEPPELIN which is sent from Ger- 

 many to England on a bomb-drop- 

 ping expedition must travel by the 

 shortest route. Only a limited amount 

 of fuel is carried in order that the load of 

 bombs may be as great as possible. But 

 how does the captain of the ship deter- 

 mine that route? In time of war cities 

 are darkened and all guiding lights are 

 extinguished. The stars may help him.. 

 The trouble is that he travels so fast that 

 he would have to read them at least ten 

 times as often as would be necessary on 

 board a ship at sea. Again, the sky may 

 be overcast with no stars visible at all> 

 although a war Zeppelin capable of flying 

 four miles high could escape by rising 

 above the clouds. 



This is very plausible to the lay mind, 

 but perhaps too far from the real facts. 

 Actually the darkening of cities has never 

 prevented finding the route. Rather in- 

 visibility of the ground due to "thick" air 

 or actual fog, has. Even then a fairly 



true course might be steered by "dead 

 reckoning"; i. e., by computing distance 

 and direction from log and compass, and 

 then tracing the results on the map. 

 But the unknown and variable wind-drift 

 prevents this. Measuring the earth's 

 magnetism would prevent getting far 

 astray, but the needed apparatus would be 

 heavy, measurements must be very 

 numerous, and each measurement means 

 extremely difficult and accurate work. 

 Radio communication was soon found 

 to offer by far the most convenient solu- 

 tion of the problem. The L-49, which 

 recently fell into the hands of the French 

 absolutely intact, had a marvelously com- 

 plete radio equipment. Even before the 

 war, a passenger Zeppelin, the Viktoria- 

 Luise, kept in continuous communication 

 with the Island of Nordeney in the North 

 Sea while scouting near Strassburg on the 

 upper Rhine. That was in 1912. Since 

 then the range of a Zeppelin's radio ap- 

 paratus has been trebled. 



A Telcfunkcn-compass sending station. Factory chimneys frequently serve as aerial sup- 

 ports, as in this case. Germany thus effects a saving of metals valuable for other war needs 



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