Applied Science 859 



very fast, only being capable of about 107 m.p.h., whilst it takes 

 23 minutes to climb to 10,000 feet. 



It may be of interest to know that the biggest crew for any 

 British aeroplane during the war was carried by the Handley 

 Page V-1500 type, which was built for bombing Berlin. This 

 machine, 126 feet in span and fitted with four Rolls-Royce 

 engines, carried a pilot and observer, two bombers, and two gun- 

 ners, six in all, and in addition carried twenty-four 230 Ib. bombs. 



The total weight of bombs dropped by British machines on 

 the Western front alone, from July 1916 to November 11, 1918, 

 was 6,402 tons, the heaviest bomb weighing about 1,500 Ib. The 

 biggest German bomb weighed 2,200 Ib. During the same period 

 on the Western front the R.A.F. brought down 6,904 enemy 

 aircraft and 258 kite balloons. In addition, 401,375 photographs 

 were taken and 10,238,182 rounds of machine-gun ammunition 

 were fired at German troops on the ground. 



Airships 



Turning to airships, we find that Britain now has the largest 

 fleet and biggest vessels in the world. One of these, the L. 71, 

 an ex-German Zeppelin, is the biggest in existence. In addition 

 to L. 71, we also possess the ex-Zeppelin L. 64, whilst the purely 

 British vessels include R. 33, R. 36, R. 80, and the incomplete 

 R. 37, a sister ship of the ill-fated R. 38. Of all these vessels 

 only R. 36 is at present fitted up for passenger work. She has 

 accommodations for the carriage of 50 passengers in addition to 

 a crew of 27. Sleeping bunks, which can be folded away during 

 the day, are provided for all travellers, whilst the dining-room and 

 saloon are fitted up with tables and chairs and are comfortable 

 in every way. 



A ship of this type could make the journey from England 

 to Australia, stopping at Malta, Egypt, Aden, India, and Singa- 

 pore on the way, in less than a fortnight. When the service is 

 an accomplished fact mooring masts will probably be erected at 



VOL. Ill 10 



