Directing Big Gun Fire from Airplanes 



The man in the air, circling be- 

 tween home battery and enemy 

 target, gives the signals to fire 



"T~\ fiGLAGE," or fire-control, is the 

 r^ most difficult and the most dan- 

 "■■ gerous work performed by the Fly- 

 ing Corps at the front. The machines used 

 are large and unwieldy, built to carry the 

 weight of two men and all sorts of equip- 

 ment. They are fairly fast, but their 

 spread of wing is so large that it is almost 

 impossible for them to make a turn quickly 

 when attacked. They are armed with a 

 machine gun, it is true, but they are always 

 at a great disadvantage in the presence of 

 an enemy fighting-machine which can out- 

 maneuver them at every turn. In a very 

 interesting little volume entitled "With the 

 French Flying Corps" and published by 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, the author, Carroll 

 Dana Winslow says: 



The first duty to which I was assigned was 

 "reglage,',' and this, I found, involves many compli- 

 cations. The chief source of trouble usually is the 

 wireless apparatus, which has to be maintained in 

 perfect working order. Before leaving the home 

 field you usually circle over it, while your observer 

 tests his sending apparatus. The receiving operator 

 then answers by visual signals. Usually these are 

 large white sheets laid on the ground in different 

 formations, which' have a prearranged meaning. 

 When the radio is found to be in perfect order you 

 are off to the battery you have been ordered to co- 

 operate with. By wireless your observer then 

 reports to the battery commander, and receives his 

 orders by means of the same visual signals. You 

 then head in the direction indicated to you before 

 leaving, and, hovering over the position to be bom- 

 barded, the observer signals back "fire." The 

 moment the shells have landed you turn quickly 

 about and inform the artillery just how many metres 

 their fire was long, short, or to the right or left. 

 Your message is once more answered with the sheets. 

 Again you fly back toward the enemy's position, 

 circling in this way* backward and forward between 

 the battery and the target until the reglage is com- 

 pleted. Naturally every care must be taken not to 

 disclose the position of your own guns to the enemy, 

 or retaliation — "strafe," the English call it — follows. 

 Sometimes it is the battery which interrupts the 

 work with the signal, "Avion ennemi," when the fire 

 instantly ceases until the German airplane has dis- 

 appeared or been driven off. 



With such occasional interruptions the 

 work continues until the observer can send 

 back the signal "fir© correct," which is 

 generally answered by the "sheet signal" 



with the. information that the machine may 

 return home. Until this dismissal occurs, 

 however, the ground below wholly en- 

 grosses the attention of the observer. The 

 pilot is forced to keep a close watch for 

 German fighting-machines so as not to be 

 caught unawares by one of them. This is 

 often a very trying task, as the models of 

 some of the French and German airplanes 

 are so very much alike that they cannot be 

 distinguished until they are within range. 

 The novelty of airplane fire-control is 

 thus dwelt upon : 



It is a curious fact that in the first months of the 

 war many artillery officers refused to follow the 

 directions of their aerial observers. A colonel of 

 artillery who has been firing big guns all his life can- 

 not be blamed for not thinking that a young observa- 

 tion officer and a mere aviator know enough about 

 the work of batteries to tell him where his shells are 

 falling. Orders, consequently, had to be issued 

 placing the artillery absolutely under the direction of 

 the observers and calling upon the pilots to report 

 any case where a battery refused to be guided by the 

 signals it received. That put an end to the trouble. 



The sensations of the pilot are then 

 described : 



At first I felt a strong aversion to flying over 

 batteries in action. You are bound to get in close 

 proximity to the trajectory of the shells, and the 

 constant sensation and sound of the passing projec- 

 tiles is none too pleasant. You get them both 

 coming and going, and, no matter which you are 

 trying to avoid, you are always taking a chance with 

 the other. It is a question of choosing between the 

 devil and the deep sea, with the devil constantly 

 stepping into your path. 



The December issue of Popular Science Monthly will be on sale on all news-stands 

 Saturday, November tenth (West of the Rocky Mountains, November twenty -fifth). 



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