September 7, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
15 
How Aeroplanes are Used in War 
By a Correspondent 
[In a previous article our correspondent, who has 
exceptional knoidcdgc of the working of aeroplanes in 
war-time, described the different kinds most generally in 
use and the way in which they worked. In the present con- 
tribution he ex plains the working of aero planes in action] 
IN the previous notes I dealt with the " Httle " 
aeroplane in its two uses of " defender " and high 
speed " bomber " for short ranges. The " defender " 
as the term (which is not entirely a happy one) 
implies, is a stay at home ; the " bomber," equally 
obviously goes abroad. But lest it be thought that the 
" defender " has nothing but the fun of life, it is as well 
to indicate that its peculiar activity makes it useful for 
other special services — for example, the extinction of 
" dragon balloons," those ugly yellow sausages .of 
monstrous size which float, tethered 5,000 yards back 
of the line and from their point of vantage, some 2,000 
feet up, enable a man, as intrepid an aeronaut as the 
flyer proper, though less heard about, to telephone to the 
gunners the effect of their fire and correct their aim. 
1 
A 
wurrTtitrsf^fc 
Diagram 1. — ^The aeroplane at A is attacking the kite balloon K B. 
A is moving down wind into K B, and after will take the upwardly 
curved path A A' A" 
The way we proceed is no secret from the German 
and need be no secret to us. The lightest, swiftest and 
most mo.bile of craft are needed for this venture. They 
rise till they get over the balloons at a great height after 
taking a suitable equipment for each aeroplane. With 
this they dive down at an exceedingly steep angle so 
that the aeroplanes are aimed at the kite balloon. The 
balloon, if its attendants are on the alert, is hauled down 
by engine power|at lightning speed, but the path of the 
aeroplane is so steep from the clouds to its prey that from 
time to time a success is registered and the balloon, the 
man, and the tangled tail of ropes rush with a wail of 
flames and beating ribbons to the ground, never to rise 
again. . 
Whether the balloon is hit or not a part of our purpose 
is achieved in the disturbance of their artillery control ; 
but like other military acts, this is not effected without 
payment. Though the descent, approach, and retire- 
ment from proximity to the enemy's anti-aircraft guns 
below, is as brief, and the manoeuvre as sudden as 
possible ; though the attack is made in the same 
direction as the wind is blowing ; though the movement 
over the ground is therefore as rapid and the change of 
range and altitude as puzzling as possible to the ground 
gunners, there are hits and sometimes losses. In dia- 
gram I. the path of the aeroplane A is shown in a dotted 
line ; its swerve upwards (indicated by an arrow) occurs 
after firing ; . the wind direction is shown by another 
arrow on the right hand side. 
Had the attack been made against the wind instead 
of with it, the same or greater facility for aiming would 
be obtained, but the aeroplane would present a less 
rapidly moving target to the earth, and the risk of 
i:)unishment to the raiders would be pro tanto greater. 
It would be difficult, save when the wind is very 
slight indeed, to make the attack across wind [as shown 
by the aeroplane C, in the same diagram I], because it 
is well nigh impossible for the airman to estimate the 
amount of his leea-ay, and the leeway is one of the re- 
solved components of his aim direction. 
Sudden Swerve 
Notwithstanding this, all methods may be used accord- 
ing to the predecision of the Squadron Commander, who 
knows that it is most important to mislead the enemy's 
artiller}' as to the exact movement to be expected on 
the swoop. 
One of the main dangers of the manoeuvre lies in the 
stress imposed on the aeroplane by taking the curved 
path A A "A " — that is, recovering from the descent 
and turning the movement into one of ascent. British 
airmen rather unexpectedly call this the act of " flattening 
out," though it would have been at least equally appro- 
priate to call it " curhng up." The speed on descent 
may come up to 150 or more miles per hour, and special 
caution must be observed to restrain the violence of the 
" control," if the collapse of the structure of the machine 
and the consequent disaster is to be avoided. As has 
been well pointed out by Mr. Graham White and Mr. 
Harper in a recent article, it has been found safer in war 
to keep the aeroplane light and mobile, though weak, 
than to make it sluggish and heavy but strong, owing to 
the intolerable risks from gun fire involved by the 
sluggishness which may be imported by providing too 
full a margin of strength and weight. This is one of the 
matters concerning which a very specious, but ill-advised 
attitude was struck in time of peace, by the ignorant. 
Limited Swerve 
Some thoughtful reader will probably observe that 
since the breakage is induced by the pilot's rapid or 
violent use of the control surfaces, safety can be got with- 
out much weight by limiting the contlrol lability — by 
retarding or impeding the quickest rate of turning — 
this device, too, has been employed ; indeed, it was 
almost impossible to break up certain machines in the 
air, but here again the sacrifice of handiness was felt 
and the muscular effort called for to effect many of the 
evolutions became fatiguing with the longer flights on 
which these craft are used. The pilot prefers to ha\e the 
full control, and for the rest to trust to his skill and ex- 
perience. It is early yet to say where exactly the line 
should be drawn in balancing "gun fire risk" against 
" aeroplane risk," beyond observing that as pilots be- 
come more skilled and experienced their protection by 
mechanical means from their own rashness becomes less 
imperative. It would appear that this has been the 
line adopted, a certain gain of speed results, and it 
should prove a safe fine unless some new and terrific 
emergency should again force into action as many fresh 
pilots as did the beginning of the European war. 
Attack in Numbers 
Reverting for one moment to the raids on dragon 
balloons— in these as in almost all other evolutions of 
the kind — the work is best conducted by nimibers of 
machines simultaneously , not only because numbers 
increase the chances of success and the number of shots, 
but because they diminish the danger of the act by 
distracting the enemy's fire. I give in diagram II., an 
indication of the inside of a tractor " defender " fitted 
with 100 H.P. radial engine. The machine gun is shown 
