September 14, 1916 LAND & WATER l>i 
How Aeroplanes are Used in War 
By a Correspondent 
[In the previous articles the uses of one seater aeroplanes 
in the war have in some measure been dealt with ; in 
the present article two sealers are treated of] 
THE uses given to two-seater aeroplanes are too 
numerous ; and at the present, at least, overlap 
each other too much to allow of a proper and 
logical subdivision on the basis of these uses 
nevertheless I will make the attempt, asking my readers 
to remember that this "-double purpose " or " multiple 
purpose " method of using aircraft is gradually settling 
down and conducing to the production of sub-types 
better specialised. 
As a counterpoise to the loss of performance, there 
are great merits from the commanding officer's 
point of view in having two persons in an aeroplane. 
' They tend to mitigate the extreme loneliness up aloft ; 
the men afford an important moral support to one anotjicr, 
they are witnesses of each other's prowess ; their reports 
confirm or qualify one another, and for speciiic purposes, 
such as artillery' direction, while one man, say the ob- 
server, is concentrating his attention on the ground, the 
other, the pilot, can keep his eyes about him for the 
approach of the enemy's fast " defenders " or other foes. 
Artillery Direction 
For artillery direction, it is obvious that the observer 
must have the clearest possible view of the ground, 
must be kept below the clouds, or as we should now 
say, at the low level of some 4,000 to 6,000 feet, 
and be freed from other anxieties. All aircraft move 
extremely fast, as landsmen would say, hence the obser- 
vation of any one spot involves wheeling and circling 
Diagram of a BE2C shotving parts of wings cut away to enable the 
observer O who is in the front seat to look down, and also giving 
by the removal of part of the top wing a freer field of view up- 
wards to the pilot P 
to keep over that spot with the attendant banking or 
slopisg of the aeroplane. In all these evolutions there 
is a tendency for some part of wings and gear to obstruct 
momentarily the view — and if the flash of the shell to be 
spotted is not seen by the official observer, the correction 
of aim cannot be wired home. To secure a clear view a 
good deal of the lower wing is often cut away from near 
the body of the aeroplane, with loss of " performance," 
of course, if the term " performance " is to be restricted 
to speed and rate of climb, as has been done lately to a 
rather exaggerated degree for purposes of political 
criticism ; but this is not of less merit if the 
object for which the aeroplane is sent out is borne in 
mind. At the same time, since attack from above is to 
be apprehended, a certain part of the top plane, which 
obstructs the view, is also cut out, giving to thp machine 
the appearance of diagram III, in which I have exaggerated 
the cut away to show what is meant more clearly. 
In the aeroplane shown, the pilot is so situated that 
he can fire forwards and upwards over the head of his 
observer who is in front of him, over the top plane through 
the gap which has been cut away. The observer can 
fire backwards, past the Pilot P, over the tail of the 
aeroplane and to right and left backwards and downwards. 
This is especially useful .should the machine be so hard 
pressed that it must momentarily abandon its task of 
artillery direction, and though the resistance to the air 
offered by these guns is considerable, it is considered 
well worth while to sacrifice an element of speed to 
secure the better protection. The information as to the 
precise position in which the shells burst is telegraphed 
back to the gunners according to a secret code or a 
" clock " code, either by luminous flashes, or by wireless, 
or even by the prearranged manceuvres of the aeroplane 
and by reference to specially marked secret maps. The 
enemy has little chance of knowing what signalling device 
is adopted at any moment, so we are then more or less 
immune from wireless " jamming," and even ii the enemy 
did know the secret at any one time, the damage is 
already done, and all he can do is to send up one of his 
"defenders " to interrupt the proceedings as far as he 
can. 
The " defender," being a far quicker climber, tries to 
move up unseen by keeping himself behind and below 
the tail of the t\vo seater " director " aeroplane, firing 
at it from below as he approaches. If the observer 
catches sight of him he prepares for the attack by getting 
his gun over the side and facing down. 
Hampered with the weight of wireless, of two' men, 
of guns, mountings and camera, of stores of photographic 
plates, and by its cut-away planes, it will not be expected 
to escape by simple fleetness, and so the fight i$ engaged. 
If the safety of the men were alone in consideration ; 
that is, if we were not out to fight down the enemy by 
killing him, a great excess of speed would definitely 
and always be the greatest element conducing to such 
safety, both from tltie ability to out -manoeuvre and the 
facility for escape thus given. As it is, our two seaters 
have an excellent bag of enemy craft to their credit, in- 
cluding Fokkers and others, largely because of the cool- 
ness of the men and in substantial measure because of 
the stability which British aeroplanes alone enjoy up to 
the present*. No doubt some measure of success arose 
in the fights, because we had our " backs to the wall " 
when escape by showing " a clean pair of elevators " 
was out of the question. It is not peculiar British or 
French deficiencies which make the two seater which is 
out visiting enemy ground slower than the single seater, 
which is at home on defence. The relation is radical and 
inherent in the technics of the position, and only sus- 
ceptible of momentary alteration by a chance which 
there exists no means of preventing any white enemy 
(I had almost said civilised enemy) from countering. 
Operating in Numbers 
It is to be observed that I am treating of the aeroplanes 
as operating and therefore as fighting in single units, and 
this is how they were, in fact, handled for some consider- 
able time, but since Mr. Lanchester put forward his 
" N^ law," the normal case to-day is different and the two 
seaters of to-day have a far less hard pressed time " in 
company " than they used to have alone. 
Fights now occur between twos and threes — patrolling 
aeroplanes attend on those engaged in " director " 
duties, and in the case of bombing raids where the handi- 
* I find myself obliged to difler from the claims made in this country 
that the German aeroplanes, Taube, Albatross. Aviatik, etc., were 
stable. The impression arose from the fact that their period was slow. 
All German machines which have been tried have been found unstable, 
and no drawings of German machines have proved them to be other- 
wise tban unstable — while in many cases, notably the Taube, they 
were in addition very poorly under control. 
