September 14, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
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He has only a remote chance of flying faster than G, 
which is a single-seater, and that chance turns entirely 
on his having a much larger engine which is at the same 
time much lighter for its horse-power. He is over enemy 
ground, so he cannot "make speed" by descent. Accor- 
dingly he does not try to escape by climb or speed ; his car- 
dinal business is to turn, and we can see that he is turning 
by the fact that he is " banked up " on one side. If he 
wants to make any course, he must do so on a zig-zag path. 
Diagram showing how a flight looks from the pilot's seat of a biplane ; 
and how the wires and struts of one's own machine interfere with the 
rendering of assistance unless one can maaoeuvre into a firing position. 
The gunner in T cin by leaning over cover the approaching aeroplane 
G ; unlike the situation in diagram I 
He must on no account keep a straight direction at any 
time save when he is moving across the path of G. He 
must by zigzags lure G over our own anti-aircraft guns 
or shoot him himself. I will explain their tactics. 
It is fairly safe to say that every aeroplane, even the 
most heavily loaded, is a most difficult target by reason 
of its speed, if moving across the field of fire, and that 
any aeroplane, even the fleetest, is comparatively an 
easy target if moving directly away from or directly 
towards the gun, because in this way it provides an 
objective which, for short range fire, is almost as easily 
sighted as if it were stationary. Now look at diagram VI. 
The Fokker G can only aim his gun by aiming the whole 
of his aeroplane, and if a moment before the diagram 
was drawn the path of G and T were in the same straight 
line, we see how a curvature^ of the path of T changes 
the situation from G i and Ti to G2 and T2. 
In the new position not only is G, the German, finding 
that his target T is now a "cross path " target, but he, 
the German, is making himself into a stationary target 
for T, by moving in a direct line towards T. 
Accordingly, the German's object (to keep the tail of 
T between himself and T's gun) is defeated if T turns, 
no matter in which direction. What T's pilot is con- 
cerned to do is to work in with his gunner. Listening 
carefully to the request his gunner makes to him down 
their speaking tube, or . heeding signals ; for this har- 
monious working it is of the greatest value that gunner 
and pilot should be as close as possible to one another, 
or at least within easy r(?ach of hand, since open-air 
conversation is out of the question against the din of thie 
propeller, even if the engine is silenced. 
It has chanced that I have drawn the German " de- 
fender " as a monoplane, because the Fokker copied 
our Morane which was a monoplane, and though the 
rivalry between biplane and monoplane is not of great 
importance, I will briefly consider what he gains and 
what he loses by having a monoplane instead of a biplane, 
like the majority of our British aeroplanes. 
It is an unexpected, but nevertheless an easily realis- 
able fact as soon as it is pointed out, that it is very 
difficult to find an aeroplane in the air from another 
aeroplane. Watch a crowd in London pointing out an 
aeroplane to one another. " There it is at the top of the 
curly cloud with a point like a tag of ribbon," says one. 
" I really cannot see anything," says the other, and the 
argument goes on for many minutes. In the field of war, 
the aeroplane to be found is 12,000 feet up instead of 
being 5,000 feet up over London. From being " the 
size of a gnat," he is " the size of a microbe." During 
the five minutes of the search, the platform of the looker- 
on his aeroplane has moved as many miles and the field of 
view has been repeatedly obscured or obstructed by the 
structure of the aeroplane. Now look at my sketch No V, 
and realise what an amount of obstructing clutter a tractor 
aeroplane provides, when the pilot and passenger are 
situated, as they are always situated, so that the top 
plane is above the eye level, and the lower plane below 
the eye level. The " clutter " is constantly shrouding 
some parts of the air in which a distant speck is lurking, 
and that distant speck may be a very dangerous thing 
to overlook. 
A tractor monoplane "defender," which from almost 
every other point of view offers extensive disadvantage, 
has this one merit, that upwards the field of view is 
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The only obstruction to the pilot's view upwards is the cabanne to 
which the wing wires are attached, and the tubes which make the 
cabanne can be dodged by moving the bead 
admirable. See diagram VII I say the field of view, and 
not the field of fire, because, for obvious reasons, the gun 
is limited to firing forward through the propellor and is 
fixed rigidly to the aeroplane. Still, you cannot shoot 
the target if you cannot find it, and the monoplane helps 
you to find it, provided the target is above the level of sight 
cut off by the wings. There is a trifling obstruction 
produced by the " cabanne," but this may be disregarded 
at the moment in a light single-seater of great mobility. 
The Brow of Courage, by Gertrude Bone (Duckworth and 
Co., 2S. 6d. net.), is a collection of stories suitable for reading 
either to or by children, rather reminiscent of the good and 
moral tales of the Victorian era, but distinctive in that they 
will really appeal to the junior element for which they are 
written. The writer has a way of infusing reality into 
impossibilities which, at times, is decidedly captivating. 
The Fleet Annual for 1916, compiled by Lionel Yexley, 
(Chapman and Hall. 2S. 6d. net.) is an interesting and very 
informative volume on naval men and afi'airs. The most 
noteworthy item of its contents is a naval history of the second 
year of the war, illustrated with diagram and other sketches 
of the battle of Jutland, and descriptions of all the actions, 
important or minor in civilian eyes, in which ships of the Fleet 
liave been engaged. There is a list of Naval honours gained 
during the year, and also a list of the casaalities sustained 
by the senior service — the " price of admiralty." Mention 
should also be made of the fine gallery of portraits of naval 
commanders which the book contains. 
