The Aeroplane in War
by Harry Harper Claude Grahame-White
★4.0/5
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About This Book
This book was originally published in 1912. The pioneer days of aviation were coming to a close and the aeroplane was ready to revolutionize warfare. Claude Grahame-White, a pioneer aviator himself, makes an impassioned argument that England is not paying enough attention to this new technology compared to France and Germany and is likely to be in a bad way if war breaks out. This book has been completely re-typeset for a modern audience. It contains details about this fascinating period in aviation that are available nowhere else. Although it is still a crude machine—in view of the perfected ...
Chapters (75)
- Transcriber's Note This book was transcribed from scans of the original found at the Internet Archive. I have rotated some images. The name Blériot in the original book has the accented e only in captions to illustrations. I have used the accented version in the rest of the text as well. There are several variant spellings in the text which I have left alone.
- PREFACE
- FIRST SECTION REVIEW OF PROGRESS PRIOR TO THE FIRST MILITARY TESTS OF AEROPLANES
- I. Dawn of flight—Encouragement in Europe and America—England's lost opportunities—The pioneers.
- II. First practical flights—The Wright brothers; the Voisins; Farman—The cross-Channel flight.
- III. Aeroplanes at Rheims, 1909—Wright, Voisin, Farman, Blériot, Antoinette—The Gnome engine—First military orders.
- IV. The human factor—Growing skill of airmen—Feats of 1910, as compared with those of 1909—Cross-country flying.
- SECOND SECTION FIRST EXPERIMENTS WITH AEROPLANES IN THE FRENCH AUTUMN MANOEUVRES, 1910.
- I. The historic Picardy tests—First official report upon movements of troops, as gleaned by aeroplane.
- II. Second conclusive test—Detecting an army in retreat—France's determination to possess an air-fleet.
- THIRD SECTION THE GROWING AIR-FLEETS OF FOREIGN NATIONS
- I. Activity in France—Two hundred machines at the end of 1911; a thousand promised by the year 1914.
- II. The great French tests of military aeroplanes—Striking results obtained—Era of fast, "air-worthy," weight-carrying machines.
- III. Germany's aerial policy—Secret energies in creating a fleet of war aeroplanes—Rivalry with France.
- IV. Progress in Russia, America, and other countries-England's position in the autumn of 1911.
- FOURTH SECTION IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATION IN THE USE OF WAR AEROPLANES
- I. French plans for the concerted use of squadrons of machines in time of war.
- II. Value of air-stations—Selection of landing-grounds—Preparing air-maps.
- FIFTH SECTION ENGLAND'S POSITION IN REGARDS TO MILITARY FLYING
- I. Lessons which were ignored—Work of the Parliamentary Aerial Defence Committee.
- II. Policy of "moving cautiously"—Peril of lagging behind in aerial armament.
- III. The financial aspect—Money England is spending—The airship policy—Insufficient provision for aeroplanes.
- IV. Dangers of a policy of "drift"—Experience which money cannot buy—Trained men, not so much as machines, the criterion of strength.
- V. England's official awakening—The training of 100 airmen—The forthcoming trials of military machines.
- SIXTH SECTION WAR AEROPLANES AT THE PARIS AERONAUTICAL EXHIBITION, DECEMBER, 1911
- I. Latest-type military monoplanes—Two-seated, reconnoitring machines—Single-seated, high-speed aircraft.
- II. Latest developments in biplane construction—The engine-in-front, weight-carrying machine.
- III. Healthy position of the French industry—What England has lacked—Danger of neglecting home builders.
- SEVENTH SECTION WHAT EXISTING WAR AEROPLANES CAN ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH
- I. Plight of a Commander-in-Chief without an aeroplane corps—The work of cavalry reconnaissance.
- II. Work of a squadron of air-scouts described—Tasks of the pilot and observer—Combined reconnaissance by many machines—Effect of aeroplanes upon tactics.
- III. Other uses of the war aeroplane—Surveying—Dispatch-carrying—Directing gun-fire—Transport of staff officers.
- EIGHTH SECTION WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AND PHOTOGRAPHY AS AIDS TO AERIAL RECONNAISSANCE
- I. First tests and successes with wireless telegraphy—Difficulty of equipping an aeroplane with transmitting plant.
- II. French triumphs with wireless telegraphy—Messages sent over a distance of thirty-five miles.
- III. Practical uses of wireless upon aeroplanes—England's lack of effort.
- IV. Photography from a war aeroplane—The use of special automatic cameras.
- NINTH SECTION DEVELOPMENT OF ALL-WEATHER WAR AEROPLANES
- I. Flights in thirty-five-mile-an-hour winds—Arguments of sceptics—What the great contests of 1911 proved.
- II. Value of high speed, when combating a wind—Constructional difficulties of a hundred-mile-an-hour machine.
- III. Variable-speed aeroplane—Plans for constructing aircraft of this type—Advantages of such a machine.
- IV. Power-plant of aeroplanes—Fitting two engines to obviate involuntary descents.
- TENTH SECTION THE TRAINING OF ARMY AIRMEN
- I. French thoroughness—An expert's tribute—Sound training all-important.
- II. How the military airman is "schooled"—His course of instruction described.
- III. Rules for training—Dummy aeroplanes—A pupil's first "hops."
- IV. Cross-country flights—The vol plané—Difficulty of first observation tests from an aeroplane.
- V. Finishing work at French schools—Practical tests—German thoroughness—Energy of English officers.
- ELEVENTH SECTION THE COST OF WAR AEROPLANES
- I. Why manufacturers charge high prices—Cost of experimental work—Building of trial machines.
- II. Economy of a large military order for machines—The incidental expenses.
- III. Question of renewals—General cheapness of an air-corps, as compared with other forms of armament.
- OUR AERIAL PROGRAMME FOR 1912-13
- TWELFTH SECTION PROBLEM OF ARTILLERY FIRE AND THE AEROPLANE
- I. Conflicting opinions as to an aeroplane's vulnerability—Experiments which have been carried out.
- II. Shrapnel shell—Question of hitting a vital part of the aeroplane—Difficulty of identifying friend or foe.
- THIRTEENTH SECTION DESTRUCTIVE POTENTIALITIES OF WEIGHT-CARRYING AEROPLANES
- I. What a modern-type machine can raise—Load of two men, and explosives.
- II. Effect of aerial bombardment upon cities and troops—German tests.
- FOURTEENTH SECTION WAR IN THE AIR BETWEEN HOSTILE AEROPLANES
- I. Certainty of a combat between aeroplanes in actual warfare—Air-scouts protected by aerial "cruisers."
- II. An encounter in the air—Importance to an army of an aerial victory.
- FIFTEENTH SECTION VALUE OF THE AEROPLANE IN NAVAL WARFARE
- I. Machines for coastal and high-seas work—Question of flying in winds.
- II. Interesting tests—Machines for rising from water, and landing on a ship's deck.
- SIXTEENTH SECTION AERIAL WORK IN THE FRENCH AND GERMAN AUTUMN MANOEUVRES, 1911
- I. French successes—Proof of the value of organisation—Flights in high winds.
- II. Work in the German manœuvres—An instance of the utility of air-scouts—Reconnoitring from high altitudes.
- III. Aeroplanes in actual warfare—What Italian airmen accomplished in Tripoli—Scouting and bomb-dropping under service conditions.
- IV. A final word—Conclusions to be arrived at—Problems outstanding.
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