FLYING BOATS

So far we have said nothing about the seaplanes which were used in large numbers to watch for submarines. These were big flying boats in which speed was not a very important matter. One of the really big machines we developed, but which was not finished until after the war, was a giant with a 110-foot span and a body or hull 50 feet long. During the war seaplanes carried wireless telephone apparatus with which they could call to destroyers and submarine-chasers when they spotted a submarine. They also carried bombs which they could drop on U-boats, and even heavy guns with which they could fire shell.

A still later development are the giant planes of the N. C. type with a wing-spread of 126 feet and driven by four Liberty motors. They carry a useful load of four and a half tons.

The Flying-tank—an Armored German Airplane designed for firing on troops on the march

Early in the war, large guns were mounted on airplanes, but the shock of the recoil proved too much for the airplane to stand. However, an American inventor produced a gun which had no recoil. This he accomplished by using a double-end gun, which was fired from the middle. The bullet or shell was shot out at the forward end of the gun and a dummy charge of sand was shot out at the rear end. The sand spread out and did no damage at a short distance from the gun, but care had to be taken not to come too close. These non-recoil guns were made in different sizes, to fire 1½-inch to 3-inch shell.