THE SELF-HEALING GASOLENE-TANK
One of the contributions which we made to military aëronautics was a gasolene-tank that was puncture-proof. It was made of soft rubber with a thin lining of copper. There are some very soft erasers on the market through which you can pass a lead pencil and never find the hole after it has passed through, because the rubber has closed in and healed the wound. Such was the rubber used in the gasolene-tank. It could be peppered with bullets and yet would not leak a drop of gasolene, unless the bullet chanced to plow along the edge of the tank and open a long gash.
The Germans used four different kinds of cartridges in their aircraft guns. The first carried the ordinary bullet, a second type had for its bullet a shell of German silver filled with a phosphor compound. This was automatically ignited through a small opening in the base of the shell when it was fired from the gun and it left a trail of smoke by which the gunner could trace its course through the air and correct his aim. At night the bright spot of light made by the burning compound would serve the same purpose. Such a bullet, if it hit an ordinary gasolene-tank, would set fire to its contents. The bullet would plow through the tank and out at the opposite side and there, at its point of exit, is where the gasolene would be set on fire. Such incendiary bullets were repeatedly fired into or through the rubber tanks and the hole would close behind the bullet, preventing the contents from taking fire. The two other types of bullets referred to were an explosive bullet or tiny shell which would explode on striking the target and a perforating steel bullet which was intended to pierce armor or penetrate into vital parts of an airplane engine.
Machines with which artillery-spotting was done were usually manned by a pilot and an observer, so that the latter could devote his entire attention to noting the fire of the guns and signaling ranges without being hampered by having to drive the machine. These machines were usually of the pusher type, so that the observer could have an unobstructed view. They did not have to be fast machines. It was really better for them to move slowly. Had it been possible for them to stop altogether and hover over the spot that was being shelled, it would have been a distinct advantage. That would have given the observer a chance to note with better accuracy the fall of the shell. Like the scout, the spotter had to be a fast climber, so that it could get out of the range of enemy guns and run away from attacking planes.