Lieutenant H. E. Watkins, one of the competitors, consented to take up a transmitting apparatus with him, on his cross-Channel flight, so that he might endeavour to keep in touch with a steam-tug, in which his friends intended to follow him from Folkestone to the French coast.
The transmitter which Mr Baker prepared for this experiment was more powerful than the one used in the Salisbury Plain tests, and some conclusive results were expected from this oversea flight. Unfortunately, however, Lieutenant Watkins was delayed by bad weather, and a series of trifling accidents, and so was unable to start upon the flight. The wireless test had, therefore, to be abandoned.
After this, it fell to the lot of America to make the next move of any interest. Lieutenant Beck, a young officer-airman engaged in military experiments with aeroplanes, took up a transmitter with him, and was able to send messages to a special receiving station, over a distance of quite two and a half miles. This, naturally, was regarded as distinct progress. The messages were clearly read; and there now seemed no difficulty, with better transmitting mechanism, in increasing the distance over which the signals were sent.
II. French triumphs with wireless telegraphy—Messages sent over a distance of thirty-five miles.
In the meantime, as may be imagined, France had not been lethargic in dealing with this subject. The French military authorities had, from the first, recognised that wireless telegraphy, if it could be applied reliably to the aeroplane, would greatly increase the utility of aircraft in time of war.
At several of the French military aerodromes, at the beginning of 1911, experiments were in progress, and clever civilian electricians were called into conference by the authorities. But only meagre news leaked out as to what was actually being done.
Before the end of January, 1911, however, definite results had been obtained. Mr Maurice Farman, a brother of Mr Henry Farman, who had built an excellent biplane for military use, ascended at the aerodrome at Buc, and sent a wireless message back to the flying ground, when he was passing over the countryside quite ten miles away.
This was a highly-important result, and promised to place the wireless outfit on a practical basis, so far as war purposes were concerned. Further tests were made at Buc, and the radius over which messages could be transmitted was soon increased from ten to fifteen miles.
At this juncture, the French military authorities took the matter in hand with renewed vigour, and the energies of the scientific staff were directed towards still further increasing the transmitting power of the apparatus installed.
An improved transmitting mechanism, weighing about 55 lb., was built and fitted to a biplane at the beginning of July, 1911; and Captain Brenot, a prominent French military airman, was given the task of thoroughly testing this device. He was able to do so with remarkable results.