A DIAGRAM ISSUED BY THE FRENCH WAR OFFICE FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE MEN IN THE TRENCHES.
It gives a silhouette of some Aëroplanes and an Airship in the German service, and bears the injunction—“German Aëroplanes—fire on these machines.”
CHAPTER VIII
GERMANY’S AËROPLANE EQUIPMENT
The history of Germany’s developments in aërial navigation on the heavier-than-air principle during the last few years is the history of preparation for war. France was, indeed, the first nation to realise that though there was a war use for the aircraft on the lighter-than-air principle there would, in time, be no comparison between the advantages of aëroplanes over airships.
Directly aërodrome performances were replaced by cross-country flights that gave opportunities for the attainment of those records in distance, height, and speed which have made the aëroplane the marvel of the twentieth century, France vigorously attacked the problem of turning out machines specially adapted for military purposes. In 1910, France held the position of being the only nation who possessed military aëroplanes to any great extent, having no less than thirty-five. It may be noted that in that year the British Government only possessed seven. It was in October, 1911, that the magnificent tests carried out at Rheims taught the world the importance of the aëroplane as an arm of war. It was those tests which woke up this country to the fact that it was ignoring the greatest military arm of the future. It was those tests that made Germany, ever on the alert to increase and intensify her war weapons, determined to leave nothing undone to set herself in the van of progress! Germany, therefore, set to study the aëroplane especially from the military point of view, and determined to build aëroplanes which should embody simplicity, strength, high speed, and weight-carrying capacity. Early in 1911 Germany could boast of the possession of nearly fifty military aëroplanes, and from that time forth she has been rapidly increasing the number. The number of aëroplanes in Germany now available is variously estimated; it is stated she has 500 quite modern military aëroplanes, a number of older ones, and about 100 privately owned; others assert, however, that Germany now has as many as 1,500 in the country.
In Sir John French’s report, mentioned in the introductory chapter, he tells us that our own Flying Corps in the present war were exposed to the shot of friend as well as of foe. As the German aëroplanes have a more or less distinctive appearance, it seems probable that these peculiar shapes were not well known to our troops at the beginning of the war. Such a knowledge would protect the aëroplanes of the Allies from being mistaken for those of the enemy. The shape of a bird has been very generally adopted for the German flying machines. The monoplanes are specially given the form of a bird flying with wings stretched out and tail distended, the ends of the back portion of the wings projecting beyond the central part.
The biplane frequently presents in front an arrow-like appearance, and the upper plane is bird-shaped. It will certainly be incumbent upon us to ascertain, for the future development of flying machines, how far the adoption of this natural bird-shape influences speed, etc. The tables on the opposite page will give some idea of the aëroplane equipment the Germans possessed at the beginning of the war.
Regarding the various types of German aëroplanes, it must suffice to enumerate a selection.
The Etrich Monoplane.
This was the forerunner of the German monoplanes, and very representative of German type. These machines were first made in Austria, and are excellent examples of strong, simple, efficient military aircraft. The wing-shaped supporting planes have upturned wing tips at the back, which are flexed up and down for the purpose of lateral stability; the back portion of the tail plane is movable, and can be flexed for elevating.