Inventions of the Great War

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down the power that was disturbing the peace of the world. We do not believe in conquests-at least of the

the mastery of the air. They offered their conquest to the United States; but while we accepted their offering with enthusiasm at first, we did not know what to do with the new realm after we

pt on their arms, never knowing what dreadful war the morning would bring forth. The war-lovers hailed the airplane as a new instrument with which to terrorize their neighbors; the peace

the target, and, besides, machines of those days were not built to carry very heavy loads, so that it did not seem especially profitable to attack the enemy from the skies. As for actu

IN TH

y was doing. He could see whether large forces of men were collecting for an attack. He could watch the course of supply-trains, and judge of their size. He could locate the artillery of the enemy and come back with information which in former times a scout posted in a tall tree or even in a captive balloon could not begin

over the roads behind the lines and they were taken by surprise when the French began dropping steel darts upon them. These were about the size of a pencil, with pointed end and fluted tail, so that they would travel through the air like an arrow. The darts were dropped by the hundred

planes. In those days, airplanes flew at comparatively low altitudes and they were well within the reach of the enemy's guns. But it was not long before the airplanes began to fight

ing with it a Prussian nobleman who died before he could be pulled out of the wreckage. The war had been carried into the skies. But if scouts were to fight one another, they could not pay much attention to scouting and spotting and it began to be realized that there were four d

S AND THE

ortant information back to his own base. The camera was sometimes fitted with a stock like that of a gun, so that it could be aimed from the shoulder. Some small cameras were shaped so that they could be held in the hand like a pistol and aimed over the side of t

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ng Plane with One of

ountry, and it was provided with a large wing-spread, so that if anything happened to the engine, it could volplane, or glide back, to its own lines. As the scouting-planes were large, they offered a big target to anti-aircraft gu

he Woolworth Building would

e wings of an airplane without impairing its flying in the least. The engine, too, could be pretty well peppered with ordinary bullets without being disabled. As for the men in the machine, they

t take fire and there was nothing the aviator dreaded more than fire. There were occasions in which he had to choose between leaping to earth and burning to death, and the former was usually preferred as

EALING GAS

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 rubb

rse 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 bullet

ere 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 w

S OF

to be capable of carrying heavy loads of explosives. They were us

ish retaliated with machines that were even larger. At first the French were inclined to let giant planes alone. They did not care to conduct long-distance bombing-raids on German cities because their own important cities w

armed with three guns and carried 2750 pounds of explosives. That made a useful load o

e comparatively slow and could not defend themselves against speedy battle-planes. The big Italian machines used "search-light" bombs to help them locate important points on the ground beneath. Th

d over the enemy's battle-line and dropped bombs on any suspicious object behind the enemy li

UNDRED AND FIFT

a speed of 150 miles per hour was not an uncommon rate of travel. It is hard to imagine such a speed as that, but we may gain some idea if we consider a falling object. The observation platform of the Woolworth Building, in New York, is about 750 feet above the ground. If you should drop an object from this platform you would start it on a journey that would grow increasingly speedy, particularly as it neared the ground. By the ti

g the entire machine. In this the plane was something like a submarine, which must point its bow at its intended victim in order to aim its torpedo

HROUGH THE

Nevertheless the French did fire right through the propeller, regardless of whether or not the blades were hit; but at the point where they came in line with the fire of the gun they were armored with steel, so that there was no danger of their being cut by the bullets. It was calculated that not more than one bullet in

to Fire over the Bla

"Scientifi

ng Between the Bla

ich moves the rod E and operates the firing-piece F. Firing may be stopped by

Horses to Supply the P

think of the fire of the machine-guns as very rapid, but they usually fire only about five hundred rounds per minute, while an airplane propeller will make s

AMONG T

s were both a haven and a menace to him. At any moment an enemy plane might burst out of the clouds upon him. He had to be ready to go through all the thrilling tricks of a circus performer so as to dodge the other fellow and get a commanding position. If he were getting the worst of it, he

ng violently to and fro, when really it is his machine that is zig-zagging under his unsteady guidance. The more he tries to steady it, the worse becomes the swing of the compass. As he turns he banks his machine automatically, just as a bicyclist does when rounding a corner. He does this unconsciously, and he may get to spinning round and round, with his machine standing on i

his spotters, and his scouts could not operate, and he would be blind. And so each side tried to beat out the other with speedier, mo

LYING

of the fuselage. A third gun mounted on a revolving wooden ring could be used to fight off hostile planes. The bottom and sides of the fuselage or body of the airplane from the gunner's cockpit forward were sh

ICA'

give the airplane any very serious consideration. To be sure, we built a large number of airplanes for the British, but they were not good enough to be sent to the front; they w

we asked our allies, and t

s-thousands of them-so that we can drive th

the United States as a manufacturer of machinery had spread throughout the world. We Americans love to take hold of a machine an

undred and forty million dollars for a?

PRESENT T

tch; its vital parts must be true to a ten-thousandth part of an inch. It takes a very powerful horse to develop one horse-power for a considerable length of time. It would take a hundred horses to supply the power for even a small airplane, and they would weigh a hundred and twenty thousand pounds. An airplane motor of the same powe

ledge of our allies. American engine-builders offered up their trade secrets. Everything was done to make this motor worthy of America's reputation. There was a race to have

perfectly satisfactory and then special machinery had to be constructed before it could be manufactured in quantity. It was Thanksgiving Day before the first manufactured Liberty was t

horse-power. An airplane engine weighing less than 2 pounds per horse-power is wonderfully efficient. Of course the Liberty was too heavy for a light battle-plane (a heavy machine, no matter how powerful, cannot make sharp turns), but it was excellent for other types of airplanes and large orders

NG B

g 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 w

type with a wing-spread of 126 feet and driven by four Liber

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erman Airplane designed for

e 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

OMATIC

driven by a 12-horse-power motor, the whole machine weighing but 175 pounds. This was sent up without a pilot and it would fly at the rate of forty to fi

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e of the type that made the f

projectile, and fly off again, and the torpedo would continue on its course until it blew up the vessel. It was urged that a fleet of such seaplanes protected by a convoy of fast battle-planes could invade the enemy harbors a

ES AFTE

m in this country. Even during the war they were used for other purposes than fighting. There were ambulances on wings-machines with the top of the fuselage removable so that a patient on a stretcher could be placed inside. A French m

n air line between Paris and London. The airplanes carry from a dozen to as many as fifty passengers on a single trip. In some cities here, as well