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been due to abnormal atmospheric conditions, or at least to the discomfiture of the pilot by such conditions; and data in this regardthough a certain amount of information is already available-need to be far more extensive. We refer to this question, briefly, under a later heading.

F. Fires.

This cause of accident, occurring when a machine is in flight, or when it has crashed after a bad landing, is now receiving the closest attention, and, under the less arduous conditions of peace flying, and with the experience and data already obtained, it should become possible very greatly to minimise this danger.

G. Illness of a Pilot.

In the Annex to the Appendix, a case is mentioned of an accident which was assumed to be due to the indisposition of the flyer, and there have been other obscure cases which have been attributed to the same cause. In war flying, under the strain of ascending rapidly to high altitudes, in diving steeply, or in spiralling or other violent movements, cases are to be expected of giddiness, or of temporary loss of consciousness. In peace flying there should, ordinarily, be none of these extreme physical strains; and medical examinations, carried out periodically, should obviate the risk of a commercial pilot, while in charge say of a passenger craft, losing control of his machine through any sudden attack of illness.

Summary of the work, prior to the war, of the Public Safety and Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club and Aeronautical Society.

In 1912 the Royal Aero Club, jointly with the Aeronautical Society, appointed a Special Committee known as the Public Safety and Accidents Investigation Committee, to obtain reports as to aeroplane accidents, and to endeavor to discover the causes of such accidents, and to express an opinion, whenever possible, as to how they might be avoided in future. Official representatives were appointed on the principal aerodromes, whose duty is was, should an accident occur, to gain all information possible concerning it, to examine the wrecked machine, and to bring before the Committee all the information which could be secured.

Between 1912 and 1914-when the outbreak of war interrupted the work of the Committeetwenty-six fatalities had been investigated.

The main causes of accidents before the war, as shown by an examination of the Committee's reports, were:

1. Errors of judgment on the part of a flyer. 2. The structural breakage of some part of an aeroplane while in flight.

Nine of the twenty-six fatalities were due to errors of judgment.

In two cases accidents were shown to be due to a pilot attempting a flight in a machine which was out of adjustment, with the result that it side-slipped while turning.

In two others, pilots dived their machines so suddenly and steeply that they were jerked forward onto their controls, accentuating the descent to such a degree that they fell from their machines while in the air.

In two more cases, the accident was caused by a machine nose-flying, while gliding, through the pilot allowing it to lose flying speed.

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The remaining three cases may be summarised as follows:

(i) A pilot was making a series of spectacular evolutions, low down over an aerodrome, when his machine side-slipped.

(ii) A pilot overbanked while turning at a low altitude, and this was followed by a nose-dive.

(iii) A pilot dived steeply, then flattened out too suddenly, fracturing a wing.

Of accidents due primarily to engine failure, or engine trouble, the Committee investigated three-though it should be noted that, in each case, and subsequent to the trouble with his engine, the flyer was guilty of some error of judgment.

These cases are summarised herewith:

(i) A pilot's engine was observed to stop when he was at an altitude of about 200 feet. Shortly afterwards the machine nose-dived. In the Committee's opinion, the accident was due to the aviator failing to appreciate the danger of keeping his craft in a horizontal position after the engine had stopped, thereby losing flying speed.

(ii) A pilot, finding his engine running badly after leaving an aerodrome, turned in the air in order to fly back to his starting point; but in making the turn he lost speed and altitude to a dangerous extent, and while passing low, near a belt of trees, which may have set up disturbed air in the neighbourhood of his machine, the craft was seen to dive.

(iii) A pilot attempted a flight with an engine that was not working properly, with the result that the machine gradually lost altitude until it fell into a river.

Eight of the twenty-six accidents investigated

were shown to be due to the breakage of some part of a machine. These may be summarised as follows:

(i) A quick-release device of a wing-cable opened and the cable came adrift, flapping up and piercing the fabric of a wing, which then burst and allowed the machine to fall.

(ii) An aircraft collapsed in flight through the breakage of the wires supporting a wing, following upon some derangement of the cabane, this derangement being due either to a portion of the revolving engine fouling the engine cowl, or by a partial failure or breakage of the propeller, which threw the rotating system out of balance, and set up stresses which caused the engine to shift.

(iii) The wings of an aircraft collapsed while the machine was flying in an extremely high wind.

(iv) An elevating plane broke and allowed a machine to dive so steeply that the main planes collapsed.

(v) A wing broke as the result of a faulty repair to a main-spar.

(vi) A wing failed, owing to want of sufficient strength to withstand the stresses produced either by a violent wind or sudden warping.

(vii) An aircraft collapsed while in flight owing to inherent structural weakness.

(viii) A rudder became detached from a machine in flight owing (in the opinion of the Committee) to its being insufficiently strong to resist a sudden and abnormal strain, and owing also to the fact that it had probably been strained in a previous flight.

In connection with accidents due to structural

weakness, the Committee made two recommendations. One was that, as aircraft are built of perishable materials, all machines which have been in existence for some time should undergo a critical examination, both as regards framework and fabric.

The second recommendation was that all repairs to a machine must be carried out under expert and responsible supervision. As to the remaining six accidents, making up the total of twenty-six; their causes are summarised below:-

(i) The pilot of an experimental machine lost control in a gusty wind.

(ii) A pilot ascended while in an unfit state of health, and apparently lost consciousness while his machine was gliding.

(iii) A pilot lost control through his foot slipping on the rudder-bar.

(iv) A pilot who was giving a public demonstration on an aerodrome of insufficient size turned sharply to avoid endangering spectators, with the result that his machine side-slipped from a low altitude.

(v) A pupil, flying with an instructor in a dual-control machine, appeared to resist for some unknown reason the ruddering action of the latter, with the result that the machine became uncontrollable.

(vi) A pilot who was landing, and whose view was obstructed to some extent by his radiator, ran into some people who had encroached on the flying ground, with the result that one person was killed and several injured. The Committee found it necessary, in its en

deavour to determine the causes of accidents, to request local authorities, in cases where aircraft fell in open country, to prevent the wreckage of the machine being moved until it had been examined by experts, and this will assuredly have to be carried out after the war.

Final Note

Looking at pre-war accidents in the light of conditions such as will exist, probably, when peace comes, one very appreciable element of risk, that of structural collapse, should be eliminated almost entirely.

This being so, we find that what we shall have left, as a main risk of accident, will be engine failure, followed perhaps by an error of judgment on the part of the flyer. To lessen this risk we must, of course, perfect our aero-engines, and eliminate by degrees those small causes of stoppage, or of trouble, which (insignificant in themselves) may lead none the less to a serious accident.

It should be noted again that, when an aviator who encounters engine trouble has a chain of alighting grounds along his flying route, he will be far less likely to find himself in a critical position; also, that, when we have the comparative leisure of peace in which to train flyers more carefully, and also more scientifically, they should be less likely to be guilty of errors of judgment.

B. C. HUCKS, Captain, R.F.C.
HARRY HARPER.

December, 1917.

Notes

MILITARY AERIAL LAWS

Practically all the aerial laws enacted so far have been enacted for military reasons.

The balloon, which was the first successful type of aircraft, proved its military value during the battle of Fleurus, on June 26, 1794, when Dr. Cautelle, piloting the balloon "L'Interprenant," contributed greatly to the victory by informing Jourdan of the enemy's movements. In 1795 the Committee on Public Safety authorized the organization of two balloon companies and a balloon school at Mendon and a balloon factory at Petit-Mendon, in charge of Dr. Cautelle and Coutè.

On September 3, 1796, a French balloon fell in the hands of the Austrians at the battle of Wuztburg, and in 1798 the equipment of the French balloon company, which had been brought to Egypt, fell into the hands of the English at Aboukir. A short time afterward Napoleon suppressed the balloon service.

In 1859, Goddard was placed in charge of French war balloons used in the campaign against Italy.

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scouting trip over the Confederate lines and was taken back across the Potomac by an east wind. As he had no flag to show, he was fired on by the Federal forces. He ascended higher and landed 21/2 miles outside of the Federal picket line.

On August 2d Professor Lowe was authorized to have another balloon constructed. It had 25,000 cubic feet gas capacity, was completed by August 28, and was in service by August 30. With it Professor Lowe discovered the Confederate batteries on Munson Hill and Clark's Hill.

In October of that year the Secretary of War authorized Professor Lowe to have four more balloons made, which were named: "Constitution," "Washington, "Union, and "Intrepid." In 1861 John La Mountain, balloonist attached to General Benjamin F. Butler, of the Federal Forces, made an ascension on August 10 with his balloon "The Atlantic," from Fortress Monroe, ascending to a height of 3,500 feet, drifting over Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, returning to Fortress Monroe with a diagram of the Confederate camps in the vicinity.

In 1862 General A. E. Burnside, of the Federal Forces, used a captive balloon to follow the movements of the enemy. On December 13, during the battle of Fredericksburg, the balloon was stationed directly over the general's headquarters.

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On March 14, to April 10, 1862, Captain Steiner's balloon, "The Eagle," was used by Commander A. H. Foote's forces during the attack on Island No. 10, in the Mississippi River.

In May, 1863, the two Federal balloons, "The Eagle" and "Washington," were with the army of the Potomac, during the battle of Chancellorsville.

Captain Cyrus B. Comstock, Corps of Engineers, of New York, who later became a general, was assigned by General Hooker, on April 7, 1863, to take command of the balloon section of which Professor Lowe was in charge.

The Federal balloon section had six silk balloons with full equipment and portable gas generating plants.

The following balloonists were employed by the Federal balloon section: Professor T. S. C. Lowe and his father, Clovis Lowe, James Allen, E. S. Allen, Caltain E. Seaver, J. B. Starkweather, John O'Donnell, William Paulding and John La Mountain.

The Confederates only had one balloonist, Captain John Randolph Bryan, with General J. B. Magruder, and a cotton balloon.

When Air Scouts Were Considered as Spies

Article 99 of the "Instructions" issued by the Government during the Civil War provided that the circumstances surrounding the capture would determine the disposition to be made of non-military messengers, without uniform.

During the Franco-Prussian War, between September 23, 1870, and January, 1871, there were sent up from Paris 66 balloons, ranging

between 1200 and 2000 cubic meters gas capacity, carrying from one to four passengers each besides the pilot, carrier pigeons and mail. Only five of these balloons were captured. The others succeeded in escaping the German troops besieging Paris.

Following the success of the French balloons, Bismarck announced that the persons on board of captured balloons would be considered as spies, "Comme ceux qui fereient des tentative semblables par la voie ordinaire."

This doctrine did not last. It was evident that the balloon was the equivalent of a ship and its purpose could not be disguised.

It was the German Representative, General von Voigt Rhetz, who, at the meeting of the Brussels Conference, August 7th, 1874, proposed a resolution removing airmen from the status of spies. This principle was confirmed at the meeting of the Institute of International Law at Oxford in 1880, by the resolution which was included in the manual of military law. It was confirmed officially at the first Hague Conference, in 1889.

On February 10, 1914, Hans Berliner, the German balloonist, with two passengers, landed at Kirginschausk, in the Ural Mountains, after a journey of 1863 miles from Bitterfeld, Germany. They were imprisoned by the Russian police for over thirty-five days on suspicions of espionage.

After the world war started the Russian Government announced that it would treat as pirates the aviators who bombed unfortified towns.

At different times during the war the German Government threatened to treat as spies

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