wireless telegraphy, which was first applied to aircraft at Farnborough.
The lighter-than-air craft, which belonged first to the army and then to
the navy, were a valuable link between the two wings. Each wing was
ready to learn from the other. In January 1914, by permission of the
Admiralty, officers of the Military Wing witnessed the experiments made
by the Naval Wing with bomb-dropping gear. If the Naval Wing in some
respects made more material progress, it should be remembered that they
received more material support. They were encouraged by the
indefatigable Director of the Air Department, and received from the
Admiralty larger grants of money than came to the Military Wing. No
doubt a certain spirit of rivalry made itself felt. Service loyalty is a
strong passion, and the main tendency, before the war, was for the two
branches of the air service to drift apart, and to attach themselves
closely, the one to the army, the other to the navy.

At the end of 1913 H.M.S. _Hermes_ was paid off, and the headquarters of
the Naval Wing was transferred to the Central Air Office, Sheerness. All
ranks and ratings hitherto borne on the books of the _Hermes_ were
transferred to the books of this newly created office, and Captain F. R.
Scarlett, R.N., late second in command of the _Hermes_, was placed in
charge, with the title of Inspecting Captain of Aircraft. He was
responsible to the Director of the Air Department, and, in regard to
aircraft carried on ships afloat, or operating with the fleet, was also
directly responsible to the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleets. In
some respects the progress made by the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying
Corps during 1913 had been continuous and satisfactory. Training had
been carried on regularly at the Central Flying School, at Eastchurch,
and, for airship work, at Farnborough. By the end of the year there
were about a hundred trained pilots. Stations for guarding the coast had
been established in five places other than Eastchurch, and arrangements
were in hand for doubling this number. The record of miles flown during
the year by naval aeroplanes and seaplanes was no less than 131,081
miles. Wireless telegraphy had made a great advance; transmitting sets
were in course of being fitted to all seaplanes, and the reception of
messages in aeroplanes had been experimentally obtained. Systematic
bomb-dropping had been practised with growing accuracy and success. A
system for transmitting meteor