les inland. At
the time of the attack by the Turks a skillful aeroplane reconnaissance
revealed the approach of a large Turkish force, believed to be at the
time sixty miles away in the mountains.

Aeroplanes and airships, as they exist today, would doubtless render
very valuable service in a time of war, both over land and water, in
scouting, reconnoitering, carrying dispatches, and as some experts
believe, in locating submarines and mines placed by the enemy in
channels of exits from ports. A "coast aeroplane" could fly out 30 or 40
miles from land, and rising to a great height, descry any hostile ships
on the distant horizon, observe their number, strength, formation and
direction, and return within two hours with a report to obtain which
would require several swift torpedo-boat destroyers and a much greater
time. The question as to whether it would be practicable to bombard an
enemy on land or sea with explosive bombs dropped or discharged from
flying machines or airships, is one which is much discussed but hardly
yet determined.

Aeroplanes have been constructed with floats in the place of runners and
several attempts have been made, in some cases successfully, to light
with them on and to rise from the water. Mr. Curtiss did this at San
Francisco, in January, 1911. Attempts have also been made with the
aeroplane to alight on and to take flight from the deck of a warship.
Toward the end of 1910 Aviator Ely flew to land from the cruiser
Birmingham, and in January, 1911, he flew from land and alighted on the
cruiser Pennsylvania. But in these cases special arrangements were made
which would be hardly practicable in a time of actual war.

In November, 1911, a test was made at Newport, R. I., by Lieut. Rodgers,
of the navy, of a "hydro-areoplane" as an auxiliary to a battleship. The
idea of the test was to alight alongside of the ship, hoist the machine
aboard, put out to sea and launch the machine again with the use of a
crane. Lieut. Rodgers came down smoothly alongside the Ohio, his machine
was easily drawn aboard with a crane, and the Ohio steamed down to
the open sea, where it was blowing half a gale. But, owing to the
misjudgment of the ship's headway, one of the wings of the machine when
it struck the water after being released from the crane, went under the
water and was snapped off. Lieut. Rodgers was convinced that this method
was too risky and that some other must be devised.

CHAPTER XXVIII. GLOSSAR