On this Day (WWI aviation news), Vol. 3

[PJ Fisher]

Dream Dashed
Pioneer aviation enthusiast Lebbeus Hordern imported Australia's first hydroplane, a Farman pusher, which first flew in May 1914 with Maurice Guillaux at the controls.  One year later Hordern is reported here expressing his dedication to Britains flying serivces.  However he never obtained a pilot license and instead served in the trenches.  Sadly, and in strange coincidence with yesterday's post, Hordern was gassed in action and was invalided home to Australia in 1917.  He died in 1928.
(from the Sydney Sun, 26 May 1915):



More on Horderns historic Sydney flights here: https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/Library/Woollahra-plaque-scheme/first-seaplane-flight-over-sydney

[PJ Fisher]

Wings at Work
I'm unsure of which French factory is depicted here, but those wall-mounted wings look to belong to a Farman H.F.20 subsequent variant.
(from the Weekly Times, Melbourne; 27 May 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

Teatime Terror
Imagine enjoying a spring picnic in the shade of a scenic garden only to have it interrupted by some hotdogger stunting his airplane into the tree directly overhead!  The identity of this plane and pilot are not reported; however, here's an archival image of a branch-perched B.E. dated to the same month as today's article and attributed to having occurred along the Thames... perhaps it's the same incident.
(from the Cambria Daily Leader, 28 May 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

Battlebag 'Balloonatics'
Two observers of the Royal Flying Corps grace the cover of the international magazine, 'The War'.  Unlike most combat aircraft, which had an endurance limited to two hours, balloonists could remain on station for hours.  No doubt this was dangerous work.
(from The War, May 1918):



Read more on Britain's wartime balloonery: https://historyfare.co.uk/military-history/36-the-balloons-going-up/

[PJ Fisher]

Target: Ludwigschafen
"We left at 3 a.m.  The aircraft had fuel for seven hours of operation... a distance of 400 kilometers.  Some were to carry six 90 shells, others one 155 shell and two 90 shells.  They had to rise fairly quickly, with the heavy load they were carrying, to the height of 2000 meters which they had to gain to cross the enemy lines with the minimum of risk.
 For a moment, the rising sun blinded the bold pilots; then, between Sarrebourg and Saverne, they suffered a violent cannonade: minor annoyances at the start of the adventure about which everyone was jaded.  A little later, they descended the Rhine valley, heading towards Mannheim, flying, as a precaution, over the forests of Hardt, in order to avoid being seen and reported. 

After three hours of flight, the valiant little air armada was on the objective, recognizable by numerous smoke.  Arriving 2 kilometers from the goal, they split into two groups, one heading towards Oppau, the other towards the parent factory of Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, in Ludwigshafen. In a quarter of an hour, more than a ton of explosive was on the ground, and, moving away from the scene of their superb exploit, the pilots were able to enjoy its effects: strong columns of smoke burst the roofs, filled the air, the flame of the explosions gushed from the high chimneys like from the mouth of a cannon, while the personnel, panicked, fled in all directions. A violent fire was opened against the planes, from Oppau itself, on the one hand, and, further away, from a vast airship hangar established on the right bank of the Moselle. One of the eighteen airplanes {was forced to} descend, the one carried by the squadron commander, battalion commander De Goys, and Warrant Officer Bunau-Varilla. At least the two captives had the presence of mind to destroy their aircraft: their companions saw, from up there, the plane to which they had set fire burning." (via http://izurak.free.fr/)

One of the Great War's first strategic bombing missions make international headlines this week.  Ludwigshafen was also the target of allied bombing in WW2.  It remains home to world's largest chemical complex.
(respectively from St. Johns Daily Star, 28 May 1915; and the Cambria Daily Leader, 30 May 1915):



(image: Henry Farré, Bombing of Ludwigshafen, French Airplanes, 1916)

See more details and images from this mission here: http://izurak.free.fr/rat/1915/26mai.html
This artist headline here back in March 2023: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg253054#msg253054

[PJ Fisher]

Salmson Assembly
Inspired by the Sopwith Strutter, which Emile Salmson & Cie had built under license, the Salmson 2 A.2 became one of France's primary reconnaissance aircraft during the war.  Over 3,800 were built between Salmson, Latécoère, Hanriot, and Desfontaines. This image likely depicts Samson's factory at Boulogne-Billancourt.
(from the Perth Western Mail, 31 May 1918):



Check out forum member PrezemoL's 2-A2 in 1/32 scale by Wingnut Wings: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=4687.0

[PJ Fisher]

'Weapon of Offence'
Invented by Frederick Marten Hale in 1913, the 20lb Hale bomb was reportedly the only high-explosive aerial bomb available to British forces at the start of WW1. Hale’s bombs were dropped in some of the Royal Naval Air Service’s first strategic bombing raids, the first destruction of a Zeppelin in aerial combat, and the first sinking of a U-boat by airplane. The Hale's 20lb bomb remained in regular use on the Western Front through the summer of 1917, until inventory had been exhausted.

Among the aircraft known to have been armed with this type are the Avro 504, Bristol Scout, Martinsyde S.1; Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2, B.E.12, F.E.2 R.E.5, and R.E.7; Short Admiralty Type 74; Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby; and the Wight A.1 Improved Navyplane.  Does anyone know of any other aircraft to use these bombs?  Below are two 3D renderings of the 20lb Hale that I've created.
(from the The Argus, 1 June 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Sopwith Shout Out
Kommandierender General der Luftstreitkräfte Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner has just proposed his Amerika Programme.  Its mission is to increase German air combat capability and end the air superiority of the Entente Powers in anticipation of the arrival of American forces to the Western Front.  In today's report from Amsterdam he provides commentary on the sporting nature of the British fighting spirit while pooh-poohing the capabilities of their aircraft.  His one named exception is the Sopwith Triplane. 

The 'Tripehound' first flew about a year earlier and became fully operational in December 1916.  "The Triplane's combat debut was highly successful. The new fighter's exceptional rate of climb and high service ceiling gave it a marked advantage over the Albatros D.III, though the Triplane was slower in a dive. During April 1917, Manfred von Richthofen, better known as The Red Baron, commented that the Triplane was the best Allied fighter at that time.... The Germans were so impressed by the aircraft's performance that it spawned a brief triplane craze among German aircraft manufacturers. Their efforts resulted in no fewer than 34 different prototypes, including the Fokker V.4, prototype of the successful Fokker Dr.I." (via wikipedia)
(from the Sydney Daily Telegraph, 2 June 1917):



Here's a look at forum member RichieW's 1/32-scale WNW Sopwith Triplane:  https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11258.msg208825#msg208825

[PJ Fisher]

Toter Flieger
Identity unknown.
(from the Maitland Weekly Mercury, 3 June 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

Know Your Machine
Here's an interesting write-up by an airman who spent time at the controls of Farmans, Sopwiths and S.E.5's.
(from the Geraldton Guardian, 4 June 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

Birds of Ill-Omen
Two articles published a year apart spotlight the use of aerial lighting during evening raids.
(respectively from the Cambria Daily Leader, 5 June 1915p and the Auckland Weekly News; 5 June 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

Royal Plane to Paris
King Albert I of Belgium was ferried to the Paris Peace Conference by none other than pioneer aviator Henri Crombez in, I believe, a captured German LVG.  Crombez had flown a Deperdussin monoplane for Belgium back in the 1913 Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy Race.  Later that year he joined the Compagnie d'Aviateurs , the group of civilian pilots and their aircrafts that would evolve into the Aviation Militaire Belge.  Still piloting his Deperdussin racer, Henri Crombez flew one of the first war patrols on 4 August 1914 above Liège.  Before war's end the King flew with Crombez as an observer (that story headline here back in March 2022: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg241647#msg241647)
(from the Maui News, 6 June 1919):


(image via warnepieces.blogspot.com)


(images: Le Miroir, 1917)

[PJ Fisher]

Skeleton Crew
A macabre but thoroughly imaginable story from the front line along the Western Front.
(from the Maryland Gazette, 7 June 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

Former Friend Among Foes
Though today's photo story was published late in the Great War, it actually depicts an early rarity built before the conflict began.  Here, men and one hound of Germany's Kaiserliche Marine pose before a British-made Sopwith Bat Boat II.  This particular plane made news here once before, in May 2023: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg255578#msg255578
(from the Sydney Sun, 8 June 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

Chasseurs d'Hydravions
Much of the lore of Great War aviation focuses on the dogfights over the Western Front.  Here's a short report on the activities of the less-remembered submarine chasers along the French coast, namely the seaplane station at Havre.  Here's a detailed history of this base, which mostly operated FBA flying boats:
 http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/CAM_du_Havre.htm
(from the Monmouthshire Recorder 9 June 1917):