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Moreover, the experience of the War period tended to discredit the dirigible, since, before the introduction of helium gas, the inflammability of its buoyant factor placed it at an immense disadvantage beside the machine dependent on the atmosphere itself for its lift.
It deprives the driving force of its controlling hand; The aeroplane becomes like a ship without a rudder: a vessel whose helmsman has been shot down. It is unmanageable, and likely to become the sport of the element in which it moves. It is for this reason that aviators have been urged to direct their fire upon the men and mechanism of a dirigible in the effort to put it out of action.
As for Constantio and a red-headed bushy-whiskered man, whom the boys learned later on was Sam Wells, one of the three men who helped in working the dirigible, they seemed completely unnerved by the sight they had witnessed. Malvoise's sharp voice recalled them to themselves. "Come now, collect your wits," he shouted; "poor Sanborn's gone, and we can't save him.
The struggle for right of way became increasingly wild; the dam of men, horses, and wagons grew. A Brown dirigible was descending toward the great target; but on closer view its commander forbore, the humane impulse outweighing the desire for retribution for colleagues in camp and mess who had gone down in a holocaust in the aerial battles of the night.
Both the aeroplane and the dirigible took part in these experiments, being flown at varying heights, while the submarine was maneouvred at different depths immediately below. The sum of these investigations proved conclusively that a submarine may be detected from aloft when moving at a depth of from 30 to 40 feet.
With an explosion of gas from the huge cigar-shaped balloon, the dirigible dropped earthward, its bird enemy seeming to fall with it. I gave a cry and covered my eyes with both hands. I felt that I had been broken, crumpled up like a singed moth, burnt by the vivid flame of that awful sight.
He was the first constructor and pilot of a dirigible balloon that made a round trip, that is to say returned to its starting place after rounding a stake at some distance in this instance the Eiffel Tower, 3-1/2 miles from St. Cloud whence Santos-Dumont started and whither he returned within half an hour, the time prescribed.
On November 20 Louis Paulhan, in a biplane, flew from Mourmelon to Chalons, France, and return, 37 miles in 55 minutes, rising to a height of 1000 feet. The dirigible airship was also much in evidence during 1909, Zeppelin, especially, performing some remarkable feats.
"Then," cried Frank excitedly, "you were aboard the first plane that dived into the dirigible?" "I was there," replied Jack briefly. "By Jove! I thought so. It looked like some your doings. And, if you hadn't thought of that method of attack, the whole French fleet probably would have been sunk!" "Well, somebody had to do it," said Jack modestly. "I notice you weren't far behind yourself."
Anxiety, yes, for it was manifestly becoming more and more difficult for him to fulfill his duty of protecting the public. How could we arrest criminals, if they could flee from justice at such speed over both land and sea? How could we pursue them under the oceans? And when dirigible balloons should also have reached their full perfection, we would even have to chase men through the air!
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