als. His
idea is that aeroplanes should be equipped with small mines of the
contact type, charged with high explosives, and that the latter should
be lowered from the aeroplane and be trawled through the atmosphere. As
an illustration I will suppose that a hostile aircraft is sighted by a
patrolling aeroplane. The pilot's companion in the latter immediately
prepares his aerial mine, fixing the detonator, and attaching the mine
to the wire. The latter is then dropped overboard, the wire being paid
out from a winch until it has descended to the level of the hostile
craft. The airman now manoeuvres in the air circling about the airship,
dragging his mine behind him, and endeavouring to throw it across or
to bring it into contact with the airship below. Naturally the latter,
directly it observed the airman's object, would endeavour to elude the
pursuing trawling mine, either by crowding on speed or by rising to a
greater altitude. The aeroplane, however, would have the advantage both
in point of speed and powers of climbing, while there is no doubt that
the sight of the mine swinging in the air would exert a decisive moral
effect upon those in the airship.

Attempts to render the mine harmless by discharging it prematurely with
the aid of rifle and machine-gun fire would, of course, be made by the
crew of the airship, but the trawling mine would prove a very difficult
target to strike. If such a missile were used against an airship of the
proportions of a Zeppelin the mine would inevitably be trawled across
the vessel sooner or later. Once the airship had been fouled, the
aviator would merely have to drive ahead, dragging the wire and its
charge across the gas-bag until at last one of the contact levers of the
mine was moved by being dragged against some part of the vessel, when
the mine would be exploded. In such operations the aviator would run a
certain risk, as he would be more or less above the airship, and to a
certain degree within the zone of the ultimate explosion. But there is
no doubt that he would succeed in his "fishing" exploit within a very
short time.

This ingenious scheme has already been tested upon a small scale and has
been found effective, the trawling bomb being drawn across its target
and fired by contact within a few minutes. The experiment seems to prove
that it would be simpler and more effectual to attack a hostile aircraft
such as a Zeppelin in this manner than to drop free bombs at random.
Mo