on, in its early stages, was cramped and harassed by engine
failure. The improvement of the light engine, in design and
construction, was the most pressing of needs; but no sufficiently rapid
improvement could be hoped for except by the encouragement of private
enterprise. For some years the factory refrained from producing any
official engine design, and the superintendent attempted to encourage
the efforts of private firms. In order to specify the conditions which
makers must observe, and to apply proper tests to the engines supplied,
it was thought desirable to build an engine laboratory. Accordingly an
engine test plant was devised and installed. It was set in a
wind-tunnel, where by steeply tilting the engine both sideways and
lengthways, in varying currents of air, the actual flying conditions
could be imitated, and the performance of the engine measured. This
plant for the testing of engines might have been used with valuable
results, but for one hindrance--the makers of engines were unwilling to
send them to the factory to be tested, and the plant remained idle.
There was a misunderstanding, which after a time became acute, between
the factory and the private makers of aircraft. The factory, zealous for
the public interest, believed that it could best serve their interest by
encouraging, supervising, and co-ordinating the efforts of the makers.
The makers, jealous of supervision and control, did not accept that
view. A wise judgement will be slow to blame either. The officials of
the factory were strong in the knowledge that their work was
disinterested and aimed only at the public good. The makers, remembering
that progress in aviation had come chiefly by way of private enterprise,
feared the paralysing effect of official control, and the habitual
tendency of officials, especially of competent officials, to extend
their ambitions and their powers. The makers, in short, dreaded a
Government monopoly. A difference of this kind, even when it is gently
and considerately handled, always furnishes a happy hunting-ground for
the political agitator and the grievance-monger. The thing came to a
head during the war, when the success of the Fokkers, which reached its
height during the early months of 1916, made the public uneasy. The
Fokkers late in 1915 had been fitted with guns which fired through the
airscrew. This was the secret of their success, which was short-lived,
but was made the occasion, in Parliament and elsewh