//Ed. note: The Ottoman awakening to wartime
aviation came from the lessons learned in the
war with Italy. Herewith a two-part TNT series
on this subject from August:
Ottoman aviation click here for part one.
Ottoman aviation click here for part two/final.//
"The Ottomans' first airplane - 14 April 1912"
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In any event, after three months of work, on 5 March (1912) the P-2
and P-3 transportable balloons rose over the city of Tripoli for the first
time. Initially, the plan was for the
two balloons to operate together.
But as
of 12 April, the two balloons rose separately and by the end of
the war 227
days later, these ascensions amounted to a total of 90. If
we assume that each balloon rose the same
number of times as the
other, then it would seem that each of them ascended an
average of
once every five days.
This aviation success in Tripoli, prompted the sending of a P-2 – 'Bis'
(encore) transportable
balloon , which underwent bomb-dropping tests
at Boscomantico airfied near
Verona in Italy, to Benghazi where a
hanger brought from Italy had been erected.
However, the winds at
Benghazi were much more fierce and frequent than
Tripoli’s, making
use of the balloons quite difficult. Between 11 May and 13 July the
P-2-'Bis' ascended an average of once a week and only nine times in
total.
From the tactical standpoint, the more favorable use of transportable
balloons, compared to the use of airplanes, settled the matter. The
transportable balloons expanded the area
for aerial reconnaissance
and made it somewhat routine. These balloons were also used to
photograph
the topography for analysis and their ability to go slow
and even hover made
them more useful for dropping bombs than the
fast-flying airplanes, producing superior results in that regard.
On the other hand, the balloons presented the Arabs with a
bigger
target, forcing them to fly at altitudes of between 1,500-2,000 meters
and keep moving. Many bullets penetrated
the balloons’ envelopes
but did not cause accidents. No artillery shells hit the balloons.
Damage came more from weather conditions.
Overall, the
participation of these balloons in the war was of little
real value.
Nevertheless, on 8 June, in
the battle at Zanzur, one of them was
able to provide information about an
enemy column coming from
Bir-Tobras and heading toward the battlefield west of
Gargareş.
In his report of the Zanzur battle of June 1912, General Furgoni
provided this assessment of his aviation assets:
"The wind and dust prevented airborne means from providing any
firm and accurate information, although a transportable balloon
was able to pass over the battlefield and reached as far as Suani-
ben-Adem, dropping bombs on Fonduk-el-Tokar on its return trip."
One other success story about the P-2 and P-3 transportable
balloons
in the month of April is noteworthy:
the two balloons went from
Tripoli to Bu-Kamess, refueled near the Zuara
oasis, where some
Italian ships were patrolling, and returned to Tripoli the same
day.
//END of PART FOUR/FINAL//
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