Bill Barnes Air Adventurer, July 1935 — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Plane PHOT 'S << COCKPIT 700 H.R hg RADIAL A.C. ——> @ MOTORS Riawan ar GUN TURRET } NAV/GATOR'S AND — BOMBERS POST LL. EUROPE. is-arming! France A has girdled her borders with concrete fortifications; England has doubled her air force and Germany is busy creating a mighty new military machine. In Paris, London and Berlin as well as in a score of smaller capitals, anti-aircraft emplacements are being prepared, bombproof cellars dug and gas-mask drills held. At the whine of an airplane engine, all eyes turn fear- fully toward the sky and the dreaded words “air raid” tremble on every tongue. The painting on this month’s cover shows the reason. The Amiot 143-M is one of the new long-range, high-performance military planes designed for bombing raids. This big cantilever monoplane has a wing spread of over 80 feet, an over-all length of 58 feet, 8 inches and is almost 16 feet high. Powered with two 700 H. P. Gnome-Rhone K-Fourteens, this latest, model of the Amiot carries over a ton of bombs 600 kilometers at a speed of 195 miles per hour. It is a flying for- tress armed with machine guns. In the nose of the ship is set a rotat- ing turret in which the forward gunner is completely protected from the wind stream. Behind him, placed just ahead of the leading edge of the wing, is the pilot’s cockpit. Aft of the wing, a sec- ond gun position guards the plane MACHINE GUN on the Cover BALANCED Co- PILOT as } ELEVATOR! LANDING GEAR against attack from above. Below the fuselage hangs a cabin somewhat re- sembling an airship car. In the forward end of this cabin are posted the navi- gator and bomber. They are surrounded by cameras, wireless equipment, etc., and are armed with a machine gun which points down through the belly of the car. Behind them, the center section under the wings is reserved for bomb stowage. In the rear of the car, still another gumnner’s post protects the un- derside of the ship from rear attack. All of these cockpits and compartments are, needless to say, intercommunicable during flight. The picture shows a surprise night- bombing raid of the sort that is expected to usher in the next great European conflict. The big Amiots are diving on the water front of a city, dropping their deadly eggs on naval bases. power houses and munition plants. The gar- rison has recovered from its surprise and as huge searchlights begin to finger the sky, the first shells from the defense batteries burst around the raiders. When we consider that Paris, Lon- don and Berlin are closer to each other than New York is to Chicago, we should give thanks that our country 1s the good old U. S.A. with a. preat ocean on either side to protect us against such un- pleasant surprises as shown on the cover. oO Comiclbook =