The consequence is that the military authorities are
able to decide the type of aeroplane which is best suited to a
certain projected task. According to the dossier in the
pigeon-hole, wherein the results of the type are filed, the
aeroplane will be able to go so far, and upon arriving at that
point will be able to accomplish so much work, and then be able
to return home. Consequently it is dispatched upon the especial
duty without any feeling of uncertainty.
Unfortunately, these experimental processes were too methodical
to prove reliable. The endurance data were prepared from tests
carried out in the aerodrome and from cross-country trials
accomplished under ideal or fair-weather conditions. The result
is that calculations have been often upset somewhat rudely by
weather conditions of a totally unexpected character, which bring
home vividly the striking difference between theory and practice.
The British and French aviation authorities have not adopted such
methodical standardisation or rule of thumb inferences, but
rather have fostered individual enterprise and initiative. This
stimulation of research has been responsible for the creation of
a type of aeroplane specially adapted to naval service, and
generically known as the water plane, the outstanding point of
difference from the aeroplane being the substitution of canoes or
floats for the wheeled chassis peculiar to the land machine.
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