Of course
I understand this is not an official test, and I am not obliged
to make a report of this trial. But had it been, I should have
had to score against you.
"I realize that, and I'm not asking any favors. but I'll try it
again with the recoil checks tightened up. I think the
hydrostatic valves were open too much, also."
Preparations were now made for firing the four-inch guns once
more. All this while the Mars had been speeding around in space,
being about two miles up in the air. Tom's craft was not designed
to reach as great an elevation as would be possible in an
aeroplane, since to work havoc to an enemy's fortifications by
means of aerial bombs they do not need to be dropped from a great
height.
In fact, experiments in Germany have shown that bombs falling
from a great height are less effective than those falling from an
airship nearer the earth. For a bomb, falling from a height of
two miles, acquires enough momentum to penetrate far into the
earth, so that much of the resultant explosive force is expended
in a downward direction, and little damage is done to the
fortifications. A bomb dropped from a lower altitude, expending
its force on all sides, does much more damage.
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