Electro-Tank Shoots Lightning Rays
LIGHTNING, enemy of man for countless centuries, may become his deadliest weapon of war. Combining the Van deGraff lightning generator with the newest high speed war tank, a design has been suggested for an electro-ray tank which promises to revolutionize offensive warfare.

The gunner of this lightning-generating tank, seated at the control desk inside the massive metal sphere, can direct at enemy troops a small but extremely powerful stream of water, as the screw-driven vehicle rumbles forward at high speed. Along this conducting stream artificial lightning from the hundred-million volt charged sphere would crackle ominously, delivering instant death to all living creatures sprayed by the water.

Inside the heavily armored tank other men would supervise the gigantic crank-less Diesel which drives the power generator to supply current for electric motors.

FIDO stands for (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operations) and seems to consist of using giant flame throwers to burn away the fog…

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NEW TRICKS for FIDO

Gliding out of a fog and into fair visibility, a C-47 prepares to land at the Navy’s Landing Aids Experiment Station, Areata, Calif. The flames burning off the mist are part of a new fog-dispersion system called ELMER—a refinement of Britain’s wartime FIDO.

At a central control board, an operator turns on lights and fog-chasing burners at Areata. ELMER has cut the costs of landing a plane in a fog to $150 as compared with the $4,000 average expense of using FIDO.

ELMER, in full glory below, is a line of tri-nozzle heads that atomize Diesel oil under high pressure and shoot curtains of flame into the air on both sides of the runway to vaporize the fog. A hot-wire setup provides instantaneous ignition of the oil.

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Fort More Than Mile High?

NEARLY fifty years ago, Gustave Eiffel erected his wonder of the world in Paris—a tower of iron framework 987 feet high. A generation was to pass before this was exceeded in height by a number of the skyscrap-ing office buildings of New York.

Now another French engineer, Henri Lossier, proposes a jump in construction to 6,560 feet, nearly a mile and a quarter high, in the form of a concrete tower, to be part of the defences of Paris. From its cone-shaped hangars, some over a mile above the ground, airplanes could be launched on a minute’s notice; while firmly-mounted anti-aircraft guns at this great elevation would reach invading planes more readily. The recoil of a hundred four-inch guns at once would vibrate it four inches. The details are shown in the illustrations, as also a comparison with a well-known New England mountain. In times of peace, such a structure could be devoted to many purposes; its great height furnishing advantages not otherwise obtainable, such as pure, thin air, and sunshine.

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Scientific Tricks of Master Spies

By Donald Gray

Amazing beyond belief are the scientific tricks employed by modern spies to help them carry out their dangerous work without detection. All the resources of chemistry and mechanics, ranging from secret inks to marvelous enciphering machines, are made to serve the master spy, as set forth in this startling article.

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Maybe No Noise in Future Wars
EXCEPT for the bursting of high explosive shells, wars of the future may be comparatively silent affairs, thanks to a new silencer just perfected by Ronald Chapman, of Caterham, England.

The silencer, which comprises a small cylinder about two inches in diameter and six inches long, fits onto the end of the gun barrel as demonstrated in the accompanying photo. The sound muffling mechanism which the inventor has not made known, absorbs more than four-fifths of the noise, and all flash and smoke.

With these qualities, the device becomes ideal for snipers and machine gunners in war time, and maybe use for it can be found in the gangster empire, where an “on the spot” job could be achieved with a minimum of disturbance to peaceful non-combatants.

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New Goggles of polaroid are now
being issued to Army Air Forces personnel. Like a large windshield, the single lens of shatterproof plastic provides unobstructed vision and protects against frostbite and flash fires.

MYSTERY RAYS “SEE” Enemy Aircraft

AMERICAN and German War Departments announce simultaneously new rays capable of “seeing” enemy aircraft through fog, clouds, or dark, at distances of up to fifty miles. First tests in this country are being held at the Lighthouse Station near Highlands, N. J., by the War Department, the details of the invention being closely guarded by military police.

No larger than a penny match box is the German mystery ray machine, a highly-perfected ultra-short wave radio transmitter.

Groups of these transmitters, mounted along the border of a country and adjusted to send their “feeler” beams into the sky at a fixed angle, could be used for air defense. The 5 to 15 centimeter long beams act much like invisible light rays, and are reflected back to earth by aircraft.

Groups of ultra-short wave receivers stationed some distance from the transmitters would pick up one or more of the beams reflected. With each transmitter sending out a different type of signal, something like the interrupted signal produced by a dial telephone, and each receiver connected to the central switchboard, the distance and height of the plane could be calculated automatically and almost instantly by a machine built to interpret optical and trigonometrical formulas. With this data, air defense guns could be aimed accurately at the unseen targets.

RELIABILITY
Dependable performance is a quarter-century tradition at Motorola— the world’s largest exclusive manufacturer of electronic equipment. Under subcontract to Convair, Motorola engineered for reliability, and is now producing the guidance equipment for the Navy’s new all-weather anti-aircraft missile, the “Terrier”.
Positions open to qualified Engineers and Physicists
MOTOROLA
COMMUNICATIONS & ELECTRONICS DIVISION National Defense Department
2710 N. CLYBOURN AVE. • CHICAGO, ILL.. Laboratories: Phoenix, Arizona and Riverside, California

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Details on the NX2 — Our Atomic Plane

When will our “hottest” bomber take to the skies? How will it perform? What about the radiation danger? Here are the answers

By JAMES JOSEPH

OUR long-awaited atomic-powered airplane—Convair’s Model NX2—is finally on the drawing boards, its components in various stages of construction and testing.

After 14 years’ research and an investment of close to 1 billion dollars, the plane’s reactor is under test and two different engine systems, both slated for early flight testing, are in advanced development.

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I, for one, sleep soundly at night knowing that should we be attacked with chemical weapons, our brave typists will still be able to do their duty to their country.

Gas Mask Designed for Typists
ANEW type of gas mask, which slips over the head of an office typist in the event of an air attack, has just been developed in Rome, Italy. The face of the mask is transparent so that the typist can see what she is doing.

It looks like you should be able to wind up that key in his back and make him march.

Portable Army Radio Tested
A PORTABLE field radio transmitting and receiving set that operates while strapped to a soldier’s back was satisfactorily tested by the Royal Corps of Signals at Alder-shot, England. The device features a special loop-type antenna, standard earphones and a hand microphone. The power supply unit is self-contained.