T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 15

Mount Batten. 14. VII.31. Dear Flight Lieutenant Beauforte Greenwood, Here is a final report, so far as present arrangements go, on the little surf-board target. It is very good for its proposed job, I think, the only difficulty being spotting, which isbest done from the aircraft, the fixed base-line of 600 yards giving to the observer a good chance of guessing his shot's real position. I had to give up towing it behind 159, as we did only 13 miles an hour with it, full out; and could only get out occasionally, the other two 33-footers being under top-overhaul for Scheider duty. So I hooked it onto the Biscayne Baby and ran it off its keel ! The rough days (everybody said the wire would break in bad water) were great fun, the sea being much too bad for a Southampton upon our last occasion. Once I got it up to 35 m.p.h.! but 20-25 is really its fastest decent speed. For a fast target you would have to re-design, with flared bows and a flattened after-moulding, I think, to plane: with scoop-tubes like air intakes thrust through the floor amidships. You couldmake it weigh only half of this target's weight, I think.