The Washington herald., 1914-08-30
How AIR
May be
FOUGHT, -,
TERRIFIC and deadly conflicts par

ticipated in by scores Of swiftly
darting planes, maneuvered by gal
Hant dare-devils culled from the armies
Of the Kaiser, the Gar, King George and
other royalties may, some day, supplant
Waterloo and Gettysburg and other
great battles in the popular mind.
Battles above the clouds, in which the
air warriors must have all the daring,
courage and resourcefulness of land and
sea fighters and an added knowledge OF
air machines and their possibilities bid
fair to furnish the historians Of modern
Europe with some of their greatest de-
scriptive passages.
With thousands Of war aeroplanes now
handled by thousands of courageous SOL
diers throughout the continent and on
the English isles. 1t is not extravagant
to speculate on the awe-inspiring strug-
pages of history in the future.
The battle of the air will be to the
death only! Death and destruction" is
the rallying cry Of the aviator. No quar-
ter iS asked and none Is given, for every
MAJ knows that at any moment a great
shell may come Kissing along and crash
its way through the wings, and then It
is awful to think of the plane hurtling
to the earth, and then Of the crash and
the heap of wreckage and twisted bodies.
England today has more than 500
planes in the war service, while both
France and Germany each have a great
many more. Russia, Austria-Hungary
and Italy also have great air fleets.
The efficiency OF the aviation squad
rons was never better demonstrated
than at the recent experiments conduct
ed by the English army during maneu-
vers on Salisbury Plain. One hundred
norfinfnafaH
The equipment and general efficiency
of the British aerial feet is generally re-
garded as far superior to that of any 9TH
er power. The transport organization
for instance, is almost perfect. Each
squadron of twelve or more flying ma
chimes is especially equipped with motor
Iorries and motor cars, which follow the
movements of the aviators by road.
Lines of motor-transport wagons, ht-
ted up like engineering workshops, are
ready to repair speedily any machine
that is temporarily out of action. These
workshops, huge but fast travelling, are
wonderfully compact. They will keep In
the first line Of the British army, 1T ana
ever ready for service.
Z 1t has been pointed out by Major W.
S. Brancker, one of the best authorities
on army flying, that Of the many possi-
BILE roles which could be played by aero
reconnoiter work, the destruction OF hos
tile aircraft and the attacks Of troops on
the ground, and of material, such as air
ship sheds. oil tanks and magazines.
II is fully recognized. too. that there
can be no more effective spy than the
army aviator, and some striking results
have been obtained by wireless teleg-
raphy during the recent aerial maneu-
vers
machine piloted by an aviator and
equipped with a wireless apparatus was
IN complete communication, not only
with the staff in the camp, but also with
wireless stations all over the country. It
was proved, too that at night time an
aeroplane could be very deadly.
One machine rose to such a height
that. in spite of the flares, II could not
be seen, and it would have been an easy
thing for the aviator to drop bombs ana
stampede the camp with very little risk
Of destruction to himself or the ma
chine.
Army aeroplanes are also being fitted
with powerful searchlights on the nose
of the machine, by which it is possible
for the pilot to pick out camp be-
meath him.
It is pointed out by Major Brancker
that in regard to scouting and nying,
information brought in by trained OBJ
server flying about 4,OVO 1eel snoulo oe
about ten times better and more definite
than that which a division Of cavalry
might normally obtain after a long and
hard days lighting.
He draws a graphic picture OF how an
aeroplane will do battle in future war
fare. 1t will be armed with light gun,
probably a machine gun, bombs and
rife. It would be faster, able to climb
higher and more easy to maneuver than
an airship, but the latter would be diff
fcult enemy to tackle, owing to its heav-
ier guns, greater range and accuracy OF
fire.
In regard to combats between two
aeroplanes, it is pointed out that when
they were crossing one another OF go
ing in opposite directions, hitting would
be difficult because of the high speed;
but if they were travelling in the same
direction accurate shooting would be
comparatively easy at close range. Owing
to its slower speed, 1t would be very dlr-
fcult for an army aeroplane to tackle
high-speed scout. -