The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1914-08-03
THE WAR IN THE AIiI.

* Yesterday were able 10 IRE
~ on and bring down a French
a%eroplane while on the wing doing
scout duty serves to call attention
thus early in the great struggle to n
phase of the European conflict which
probably will he watched with great
or interest tina any other side Of the
actual business OF fighting. This IL
the first comprehensive test Of the
real usefulness or uselessness Of the
great fleet OF aircraft which all of
the nations involved have developed
during the past few years.
Much of "a certain class OF recent
fiction and a good deaf ~ semi-sci-
entific magazine writing has been d.
rcotcd to describing the possibilities
Of war in the air. II has been good
| reading n has 81 taken hold OF the
public mind that not n few people
look FOR terrible destruction Of life
and property through the air fleets.
The next few days, probably. will de-
| tormine To a large extent Just how
much the air craft viii have to do
| with the science 81 destruction.
Aeroplanes were used by the ltal-
ian army In Tripoli. by The French
| army In Morocco and by the diner
! ent armies In the recent Balkan
wars. but never 60 the extent that Is
likely 10 result during the present
crisis.
Between the original belligerents
Austria. with her six dirigibles and
more thar 100 aeroplancs. has u big
advantage over her opponent. Her
pilots are among he best in the
world.
Scrvia Is practically unknown In
aeroplane records. The little power
has twenty machines and n dirigl-
Bile Ia privately owned there.
Much Of the Austrian aviation
equipment Is said 10 be patterned
after that used by France n Ger
many. The H~otchkiss rapid-nre gun
Is Installed on many Of the machines.
a conservative estimate made by a
member OF the Aero CLUB Of Amer
lea. of the number OF aero crafts
that can be called into use In the
general European war Is l.26O. More
than 500 more are in the reserve list
ana In the event of emergency $50
| crafts. privately owned and on which
the governments ave no ties, could
be- Communicated.
Captain Thomas 3. Baldwin. the
veteran aviator. who recently re-
turned ON a tour of the principal
aeronautic centcrs Of Europe. said IN
New York recently that tho German
and Austrian aerial forces were the
best In Europe.
They have developed the water
cooled system "a perfection. he said,
while the French have given most
aJtention Go the nir-cooled engine.
The result is shown In the recent
world records by tho Germans. for
duration, distance and altitude, In
Guiding the ~long-sought flight lasting
twenty-fouT hours without stopping
The German and Austrian ma
chimes climb high ANA fast. go fat
and land well an ADVANTAGES sought
By military airmen. Their qualities
give confidence Co the pilots. so u II
not surprising 90 see them caTrying
on the principal worlds records
leaving out speed. The hlgh-spced
machines do not land well on rough
ground, some of them come down
at such speed that they run a mile
before they can stop. For military
purposes they are OF little use.
Another eason for the German
and Austrian superiority > hat theii
pilots ny By instrument, not by
guesswork."
TIL PANT OH TIIE PANAMA