Arizona republican., 1915-10-09
Such an Army, Formed i'll Divisions, Squadrons With Battle Aeroplancs, All Armed Heavily. Found Actually to Exist
CORRESPONDENTS
 GET FIRST VIEW
French Government Per- mits Newspaper Men to Visit Aviation Field and Inspect Battle Planes and Battle Air Cruisers
ASSOCIATED PRESS D1sPArc1Il

l ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCH l PARIS. Oct. S.-The aerial army is no longer q dream of romance. Such an army, formed in divisions. squad rons with battle aeroplanes, cruisers aeroplanes. scouts. torpedo planes, all armored heavily, carrying three inch cannon. rapid fire guns, is a reality. 1T has been made possible through the re
 markable development of military avi
 ation in France. The French govern
 ment has permitted correspondents
 their first inspection of the new fleet
 of aeropIanes
 The aviation field is a vast enclosure.
 plane loomed up, thirty feet high. with
 a number of planes stretching 130 feet
 across. Further pack ranged the fleet
 of battle cruisers and scout planes.
 They Were formed like a battalion.
 twenty planes were in a row acsoss the
 front ten deep. Huge wings made 5
 front fully half a mile wide. The bat
 tie plane and all cruisers were armed
 heavily Each carried both three inch cannon and rapid firers. The huge bat tie plane was the chief center Qf attrac- tion The engineer who constructed it explained the details. Officers said that this was the first actual realiEl
 ton uf the battle plane. other aerial dreadnaughts having proved impracu- cal. This monster actually flies. carry ing crew of twelve men and two can non which throw three-inch steel pro jectiles Three trial flights demon strated the steadiness of the ordinary biplane.
 Armored cruiser aeroplanes Were then brought out and put through tests high in the air They were small bi- planes Of high power. Each was armed with cannon and were capable of ris- irg almost vertically from the ground at q speed of ninety miles. Captain Frantz and operators Mondeh and Mallard made successive flights with the cruisers rising from the ground at an angle of sixty degrees.
 The steady roar of three inch ri[.S continued as the cruisers circled far above. NTallard was the most daring operatcr. He fired a big gun while plungiHg from side to side. dropping rapidly. initiating the maneuvers ear ried out while engaging the enemy
 A large number of battle cruisers are now ready. Several were recently carried out for a night bombardment far back of the German line During the Champagne engagement. the crui- sers nit d German balloon which ex- ploded
 The battle plans provide that the cruisers will soon begin movements in large squadrons, both for the defensive and offensive. They will attack the German lines Of communication, par at railway functions with an object of cutting off supplies and srreading demoralization in the rear x the Germans
 Each squadron consists of nine aero planes of all types, including one battle plane, two battle cruisers and six scout planes. The complement for the squad ron will be upwards of fifty officers and men for the operation of the aero planes and their transportation on lor- ries, drawn by automobiles with which each squardon will be equipped
 During the visit of the correspon- dents to the aviation school. they learned from the commandant, Captain Pegout, that arOut 100 military avia- tors were under instructions This i.s only one of the large number O. these schools which is turning out aviators Captain Pegout said that -commis- stoned officers and soldiers were 1nak- ing capable operators of the fighting machines after a few months in the institution. In aggregate. the schools are equipping many thousands for the work of the. new and terrible aerial war craft.