The sun., 1916-09-17
AMERICAN AEROS
UNFIT FOR ARMY"
Aviation Section Says There
Has Been No Development
Of Fighting Types.
TRAINING PLANES ONLY
First Outline Of How the APP
preparation Of S13,281,-
666 Is to Be Spent.

A memorandum on military %aeropianes
prepared In the office Of the aviation
section. Signal Corps. United States
Army. appears In Aviation and Aero
noufc Engineering. which contains both
the first hint Of how the United States Is
going TO spend the S13.2s1 .6s6 a%ppropri-
atcd for army a~eronautics and a start
ling arraignment OF the development Of
aeronautic construction among the build
In, corporations Of this country.
According to the army aviation cx-
perts h prepared the memorandum.
based on knowledge OF Americas pecul-
lar aerial needs and the lessons taught
by the European war. the type Of ma
chimes nov being almost exclusively
manufactured In this country II abso-
lufely united for any military purpose
save primary training for aviators.
Practically nothing has been done
toward designing or building the type
Of machines which experience has shown
can alone handle the problem Of defend
ing the nation from the air.
ut IL submitted that the type which
all constructors have attempted to bui,d
In this country. the so-called two place
reconnaissance tractor biplane with ono
motor. Is a false development" the army
memorandum emphaticaily declares. It
is good only for training purposes. Il Is
asserted. cannot defend itself from at
tack and has been built exclusively only
because II was easier to build IN by in
creasirg the scale Of Tho first training
machines than to design anew.
The types needed. and those for which
the s13.ooo.0o0 appropriation will, he
largely spent. are two--the fast little
pursuit machine. carrying one man
and a machine gun. and the heavier.
more powerful two or three man ma
chine that can haul great weights Of
bombs and fuel for long flight and at
tack.
In the event Of war this country
would require that 81 per cent. OF i.s
entire aerial force should be composed
o. the pursuit machine and fully ~
PEI cont. Of the heavier type. About 90
per cent, would have to be advance
school machines. possibly Of small wing
spread. for service as tactical or
s;rategical scouts over mountains or for
ests, where their design would .nable
them TO make safe landings. About q
per cent. would be machines of special
design for reconnaissance and gun carry
ing. The rest. % per cent. would h.
primary training school machines. This
is the only type We have now. and cven
these. the article asserts. would lie I'M
fitted because they could not be used
for field artillery 1re control. Their
v~ulnerabillty to attack would preclude
his.
The pursuit machine. for short ra.
dius flights for IRE control, scouting or
attack. is imperative because Of Its con-
Probability In lodging M outma-
neuvrirg the enemy while maintaining
an effective FIRE with its machine gun and
presenting a small target. This machine
would be used not only for recon-
na.ssance but to drive of invading n.y.
droaeroplanes from al enemy fleet. II
would require ALTO horsepower motor.
carry a military load OF 200 pounds
with $50 pounds OF fuel. have a 3i5 mile
eight radius and a speed OF rs miles an
hour high and 50 low. a climbing speed
Of 5000 feet in ten minutes is re-
puired.
The heavier machine would require a
go horsepower motor. Since no prac-
teal single motor Of this power has been
built. two 1870 horsepower engines
you'd be used. II would carry a mill
tary load OF LOO pounds with 500
pounds Of fuel n a large supply Of
bombs were desirable, or $50 pounds Of
military load with 1850 pounds Of fuel
FOR sustained flights. This woul give
it a flight radius of $50 or 600 miles
In either case. with a high speed OF
ninety miles.