Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-02-13
GERMANY TRANSFORMS
ITS AVIATION SERVICE
improvements OF Most Important
Character Made Since Be-
ginning of War.
PROGRESS MADE BY FRENCH
Results Obtained in Some WAYS Far
More Remarkable Than What Ten.
tons Have Donc-Aiarked Differs
cncc i'm Tactics OF Airmcn.


| PARIS February l2-Frcncb ,y;,
| ton authorities agree that Gcru,,y
has been able TO entirely transform i,s
aviation service since the war began
making improvements of a mos, Inn,
portant character. while II posscsyed
| certain advantages over the French
| dying corps at the outset
! The reasons for the superiority OF
the Germans in what was considered
before the war French specially will
perhaps become public in the parlia
mcntary debate that is imminent Ono
aviator attributes the difference to the
fact that while the French followed
aviation as n sport the Germans took
| IL up seriously for practical applica-
ton TO the requirements OF the army.
lie points out that the Germans were
| lying az night long before tho war
began. while tho French began their
| nocturnal trips only after the war was
several months old
| The sam" authority warns against
the assumption that the results OBJ
tanned by tho r. nch flying corps are
negligible Whatever may be III.
| foundation f"r criticism Of this branch
| OF INC service. he says, the results oh
thincd in some ways have bcer
' $50 '''''' 'htpi ''!tDit IMAM what the
Germans have done. lie recalls that
during tho battle OF tn. Marine. sep
,"nhcr 8. 1914. aviators destroyed half
! q! the artillery OF the Sixteenth Ger
| man Army Corps in the region OF
! Triaucourt.
| This exploit WAS all the more re-
fnarknblc since the French had never
Iarpcarrd TO arrive At any results in
| experiments made with the combined
| fnaneuvcrs OF artillery and nyins ma
chimes before the war. one OF the ia.t
! notable attempts made In 1912 during
the maucuvcrs resulted In the thco-
reuc capture by the opposing army OF
an entire flying corps. During III.
French mancurers OF 1913 the n,in,
corps, used under modified conditions.
acquitted itself more creditably. but tina
Experiments gave no hint or tho utility
OF the corps in actual warfare Con.
SeGucntly. as compared with Germany,
where il seems IN" experiments were
more significant aviation as n service
/ In IN" army was apparently neglected.
| Tho idea OF protecting Aging corps with
steel armor. at ono t!irc considered,
was abandoned, and was only taken
up again after German armorcd lying
machines had been captured
FRENCH LEARN MANY
| THINGS FROM GERMANS
! The French also stuck to the mono
plane until they had captured enough
OF the German biplancs to give Them
dcnonstrativc proof that they were su-
perior for most different Kinds OF air
work. Tho French also learned from
the Germans that security 4; great
| hetEh, is faliacious Fragments OF
shells reach them even AT a height OF
$500 yards, while al l.S0o yards /, IS
often moro difficult for the gunncrs 10
get the range. The fire at that point
| is generally too high
| Again. at the beginning the French
aviation service used the Same type os
machine for all kinds Of missions All
at once they discovered that the Ger
! man machine that made a raid on q
! metropolitan center or military point
| was not the same as the machine that
regulated the fire OF the artillery. The
result OF this was the beginning OF .
! classification of aircraft with refer.
cnce TO special adaptability.
There was also at the beginning .
marked difference in the tactics EN-.
I ployed by the German and French air.
men. The former appeared TO avoit
contact with the latter, either with
/ view Of concentrating their eno.u
B 'Poi pNI'i pi'JttlS tildH !ntiNluudl COM
| bats with the idea that the encoun.
/ ter might not be equal. The explains
ton now given by Il competent author.
: ity is that the Germans los, their best
aviators at the very outset Of the war
! This fact was disclosed by the note.
! book Of 4 German aviator killed near
Ecrdun. February (. this year. NC
early as September 10. 1914. the Ger.
mans had lost Furstenair. Ncumaml
| DallurG. Beaulicu. Grcsch, Jahnuw,
Koch. Elutgen. Heyden and Baudissn.
| This is further confirmed by Ger.
| man aviator, made prisoner, who saS
that they had found the greatest di9i.
Guilty in repla cling these men killed OF
! captured
/ This seems to explain the French
claim that with less efficient material
French av!ators accomplished more
| tangible results, such as the dcstruc-
lion OF artillery, the blowing up Of
ammunition depots, destruction OF Icp-
pelins and Zeppelin sheds, and damage
, 10 the encmy's field works. The French
! army is said to have ample proofs to
| this effect in orders OF the day issued
from the German general Headquarters,
| imprcssing upon the officers and men
| carefully studied ways of avoiding
| dangerous arms OF tho French flying
| corps.
MORE ESPRIT DE CORPS AMONG
AiRMEN THAN ANY OTHER BRANCII
| There seems to he more esprit do
corps among the airmen than In any
other branch of the service and greater
mutual courtesy between officers Of
the different armies. The most recent
manifestation of 1t was tho dropping
by Corporal Kandulski, Of the German
! F1ying Corps, OF wreath upon the
spot where he had brought the ccle-
brated PcSoud TO EARTH bearing this
inscriptions: ITO Pcgoud, our enemy.
who died like n hero" Signed his
advcrsarics."
In September, 1914. German pilot
established this precedent by dropping
in the French lines a courteous notice
to the effect that Lieutenant Fourct
i had been mad4 prisoner at the camp
of Chalons. Later on a German avia-
tor dropped behind the French lines
n letter from Pilot Scnouquc. who had
been captured BY the Germans In
May OF this year, when Thauron ana
! ElancDain were brought down by the