El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-27
SUICIDE TRAPS, , AIRPLANES IN
THE AMERICAN ARMY ARE CALLED
Criminal the Manner in Which the American Aviation
Corps Has Been Neglecte d. The Men Take Lives in
Hands When They Fly; No Bomb Dropping APP
paratus, No Armor to Protect the Avators De
RY I1ENT ALLERToN HIrNrER-

I stock Of every nation OF the world
! the thing we call the aviation section,
| signal corps, u. S. A."
In that time % army lieutenants
have been graduated as junior military
1 aviators. Seventeen others. who APP
! piled for the aviation detail, have been
killed-almost so percent
In that time. there have been built
and tested planes Of varying power and
stability. Eight Of them were on hand
when the punitive expedition started
INTO Mexico after Pancho Villa. Six
of them are still "fn service" but only
-FOUR are considered safe enough to
leave the ground.
Old, Slow Machines.
The American army airplane, as now
in service, is a Curtiss biplane. rated
at 80 horsepower. it is heavy and,
in the rare atmosphere Of northern and
central Mexico, unmanageable two
thirds Of the time The engines, say
lteutenants and captains of the avia-
ton section. do not generate their full
rated horsepower. Seventy-eight is the
maximum power developed leaving a
margin Of only four horsepower to
climb. Two OF the machines have since
been overhauled and the old engines
replaced with new ones that are rated
at 100 horsepower. and which develop
their full rated power.
In these planes the aviators have
bbeen able to fly at LOCO feet alti-
tudes, and have made one flight of
over 80 miles, a new army record.
Under an act Of congress of July IS,
1914, the limit of the aviation corps is
placed at so officers and 26O men. To-
day there are 20 qualified filters. two
men in executive capacities who have
never been above ground in a plane.
and SO men enlisted.
Criminal Neglect.
Perhaps the best way to show how
criminal has been the neglect Of the
larsfaae ~farHH r.wn
IL with the forces that battle in the air
for the armies Of Europe. There the
planes are rated at a minimum of 100
horsepower. The minimum speed is
30 miles an hour and the maximum is
over 100 miles and hour Each flyer
has four or five planes at his disposal,
each plane suited for some peculiar
climatic or atmospheric condition.
There the planes used for scouting
purposes are Of extreme power and
speed, capable Of flying at 1900 feet
without effort There the flyers have
heavier, larger, more powerful planes,
armored for protection against rifle
fire. Some Of them even mount light
machine or rapid fire guns. Bombs aRd
devices for dropping them are part of
the regular equipment Pilot OBJ
server, aeronautic instruments and a
supply OF fuel for fourteen hours are
carried as matters OF course.
No Armored Equipment.
armored airplane. There is not one
plane that can carry a machine or
rapid fire gun. There is not one plane
equipped with a bomb dropping device
There is not one bomb for the planes to
drop, and there are not more than two
machines that could carry bombs and
devices to drop them If such equipment
were available. Even these two ma
chimes would have to go without OBJ
servers, IL equipped for bomb work in
fn off fhn -,fTo
would have to handle his machine with
one hand to operate the bombs.
Equipment Of the American plane.
for flying in Mexico, has been cut to
to six hours Observers are carried on
only two machines and then when II
is a matter of necessity.
Only Americans Could Do It.
It speaks worlds for the United
States army flyers that they have been
able to do as well as they have. What !
is known to flyers technically as
trough air" is common over the peaks ,
and canyons of the Mexican noun /
tains, pockets" where a partial |
dreds Of feet without warning, seem to |
honeycomb every plateau Gasoline OF |
the grade demanded for the epicurean !
aerial motors is scarce and water is |
luxury. over much of the country, that /
prohibits its use for anything but |
engine and human consumption.
Facing these conditions, the aviators !
have taken their lives in their hands 1
on every flight. Capts Benjamin d. |
Foulois and Townsend F. Dodd. on |
three different occasions have faced 1
death by being forced to land in hostile /
country. Once, forced to the ground /
Just outside the city OF chihuahua, |
native poems all but stoned them to |
death before the arrival of a troop OF /
United States cavalry and a company of /
CarranZa soldiers from the garrison /
cleared a path Of safety for them.
Many Accidents.
Capt Robert H. Willis on the first
flight south from Columbus, had to
alight because of the short supply OF /
gasoline, in a desert. IS miles away /
from an American camp. He made his
way to safety, but his plane. discov-
cred by poems, was reduced to splinters
and had TO be burned. Capt willis
and Lieut.. II. A. Dargue had their |
plane wrecked because its engines were
not powerful enough to carry them over
b mountain.
Lieut. Thomas S. Bowen, I'm an in
powered plane, slid out Of /
4 spiral at Casas Grandes and was so
injured that he is still on
hospital leave.
Tfeuf T,dpar < CorralI 1oef In tho !