New-York tribune., 1917-07-03
Invasion by Airplane
tor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The letter of F. T. in SATURDAY.,
Tribune under the heading Invasion By Air
planes" is good reading and ne makes som.
good points, but the trouble with his con.
clusions is that he reasons from what h.
knows and does not put into the balance
what he does not know.
Germany has an area of over 100000 miles
and she would need some thirty TO fifty
thousand anti-aircraft guns. men and equip.
ment scattered over the square miles Of her
western half and, with all these guns, she
could not stop aerial invasion or hit an aero.
plane at night or in cloudy weather. The
defence Germany could put up with her own
aircraft would depend on relative numbers,
speed and the perfection of aerial fighting
equipment, and this is just the point. Victory
in this war is going to be decided by power.
ful air fleets.
If Germany can manufacture submarines,
all kinds of guns, munitions and equpmen,
to keep her army going and. on top Of this
produce more and better aerial equipmer.
than the Allied countries, she will win. The
armies and navies are in a deadlock and
is wholly probable that this will continue
until the Allied powers put enough aircrsf.
in commission to destroy Germany's trans.
portation roads behind her armies and also
impede the work of her munition factories
This is no "on your honor" duel nor box.
ing bout it is a free-for-all fight 10 fns,
and, since Germany has lifted all rules 0.
war, our only recourse is 10 take advantage
of opportunities. Instead of shooting away
millions Of expensive shells In barrage a.
tack. the surplus shells would do more good
if the high explosives were put into ehesp
cast iron shells and rained down on fertile
farm lands and railroads. Germany msy
tunnel her railroads and dig her factories
and houses into the sides Of mountains, bu,
she will have to produce food in some other
way than growing il on the surface Of the
earth, otherwise she will be defeated in the
end
It would be strange if aerial warfare
turned nations into cave and cliff dweller,
but armies have already come 70 this and
before the war is finished many cities may
be half deserted. Much has been said about
the futility OF air raids on cities but
a half dozen airplanes kill hundred people
more or less, each time, and damage lo'
of property, this is a practical demonstrs
ton that should be most seriously con-
sidered.
As have written various times hereto.
fore, Germany spent her opportunity By
centring her efforts on the development
of the Zeppelins. instead OF super-sirplan'
craft She could have made such advance
in motors, types Of land and sea planes and
above all. in torpedo planes. bombs and gus
for aircraft. that she would have practically
controlled the air. which would have glye'
her armies and even her navy an overwhsln.
ing advantage for the first two years ara
quite enough 20 have won the war for ire
time being.
Even now. believe that Germany
spending a valuable part OF her strengthen
the submarine and that her peculiar advss'
tages in submarine warfare VIII be counterec,
whereas. Il her efforts had been centres
on the developmen. Of aircraft, defeat woH'
have been more difficult
The popular slogan that tho arplans
the eyes Of the army is proof of the marrow
conception Of utility that has been given
aircraft for war purposes. The error hss
in the fact that the, "eyes" DO no. represeh'
the aggressive powers hidden in the science
The truth Of the matter is that the ar
plane. as a lighting machine. Is not one p.,
cent developed When we learn how 20 oON'
super-airplane fighting machines and sow
some OF the many problems In provioiK
them with the right kind Of fighting coup
ment. then, when the Allied powers have as
cumulated an active feet Of something ~"
a hundred thousand machines so equlppe.
and costing anywhere from three 70 wv
billion dollars. then war can be waged ~
manner that will quickly b'ing favora'"
results. ". II. FAO BIN
Brooklyn. June 80. 1917.