Evening star., 1917-09-07
FEW FLYERS MAKE
AIR TRIP T0ESSEN
Sergt. Zinn, American Expert,
Tells Why Bomb
Raids Fail.
NO USE FOR VISI0NARIES
NO USE FOR VISI0NARIES
BY SERGT. FREDERICK w. ZINN.
Especial Correspondence of The Even
Ing Star and Chicago Daily NeMs.l

| Especial Correspondence of The Even
Ing Star and Chicago Daily NewsD
tSergt- Zinn. who was graduated in
engineering at the University of Michi-
gan i'll June. 1914, went to France at
the outbreak of the present war and
enlisted in the Foreign Legion with the
first group of American volunteers.
After extensive experience in the
trenches he was wounded during the
Cha mpagne offensive of October, 1915
In January, 1916. Sergt. linn was
Corps. He first trained as a pilot and
later as an observer-photograp He
has been flying at various points on the
western battle front for many months
and has gained much praise from his
superior officers. having twice been cited
in army orders and decorated with the
war cross for courage and devotion. He
has just been made sergeant in the
French aerial corps. The following is
the first of several articles. in which
Sergt. Zinn tells of military aviation
today as seen by an active fighter)
ON THE WESTERN FRONT. August
i.-One cannot help but feel that
American popular opinion is being
grievously misled on the subject of
military aeronauticc Begun by some
farsighted, public-spirited men, the
campaign for preparedness in the air
has been taken up by certain news
papers who advocate the production of
an immense fleet of airplanes, not as
necessary adjunct to the immense army
America is raising, but as means in
itself of quickly bringing the war TO a
glorious conclusion. No one realizes the
extreme Importance of aviation more
fully than the man flying on the front
but no one appreciates thoroughly
as he the limitations of the service or
the folly of expecting miracles from it.
Use of Great Bombing Squadrons.
The attitude of many Americans to-
ward their still unbuilt aerial navy
seems to be much the same as the atti-
tude of the French toward their
machine guns in the war of 1870. or the
attitude of the Germans toward their
Zeppelins and later toward their sub
marines in this present war These
=, boundless, but unfounded. hopes have
been fostered by newspaper interviews
from many men of worldwide promi-
nence in their own spheres. but hope
lessly ignorant of the actual problems
of military aviation. One of the usual
suggestions is to send out bombing
squadrons of hundreds of airplanes to
destroy from the air the German muni-
ton producing centers in Westphalia
and particularly the Krupp stronghold
at Essen. There is nothing new about
this idea. and if it was practica BILE
duced long ago to heap of ruins
Essen has never yet been seriously
BON barded. not because the allies
would not like to do it, and not because
their machines are inadequate in quail
ity or number but because they lack
aviators capable of carrying out such
an expedition.
Strain Too Great for Aviators.
The trip from the French lines tn Es
sen requires Il continuous flight of over
seven hours. No one who has never
driven an alrplane can realize the terri
BILE mental and physical strain that "A
man must undergo in flight of that
length. Since the beginning of the war
only three French pilots have been able
to make successful trip to Essen, and
in each case the feat was considered so
unusual that it was specially mentioned
in the official communique Two of
these raids were made by day and the
last, that of Sergt Gallois. a week ago
was made at night.
each of these pilots commented at
length on the tremendous fatigue he
endured. Two out of the three returned
in such a state of exhaustion that their
machines were wrecked in landing
Even giving Americans credit for unu-
sual vitality. 1t seems.hardly reasonable
to expect that they will be able to pro-
duce in a limited time, from absolutely
raw material. any great number of
aviators capable of accomplishing
prodigies which are beyond the powers
of Europe's war-hardened pilots
London Easier to Attack.
Because the Germans bombarded Lon
don is no proof that allied aviators can
reach the Germans with equal ease
One has only to glance at the map to
see that. A raid on London is mere
child's play in compa rison with a SINH
lar voyage to any German town of i'm
portance. Not only is the distance to be
covered less than half. but the greater
part of the trip to London is over open
sea, where there are no anti-aircraft