The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1917-12-07
Big AIR RAIDERS
TO Be PROVIDED
sANGyEn NAHrs0RA N0M %
N0s1sD zoe MiIsEs NEW

ago roib,ner tho British nor the Ger
mans eoutsl spare much energy away
| from The production of high speed,
| quick climbing. fighting and scouting
aeroplanes. and from providing the
vast number of reconnaissance and
observation craft that were absolute
! IL Indispensable Turnout the west
ern front it has been, all along, a
! fierce struggle for freedom OF aerial
( reconnaissance and artillery oDserva-
ton; and it has only been during the
past year that the big bombing ma
chine has had a chance Of being full
ly utilized.
Two years ago England produced
the big Handlcy Page machine, and
about the same time the Germans
were experimenting with large high
powered aeroplancs. The Caproni, al
so. has been before the world for
about two years. II there has been
, slowucas to take fun advantage OF
. these machines. other countries than
England have been to blame. Tho
lac. is. the alowness has been large
iy due TO uuprcvcntable circum-
stances. altho, England having tho
best of the machines mentioned, and
possessing greater manufacturing re-
sources, is more definitely open to
criticism Of having neglected an OPP
portunity
Cause Is Placed.
The failure is due in some meas
ure to the fact that the British aer-
ial arm has been controlled by sail
ors and soldiers, and regarded as
merely a new factor in sea or land
hostilities. England needed a separ-
ate department 10 deal justly with
the new instrument Of war provid-
ed BY the aeroplane, which, because
Of the great destructive force 1t cas-
bring to bear at long ranges, 10 snti-
lied 10 DO considered as a strategic
arr
II is re Sisparssemcnt to British
authorities to say that they acted
short Of the possibilities. To them
the aeroplane was little more than
an aerial motor car; and no one has
ever suggested that the advent OF
the motor car called for the creation
of a new ministerial department. In
the result all that happened was that
the navy and the army went in for
aeroplanes as auxiliary to the sailors
and soldiers work as hitherto under
stood.
Further, the bombing operations
OF the first two and a half years of the
war by comparatively small craft
were neither heavy nor persistent
enough to have any great value. And
the big machine, until two years ago,
was not a great success. while GER
tain authorities claimed that there
was an obstacle to size development
owing, to Constitutional difficulties.
Increase In Size.
1t would probably be wise to re-
frain from mere speculation as to flu
ture development in size. On the
other hand, for England to frame her
aerial policy on the assumption that
there will be no development at all
would be to repeat past mistakes.
There certainly will be both increase
in size and improvement, and these
will come swiftly We are within
the mark in assuming that a machine
CARRYING a ton of bombs a total air
distance Of zoe or 500 miles is inn
mediately possible. An alternative
load might be thirty passengers for
500 miles
Before coming to the latter point,
however, it is well to remark in a few
words that bombing craft carrying
machine guns, flying in formation by
day at a height of 1900 or 10000
feet, and protected by mosquito
fleet of fighting craft, can carry on
their operations without excessive
casualties; and that by night, flying
lin a different order, they scarcely
need an escort.
The present British type of bomber
cen carry a magazine OF three-quar-
tsrs of a ton total air distance OF
see miles. That means that the Rhine
war factories are within range. No
doubt, by carrying a small bomb load
Berlin itself would be attainable; but
il would scarcely be worth while,
But to regard the big aeroplane
merely as long-range artillery were
absurd. There is another and pos
slbly even more important function
for It, Insufficient numbers such
machines could carry a considerable
force OF men and machine guns very
swiftly and Unexpectedly to seize
some point, or perhaps effect some OPP
Grafton consolidating the work pre-
viously accomplished by wholesale
! A.