The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-07-16
A NAVY FOR THE AIR
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
BY Frederic j. Haskin, Director
washington, ID. C..
Iu.-Machines and Mem

English house of commons over some
phase of the aircraft situation. t1naliy
arose a member who is closely con-
nected with the aircraft industry ana
the air service, and remarked, zen
tlemen, if you will provide Tor the Sc
lection of our best aviator ana our
best aeroplane, and the sendins OF
that man and that machine to the
United States, you will do more To-
ward winning the war than mas Deen
done by all the debates that nave Deen
held in this house since August, 19l4-
This man, who knows the problems
of building an immense fleet OF aero
planes and sending them to the front
in a hurry, spoke from reallzatlon
of what are to be our two principal
tasks in preparing our aerial navy
The task has two main partS-getung
the machines and getting the men,
The speaker in the house OF commons
indicated in a somewhat eplgrammauc
way that by sending her best Dattle
planes to America TO serve Tor mooeis
and some of her best men to serve as
instructors, England would be paving
the way for the return OF such aero
planes and such aviators in the ratlo
of a thousand to one.
The United States will have the
benefit of the best English and French
experience in building battle-planes-
A commission of 125 American ex-
perts is already in England studying
methods and designs. A number OF
French aviators taken direct from the
battle front have been in this country
for some time acting in an advisory
capacity. There is no reason to doubt
that we will build as good machlnes
as any that are built in Europe. IN
certain types, notably the small. very
fast and somewhat unsafe machines
used for attack and pursuit, we have
never built anything that quite equais
the allies machines. This is due part
ly to the fact that our manufacturers
deliberately keep the factor of safety
high, at a sacrifice of some speed, ana
uuickness of response.
Under the circumstances, this is the
soundest policy. An aviator can learn
his trade in machine making !1o
miles an hour sufficiently well to give
battle effectively in one that makes
1870 miles, In the slower machine he
is only about half as likely to be ac-
cidentally killed, and each aviator rep
resents a national asset worth some
thousands of dollars, taking SIX or
eight months of expert training to
replace.
On the other hand, in the manu-
facture of certain types of machines
we already equal, if we do not excel,
any nation on earth Our heavy pofno-
ing planes our sea-planes, and our
training planes are recognized as
equal to the best. There is no reason
to doubt that we will produce the
machines for our air navy in suffi-
Gent quantity of the best types. The
Aircraft Production Board, which
planned first to construct only 5000
aeroplanes the first year, now feels
confident that we can produce many
times that number. In the very I'M
portant matter OF engines, inolcatons
are not lacking that we Will develop
a better type than either the English
or the French. At the Bureau of
Standards they are working on the
perfection of an aeroplane to be
known as the "All America" which
will be standardized for large scale
production. Naturally no details are
to be given out concerning the engine.
but there have been enthusiastic I'M
official reports concerning the per
Torrance of the model on which the
standard type is said to be based.
If the truth be told, our chief rival
in the construction of efficient en-
gines and the best types of aeroplanes
will probably be eventually neither
England nor France, but Germany 1t
is the opinion of many American OBJ
servers that from the beginning OF the
war, Germany has had a slight but
undeniable superiority in the types of
her aircraft.
This superiority has been more than
overcome by the equally undeniable
superiority of the allied personnel If
the Germans have had the machines
the allies have had the men, and that
good men win even under handicap
is shown by the fact that it is the
allies who hold the upper hand in the
air today. And this mention of per-
sonnet suggests the other half of our
great task-selecting and training the
men for our air fleet.
Some of the more enthusiastic sup
porters of the aero program speak
of 100000 aeroplanes flying over Ger
many. Eventually we could come to
that, but it is a long way OFF. 1t
would mean at least 100000 aero
only calls for $4,000 engines. More
over, 100000 machines are probably
more than we need. Ten thousand
aviators can turn the scale, according
to many of the experts.
In this nation of 100,000,000 there
are surely 10000 men to be found for
the work as good as any on earth.
They will need some 40, 900 machines,
and the entire strength of the aerial
branch f the military service will
need not far from 100000 men If we
are to have an actual flying service of
10000 strong This is about two
thirds of the war strength of the navy.
Officers are confident that tn. men
needed will come forward eagerly.
The flying game is one that appeals
to the American temperament, as it
appeals to the English. It gives a man
a chance to fight as a unit, to use his
own nerve. judgment and daring, and
very largely to direct his own cam
paign. 1t also holds out far more
chance for individual distinction than
any other branch of the service In
fact, it is the policy of the British war
office to give out only the barest de-
tails of air fights without the names
of those concerned because it is felt
by all concerned, including the airmer
themselves, that it is unfair to the
other services, to the infantry and the
artillery, that the aviators should reap
all the personal glory while their con-
rades on the ground are exposed to
equal if not greater risks. The airmen
however, are very frequently decorat-
ed with the various medals and crosses
given for distinguished service.
The United States is making excel
,rd h,,iI