The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-04-10
SUPERIORITY OF THE
ALLIES AEROPLANES
ISLES PRONOUNCED
Several New Types of German
Machines Make Their Appear.
ance Seem to be More Efficient
Than Those Of Enemy.

~ Aesnctatcd Press.
London. April i0.-The superiority
OF the English and French aircraft.
which Nas frequently asserted In on.
cial statements from the entente side
last year. Is less pronounced this ycar.
according to the British correspond
ents at the front. This il due To the
appearance of several new types OF
machines. chiefly modelled. IL is safe.
on French and British designs, ana
known as the Albatros. Haiberstadt.
Ago. Roland. and the new Fokker.
The majority OF them have hxed
cylinder engines, giving about lso TO
geo horse power. A few retain the
rotary engines with which the Ger
mans achieved some success in the
Fokker two years ago, out these ro-
tary engines are seldom OF more than
i3O horse power.
The ne1 German machines have a
speed OF about i2O miles an hour. but
their chief feature Is their abliiy for
climbing. ordinarily they frequent
the IA. 000-foot levels. and they have
been observed ON picket duty as nigh
as 10000 feet. The latest German
order for airplane engines Is said 20
have specifications designed to give
their machines a radius Of action up
to at least $4,000 feet.
Meanwhile the British air service Is
putting forth strenuous exertionS TO
keep ahead OF its rival. only In part
is this a question OF planes n en-
gines. /, also involves the problems
CT more skilful pilots. ana in this di-
rection OF training the British service
has expanded extraordinarily.
After "a class OF military aviators
have passed through their course OF
training on the slower types OF school
machines, those who show special
aptitude IRE passed on 10 the scout
schools where they are given a spe-
cial course IN what is commonly
caiid "a%erobatics." which involves
the use OF the highest speed machines
and handling them acrobatieally ga
the air. as Is necessary In air fight
ing. The instructors carry on sham
fights in 2he air with their pupil.
armed with cameras instead Of guns.
Then there are the POSTGRADUATE
aerial gunnery schools. The most cN-
pert pilot in the world is useless as a
lighting man ~ he Ices not thorough
~ understand his machine gun. FOR a
perfect flyer with a jnmmed gun is %
litrle use against a merely moderate
pilot who Is "a crack shot and q real
gun master. \ combination Of the
two is the dosidcratum. a.. Tor exam
pie. in the case Of a young pilot re-
gently mentioned In dispatches. whose
engine stopped dead al a height u
~. 600 feet when ne was being attack
ed by two German aeroplanes. De
spite his loss Of motive power. foI,-
ing him 20 descend constantly. be shot
down one enemy machine. drove the
other away. and glided into his own
lines unchanged.
The work Of the aviator has become
highly specialized in the curse a.
the last twelve months. ~ the Brit
ish aviation camps along tho front IN
! France there are separate %squndrous
Of machines for reconnaissance. in
fantry contact. photography. artillery
spotting and bomb dropping ard. %
almost every instance. squgis Of these
machines may only accomplish their
duties successfully when they are
protected from enemy attack By ma
chimes OF "A type comparable 20 the
torpedo boat destroyers Of q naval
fees.
For these destroyer machines, %
high speed. high-climbi IN ability. aud
high fighting and m-unoeuvring pow %
or are essential some Of the newer
British machines ~ his type arc
said 10 show a speed over $50 miles
an hour.