The copper era and Morenci leader., 1918-12-06
EXPLOITS IN THE AIR

While the war was at it's height feats by aviators were so numerous at the battlefronts but little attenion was paid to any accomplish Themthe m ieacr heipi ing.lt tau
 ments except those which seemed to be almost superhuman, and indeed many events which come clearly within this class have never been featured in the press. Many remark able victories have never been men, toned or the facts only half told. The closing days of actual fighting in Europe contained many thrilling of these days, the British Air Service alone destroyed siXty-six German planes and drove down fifteen others out of control. A single British avi- ator in combat with sixty German fly CTS succeeded in bringing down ten of them and although seriously wounded landed safely withing the English lines. Our own aviators on one of the last days of the war bagged twenty-one German planes. During another period of four days one hun dred and fifty-four German planes were put out of business by American fighters and, during the last six months American airmen have de- stroyed over six hundred planes Of the central powers.
 It is said that the fact that France had made such remarkable advances in the development of aircraft prior to 1914 was the deciding factor in the matter of aviation supremacy in the great war. Indeed, but for the fact that this situation enabled France to supply England Italy and America with the engineers and technical ad vice necessary to build up their air craft industries, it is not only pos sible that the Germans would have been able to gain control of the air but such control might have enabled them to win the war, for at one time, only comparatively few weeks ago, the war situation was SC nearly balanced between the allies and the central powers, that aerial supremacy was sufficient to decide | the issue. | One of the most distressing chapters in the history of the war-at least ir so far as the American pride is con cerned-has been the story of the eX penditures of hundreds of millions O
 dollars in the ill-advised and almos
 futile manner indicated by the repor
 of justice Hughes. Although these enormous expenditures failed to sup
 ply the needs of our aviators in Flu rope for fighting planes and compelled
 them to rely almost entirely ol French and English manufacturers
 for such machines, it is to be hoped
 that the airplane industry in thi
 country has as a result of such ex
 penditures received an impetus whicl
 will enable us at least to keep pac
 with the progress of the world in tn
 utilization of aircraft for commercia
 as well as recreational and scientifi
 purposes.
 The worlds long-distance non-sto
 flying record was recently broken b Major M. J. Boote and Lieut.. Elme
 Spencer of Detroit, Michigan, in
 flight of seven hundred miles fror
 Mt. Clemens, Michigan, to Yonker! New York. The trip was made i four hours and 90 minutes, or at rate of more than 150 miles per hou Perhaps the most remarkable Ion, distance flight thus far reported that of Lieut.. John B. Davis of tn
 United States Air Service, who mad
 the trip from point on the Gu
 coast of Texas to Mt. Clemens an return-a distance of 4OOO miles, the actual flying time of 61 hours. An interesting illustration of th | remarkable manner in which a | travel can be utilized in an emergenc
 is afforded by the trip of 22S miles r gently made by James M. School maker, Jr, son of the Vice Preside1 of the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Raj
 road. Upon receipt of long-distant | telephone message that his fathe who was at Pittsburg, Pennsylvani had undergone serious operation ar was dangerously ill, he made a fl ing visit to his bedside, covering u distance between Dayton and Pitt burg in one hour and 40 minutes.