New-York tribune., 1918-05-26
LIES AIR MONITOR TO MEET HUNS FLYING MERRIMAl
Panic Among Parlor Strategists
Caused by Appearance of Ar
mOred Plane That Shot
Down Lufbery Lasts
Only "A Hours
By n. K. Moderwell

By II. K. Moderwell
VVYHEN reports Of the new Ger
w man "fying tank" which
brought down Major Lufbery
reached this country few DAYS ago
something like a panic was started in
timid breasts. An air machine. invul-
nerable to aerial attack. bearing two
machine guns and capable of going
wherever it pleased, loomed up as a new
and terrible monster OF war which
might scrap all existing systems of de-
fence and bring disaster to the Allies
in the meantime.
The panic lasted about twentyfour
hours among the parlor strategists.
Calmer counsels have now prevailed
Expert opinion in New York points out
that although the new Aier marks an
important development in aerial war
fare it is not new in principle and is
by no means invulnerable against
methods already in use.
But it is easy to see how in the first
melodrama of the news reports the
thing looked bad. "The american fight
ers,' said the cable, "sent streams Of
bullets in vain against the new enemy,
who loafed along, not seeming to mind
at all The scene looked like lot of
swallows pecking at a giant bird Of
prey"
Asks Where Is the
Aerial Monitor
To some it recalled the first tri-
umphant procession of the armored
warship Merrmac in Hampton Roads,
when practically unaided she destroyed
a whole fleet of powerful Federal war;
ships, threatened the whole system of
Federal blockade and sent terror
throughout the North. But the analogy
brought to mind the further fact that a
Monitor had appeared the next day and
neutralized this new development of
naval warfare.
The second phase of the panic over
the flying tank" then resolved itself
into the question, "Where Ito para
tori"
To which the experts have furnished
an answer, as will appear presently.
No, the flying tank has brought no
terror to practical airmen. Her useful
ness to the Germans Law in her novelty.
Now that she has been observed and
studied a bit the proper machines will
be brought against her, the experts say,
if indeed they have not been brought
up already.
Gust watt" said an experienced
Allied airman the other day, "until we
bring up our little old Voisin, with an
anti-submarine gun. It's bing! Good
night, tank. She hasn't got chance"
So the question among aeronautical
circles became one of explaining the
rev creature on the basis of previous
experiments in the armoring line.
The lounging rooms up at the Aero
Club on Madison Avenue buzzed with
speculation. A meeting of the board
OF managers was called for Wednes-
day night to officially sit on the prob
lem. For hours they wrested with
the new engine of destruction, and by
the time they adjourned they had her
defeated, downed brought to earth and
annlhllatad, her usefulness as an in
strument of kultur completely and
finally at an end.
But during the first days of the
panic they were avowedly upset. AS
one member of the club put it, "This
new tank can't be explained by any of
the laws of aeronautics we are now
familiar with. I don't say the thing
couldn't have happened l don't saw
tnat tanks can't be made to fly. All |
say is that il they did fly it was bv
virtue OF some new principle that we
are not yet familiar with For it stands
to reason that plane with the carry-
ing power we know could not carry all
that additional arrgor."
The layman. of course, would hearth
iy agree with this diagnosis His
knowledge Of stresses and strains and
air resistance led him to believe that
You can't carry any considerable GUAM
tty OF solid steel on wings. But then
the layman has only a rudimcntarv
idea Of what the tank looked like anv-
way AS described in the heated
poetry of the cable dispatches it GER.
tainly looked formidable to him. His
imagination pictured one of General
byng's ground tanks, such as were used
In last years battle Of Cambrai. horne
a'olt on outstretched wings. 1t had
horrible eyes. and out of its snou,
Poured masses of consuming fame. 1r
snort, IT the truth were told. tho Low.
man pictured the new engine Of war.
iare as sort Of flying dragon. An,
dragons, It is admitted. are hard :,
explain. "
The Fighting Flicr
Explains Things
But the experienced m;,;+a