The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-30
Big Guns VIII Be Deciding Fac
tor, Says Star Flyer.
Rut Aircraft Will Cut Most I'm
portant Figure.
MORE THAN z MILES A MINUTE
Lufberry' Says They Will Con-
tinue To Speed Up.
Attacks by Aero Fleets, Each
Carrying Ton of Bombs.
BY w. S. FORREST.

With the French Armies in the
Field, Jan. 30.-Air planes capable of
two and half miles minute; pitched
battles between great numbers of ma
chimes on a side: systematic allied air
raiding of Germanys great munition
making 'centers, hitherto almost i'm
mune and generally double the air
activity of the past year.
These are some of the things the
French under lieutenant (now major
in the American army Raoul Luf-
berry of Wallingford, Conn. sees for
the coming twelve months in the air
He does not believe air craft will fin
ish the war.
Men and Guns Decide 1t.
Heavy guns and trained men will
put the finishing touches TO it, he de-
clAred. But aviation in all its
branches will undoubtedly play its
big role and certainly a larger lcie
than ever before during the coming
year. Personally, I don't look for
any startling new inventions. We will
have a steady and rapid Improvement
of existing material The final out
cast, tho it is certain that the next
few months will see much faster and
more powerful aeroplanes on both
sides. 1t would not surprise me if we
were able to fly las miles an hour by
spring and 155 before the end of the
war. And l mean average flying at
those speeds and not occasional
SpurtS."
In predicting a speed of more than
two miles per minute in the future.
Lufberry revealed that the aviators
latest equipment is a mask neutraliz-
ing the tremendous strain which high
speed in the air places on the heart
and lungs.
Veritable Battles in Air.
Few land battles in the future will
~ l.
ton on both sides; the larger the bat
tie the more machines engaged above
it," the flyer continued. This means
big clashes in the air-more machines
Generally as air effectives increase
and they are increasing feverishly on
both sides, the fighting over the lines
will not only be far more intense than
last year and between speedier and
more powerful machines, but be-
tween greater numbers and larger
groups.
Constant night bardnents with
large fleets of allied machines on
enemy munition making centers are
not only now possible, but promise to
have an important effect on the out
come of the war. Groups of heavily
armed bombing planes, each carrying
more than ton of high explosives,
can raid the most important German
munitions towns and be practically
immune from attack in the air. In
the darkness they can steer by COM
pass, launch their bombs ana turn
back homeward
Smaller and faster aeroplanes are
practically helpless in the darkness
against big heavily armed raiders. The
latter have fixed object; that of
dropping bombs as they pass over
their targets. The former are on the
hunt, and it is no secret they are at
an extreme disadvantage with their
light armament against the more
numerous guns of the larger ma
chimes
Hun Munitions Good Targets
ut is common knowledge that most
German munition centers are system
atically laid out in enormous blocks
covering hundreds of acres. They
present targets not easy to miss, even
from a high altitude.
'Of course the Germans will make
similar raids, but they will not have
the advantage of finding allied NUM-
tions works built in the form of vast
aerial targets. They would have to