New Britain herald., 1918-07-11
ID BRIDGE ATLANTIC WITH PLANE FLOATS
Aviation Expert Has Plans to Win
 War in Air
Green Bay, Mass, July


 across the Atlantic Ocean from Amer ican to Europe in about one fifth the time that it now takes by our present stea mship methods, if the plans of Alfred W. Lawson, American pioneer in the aircraft movement are put into effect. Mir. Lawson. who is known all over the world as the publisher of aeronautic magazines as we'll as being an aviator of long standing and a manufacturer of airplanes, and who has been furnished to congress dur ing the past six months a bi-weekly bulletin on expert aircraft informa- ton has just submitted to congress plans for the purpose of bridging the Atlantic Ocean with floats set apart at suitable distance that will act as land ing stations for airplanes
 War Must Be Won in Air
 Mir. Lawson is of the opinion that it will require a great many years of further fighting by the Allies to de- feat the Prussians at the present style of warfare, and that in order to whip them quickly. real aerial war must be established at once. He says, that up to the present time, the air pro grams of all the nations engaged in this war are but puny affairs in com parison to what must come, and that the nation which first puts into effect a real air program will be the nation that will settle the war so quickly that the opposition will not have time to realize that it has happened.
 It is the opinion of MT. Lawson. that Germany is now preparing on a gigan- tic scale to spring a surprise upon the Allies by starting real aerial war fare in 1919 and striking hard at the Allies from above in order to gain the supremacy. "All of the Allies air program for 1919, which I have al- ready looked into and considered very carefully" says MT. Lawson, "is not big enough to meet his extraordinary air drive which I expect to see the Kaiser attempt within the next year. In comparison I consider our own American program as only a peewee affair.
 To Strike From Behind.
 It must be understood that even if we put into our air forces the billion dollars which Congress is considering appropriating, that that will only make approximately two billion dol lars that America has appropriated for it's air progra m altogether while
 
 spent in the neighborhood of five bill hon dollars for it's air program and is likely to increase it's expenditures for this purpose at least another two or three billion dollars or even more dur ing the next year. have asked con- gress several times in, my Bulletins to consider seriously appropriating ten billion dollars to be used for the pur- pose of constructing and operating a mammoth number of airplanes with which to not only clean out the skies of German airplanes but to clean up the Germans themselves by the short- est possible method, which is, to strike them from behind. In other words, to knife the Kaiser where his skin is thinnest, and that is where he is not fortified This of course can only be done by airpIanes flying over his forts and trenches and making war upon his supplies for his warriors and the factories which turn out his munitions and his means of transportation
 You may be sure that if we don't wake up and work this new game on the Kaiser quickly, that he is going to wake up and work it upon us. 1 have said, and I am willing to stake my life on it, that if the United States of America will send over to France within the next six or eight months from forty thousand (40,00O) air planes to one hundred thousand t1OO,00O) airplanes within the next twelve to fourteen months, that we can whip the Kaiser and end the war before the year of 1919 is over.
 One of the big objections raised gainst sending across the Atlantic ocean vast numbers of airplanes was that, enough ships could not be gotten for the purpose, so to overcome that little difficulty I have formulated plan whereby any airplanes piloted oy any ordinary aviator can be sent across the Atlantic ocean within thir- " hours from the time he leaves the America shore, and furthermore thousand a day or more can be sent across if necessary. I can also over come any other difficulty that any body can think of or that may, arise n putting my plans into effect.
 General Plan Outlined.
 The general plan as outlined by Mir. Lawson in his bulletin 10 con Eress is to string 8 line of floats from America to France at suitable dis .ances to enable any sort of an over and airpIane to, alight upon in order 70 re-fuel and make repairs if neces- gaFy while leisurely flying across the Atlantic ocean in the same manner md with the same ease and certainty IS an aviator would make long eros country journey with 3. privilege Of stopping at different points enroute ,or fuel and repairs.
 Flying boats or -airplanes would land and depart from the Wa CT alongside Of the floats.
 These floats would be stationed near enough to each other so that they would always be within sight of the lirplane pilot. so that he would not nave to be an expert mariner to be ,bIe 4o fo,1ro ont biS bparjnpS Any