Evening star., 1921-05-01

miles an hour in the direction
of a tiny speck of a battleship below.
At the forward end of the airplane
sits an Army captain, the bonn mbardler
his hand on the bomb release and ms
eve on the battleship. Just behind is
the airplane pilot, to whom he Slshais
with the other hand-the whirl OF
the two propcllers makes il far too
noisy to talk-so that the powerful
aircraft NAV be driven directly in line
with the battleship.
All about are other airplanes. IN
battle formation. some of them. the
smaller types flying lower to protect
the heavy bombers. The deatenins
noise is muffied by the heavy helmets
strapped tightly over the ears Oh
those who fly.
The airplane is nearing lne itI e,
ship. In two minutes more 1t VIII De
directly over it. The bombardler,
crouching in the pit, pulls the release.
out from below. from the carrier
contrivance. swings the heavy bomb.
ON it's trip to death. 1t is painted
white to assist in it's observance. and
there are fins at its tail to guide It's
course to the battleship below.
x = :: !:
rINH h bumD seems ~ loiA'" ''N
plane. keeping pace with it on us
downward course. This is due to the
momentum it had with the great fight
ing machtne. and while certain lag
develops, due to the laws of gravity
as il spe eds to the earth. this is hard
Iy perceptible.
Down GOES the bomb seemingly con-
;ptn ll,r and smaller DD-
iect as it Eears the hattleship. Every
= body aboard the airplane watches IN
1ently. the bombardier through a
small open space in his pit the pilot
through tiny glass in the moor,
and the rest of the crew of five get
their vision over IT,! side.
The bomb is going straight toward
the object below. as if drawn there
hy magnet Bv this time it Is
tiny speck of white. but easily seen
water.
There is splash at last! The bomb
has hit.
The bombarder looks back toward
the pilot and grins. The pilot smiles
back compliment.
Had it been a battleship below in
stead of floating target and had the
ammunition been live and of SUI
ficient weight the navy craft would
have been blown out of the water.
All Urls Z nave Just observer II pHl nc
Martin bomber itself in a seat oeside
the pilot. 1t occurred thirteen miles
out over Chesapeake bay. as part
Of the Army Air Service preparation
to prove its assertion at the formai
tests in June that land aircraft might
easily destroy battleshipS and other
naval vessels even if operating at
considerable distance from shore.
ThiSMartin bomber in which rode
dropped four bombs under similar cir
cumstances during the maneuvers.
which lasted an hour. The bombs
weighed 100 pounds apiece. All four of
them were hits. three direct and one
indirect-that is. within the danger
zone of fifty feet from the supposed
battleship. And. what is more. the
indirect hit might easily have been
the most effective of all the shots.
since it's detonation would have come
six Or eight feet under the water be-
low the armor line of the battleship
A total of twenty-threess airplanes.
operating as a squadron in battle for
nation. participated in the maneu-
vers. Altogether they dropped IL
bombs on the target from this dizzy
altitude-virtually mile-and of
them t3 per cent were hits.
The target below. raft riding the
waves of Chesapeake bay in tow
of tug. measured twenty by six
ty feet. but it was sufficiently large
to permit the careful aiming OF bombs.
The ordinary battleship presents
npch larger surface. at least 100 by
500 feet, so that this was used in reg
istering the hits. ANY shot which
fell within the area was hit direct,
and any shot within fifty feet. COM
monty accepted as the danger zone.
also was hit indirect.
The squadron of airplanes wee off
the ground for an hour and twenty
minutes under what might be sup
posed to be typical hattie conditions.
During the hour they were over the
water-itself commendable feat
circ1ed over the target. attacking and
reattacking.
THERE were three distinct attacks
the same tactices being employ
I'd in each instance with satisfactory
results. In that period of time. un-
less some unknown counter attack
had been launched by the navy. an en-
tire fleet might easily have been de-
stroyed.
The plan of attack in this maneuver
--unquestIonably that which would be
primary in time of hostilities-pro-
vlded for three waves of airplanes.
duties to perform. The first wave.
made up of the small or pursuit
planes. had to sweep the decks clear
of personnel: the second, made up of
light bombers, had to put out of com
mission such armored anti-aircraft
artillery as might be operating, and
the third to sink the battleship. IN
theory this was accomplished.
In the first wave arrived the single
scatter planes known as the SE-J, of
which there were five in these ma
neuvers. AS they approached the
battleship they dinpcd to within 200
feet Of the deck. dropping twenty five-
pound bombs. those intended to clear
away the personnel. This accom-
plishcd, they made OFF again in wide
circle to avoid what might have been
Il counter fire of aircraft guns
In the second wave came the light