Evening star., 1936-11-29
ACE SAYS REBELS
CAN RAzE MADRID
Rickenbacker Is Certain
Francois Men Are "Pu!I-
inq Punches"

NEW YORK, November %
Despite its position as
the first major city in history to be
bombed from the air by an enemy at
its gates, Madrid is teaching nothing
to strategists anxious for a test of
the relative efficiency of bombing
raids and air defense. according to
Capt. Eddie v. Rickenbacker, Ameri-
can war ace and now an air transport
official
only two things have been
proved by the five-weeks' bombing of
Madrid" and Capt. Rickenbacker.
lone is that Spain was not a first
rate air power and did not have
modern equipment and the other IS
the insurgents have been holding
back and have been very choosy about
where they laid their eggs.
with so or a hundred planes
and it seems they have more than
that-the rebels could level Madrid
easily in a day. With each plane
dropping 10 or 20 incendiary and
high explosive bombs, a fair-sized
squadron could destroy every single
building in the place, wreck its water
mains and electric conduits, obliterate
its subways, completely eliminate the
possibility of conducting any sort of
orderly existence within it's walls
Obviously the rebels are holding back
in the hope of conquering the city,
and not pile of rubbish on the earth
ubera Madrid oppa St0nd
Loyalists Show Weakness.
GAS for defense, the government
has revealed no modern equipment
except in its newly acquired planes.
Its anti-aircraft guns seem to be
about as efficient as those We had in
the last war, and those were no
deterrent at all. They hindered
strafing of enemy trenches, but could
not possibly drive us high enough to
interfere with efficient scouting or
bombing.
"The hiring of such men as Bert
Acosta to bolster their air force is
Of quite dubious value. kcosta used to
be one of the best commercial pilots
in the country, perhaps in the world,
but he has not kept up with modern
developments in aviation. And even
the best commercial pilot of today
would be Of little use in an air army.
The technique Of fighting in the
air has changed completely since the
last war. What has happened in the
last two decades is that a band of
snipers have been developed into
tightly knit, cohesive, ass-maneuver-
| ing army.
In the last war We were all snipers.
but the day Of sniping is over. One
hundred snipers today can't stand up
in an attack against numerically in
ferior squadron of planes deploying
and maneuvering in formation.
Military FLYING Specialized.
Even at the moment of contact,
when dog fighting begins and in
dividual action is the rule of proceed
ure. a commercially trained pilot
would be Of little value. The tech
nique of military flying has become too
highly specialized.
For example. there is the tech
| nique of the turn TO be mastered.
When flying at commercial speeds,
turns can be made with the throttle
| wide open. But you have to slow
up your plane to turn at a speed
between 300 and 400 miles an hour.
The problem is how much-and when.
Then there Is the matter of gauging
the arc Of the turn. When you're
flying at 6 miles a minute. estimating
your position has to be practically
reflex action.
'Of course. commercially-trained
pilots-men like Acosta-can learn
these things more quickly than un-
trained men, but Acosta is learning in
school where failure means death.
Another thing against Acosta is his
age. Wartime flying is young mans
game. Diving at terminal velocity is
basic move in a dog-fight and when
you pass the borderline of 80 or 35 the
chances are you will not have the
enormous physical stamina required
to fight off the rush of blood to the
head and the strain on the heart
You must be at top efficiency every
single split second Of the time to give
yourself chance in dog-fight."
"Only One Answer"
Capt. Rickenbacker said the only
answer a city could make to enemy
airplanes. besides planes of its own,
was "anti-aircraft guns placed where