Evening star., 1942-04-13

S~ss @%A.sts wal. &0t1ltAby rff
can be overdone If there is absence
Of top efficiency at the controls
which leads to wasteful sacrifice Of
planes and crews ST
A first-class war pilot Is bothW
born and made. The door Of thes-
Air Corps is wide open to the right~
talent. which, like gold, Is largely :,
where you find 1t. al
In the first World War an out
standing ace was Eddie Ricken-'7
backer who had been an automo-lq
bile racer. In spite of the contraseF
between the simple plane he flewjs
and the complicated one Of todayrT
we are finding that q self-educated a
mechanic, or handy man, may have
the gift, as the acceptable basis Of
training, which is lacking in COLI
lege graduate who Is a crack tennis 10
or golf nlayer yoh
Once the pilot has survived thsso
elimination process and reached theoi
final period Of training he shoWda5
fly in the same plane or at least .,
the same type he will fly in COM
bat. With him should be the nau-
gator and bombardier who are to-
be his colleagues in action.
Teamwork Is All Important. Sc
These two with the pilot make1
the big three Of a bomber. Their
navigator directs the approach toa
the objective where the pilot takes.
over. The bombardier directs the,
bombs on the target. When the,
plane is being rocked by anti-air-
craft fire they should be able to
work together In harmony Of tim
ing which Is second nature. So
should the other members Of thsF
crew, notably the gunner when the
accuracy of his fire can save the
bomber by shooting down an at-,.
tacking fighter. -.
n. The slightest variation in ham,.
ding and in sighting by the bom-
bardier at an altitude of from 10000
to 10000 feet means the difference
between q hit and a wide miss.
Three or four bombs out of a hum
dred on the target Of munition
works do little damage while 20
mean wholesale destruction. e
Records are not wanting Of many;
such failures in European raidsas
owing to faulty teamwork, which :
also accounted for enemy fighter.
planes taking a huge toll of the.
bomber feet on the way back to its Z
base.
Constant Practice Needed. 10
Once the pilot Of a fighter ors
the crew Of bomber are passed
a. ready for combat duty they must1
keep right on the job. Experience
shows they lose some Of their edget
If they are held on reserve with
out continuous practice Stimulating
battle action.
In realizing on all we have learned
before and since we were In thes
war, progress calls for system off,
home war games for graduate pilotss
and crews. In turn, 1t calls forf
more planes of the latest type tuned .
UP ready for combat, more air.
dromes and more facilities.
1t is taken for granted on prece-
dent that the German air force is
hard at such maneuvering to be-
ready for their spring offensive. Thee
japanese airmen, in their inde-
fatigable preparatory training fors
their attack on us, had the aid ofS
the German experience. a
A sufficient high-trained reserve
Of pilots and crew are utterly es-s,
sential not only to replace casual-
ties, but to replace those who must
have rest before they fly in COM
bat again. We have the human re-
sources for quality and quantity Of
personnel and manufacturing re-
sources for quality and quantity of
planes.
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