AIRSHIPS AND AEROPLANES IN WAR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2230, 17 August 1914, Page 4

AIRSHIPS AND AEROPLANES IN WAR.

■' 6. ' . Germany, has paid a heavy price in human lives and money for her'experience of Zeppelins and other aircraft of "the 'lighter-tharf-air' " type, and the experience of the war, -so 'far as it; has "gone, seems to suggest that these sacrifices'have been made in' vain; In "to-day's cablegrams from Eur.ope'the'ro is an account'of the destruction of toother'.German Z&ppeliri near Franw;.' A French.; aviator "(H. Peeein), in an aeroplane,' is stated to have easily outma'nO'euyred tte'bigger''craft ) '' and dropped bomb's upon-it from above. This is only; one lh a.. chain of incidents wKicli have demonstrated the , superiority of the aeroplane, ■ and consequently * : have; gone to justify the; "policy'of France-V Britain;' arid other air-Powers, which' Save' concentrated'.tMr 'attention chiefly on the. heavier-than-air maohine. I'hepreti-. cally,'.the dirigible has great possibilities;"" and'even those, countries which'" place their main' reliance on aeroplanes 1 (so far as oeria-l warfare is concerned).' have' 1 recently; been eagerly, testing, 'the possibilities of tho German' type 'of air-craft'"and others'of similar design. -These researches were in no way discouraged by thV disasters' which"overtook two great''German'''naVal airships last yea*: The convincing test'ot prac; tical expcrieiice, 'however,' seems'to have settled the question in a fashion that leaves no roomT for do\ibt." 'Evett the" best-informed "experts have still a great deal to learn about the pbssibilitiea""of, the" different types of ait-craft, but, on the face of it, the ' aeroplane has great advantages over the bulkier dirigible!-" The airship 1 is'necessarily, to some extent at the mercy, of the windsj its range of elevation is more limited than that of ■ the aeroplane, and it is a big target. The aeroplane can' travel better ' against the wind; it is much swifter than its' somewhat clumsy 'competitor, and it has'been clearly demon- ! strated that it is a handier craft, : which' can' without;-' difficulty'outi manoeuvre the' diii- - gible.' Although '"Germany has spccialised'so'largely in air'ships, she i has not altogether rieglected'heaviei'i than-air, craft, and,- indeed, she is . now credited with having"some five s hundred good aeroplanes, while s France, ; in which country the aero--1 plane and, the art of" flying have 1 alike reached' tfeir, highest' 'developf ment, owns about one thousand aero- '. planes. Of these, however, only onehalf are considered fit for war seri Vice. \ The' German air-fiilot is said e to" be slow and heavy-handed,' and r he has evolved a type of aeroplane to j suit his national .characteristics, the t class of machine which has been .mene tiori'ed "recently'in the cablegrams; as t carrying' several meni" Here, again'; 1 Germany seems to have been, unfore tunate, for in the test"of war these o Heavy aeroplanes have, on occasion, h come" off second best./ There was: o for, instance,'the recent incident ' in j which a "ligM French aeroplane got e clear away from two of the bigger t German craft, and it suggests! that , ■ if machines" Of the lighter type had 's been present in " sufficient niimbere E they could have outmanoeuvred and f. destroyed their bulkier -opponents, e While the value of aircraft for purposes of scouting and similar activiE ties has been amply demonstrated, D war'experience has shown also thai i s tho agencies' provided for their ded struct-ion have also been brought tc a high pitch of efficiency. On the ie other hand it has'not yet been showr d that aircraft of any variety are capn able of rivalling' the ironclad as'ar is instrument of destruction. "In offi d cial publications' aircraft are arnbi p . tiously classified as "battle-airships,' ! "mine-laying airships," and so forth but their reputation is. as'.yet'onlj a paper one, so far as the activities io indicated in these titles are conj cerhed. We have not yet arrived at d a realisation of the pictures paintec d by imaginative writers of desfcroyinf jf airships poised triumphantly ovei ic doomed fleets and citics, nor does il [• s appear that we are within measur ri able distance of - anything 'of th< i- kind. The advantage of position bs which the'dirigible can so easily jjair ie as compared with- a_ vessel restrictec ro to marine locomation, is counter ig balanced by extreme fragility and ; :n bulk which makes her.-a splendic fc. target for gun-practice. Aeroplane: 3s ana sca-planes seem to have greate: •h possibilities as instruiifients of de a- structionj' but they> have not yet de ; h veloped into' ■ high-powered fight'iiii je machines, and possibly never may •il Searchlights and that' shoo skyward with rapidity and pi'eei r-1 sion impose very strict limitation

meantime upon the possibilities of assault; fromtho upper air, but'until the possibilities or "the acroplario havo been tested upon warships in a licet action'it will 'be impossible to avoid altogether some uneasy misgivings as to what they may bo able to accomplish. '"' '' •