AIR SUPERIORITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20133, 30 December 1939, Page 14

AIR SUPERIORITY

AMERICAN REVIEW MARGIN VERY SMALL FINE FRENCH RECORD Messages to American papers state that censored news despatches and private reports from the Western Front tend to show that any margin of air superiority by one side or the other in the European war so far is small. If an advantage does exist—and in war-time, advantages often prove to be temporary—apparently it rests with the French Air Force. Before the start of the war England laid claim to the fastest ‘'service” pursuits. Germany announced new speed records with racing planes and repeatedly inferred it had built up a numerical warplane superiority.' Success of French Pilots Equipped with American-made pursuits, French pilots since September 3 have established a spectacular record against Germans flying the highly publicised Messerschmidt fighters. The planes the French are using are outclassed by one production type and two experimental types of pursuits ordered by the United States Army Air Corps. The American Curtiss planes shipped to France have a maximum speed of 323 miles an hour. Reliable reports indicate the Messerschmidts are not much more than 20 miles an hour faster. The speed margin in actual combat has been erased by the whiplike manoeuverability of the American planes. Contributing to the French air victories are at least two other factors—the ease of control built into the planes and the superior experience of the French pilots. Most of: the French air officers above the rank of captain flew in the World War, and built up a wealth of experience in the meantime for the war of 1939. In many instances German pilots downed in combat, especially in the touch-and-go “raids” on the British Isles, have been youngsters barely turned 20. Speed But Not Mobility Whether Germany actually has equipped its fighting squadrons with pursuits too fast and too lacking in manoeuverability for fighting is a question which has cropped up in American aviation circles since the war started. Descriptions of air battles indicate that cthe Messerschmidts overshoot their mark and fall prey to attack by planes which, though not quite so fast, can loop and roll into good firing positions more quickly.

Like racing planes commonly seen at American air meets, the German fighters so far introduced in the war have clipped wings for added speed.