THE COMMAND OF THE AIR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 193, 21 July 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE COMMAND OF THE AIR.

An outstanding feature of the successful Allied offensive on the Western front has been the valuable and effective work of the British and Frcn.-n aeroplanes. The cabled reports indicate that although our air fleets have not eonio through the ordeal unseat.,ed, they have certainly established their superiority over the enemy aircraft. As a military writer puts : it is nut to tho actual number of midlines lost by tho respective belligvcnts that we should look before arriving at conclusioni in this respect, out in tho nature of the results achieved. A comparison ot the losses would pro'-

r.biv show a slight balance in lavor . ! the enemy, but this is on'y what wo n.'ght expect, when it is consul -•< 1 tl.at. in order ti establish conirauu! v. tho air along tlio lino of advance :..ir aeroplanes were also on tlio offensir.\ They had to push on over the enemy's lines, and meet not only the attacks of tliv» opposing air fleets, but a'so the tire from the German anti-aircraft guns below. It is 11 distinct military advantage if, during the bombardment prior to an offensive, tlio aeroplanes of the attacking forces are able to pivve it enemy aircraft from interfering with the work of the artillery. Hostile machines over tlio lines of an army delivering an attack are able to render great assistance to their own artillerv by "spotting,' as well as by collecting valuable information a.s to the mcthoJs adopted by the attackers in bringing up fresh reserves, in order to continue tlo advance. It was, therefore, most desirable that the prying eyes of (Herman armies between Arras and Jloye should bo blindfolded both before and during tlio course of the present ogensive. This the British an.i French airmen succeeded in doing ; a a recent French communique state 1. —"Our aeroplanes havo been master* throughout. Only nine of the enemy have been seen; none lias crossed our lines,'' while General Sir Douglas Haig's report said:... 1 ' le German ancraft made several attempts to tak? the offensive, but were all driven bac'i. Subsequently the aircraft were held fa: behind the German lines.' These statements leave no douou as to who bed commaud of the air during the important first stago of the Battle of .lie Sonime. Tlio efficiency of our a emplanes and pilots should have a reassuring effect upon those who l'eared that the Fokker and other German machines were superior to the British type. That our airmen have been able to dissipate any doubts whicn have been entertained 011 this subject is a'l the more laudable when we remember tlio initial difficulties again;: which our air service had to contend. In an article published in the "Quarterly Review'" recently 011 "Aircratt m the War'' tlio wrter referred to some of these early disadvantages and tlio methods of overcoming them as Allows : —"Speed and climbing power had been obtained in all our craft, not • y using big engines—for, unlike the German.'?, wo had no big engines to usebut by aerodynamic skill in producing wings of remarkab'o efficiency, bodies of low resistance to tlio air, and propellers of lino design. Tlio results tlris achieved wero adequate to earlier conditions; but the conditions changed. It becamo necessary to attach to the aeroplane externally devices which togeth ;» constituted serious impediments to the free flow of air past a rapidly moving machine. Snch obstructions includei cameras, bombs, bombsiglits, wireless apparuus and aerial wires, ammunition boxes, machine-guns and tlij'r mountings, and occasionally extvi petrol tanks, wnile not infrequently tho internal load was added to by observers' magnetic compasses, maps, *ind other sundries. Moreover, the necessity for frequent fighting in the air involved the removal of substantial portions of tho wings in order that pilot and gunner snould not ho cut off from the earliest possible view of . n Approaching enemy aeroplane. The result was that much of the power formerly available for propulsion and speed was expended in thrusting against these large resistances and lifting these heavy weights, and thus tho need of higher powered eujines became imperative. ... It was because of this detieeit of power that we fought with 7U-h.p. and £?0-h.p. engines, while engines of over KiO-h.p. wero available to the enemy even before the war began. ... It was only tho clearly inferior aerodynamics displayed by the German equipment which saved 11s Jrorn serious discomfiture >n tho air." iho writer then proceeds to mention some of tho later machines, which are fitted with higher powered engines, but states that it is not permissib'o to give details of these at prevent. Major-funeral . k Jir David Henderson's statement, mentioned a few days ago in tho cables, to tliti effect that liritain now has aeroplanes capable of flying to certain Zeppelin sheds and returning in seasonable weather, suggests that these later types are considered equal to requir?mnts.