The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1918. AIR FIGHTING: OUR GROWING SUPERIORITY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 247, 6 July 1918, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1918. AIR FIGHTING: OUR GROWING SUPERIORITY

When the Americans entered int • the war many people felt that th superiority which the Allies ha< • established in air fighting would b almost immediately increased ti such aa extent that the enemy's air craft would be driven from the ai as his ships have been swept fron the seas. But over a vcar has passc( since then, and the fighting powei ot the United States has not yet he gun to make itself felt in the aii campaign. The Americans arc i people.of great energy and abun dant resourcefulness, but experience has shown them that the construe tion of aircraft on a large scale is a task that cannot bo entered upor without much preliminary prcpara won and investigation. Under tin lucxorablc pressure of necessity the oclhgorcntynations' had far outdistanced ■ tanced America in aircraft production. _ They had learned by actual experience exactly what was wanted, and h host of experts were constantly inventing improvements. In the manufacture of war machines America had practically to make an en- , tircly new start. Many ' mistake? were made, and the Government has been accused by its critics of incompetence and inexcusable delay. The difficulties which have had to be overcome were graphically described by Mn. Baker, the Secretary of war, in February last, when,the announcement was made that the first American-built battleplanes wee rn route to France. These planes arc equipped with the celebrated Liberty motors, and one of them in a teat surpassed all records for speed and climbing for machines of its type. Mr. Baker admits that theio has been delay caused bv lack of knowledge and other preliminary obstacles; but in spite of these handicaps much has been achieved. Ho reminds his critics that American Planes arc not due in France under the original schedule until the present month. The first thing to Jm done was to build up the industrv and to rush out training planes for American aviators, and these enthusiastic flying men were "America s largest immediate source of aid to her associate nations in the war " ft is satisfactory to 'have Mb Baker s assurance that the "peak of production;-has now been reached With America, making the most up-to-date machines at licr top speed the existing air power superiority of the Allifes must soon he changed into overwhelming supremacy • Mk- Baker gives us an illuminating glimpse of the character and cKhat after three years of warfare the total number of planes able Milt, • 1C ?\ r i ftl ,? n - v ono l ""« "» either side of the Western front has not been over 2500." Forty-six men arc required on the ground for evorv machine ,n the air. There must also ue, two replacement planes on the ground lor every nlane in the air i and one training plane for evcrv pilot who eventually reaches the Iront, with a spare engine for each plane. These facts give some idea of the magnitude of this department <>i war. To show how rapid has been the development of aviation since the commencement of hostilities, MR. Baker points out that not a single type of the original schedule f- i S ", r i V,vc * d ln . to lhe Programme which the American Government is now carrying out.. It would „i course, be deplorable if the effort which America is making to brim* a great air fleet into being should cause Britain to think,that she could safely go a little slower as far as the construction of aeroplanes is concerned fortunately the Minister of Munitions (Mn. Ciiuncuiu) is h! lT n to porn,ili «W J-cduo. tion of the pressure. In a recent ' speech he gavo some striking facia regarding the work of this kaiich w Ins Department. We arc now making in n single week tl'o sud) more aeroplanes than „- c made in tliowholoof WUi'inn single month more, than , V 0 made in 1815; in tl b j,Ho f|iiiii-fci- more Ihnn we made in i«)iO. Ami wo are going to moke I his .year several times what we m:idc lust year, '['ho fluidity and power of (he cii R incs have also made enormous advances, nml tho munhers of types in use have.: been re'liice.l to 1. think, something like « third ot wnul tliey were ;i yenr You can see the results in the increasing ascendani'.v, gradually moving forward to Urinal supremacy, in (lie air, which our I'lying bervico is establishing in France.-

- • • \ou may look forward with ™«- ■Mil assured hope to the .siipicn,a,-y c> n«r_ ai<j service nmonjf ;mr Allies, an is increasing and unmistakable supcrioi il-y over mir enemies within the ,om pass of litis year's cliurl, ami Here ar Hardly any limit, lo the results tha may ultimately be derived from it. It will be noticed that Mji. Chvr ohill docs not make any referenci to Ub increasingly important par ' Mich America is bound to play ii the air campaign. If the superidrib of the Allies in the air i:; even nov utovnig steadily on to absolute su premacy, how overwhelming mus: that supremacy become when-the ful construction capacity of the Unitei rotates' is made available. Everything points to a wonderful extension of air fighting in the ncai future. The recent creation of ar • independent air force, primarily foi . carrying the ■ war right into 'Gor ; many, is a most significant departure. General Maurice seems tr tear that this new form of attack may weaken aerial -forces co-operat-ing, with.our armies,-but the fact' stated above justify the belief thai the Allies will be able, without endangering their supremacy in the air over the battlefront,'to work up to an offensive of overwhelming . Meet against the manufacturing towns in tht. Rhine' Valley—the in° dustnal heart of Germany—from which the German armies draw dav by day an enormous volume of indispensable" supplies, and also against bridges, junctions, and other centres constituting vital links between the armies and their bases of supply. .General Maurice declares that our air supremacy was greatest ••hi-1916, during the Battle of the homme, and that we have never since re-established such a mastery. This opinion seems to conflict with facts recently stated in the House of Commons by Major Baied. Our losses in the air-killed, wounded, missing, ami prisoners-during March of this year, .were, he said, almost the. same as the losses we suffered in the air fronv all causes in April of last year,- In March this year wc were engaged in a tremendous battle, and whereas our losses from fill causes were practically the same in both months, the mimbcr-of German machines distinctly ascertained to be destroyed-that were seen to crash—were three and a half times as many this year as last. General Maurice appears to be so anxious not to overstate the facts winch tell in our favour that he actually understates them. 'This tendency, to keep his estimate of our mar™ of air superiority down to bedrock gives all the greater weight to General Maurice's opinion that . it is as certain as anything can be ui war that the Allied superiority will develop steadily. Our own output of aircraft has not reached its maximum, and America has hardly begun to make herself felt." Some people have been too much inclined ■o expect America to do impossibilities', and unreasonable anticipations have been created; but she is organising her aircraft.effort on a vast scale, and will "bo able' before! ung to render enormous assistance to the Allies: Her Director of Aircraft Production (Mil. J, D. Hyan) is said, to be pre-eminent as an industrial organiser, and he has been given very large powers and responsibilities. .Now that the preliminary problems have been solved and the macninory has been set going at full speed there is every reason for confidence that the American programme will proceed according' to time-table. The manufacturing capabilities of the. United States- a c -so great that the most cautious of jis can have no difficulty i„ acceptor Maurice's statement • ..has when the full output takes ity thai it will be one 0 f the first great steps towards final and complete victory.'-