BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

Evening Star, Issue 23124, 25 November 1938, Page 3

BENEATH THE WINDSOCK

by Gypsy moth

A[R BOMBERS AND FIGHTERS. Expert opinion as to the relative powers of air attack and air defence has undergone noticeable modification during the past two or three years, notes the air correspondent of the London 1 Observer.’ Whereas it was formerly thought that the bomber, by the nature of its mission, must invariably dominate any air action, it is now believed that the fighter, working with a full modern warning and indication system, could seriously hamper the bomber and might overcome it. Information collected in Spain and during air exercises in Britain has been partly responsible for this change. A new weapon always enjoys great prestige ; but there is now evidence that bombing operations are apt on the average to be less effective than had been supposed.

It is possible, on reviewing the situation, to find cause for the swung of opinion toward the defensive fighter in three things : The belief that air bombing is slightly less effective than had been supposed; the maintenance by the fighter of a substantial speed margin and climb margin over the bomber; and the improvements that have been made in recognition methods. Of these the last is probably the most important. Much progress has been made since it w'as necessary to tell fighter pilots by means of Ingram signals and arrows laid out on the ground the position of hostile aircraft. If it could, be guaranteed that the fighter •would, in the majority of cases, make contact with any raiding aircraft, the prospects of effective defence would be increased. And a good deal has been done lately to that end. NEW FLIGHT RECORD. After spending; practically two days in the air, the pilots of three Royal Air Force machines have won fresh aviation triumphs for Great Britain by their successful assault on the world’s non-stop flight record. The machines took off from Isrnailia, Egypt, and landed again at Darwin, Australia. The seven-leagued boots of children’s legends cannot compare with the staggering achievement of this single “ hop ” of more than 7,000 miles. Even the third machine of the squadron, which landed at Koepang, broke the record of 6,306 miles, previously held by Soviet airmen. It cannot he emphasised too strongly that this Royal Air Force expedition was in no way a “stunt” flight. In these unsettled days mobility is a first essential in the defence of an Empire which girdles the world, and the flight by the Vickers Wellesley bombers show’s that powerful modern aircraft, based on Singapore, could, if the necessity arose, take the whole of the Southern Pacific for their battleground. A few years ago, before his resignation from political office, Earl Baldwin caused many people to think furiously with his statement that “ Britain’s frontier is on the Rhine.” With perfect justice he could have carried the apparent paradox further, for Empire frontiers are widely separated from the coasts of the Motherland. The time is far distant ■when a Navy will not be required for the protection of trade routes, but the annihilation of space by service aircraft shows how rapidly the frontiers of Empire are being brought closer to England’s shores.

For New Zealand, too, the latest achievement by the ißoyal Air Force has special significance. The Dominion's own Air Force is shortly to he equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers, a typo even more modern than the Wellesleys, although probably without their phenomenal range. This phase of New Zealand’s defence scheme has been prosecuted with gratifying vigour, and the new bombers should give the Dominion frontiers extending hundreds of miles to sea.