AIR WARFARE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10109, 26 September 1917, Page 3

AIR WARFARE.

WHAT AMERICA IS DOING

SAN FItANX'iSCO. Aug. 17

InliTi 1 --'; 'foilfitliieu tu increasj' tliroughuit the I'Jiitotl StatTs regarding tho uunenso a ire raft programme which Anieriea is lauuehing in an olVot't to ontribiito' till' deciding factor in tho .uiropean nar Oil (lie side ol the Allies, daily wild and lantastie tides have appeared;, in some of the Yanketi news■apcrs on this interesting subject, but i is an established laet that leading Members of the Signal Corns and the Aircraft Production Hoard have rcsoutely refused to go into figures witli regard to the aircraft programme. That here was no public discussion ol tho tenuis ol the bill lor (3-10,000,001) dollar* vhieh has just been passed by Congress ind signed by President Wilson, has imply tended to add to the desire ol he public lor some' information on the dlurutg subject. Members of the House iml Semite .Military Committees are livulging none of the information that ,licv may be presumed to possess concerning.the plans. It has been eon It lently stated that 2'J.UDU airplanes are to be'built, and 75,000 aviators trained. Hut there is still rwm for considerable i'tii ssing. Alan II llawle.v, president of the' Aero Club of Amnrini, luts said that Jo,ooo Aiuoriean aviatdt'A Would assure icborv to the Allien

Henry Woodhoust', a governor ol the Aero ( lull ol America, litis been quoted .is .saving: "There will lie no trouble whatever in getting the aeroplanes mid mj>ii )>iim-111 honied in train ami c<inip I jUOU volunteers to lualie uu aero Mjttatlrons lu be se."t to Europe. It would lake ninety days lo establish camps and in give the students their preliminary training, including tho theory of flight, aerial gunnery, etc. My that time our Amoriean aeroplane iacforievi will be turning out aeroplanes by the hundred. Within six montLs they will be turning nit aeroplanes by thousands. Everything depends upon the prompt action >1 the Government, reinforced by the general public. With such facilities as we can provide, there is no reason why numerous squadrons, fully trained and completely equipped, .should not leave New York within six months ready for the service training which can only be given on the field of battle." LOUD SYDENHAM'S VIEWS.

Lord Sydneham. the eminent English | authority an aviation, has just expressled his views oil the subject In Washington, and in the course ol his remarks his Lordship .said : "II the Allies were | possessed ol an absolute sufficiency ol aircraft the enemy could be "expelled from Belgium ami Franco quickly and with certainty. It would be practicable, as Howard Collin pointed out. to blind and storm their strongest positions with minimum loss.-Put a M-ientifie .sustained attack on their lines ol communication ;nid it would compel a retreat which illicit lie converted into a rout. Air I power had given indication of what it was capable of before the battle ol the Manic. Ever since its importance ha.s grown by leaps and bounds, and it is known that there are no limitations, ex-i-i pi those arising from ;i shortage ol machines and trained men to use them, or impossible weather conditions. On land it has been the determining cause iif-'victory and life-saving. If it.s use at sea had been ui'll developed earlier little would have been hoard of Zeppelins. It ha« actually formed a worthy antagonist to the submarine, ami an adequate, number of machines employed to the best advantage could largely reduce t he number ol victims of Germany piracy. Air power has. therefore, proved capableof exercising' a dominant influence in the war, but Ibis was realised too late to permit of the provision of the lulge number <)l aircraft required to produce a decisive effect. One lesson has been learned in America, and will now be applied without stint. While numbers are essential, the human factor alone <iin command success.- The Germans have oroduccd a limited number of oxpert lighters, but. their airmen as a

whole have fallen till' short ol tin \llies l in (nialitics of individual initia tivc and siltimst reckless daring wiiicl <•!);]vaotoriws tho Anglo-Saxon race. AMERICA'S KESOUKCES'.

"Our psychology is better .suited to the service ef the air than thai of the Teuton. American pilots have greatly distinguished themselves already, and the service which is now being built up will be peculiarly formidable. For the t'ii])id construction of machines, America possesses unrivalled resources and «'i";/.iinisiii'•; power. Willi wise discretion it may 1.-e possible to place a large number ol soldiers in the field within a !<'W months and rapidly to reinforce them. Until such a time as an American army corps can be thrown into tin battle-lino, no form of help to the Allied armies in France and Flanders would be comparable to that which one thousand aeroplanes would afford, and no other arm would be nearly so effective.

"Italy, with raw materials impnrteil from the United States, has developed an industry that in February, 19.15, employed one hundred men into an industry thai to-day employs -10,000 men. Surely America, can do as much. Tho Aircraft Production Hoard is arranging to call on all factories with suitable equipment to undretake the manufacture of motors for aircraft. All these will Imi of standard type, so that duplicate moulds can be made.

"Among these will be automobiles and motor plants, sewing machine, typewriter, woodworking, and machine F-hops. Work will be centred at the be".iuning on the training "planes and heavy battle planes. Later the light. high-powered and extremely speedy battle 'plane will be developed to die limit." SCOPK OF UNITED STA'IT.S. "The facilities' of many available industries capable of adaptation to motor and airplane construction will ho used in the work." said Howard Coffin, of the Aircraft Production Hoard of the United "States Council oi National Defence. "Orders will be given to all reliable existing airplane manufacturing plants capable ol turning out the quality of machines, which the Government must have, and' this will enable them to expand their factories for mere extensive production. The plan to employ in aircraft building the resources' of many industries is one which has been used in some measu' • i both England and France, but limitations of their industrial .resources, and particularly the lack ol experience in 111< standardisation of parts, have precluded its being carried out to such an enormous extent as will be possible within the United States."