78 



Popular Science Monthly 



J Press Illus. Serv. 



Two extremes in airplane types — the big bomb-carrier and the fast single-seated fighter. See key diagram below 



DIRECTIONAL RUDDER 



AUXILIARY REINFORC- 

 ING STRUTS TO HELP 

 SUPPORT AILERONS 



REINFORCEMENT ON 



LOWER PLAIN TO 



SUPPORT WEIGHT OF 



BOMBS 



LANDING GEAR IN DU- 

 PLICATE TO SUPPORT 

 GREAT WEIGHT 



MINIMUM OF STRUTS 



FORMING TRIANGLE 



AND DISPENSING WITH 



SOME WIRES 



of the war — monoplanes with tractor pro- 

 pellers, biplanes with both tractor and 

 pusher propellers, machines with and with- 

 out streamline bodies, fast racers, and slow, 

 cross-country flyers. One would suppose 

 that the military brains of Europe would 

 have foreseen that some effort would be 

 made to beat off a prying airscout. That 

 it was foreseen, the rather crude anti- 

 aircraft artillery evolved before the war 

 proves; but.no one could foresee how 

 combats at a height of ten and twenty 

 thousand feet would be fought, or how a 

 machine should be designed for effective 

 fighting. Maneuvers in time of peace may 

 teach much, but blank cartridges can never 

 teach as much as cold lead. 



First of all, it was discovered that for 

 bombing raids, for reconnaissance and for 

 fighting, different types of machines must 

 be employed. Your bomb-carrier cannot 

 be much faster than ninety miles an hour 

 — slow ,as speeds go nowadays. Such craft 

 must be protected by fast fighting'machines 

 during a long over-land flight to some 

 hostile railway junction which is to be 

 wiped off the map. Your scout and artil- 



lery-fire control machine must stay aloft 

 for hours; it must carry much fuel; there- 

 fore, while it may be faster than a bomb- 

 carrier, it cannot be designed for high speed.- 

 Slow machines must be protected from 

 attack on overland journeys by fast fighters. 

 And so the fighting machine was evolved 

 — a marvelously swift machine, making as 

 much as 130 miles an hour and as quick as 

 a dragon-fly in darting and twisting about. 

 Reconnaissance, artillery-control ma- 

 chines, fighters — all are armed with ma- 

 chine guns. But only the fighters, single 

 and double seated, are built specifically 

 for combat. The others fight only when 

 they must — in some situation of dire 

 necessity. 



How a Difficult Problem Was Solved 



There was no fighting in the air during 

 the Tripolitan and Balkan campaigns; but 

 in this war there was air fighting almost 

 from the beginning. At first rifles and 

 pistols were used. They proved worthless. 

 A machine-gun alone could be used effec- 

 tively, something that would squirt death 

 like water from a hose. But the use of a 



