Destroyers of the Air 



By Eustace L. Adams 



An all steel battle aeroplane, manufactured near Boston. These machines may revolutionize 



the aeronautical industry, since, with proper machinery, they may be stamped out in almost 



unlimited number. They will doubtless be models for pleasure craft 



THE navy with the greatest ntmi- 

 ber of super-dreadnoughts wins 

 in a modern naval engagement. 

 Since the launching of the Dreadnought, 

 Avhich gave the type its name, the na- 

 tions of the world have been feverishly 

 engaged, attempting to outdo one an- 

 other in the building of great sea fighters. 



The race for supremacy in dread- 

 noughts and super-dreadnoughts of the 

 air is as keen at this moment as the race 

 for supremacy on the water. Armies are 

 finding that if they have no giant aero- 

 planes to drive away the armored battle- 

 planes of the enemy they are fighting un- 

 der an almost impossible handicap. 



France, England, Russia and Germany 

 have all developed their aerial dread- 

 noughts during the last year of fighting, 

 and the development of the aeronautical 

 industry has progressed the equivalent 

 of many years during the last twelve 

 months, measured by past progress. 

 Those Avho have seen aviators "loop the 

 loDp" and break records at aviation meets 

 and country fairs, can form but a slight 

 conception of the huge machines now 

 hovering over the l)attlcfields of Europe, 

 ("liant aeroplanes, hea\ily armored, and 

 carrying a crew of several men, ward ofif 

 attacks with two or three gims, shooting 

 high explosive shells in an aerial contest. 

 They are capable of remaining in the air 

 for several hours. Were they devoted 



to peaceful pursuits, they could carry 

 mail and passengers almost with the cer- 

 tainty and regularity of an express train. 



Although Americans have never seen 

 these machines, this country is playing 

 no small part in developing the battle- 

 plane of today and the aerial express of 

 tomorrow. Two builders of aircraft in 

 the United States are reported to be con- 

 structing aeroplanes which will be among 

 the largest that the world has ever seen. 

 The average exhibition aeroplane with 

 which most of us are familiar measures 

 about thirty feet from tip to tip. A com- 

 pany with factories in Washington is 

 said to be manufacturing some aero- 

 planes which have a wing span of one 

 hundred and eighty feet. Heavily ar- 

 mored with steel, and carrying a two- 

 inch gun in each of its two fusilages, 

 each great machine will be driven through 

 the air by two motors developing sixteen 

 hundred horsepower together. 



Immediately before the outbreak of 

 the war, the eyes of the world were upon 

 a flying boat named the America, built 

 for the first trans-Atlantic flight, but 

 destined to cross the ocean in the hold of 

 a steamship, to play an important part 

 in British oi^erations against enemy sub- 

 marines. The America was one of the 

 pioneers of the present battle-planes. 

 Equipped with two motors, and with a 

 comfortable cabin for the operators, this 



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