The point he makes, in this connection, is highly important. Not only will the aeroplane scout bring back news which it would be impossible to obtain by the use of cavalry, but he will place this news in the hands of a Commander-in-Chief while it is fresh, and of the fullest importance, and not many hours old—as the intelligence brought in by other methods of reconnaissance generally is.
Another extremely useful function of the aeroplane, during a campaign, must not be forgotten. This is its use as a dispatch-carrier. In this regard, a light, swift machine will be found of utility. No ordinary obstacle will hamper it. The fact that the country is mountainous, or that there are awkward rivers to negotiate, present serious problems for the dispatch-rider, who sets out to carry a communication from point to point on horseback. In many cases, indeed, it becomes impossible to send a dispatch across country.
But the aeroplane dispatch-carrier will think nothing of such difficulties as these. Over precipitous country, and across mountains, he will fly without hindrance; and he will be faced with no problems concerning the fording of rivers. As straight as an arrow, from point to point, he will carry his message, and at a pace in excess of that of the express train.
The fact that skirmishing parties of the enemy are dotted about, between his starting-point and his objective, will not perplex him either, although it would prove a serious embarrassment to the dispatch-rider who used the land when in transit.
Instances of the practical value of dispatch-carrying, in time of war, are readily forthcoming. A distinguished cavalry-officer, Colonel Grantham, supplies one, for instance. In the Chinese war, he recalls the plight of two columns which were advancing, about twenty miles apart, to deliver a combined attack. The country dividing them was mountainous; parties of the enemy were also moving about on it. The result was that, for several days, no message could be got through. This lack of communication made the scheme of a joint advance very difficult to carry out. Had an aeroplane dispatch-carrier been available, in such circumstances as these, he would have linked up the two columns in a twenty-minute flight, irrespective of all that lay below him.
It is, of course, frequently necessary, during the progress of a battle, for Generals commanding various sections of an army to report to the Commander-in-Chief. Here the dispatch-carrying aeroplane, on account of its speed, will be of the greatest value.
[Illustration: WEIGHT-CARRYING WAR BIPLANE. By Fitting "extensions" to the upper main-plane of the machine, as seen above, it is possible to achieve sustained flight with two, or even three occupants—or, should necessity arise, with a pilot and an appreciable load of explosives! The actual machine photographed is a Bristol, flying over the Brooklands aerodrome.]
What can be done, in the way of long-distance dispatch-carrying, has been demonstrated most effectually by Captain Bellenger, a well-known French military airman. This officer, while stationed at the Vincennes air-depot, received instructions to carry a dispatch, as quickly as possible, to the military flying school at Pau. This represented a distance of 450 miles. Starting early one morning, Captain Bellenger reached Pau in seven hours sixteen minutes of actual flying. While en route he made three halts to replenish his petrol tank.
Recent tests in France show that quickly-assembled, single-seated monoplanes will be extremely useful, in actual military operations, in co-operating with artillery, by giving aerial directions as to gun-fire.
Upon occasions when the effect of long-distance fire is unknown to the gunner, an aerial observer, ascending to an altitude of several thousand feet, will be able to detect what mischief the shells are doing, and suggest—either by wireless telegraphy or by messages dropped from his machine—corrections in the gunner’s aim.