History of the World War

by Jr. Francis A. March; Richard J. Beamish

The first previously announced public flight was made on July 4, 1908, by Glenn H. Curtiss at Hammondsport, N. Y., and was witnessed by a number of New Yorkers who had gone to Hammondsport to see the flight.

In the winter of 1913-14 Mr. Rodman Wanamaker gave Glenn H. Curtiss a commission to build a flying boat which would fly across the Atlantic. Commander Porte was brought from England, and he, with Mr. Curtiss, worked out the designs for a flying boat much larger than any previously built, and fitted with two motors instead of one. As entirely separate power plants would be used, one motor would naturally run somewhat faster than the other, and it was freely predicted that the machine could not be handled. The first trial, however, proved that it would not only fly, but that after it was once in the air, one motor could be slowed down and even stopped and the machine continue to fly. This machine was the forerunner of the seaplane, used by the American, British and other navies in the war, although somewhat changed in detail. The beginning of the war stopped the transatlantic experiments and this machine found its way into the British navy. It was christened the "America," and the larger flying boats or seaplanes which are now being built and used by the British and American navies are still known as the "America" or super-American type.

At first fighting operations were carried out by individual aviators or comparatively small squadrons, but the battles of March, 1918, witnessed the definite development of larger squadrons, maneuvering as effectively as bodies of cavalry, and in massed formation attacking infantry columns. The possibilities of the new aerial arm were further demonstrated in the creation of a barrage, as effective as that of heavy artillery, for the purpose of holding back advancing bodies of infantry.

In the first days of the German offensive there took place an aerial battle which up to that time was unique in the annals of warfare. It was a battle not merely for the purpose of gaining the mastery of the air, but to aid Allied infantry and artillery in stemming the tide of the German advance, and when the drive finally slowed down and came to a halt in Picardy, the Allied airmen had undoubtedly contributed largely to the result.

During March 21 and 22, 1918—the opening days of the great German drive—there was comparatively little aerial activity. The aviators of both sides were preparing for the impending battle, which actually began on the morning of March 23d and lasted all that day and the day following.

The story of the air battle of March 23d-24th reads like one of the most extraordinary adventure tales ever imagined. The struggle began with squadrons of airplanes ascending and maneuvering as perfectly as cavalry. They rose to dizzy heights, and, descending, swept the air close to the ground. The individual pilots of the opposing sides then began executing all manner of movements, climbing, diving, turning in every direction, and seeking to get into the best position to pour machine-gun fire into enemy airplanes. Every few minutes a machine belonging to an Allied or German squadron crashed to the ground, often in flames. At the end of the first day's fighting wrecked airplanes and the mangled bodies of aviators lay strewn all over the battle-field.

All next day, March 24th, the struggle in the air went on with unabated fury. The Allied air squadrons were now on the offensive and penetrated far inside the German lines. The German aviators counter-attacked whenever they could, and more than once succeeded in crossing the French lines. But at the close of the second day victory rested with the Allied airmen, and during the next five scarcely a German airplane took the air.

The sudden termination of the war caused speculation throughout the world concerning the future of the airplane. When rumor declared that America's newly-won pre-eminence in aviation would disappear, Captain Roy N. Francis, of the Division of Military Aeronautics, made this statement.

America cannot afford to junk the airplane fleet which has cost her so many millions of dollars. I do not believe that any other nation will do so. Even if the peace congress should decide on universal disarmament, there are still any number of uses to which airplanes can be put in time of peace.

Take the air mail service, for instance. This is now only in its infancy, but it is destined to become as common as the railway mail service. It will employ hundreds of airplanes and aviators all over the country.