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By 1918 aeroplanes had become specialized for four different kinds of service.  Each had its own organization and employed a different type of aircraft.  There were (a) day bombers, (b) night bombers, (c) observation planes, and (d) pursuit or chasse planes.  Bombing was in WW1 relatively unimportant., for the planes could carry only light bomb loads and navigation was less reliable than it was later.  As I have said before, compasses had not been made to work in aeroplanes.  Bombers had to find their way to and from their targets visually, by the map.  Their activity was limited to clear weather.  The French day bomber was the Brequet, a sturdy two-seater that was also used for observation work and was comparable to our Salmsons.  Day bombing was a dangerous business because of the enemy's chasse, and the bombing planes flew on formations of six or more for mutual protection.  Even so they rarely bombed targets more than 30 miles inside enemy territory.  Night bombers were the largest planes in use, with as many as four motors.  The British had their own, the Handley-Page.  The French used the Italian-made Caproni,  They had a range of around 150 miles from their base, and they carried heavier bomb loads than did the day bombers.  They were painted black to make them harder to see in the darkness, but they could be picked up in searchlight beams.  I was in Paris at least twice during raids by night bombers  It was exciting to watch the searchlights converge on them and to see the shells begin to crack around them.

Observation planes were nearly all single-engine two-seaters.  I wrote something about them in an earlier letter.  Neither side produced a better one than the French Salmson.  Its top speed, in level flight, was about 120 miles per hour.  The only American-made planes ever used in battle were brought in during the final weeks, after I had gone to a hospital.  So I know about them only from hearsay.  They were two-seaters equipped with the so-called Liberty motor.  They were said to be faster than the Salmson, making about 135 miles per hour.  But they could carry only enough gasoline for about two hours' flight, and they had an unpleasant habit of catching on fire with no provocation from without.  Aviators I talked with in the hospital referred to them 
as "flying coffins".

Transcription Notes:
. brackets eliminated for clarity, as most handwriting is going over faint type