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four classes or aviation -- pursuit, bombardment, attack, and observation -- could better be compared to the various kinds an calibers of Artillery for carrying out different missions.
 
"An Army or Fleet is dependent upon an adequate Air Service for successful operations. The reverse, however, does not hold true. The Air Service is the only existing force today capable of conducting successful attacks alone and unassisted."

After careful analysis, it is seen that none of these statements in the above quotation are correct. The ideas conveyed by the above quotation are at the bottom of most of the propaganda for a separate Air Service. An Air Service cannot operate without ground installations. At least 80% of Air Service personnel are ground men. If for no other reason ground forces are absolutely necessary to protect Air Service ground installations. It is believed most essential that if these statements are to be published, they should appear definitely as the only opinion of the individual officer and not as accepted fact.

Page.18: "With this method of construction, no known engineering obstacle would seem to prevent the building of airships of 10,000,000 cubic feet capacity capable of carrying a disposable load of 200 tons and flying around the world at the equator."

This statement which suggests that an airship could be built capable of carrying two hundred tons without refueling for twenty-four thousand miles is one of the extravagant statements which detracts from the value of the article.

Page 19: "The present successful type of two and one-half million cubic feet capacity requires a crew of 20 men, can lift a disposable load of 45 tons, has a speed of 75 miles per hour and a cruising radius of over 5,000 miles at 65 miles per hour."

The term "disposable load" should be explained to show that it includes the weight of the crew, gasoline and other necessary supplies for operating the airship, and is not the cargo capacity.

Page 20: "The Air Force x x x is fully capable of independent operations in its own sphere of action as the Army on land or the Navy on the sea. x x x and can maintain itself by means of air transport without regard to existing ground transportation facilities."

The author again forgets that an Air Force, while operating in the air, must be based on the land or on the sea, and that such bases considerably limit the independent operations of which the Air Force is capable. The last part of the above quotation is certainly far from correct. See comments above in re "page 11".

Transcription Notes:
page 16: actually page 18