Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1917 — Great Army of French War Aviators to Become Mail Carriers When Peace Comes. [ARTICLE]

Great Army of French War Aviators to Become Mail Carriers When Peace Comes.

It is said that the French government is planning to convert its corps of army aviators, thousands upon thousands of them, into mail carriers after g = WM^^_======±=_jLm.i — There are no technical difficulties' in the way, according to the Toronto “Mall and Empire.” Airplane engines have been perfected to the highest degree of reliability; their speed has been developed marvelously. Nothing short of thick fog, a violent thunderstorm or a hurricane bordering almost on a tornado now serves to prevent flying—with rarely a casualty from natural causes. _ Indeed, the greatest defect In the army aerial service, according to officlajs in that branch, Is overconfidence in what the airplane engine can do. Flights of six and eight a,nd ten hours without replenishing the gasoline supply are now of common occurrence. Mountains ean be scaled as if they were mounds under the foot of a Brobdingnaglan. Aviators leave the British side of the channel and deposit passengers or messengers on the war front with no more sense of the unusual than if they had taken a steamer from Dover to Boulogne. The possibilities of mail carrying in difficult regions have not been thoroughly Investigated, because only the demands for war efficiency have brought flying up to the point of dependability needed for general service. The French government did establish some postal routes for airmen, but nothing on aa extensive scale was adopted. Commercially, the utility of the fullest exploitation. Britain will have scores of thousands of expert aviators, and not many of these will abandon the “sport” which now is serving the British armies so splendidly.