Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1920 — Lesson of Air Race: “Flying Pastor Forerunner of Flying Disaster.” [ARTICLE]

Lesson of Air Race: “Flying Pastor Forerunner of Flying Disaster.”

By BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM MITCHELL,

Anny Air Service

The recent transcontinental air derby plainly demonstrates that the isolation of the United States with respect to Asia and Europe is completely broken down. The airline distance covered is 5,402 miles, in less than 50 hours of actual flying time. It is as far as from Constantinople to New York; from Bertin to Denver; from Tokyo to San Francisco, and twice the distance from Europe to America. From a military aspect there is no longer any doubt that a complete control of (he air by any nation means military control of the world. From the standpoint of distances, Asia is only divided from America by 21 miles of water across the Bering strait, while the greatest distance that has to be covered over wafer between the American continent and Europe is scarcely over 300 miles, if the route through Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the islands north of Great Britain, to Great Britain, itself, is followed. The rapidity with which the airdromes were established in this test chows that they can be established with equal rapidity for. long stretches by any other nation. A rigid dirigible airship can carry ten tons of cargo, besides its crew, fuel for a long trip, and armament for its defense—ten tons of material will keep a thousand airplanes working for one day. If an Asiatic or European country desires to attack America, a system ■f airdromes could be established, successively, a defense organized against land or sea elements, and the airplanes concentrated on them successfully, •while their supply could be insured by the great rigid dirigibles working with their own countries. — is not only possible, but almost a sure accompaniment of the next war and will be resorted to by the nation gaining control of the air. Thia manner of procedure will practically negative navies, so far as their ability tn deal the first blow is concerned. - All the great nations of the world are now applying themselves strenuously to the development of an air service. America, which has the best natural advantages in the world, is probably the last of the great nations at the present time in her actual development of air power military or commercial. _ - — - -