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TRICKS OF THE AIR
TRADE
By FRANK M A S O N
A VIATORS abroad had to learn
/\ in the severe school of experi-
/ \ ence the best way to attack an
/ % adversary, and likewise the
best way to ward off an attack.
Now, after nearly two years, they
are as skilled in the strategy and tactics
of warfare as are
their brothers who
fight with their feet
on the solid
ground.
The point does
not seem to have
been dwelt upon
emphatically
enough in this
country, however,
that should we be
able to assemble a
thousand aviators
in their machines
tomorrow, they
would be in experience
as raw recruits
compared to
their confreres in
the armies of
Europe. This is a
decidedly interesting
reason why a
squadron of aviators
should be assembled
and given
practice in sham
battles, in observation of the topography
of the country, and in bomb dropping.
A European expert has analyzed the
principles of aerial conflict and shows
that there are six positions that frequentlv
occur. Number one, when two
hostile planes meet and pass; number
two, when two hostile planes find themselves
flying parallel to one another;
number three, when a fast machine flees
Besides Learning the Operations Incident to the Manipulation
of His Own Craft, the War Aviator Must
Learn How to Anticipate and Forestall the Wiles of
an Enemy
before a superior but slower enemy:
number four, when passing up over the
enemy's machine; number five, when a
machine drops down so that the hostile
aviator's own machine cuts off a view of
the craft below; and number six, when
three or more airships circle about a
single plane attack.
In position number
one, the craft
that has the enemy
to the left is at an
advantage, because
its aviator can the
more easily fire
upon the enemy.
Similarly, with the
planes flying par­
allel, the man passing
the other on
the right is in a
formidable p o s ition.
Where a
slower machine is
being pursued, its
aviator can sometimes
gain an advantage
by dropping
down as in
position number
five.
Of course, there
are a hundred
tricks that have
been discovered,
such as flying directly toward the sun,
thus blinding the eyes of the pursuer;
slowing down suddenly and dropping
while the pursuer whizzes past at high
speed.
A left-handed rifleman has an advantage
if his pursuer should pass on his
right, as he can fire quickly, with the
advantage of his celerity being entirely
unexpected.
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