Dimitri’s Reviews > Aircraft in Warfare: The Dawn of the Fourth Arm > Status Update
Dimitri
is on page 104 of 243
So far as the scouting plane is concerned, the obvious.. is the provision of a floating aeroplane base.. the future appears to lie between a mothership adapted to take on board the necessary compliment.. and a more thorough going sheme in which the floating bases take the form of a specialised vessel with a clear deck of sufficient area to permit machines being launched or alighting without entering the water at all.
— Mar 12, 2025 02:17PM
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Dimitri’s Previous Updates
Dimitri
is on page 96 of 243
THE BOMBER WAR, WW2.
"We may take it that in the future any such points will be duly protected by the fighting aeroplanes of the enemy. Consequently the bomb-dropping machine will need to be also a fighting machine itself, with a capacity to hold its own with the enemy. Or it will need to act in conjunction with a supporting fleet of fighting machines to overpower, or at least hold, the enemy during the operation."
— Mar 12, 2025 02:09PM
"We may take it that in the future any such points will be duly protected by the fighting aeroplanes of the enemy. Consequently the bomb-dropping machine will need to be also a fighting machine itself, with a capacity to hold its own with the enemy. Or it will need to act in conjunction with a supporting fleet of fighting machines to overpower, or at least hold, the enemy during the operation."
Dimitri
is on page 85 of 243
"Protection by armour and shield contrasted" -the paragraph title refers to a gun shield. It does compare as poorly as a 1 lb canon to a Lewis machine gun in terms of rate of fire, weight, amount of ammo... but the author does not discard the possibility of developing a canon suitable for aeroplane use. He judges it more likely than two machine guns, meaning two operators. Oktober 1914. Fokker is coming.
— Mar 12, 2025 02:00PM
Dimitri
is on page 70 of 243
"Any explosive projectile of less than 1 lb weight is banned by the Declaration of St. Petersburg of 1868* ..*the signatories to this Declaration include representatives of the following... the German Confderation & semi independent States were also signatories but in view of the doctrines of modern Germany as touching the value of international treaties, her signature cannot be taken as meaning anything."
— Mar 12, 2025 01:46PM
Dimitri
is on page 69 of 243
[On aeroplane vs aeroplane] The tactical scout's duties are of such a character that if it be driven away by hostile aircraft, it has for the time being ceased to fulfil its mission and so either it must always operate with a protective force of fighting machines within call, or it must itself be armed, and be rendered capable of putting on a fight.
— Mar 12, 2025 01:40PM
Dimitri
is on page 60 of 243
[On the principle of CONCENTRATION, Lanchester continues the naval analogy by comparing the Grand Fleet to the Channel Fleet plus Mediterranean Fleet] "If it had been really necessary for any political or geographical reason, to maintain two separate battle fleets at such distance asunder as to preclude their immediate concentration of attack, the cost to the country would have been enormously increased"
— Mar 12, 2025 01:34PM
Dimitri
is on page 51 of 243
[The N square law: the square of a force's numerical strength multiplied by the fighting value of its individual units. Weapons such as rifle vs. MG are a variation, as is concealment] "such variations are far less common in naval than military warfare. The individual unit, the ship, is always the gunners mark. When we come to deal with aircraft... we find the conditions in this respect closely resemble the Navy's."
— Mar 12, 2025 12:44PM
Dimitri
is on page 27 of 243
"An aeroplane operating at high altitude will probably need to be hunted and driven off by armed machines of its own kind [given the muzzle velocity, upward range & air resistance of rifle, machine gun and 1-pounder quickfire canon] "it would be necessary to fire into quite a different part of the heavens from that in which the aeroplane is seen, akin to sighting into the Great Bear to hit the Pole Star"
— Mar 12, 2025 11:57AM
Dimitri
is on page 22 of 243
The exact mode(s) of signalling adopted do not so far appear to have been definitely disclosed. Some reports give the aeroplane as turning sharply when over the enemy's position; others a smoke bomb is let fall to indicate the position.. others again mention lights; it appears that lamps of sufficient power to be visible in daylight are actually being employed by the German aircraft.
— Mar 12, 2025 11:48AM
Dimitri
is on page 8 of 243
It is more than probable that it its connection with the varied duties which in the future must fall to the Fourth Arm in its tactical usage, that differentation of type and specialisation of type will eventually become most marked. At present practically no attempt in the direction of specialisation has taken place [ between a strategic scout , an auxiliary to tactical operations or against the hostile air service]
— Mar 12, 2025 11:38AM
Dimitri
is on page 2 of 243
The foregoing does not constitute a demonstration that the air service is in the future destined to become as important an auxiliary to an army in the field as the cavalry of today, although this is in effect the belief of the present author.
— Mar 12, 2025 11:15AM
