ngly dangerous,
and very expensive. The very fame that was attained by such pilots as
became casualties conduced to the advertisement of every death, and the
dangers attendant on the use of heavier-than-air machines became greatly
exaggerated; considering the matter as one of number of miles flown,
even in the early days, flying exacted no more toll in human life than
did railways or road motors in the early stages of their development.
But to take one instance, when C. S. Rolls was killed at Bournemouth by
reason of a faulty tail-plane, the fact was shouted to the whole world
with almost as much vehemence as characterised the announcement of the
Titanic sinking in mid-Atlantic.

Even in 1911 the deadlock was apparent; meetings were falling off in
attendance, and consequently in financial benefit to the promoters;
there remained, however, the knowledge--for it was proved past
question--that the aeroplane in its then stage of development was a
necessity to every army of the world. France had shown this by the more
than interest taken by the French Government in what had developed into
an Air Section of the French army; Germany, of course, was hypnotised by
Count Zeppelin and his dirigibles, to say nothing of the Parsevals which
had been proved useful military accessories; in spite of this, it was
realised in Germany that the aeroplane also had its place in military
affairs. England came into the field with the military aeroplane trials
of August 1st to 15th, 1912, barely two months after the founding of the
Royal Flying Corps.

When the R.F.C. was founded--and in fact up to two years after its
founding--in no country were the full military potentialities of the
aeroplane realised; it was regarded as an accessory to cavalry for
scouting more than as an independent arm; the possibilities of bombing
were very vaguely considered, and the fact that it might be possible to
shoot from an aeroplane was hardly considered at all. The conditions of
the British Military Trials of 1912 gave to the War office the option
of purchasing for L1,000 any machine that might be awarded a prize.
Machines were required, among other things, to carry a useful load of
350 lbs. in addition to equipment, with fuel and oil for 4 1/2-hours;
thus loaded, they were required to fly for 3 hours, attaining an
altitude of 4,500 feet, maintaining a height of 1,500 feet for 1 hour,
and climbing 1,000 feet from the ground at a rate of 200 feet per
minute, 'a