ay about two years the weapons designed to
combat aircraft were so improved that they could send their shots
effectively 10,000 feet into the air. If the aircraft had been
forced to operate at that height their usefulness would have been
largely destroyed, for it is obvious that for observation purposes
the atmospheric haze at such a height would obscure the view and
make accurate mapping of the enemy's position impossible. For
offensive purposes too the airplanes at so great an elevation would
be heavily handicapped, if not indeed rendered impotent. As we shall
see later, dropping a bomb from a swiftly moving airplane upon a
target is no easy task. It never falls direct but partakes of the
motion of the plane. It is estimated that for every thousand feet of
elevation a bomb will advance four hundred feet in the direction
that the aircraft is moving, provided its speed is not in excess of
sixty miles an hour. As a result marksmanship at a height of more
than five thousand feet is practically impossible.

In the main this situation is met, as all situations in war in which
efficiency can only be attained at the expense of great personal
danger are met, namely, by braving the danger. When the aviators
have an attack in contemplation they fly low and snap their fingers
at the puff balls of death as the shrapnel from their appearance
when bursting may well be called. Naturally, efforts were made early
in the war to lessen the danger by armouring the body of the machine
sufficiently to protect the aviator and his engine--for if the
aviator escaped a shot which found the engine, his plight would be
almost as bad as if the missile had struck him.

The main difficulty with armouring the machines grew out of the
added weight. The more efficient the armour, the less fuel could be
carried and the less ammunition. If too heavily loaded the speed of
the machine would be reduced and its ability to climb rapidly upon
which the safety of the aviator usually depends, either in
reconnaissance or fighting, would be seriously impeded. The first
essays in protective armour took the form of the installation of a
thin sheet of steel along the bottom of the body of the craft. This
turned aside missiles from below provided the plane were not so near
the ground as to receive them at the moment of their highest
velocity. But it was only an unsatisfactory makeshift. At the higher
altitudes it was unnecessary and in conflict with other airplanes