Moreover, the French military authorities evinced a certain
disposition to relegate the dirigible to a minor position,
convinced that it had been superseded by the heavierthan-air
machine. Taken on the whole, the French airship fleet is
inferior to the German in point of speed, if not numerically, but
this deficiency is more than counterbalanced by the skill and
ability of the men manning their craft, who certainly are
superior to their contemporaries in Germany, combined with the
proved character of such craft as are in service.
The same criticism may be said to apply to Great Britain. That
country was backward in matters pertaining to the airship,
because its experiments were carried out spasmodically while
dependence was reposed somewhat too much upon foreign effort.
The British airships are small and of low speed comparatively
speaking. Here again it was the advance of the aeroplane which
was responsible for the manifestation of a somewhat indifferent
if not lethargic feeling towards the airship. Undoubtedly the
experiments carried out in Great Britain were somewhat
disappointing. The one and only attempt to out-Zeppelin the
Zeppelin resulted in disaster to the craft before she took to the
air, while the smaller craft carried out upon far less ambitious
lines were not inspiritingly successful.
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