Moreover a round 33 escadrilles of all the various
types were in reserve. The effect of the military order was to
reduce the effective strength by no fewer than 558 aeroplanes.
Seeing that the French aerial force was placed at a great
disadvantage numerically by this action, there seems to be ample
justification for the hostile criticism which the decree of
prohibition aroused in certain circles, especially when it is
remembered that there was not an equal number of the accepted
machines available to take the place of those which had been
ruled out of court. One effect of this decree was to throw some
400 expert aviators upon the waiting list for the simple reason
that machines were unavailable. Some of the best aviation skill
and knowledge which France possesses were affected by the order.
It is stated that accomplished aviators, such as Vedrines, were
unable to obtain machines.
It will be seen that the ultimate effect of the French military
decree was to reduce the number of types to about four, each of
which was allotted a specific duty. But whereas three different
bi-planes are on the approved list there is only one monoplane--
the Morane-Saulaier.
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