The aeroplane would be
faced with such a concentrated hostile fire as to menace its own
existence--its forward rush would be frustrated by the dirigible
just as a naval vessel parries the ramming tactics of an enemy by
sinking the latter before she reaches her target, while if it did
crash into the hull of the dirigible, tearing it to shreds,
firing its gas, or destroying its equilibrium, both protagonists
would perish in the fatal dive to earth. For this reason ramming
in mid-air is not likely to be essayed except when the situation
is desperate.
What happens when two aeroplanes meet in dire combat in mid-air
and one is vanquished? Does the unfortunate vessel drop to earth
like a stone, or does it descend steadily and reach the ground
uninjured? So far as actual experience has proved, either one of
the foregoing contingencies may happen. In one such duel the
German aeroplane was observed to start suddenly upon a vol-plane
to the ground. Its descending flight carried it beyond the lines
of the Allies into the territory of its friends. Both came to
the conclusion that the aviator had effected his escape.
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