What are the vulnerable parts of the aeroplane? While the
deliberate intention of either combatant is to put his antagonist
hors de combat, the disablement of the machine may be achieved
without necessarily killing or even seriously wounding the
hostile airman. The prevailing type of aeroplane is highly
susceptible to derangement: it is like a ship without armour
plate protection. The objective of the antagonist is the motor
or the fuel-tank, the vital parts of the machine, as much as the
aviator seated within.
A well-planted shot, which upsets the mechanism of the engine, or
a missile which perforates the fuel tank, thereby depriving the
motor of its sustenance, will ensure victory as conclusively as
the death of the aviator himself. Rifle fire can achieve either
of these ends with little difficulty. Apart from these two
nerve-centres, bombardment is not likely to effect the desired
disablement, inasmuch as it cannot be rendered completely
effective. The wings may be riddled like a sieve, but the
equilibrium of the machine is not seriously imperilled thereby.
Even many of the stays may be shot away, but bearing in mind the
slender objective they offer, their destruction is likely to be
due more to luck than judgment.
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