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British Wings over France.
The three mass flights of British Royal Air Force bombers over
France in the latter half of July, carried out partly as a tribute
to the memory of that great French airman, II. Bleriot, on the
thirtieth anniversary
of his first flight across the
Channel from France to 3ritain, and partly as an exercise in modern
aerial warfare, gaye ample proof of the superlative quality of
British warplanes and of the magnificent training of their crews.
For the first time in flying history the excrcise was carried
out through the co-operation of two friendly powers, British
bombers demonstrating their striking power by "raiding" France,
while French military aerodromes en route showed the readiness of
their defences by sending up pursuit planes to intercept the "enemy".
On the first flight 100 British machines took part; on the second
95 were engaged, while on the last 243 British bombers of five
different types were involved. The officers and crevs on the last
flight numbered nearly 1,200.
Air-
The formations flew over France in various directions, covering
from 800 to 1,600 miles on routes laid down in their sealed orders
and travelling at varying speeds up to 300 miles per hour.
craft naturally fly more slowly in formation than singly, and the
performance on these flights speaks very highly for the machines,
both in regard to range, speed, load capacity and armament.
Massed flights of bombers under active service conditions con-
stitute a searching test, and it is highly satisfactory that every aeroplane engaged returned home on schedule time without a single
hitch or mishap. The exercise once more demonstrated that British
bombers, with full military load, starting out from London, can
reach any spot in Europe, with the exception of parts of Russia,
and return to London again in a non-stop flight.