Airplanes, like men, are not all alike, even when they are in the same line of work and performing the self-same duties. In war time, every gunner has his own little peculiarities, every sharpshooter has his personal ideas about catching the enemy napping, and every infantryman who goes over the top, in spite of his rigorous training in the art of war, meets and downs his opponent in a manner all his own. So it is with the machines that in the last few years have won fame for their valiant service over the dread region of battle. Roughly they can be lined up as fighting machines, reconnaissance airplanes and bombers. Yet if we look a little closer, individual types of planes will stand out of the general group, and it becomes fascinating to study them in their design, their achievements and their particular capabilities.

As it would be impossible to mention in one short chapter all the brave pilots who distinguished themselves for their heroism in the war in the air, so it would be a hopeless task to attempt to do justice to all the airplanes which rendered good service over the front lines. The best we can hope to do is to make the acquaintance of the most famous of them all.

There is one little machine, which, when the final retreat was sounded and accomplishments were reckoned, had covered itself with glory. Like the many famous pilots who have driven it, it has learned much by experience, and it has changed considerably in outward appearance since the summer of 1914. Wherever the achievements of the “speed scout” are mentioned the Nieuport is bound to come in for its share of the praise. This little fighting machine was greatly relied on by the French, who used it in large numbers over the front lines. Although lately another swift scout plane has come into the field to eclipse its reputation, it probably took part in more aerial battles than any other airplane of the Great War.

It was the Nieuport monoplane whose speed and agility at maneuvers made it a favorite in the early days of the hostilities. For a while it was a match for the German scout machines, but the rapid strides which aviation took under the pressure of war necessity left it behind, and the more rapid and efficient Nieuport Biplane Scout made its appearance. In several important features it was entirely different from any of the biplanes. It could not quite forget its monoplane construction, and it had made a compromise with the biplane by adding a very narrow lower wing. It was humorously nicknamed the “one and one-half plane,” but it proved itself just the thing the fighting airmen were looking for. Its narrow lower plane, while giving more stability and a “girder formation” to its wing bracing, did not interfere with the pilot's range of vision, a highly important consideration. In order to allow as full a view as possible in all directions, it had only two V-shaped struts between the planes, while the upper wing, just above the pilot's seat, had been cut away in a semi-circle at the rear so that he might be able to see above. The lower wing was in two sections, one at each side of the fuselage.

This little biplane had a top wing span of only 23 feet, 6 inches, while the distance across the lower plane from tip to tip was a trifle shorter, measuring just 23 feet. The upper plane measured from the front to the rear edge a trifle less than 4 feet,—or to use technical language, it had a “chord” of 3 feet, 11 inches; while the chord of the lower wing was only a little over 2 feet. The entire length of the biplane from the tip of its nose to its tail was 18 feet, 6 inches. The fuselage was built with sides and bottom flat but the top rounded off. There was plenty of room for the pilot to move freely in his seat. Armed with a machine gun which fired over the propeller, he was well able to defend himself when enemy craft appeared.

The Nieuport biplane wrote its achievements in large letters during the Great War. It was the machine which Guynemer and his famous band of “Storks” flew in their daring battles against the German fast scout, the Fokker. It carried many an American chap to fame in the Lafayette Escadrille. England, Italy and America all used it over the lines, and its high speed and quickness at maneuver made it a general favorite. To-day it is made in either the single-seater scout type, or in a larger, two-seated model. The gunner's seat in the latter is in front of the pilot, and a circular opening has been cut in the upper plane above him, so that in an aerial battle he may stand up, his head and shoulders above the top wing, and operate the machine gun, which fires across the propeller.

In spite of all its excellent qualities and its record of victories won, the Nieuport has lost its championship among the “Speed scouts.” Another tiny biplane of still greater speed, has wrested the honors from it. The first place among fighters is now perhaps held by the Spad. Carrying one or two passengers and equipped with an engine of 150 to 250 horsepower, with its Lewis and Vickers machine guns spitting away at the enemy, it is a formidable object in the arena of war.

Not to be left behind, America has developed a small, fast fighting machine which bids fair to make the other two look to their laurels. It is a tiny Curtiss triplane, the span of whose wings is only 25 feet. Its extra lifting surface gives it remarkable climbing powers without increasing its size as a target. It is always an advantage to a fighting machine to have as small a wing area as possible, for, besides being able to maneuver more quickly, it furnishes a smaller target to the enemy's gunners. The triplane can mount rapidly into the upper air, so as to command a strategic position above the airplanes of the foe, while to those attempting to fire upon it from above or below, its three wings do not present any larger surface than the two of the biplane or the one of the monoplane.

The Curtiss factory has been at work for several years on the problem of the small fast fighter. Its first effort was a biplane whose top wing span was only 20 feet. In a test flight by Victor Carlstrom at Sheepshead Bay Speedway, New York City, its unusual performances amazed the spectators. With startling swiftness the pilot mounted into the blue, maneuvered his little biplane with the agility of an acrobat, gave excellent tests of speed, and descended. Reducing the speed of his motor but not cutting it off entirely, he allowed the little airplane to skim slowly along the ground. Then, alighting, he took hold of the fuselage close to the tail, and steered the diminutive craft to a suitable spot from which to make another flight. With the motor still running, and much to the surprise of the onlookers, he stepped in once more, put on full power and was off.

This little airplane was nicknamed the Curtiss Baby Speed Scout. In one interesting respect it was different from the Nieuport, whose upper plane had to be cut away to increase the pilot's range of vision. In the Curtiss machine the pilot sits just behind the planes, so that he can see above and on all sides with the greatest ease. As a protection in battle his seat and the front portion of the fuselage are surrounded with thin steel, and the pilot sits close to the floor, so that he does not offer a very good target to the enemy's stray bullets. The “baby” biplane is fitted with a standard V-type motor of about 100 horsepower, and it carries fuel for a run of two and one-half hours.

The British have done some very fine work in developing airplanes of the speed scout type. Their fighting machines flew over the lines and downed the German planes in goodly numbers. Among those which earned fame for their achievements are the Bristol Scout, familiarly known as the “bullet,” one of the fastest of the military airplanes; and the Vickers Scout, another of the swift eagles that helped to maintain Allied supremacy in the clouds. One of the interesting features of the Vickers scout is the high “stagger” of its planes. By this we mean that the upper plane has been set far forward, so that it appears to overhang the lower. Quite recently another British scout machine, a Sopwith triplane, was flown by the British Royal Flying Corps, and it made a splendid record of victories over the lines.

In a crack regiment of veteran fighters it is hard to pick out the men who might be said to be the “best soldiers.” Each man excels in some individual way, and in just the right situation might prove to be the leader of his fellows. So it is bound to be with the long list of valiant little fighting planes that took up the cudgels against the Hun. No short summary can do justice to them all. There are the Avro, for instance, and the De Havilland Scout Biplane of the British, as well as a biplane of the Sopwith type; while the list is almost endless of British and French machines bearing such well known names as Farman, Caudron, Dorand, Moineau, Morane-Saulnier, etc.

But whatever the particular features of these scout machines, their armament is generally about the same. It usually consists of a machine gun operated by the pilot and firing across the propeller. The pilot directs the nose of his machine straight at the enemy and lets go a rain of bullets.

Fighting tactics are the subject of the most intense study on the part of every pilot of a scout machine. Often he has his pet system of downing the enemy. Immelmann, the famous German aviator, liked to get high in the upper air and there await the approach of a “victim,” when he could dive straight down upon the unsuspecting airplane and open fire. Every pilot aims to surprise his enemy. To do so he must often perform startling aerial tricks, looping the loop to come up under the tail of the other machine, swooping down from above, or firing from behind while the tail of the enemy machine shields him as he gets in his fatal shot. The aviator learns to hide behind a cloud, to take advantage of blinding sunlight or any other natural condition in order to take the opposing airplane unawares.

It is for this reason that machines are needed which combine speed, exceptional climbing powers, and quick maneuvering ability. Not only must they be able to practise all manner of tricks and stunts in order to surprise the foe, but it is quite as important that they be able to move rapidly on their own account, for a slow moving airplane is more liable to surprise than one which is swift in flight and able to alter its course repeatedly or else climb out of danger's way.

How important the agility of these little fighting planes is they are apt themselves to discover when one of their number meets a big reconnaissance machine of the enemy. The latter, with its big guns, is a formidable object, and could easily get the better of the lightly built combat plane, if it were not for the fact that its weight and slow speed make it unmanageable. The smaller machine drops down upon the big fellow suddenly, firing a volley at its gunners. If he kills them well and good, but if not he must perform his cleverest aerial stunts to get out of their way, or he will soon be a mere ball of fire shooting earthward. Fortunately, he is quick, and a few acrobatic turns save him from threatening disaster.

Before the present type of reconnaissance craft, bristling with machine guns had been developed, it was customary for the airplane doing photographic work, artillery “spotting” and similar duties to rely for its protection on a number of speed scouts, who flew above and around it and escorted it upon its mission. To-day the airplane that is used for general service duties over the lines is a dreadnaught of the air, and although it may still take along with it on its errands a few scouts to give battle to the faster airplanes of the enemy, yet on the whole it is self-reliant and has little to fear.

To these slower-flying, larger general service machines are entrusted some of the gravest duties of war. They are the eyes of the army, whether they act for the heads of staff, flying out over the territory of the foe with their trained observers and bringing back accurate information about the movements of troops, whether they help in “spotting” targets for the gunners, or whether during an actual engagement they act as aerial spectators and messengers, helping to coordinate the efforts of the various bodies of troops.

From the beginning of hostilities Germany strove to overwhelm the French in the air and prevent their airplanes from performing these necessary duties. France was at first but poorly equipped with machines of the type so sorely needed to maintain her air supremacy. By the skill and bravery of her airmen she managed to hold out, however, and the Huns were disappointed in never accomplishing their purpose of putting out her eyes. Her engineers were in the long run much more clever than those of Germany, and by the early part of 1915 they had ready a number of superior machines for reconnaissance and bombing. For the most part they were big Caudrons and Farmans, well armed and a good match for the German maid-of-all-work biplanes. And there were large Voisin biplanes, suitable for photographic work or for bombing. They were used extensively by French, British, Belgians and Italians. The Voisin, as in its very earliest models, is still easily recognizable by its curious tail resembling a box-kite, placed at the end of a projecting framework of four long beams or outriggers. It is a pusher type of airplane, with its propeller at the stern instead of at the bow.

Larger and more formidable grow the “aerial destroyers.” To-day among the super-dreadnaughts of the sky may be numbered the big biplanes bearing the names of Moineau, Breguet-Michelin, Voisin-Peugeot, and Farman. Heavily armed with machine guns they rendered valuable service to the Allies in many capacities, and they were the efficient answer to the struggle of the Hun for aerial supremacy. When in the Spring of 1918 the Germans launched their tremendous offensive at the Allies, the latter were well informed in advance of their intentions, thanks to these powerful reconnaissance planes. Swooping down close to the German lines in defiance of anti-aircraft guns and fighting machines alike, they had daily looked on at the massing of troops, the bringing up of reenforcements for the drive, and the piling up of ammunition supplies. In spite of every effort of the enemy to make their mission an intolerable one and to prevent them from spying upon preparations for the offensive, they had succeeded in bringing back to Allied commanders accurate and detailed information. By their aid the Allies knew at what points to expect the heaviest blows, and there they collected their reenforcements. Thus the nations lined up against the Hun were ready when the blow came, and they were able to check the tremendous onslaught by their land and air forces. What they really lacked perhaps, was not “eyes,” to discover what the Germans were plotting, but a large enough number of small fighting machines to keep the enemy reconnaissance craft from spying upon their own preparations; and a large enough number of huge bombing planes to have completely interfered with the German efforts to mass reenforcements and ammunition for the push.

In the long run it is perhaps the bombing plane that represents the greatest saving in human life in time of war. An army may be well equipped with reconnaissance machines and speed scouts, so that it may keep in closest touch with every move of the enemy. But unless it is able to interfere with those moves before they reach the proportions of a direct and staggering blow, then the best it can do is to concentrate its own troops and supplies in readiness to meet the blow when it does fall. That means that hundreds of thousands of lives of infantrymen will be sacrificed in checking the waves of enemy troops.

The Allies discovered a far better and more economical way of winning the war than this, and in the last year of the War they strained every nerve to put it into actual operation. It was this: to search out every military base of the enemy, every munition dump, nest of guns, supply train or troop train and drop bombs upon it. Two men in a bombing machine can attack and perhaps destroy a force which, if allowed to reach the front lines, would have to be met by several thousand infantrymen. Two men in a bombing machine can destroy at a single blow the ammunition which, if it had reached the front, might have swept out a regiment.

That is why so much thought and genius has been expended upon the bombing plane. The day bomber becomes the right arm of the infantry, flying low over the lines, attacking troops and striking terror to the heart of the enemy as the huge Allied tanks did when they first started on their irresistible slow walk across trenches, troops, buildings and every manner of obstruction. The big bomber—particularly if the fighting machines have cleared the way ahead of it—is something like that: it is an invincible weapon of destruction, wiping out whole bodies of the foe at every stroke, like a giant sweeping the pigmies of earth ahead of him with his strong right arm.

The big dreadnaughts of the air like the Moineau, the Voisin-Peugeot, the Breguet, and the Farman, become, when a bombing apparatus is substituted for their camera and radio, very efficient day bombers. There is a long list of others: as for instance, the British Avro, Handley-Page and Sopwith machines and the French Caudron, Dorand and Letord.

Many of these big bombing planes were designed for long distance work either by day or by night, and so they have been made enormous weight-lifters, with large supporting surfaces, two or more engines, and equipped with a fuel supply sufficient for long runs. In order to carry their engines conveniently they very often have more than one fuselage. Sometimes the pilot sits in a large fuselage in the center, while the motors are carried in two smaller cars or bodies called “nacelles” at either side. The British Avro, for instance, is a huge biplane with three fuselages and two rotary engines. Its upper and lower wings are equal in span, and it can readily be distinguished from the British Handley-Page, whose upper wing has a large overhang. The Handley-Page is one of the largest machines built. It carries its two 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce engines in small nacelles between the main planes, and it can be recognized by these and its biplane tail.

The Caudron is another big twin-motored machine, used by French, British and Italians. Its two rotary engines are fixed in small nacelles between the planes, while the pilot rides in a center fuselage. Somewhat after the manner of the Voisin, it carries its tail at the end of a projecting framework of four long beams, the lower two of which act also as landing skids.

America, like the rest of the nations, has had her secret ambition to try her hand at building bombing machines. In 1918 the designs for the Handley-Page bomber were brought to this country, and on July 6th the first American built Handley-Page bomber was successfully launched into the air at Elizabeth, New Jersey. The huge machine was christened the Langley after one of the early experimenters with the heavier-than-air machine. It had a wing span of 100 feet, and a central fuselage 63 feet long. Small armored nacelles at either side of the fuselage carried its two 400 horsepower Liberty motors, each turning a separate propeller. Laden with its full supply of bombs, its two Browning machine guns and fuel for a long run, this giant of the skies weighs about 9,000 pounds. Our country has instituted a program of construction for these super-dreadnaughts, and before long they will form an enormous aerial weapon in the hands of our airmen. For America, still practically a novice at airplane construction on a large scale, to be able to produce in her factories the largest and most complicated of the foreign types, speaks well for her determination and resourcefulness.

The Allied nations have vied with each other in their efforts to produce the king among bombing planes. The Italians have undoubtedly carried away the prize. Their Caproni triplane is among the largest in the world. The details of its construction were kept secret, as it was one of the most dreaded weapons of the Allies. Three powerful Fiat motors drive it at a speed of about 80 miles an hour. With its five tons of bombs, destined for important objectives in the land of the enemy, it is an object to inspire awe.

The Caproni makers have long been known for their large bombing machines. Their three bombers, including a smaller triplane and a biplane, headed the list of their fellows at the front. In October, 1917 a Caproni biplane was demonstrated in America, covering a distance of almost 400 miles in about 4½ hours. It started its journey from Norfolk and landed at the Mineola Aviation field, with seven passengers on board. Caproni bombing airplanes carried out many historic raids, among them being that on the famous Austrian Base at Pola. To reach it the Italian aviators had to travel by night across the Adriatic, and they carried out their pre-arranged plan of attack with the utmost punctuality, in spite of the tremendous difficulties that loomed along their path. Two squadrons of machines left the aerodrome, the first some time before the second, and each airplane following its fellows at a considerable distance. At 11 o'clock at night the first of the bombers flew over Pola and discharged its rain of high explosives. In rapid succession the others followed, letting go their missiles upon stores of ammunition, docks, and every object of military importance. In order to aid them in picking out their targets the raiders made use of an ingenious contrivance which so amazed and stupefied the Austrians that for a while they failed to make any attempt to shoot down the Italian planes with their anti-aircraft guns. It was a huge parachute, to which had been attached a powerful chemical light. Descending slowly the terrifying object hung as it seemed suspended in mid-air, lighting the way for the raiding machines, who took advantage of the terror of the Austrians to drop 14 tons of high-explosives and make their escape unharmed.

The tremendous Caproni triplane is almost impregnable. Its enemies have little chance of downing it, for it can fly even when one of its planes has been severely damaged, and with its three powerful motors it is practically immune from any engine trouble, as in case of an accident or injury to one motor the other two, or for that matter, one of them, will carry it safely home. With the great stability given it by its three supporting surfaces it can go through the stormiest weather without the slightest need for fear. Once its load of bombs has been discharged, it can rise to 7,000 feet to escape from its pursuers.

The story is told of an Italian aviator, Major Salomone, who escaped in a Caproni when attacked after a bombing expedition by a squadron of Austrian speed scouts. His enemies succeeded in wrecking one of the big engines by their gun fire, and in killing two of his gunners and a pilot. He himself was severely wounded, but keeping control of his machine he managed to reach home safely by the power of the remaining two engines.

The triplane is by far the best type for these giant raiders that fly by night. Their requirements are great lifting power and great stability, and these, the triplane with its extra lifting surface, best fulfills. Equipped with two or three engines so that its power-plant can be absolutely relied upon in every emergency, with accurate bomb-sighting instruments and with a compass, searchlight and other apparatus necessary for traveling by night, the triplane can be depended upon to inflict gigantic blows upon enemy bases.

The British have a big bombing triplane that was heard from in Germany: the Sopwith. Its three planes are equal in span, and have only one strut at each side of the fuselage, with the wiring also greatly simplified, in order to reduce the head-resistance to a minimum.

The Sopwith was one of the first triplanes to be used for bombing and general service over the lines. Those at the front early in 1918 were equipped with a 110 horsepower Clerget rotary engine. A round metal hood or “cowl” surrounding the motor formed the front of the fuselage, overhanging the body slightly at the bottom in order to form an air outlet for the engine.

America has not actually developed any big bombing planes of the type of the Sopwith, although we have one enormous triplane,—the Curtiss triplane air-cruiser, built for service over the sea.

And although Russia abandoned the good cause for which she was fighting, we cannot pass over the subject of big bombing triplanes without mentioning the giant Sikorsky, one of the largest and most remarkable weapons of destruction that were employed in the war against the Hun.

The future will no doubt write a new and fascinating chapter in the story of the triplane. The big night bombers are being built on a large scale by all the Allied nations. Their exploits opened every great military operation, they constituted a reign of terror over the lines of the enemy, and their death-dealing blows saved countless thousands of allied troops from the need of sacrificing their lives. They could make the journey straight to the heart of the enemy's country and return, with plenty of surplus fuel. Their missiles did enormous damage to railway centers, docks, bridges, aerodromes and arsenals. Carrying bombs that weigh anywhere from 16 to 500 pounds, they spread havoc in their wake, while the silencers on their engines made them veritable specters of the night. An illustration of their possible accomplishments was the flight of Italian machines across the Alps and to Vienna, when they dropped manifestos upon the frightened populace. Those manifestos reminded the Austrian people that only the humanity and self-respect of the allied airmen made them drop “paper bombs” on Vienna while the Germans were unloading high explosives in the midst of the civilian populations of London and Paris. It must have shown the people of Vienna what the machines of their enemies were capable of doing.

But the airplanes of war whose acquaintance we have made so hastily in this chapter were not used by the Allies for raiding or terrifying civilians. From the tiny fighting machines that carried so many of our bravest pilots to personal combat over the lines, to the enormous bombing planes used to scatter destruction and ruin among the military strongholds of the enemy, our machines were trustworthy and brave, but they were also machines of honor.