The Westminster Gazette of Tuesday contains an interesting paper by
Mr. J. Owen on the War Office aeroplane tests on Salisbury Plain. The conditions imposed—notably that re- quiring firms to furnish complete drawings and specifications in advance—and the inadequacy of the prizes were respon- sible, in the writer's opinion, for the small number of foreign entries, only four French firms competing. But he asserts that the trials have conclusively proved the inferiority in workmanship and design of the British machines. The new industry has not attracted the right sort of men, though he admits that the British constructor is terribly handi- capped by lack of private financial assistance or official encouragement. For the rest the main result of the trials has been to prove the superiority of the biplane for military purposes and the small value of the fast, high-powered monoplane. The Staff College officers are all agreed that it will be harder to train observers than pilots. The fighting aeroplane has yet to be evolved, and he concludes by insisting on the national risk involved in our dependence on foreign countries for the supply of component parts, even though the machines are put together here.
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