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Show Airfleet Versus Battle Fleet That the airplane is the master of the naval vessel and that a fleet of airplanes, "in sufficient numbers" will prove the nemesis . of the battleship, is the opinion of Robert Insley, chief research engineer for the Pratt and Whitney Whit-ney Company, maker of aircraft engines. This proposition has been advanced ad-vanced for a number of years without any satisfactory demon-stration demon-stration of its truth being avail- abie. In the war now going on in Europe conditions are ripe for a test. Great Britain has the battle Hoot and Germany has the airfleet. air-fleet. A decision should result. ' Of course, no nation is going to depend entirely upon warships any more than an army will depend de-pend entirely upon artillery. There is power in diversified forces, with each unit having points of value that are unequalled unequall-ed by other units. The importance of an airfleet cannot be overestimated over-estimated even if possession of a correspanding fleet will offset it. Battleships have similar advantages advan-tages that can be secured only through their possession. |