By general consent, then, our aerial scouts far surpass those of the enemy in this work. Our aeroplanes have constantly hovered over his lines, his seldom over ours. Casualties have been inevitable in these perilous enterprises, but such is the dexterity of our fliers that the price paid has not been nearly so high as the risks run would suggest. In point of fact, our losses in the air have been less than those of the enemy, despite the greater enterprise and the bolder initiative of British airmen. ‘From July 1 to September 17 in France we destroyed no fewer than 104 German aeroplanes.’ These figures, compiled from the official reports, are the more impressive when it is remembered that it is the British rule not to include enemy machines damaged as lost, but only those that have, in fact, been actually destroyed. It is not surprising, in the light of the remarkable achievements of the British air service in the battle-line, that its critics, so loud-voiced a few months ago, have been silenced. Fresh in everybody’s recollection is the ridiculous fuss made by some sensational newspapers over the Fokker and its wonderful qualities. Where is the Fokker now? Where have those scribes vanished who were daily ‘crabbing’ our air service, now admittedly the best in the world? Will they, wherever they are, have the assurance to claim that it is their criticisms that have wrought what they would call the change? If so, it would be a baseless claim, absolutely without justification of any kind. Our Air Service has evolved steadily in strength and efficiency ever since the outbreak of war. Of course mistakes were made in the process of evolution and expansion. They could not be avoided in a new service, rapidly extending, and necessarily involving experimental changes in design and structure. But the progress has been steady and uninterrupted ever since the war began. The truth is, the original expeditionary force was well equipped with aeroplanes and well-trained pilots. Later came the rapid expansion of the army, which imposed heavy new demands on the Royal Flying Corps. Those demands have all been met. It is to the credit of the late Lord Kitchener that from the first he recognized the great importance of the aeroplane in this war. ‘When in the early autumn of 1914 authorization was sought for the manufacture of a sufficient number of machines to equip thirty new air squadrons he at once doubled the number, ordering not 720 aeroplanes, but 1,440.’ This was a notable instance of Lord Kitchener’s prevision as to the scale of the war. Early in 1915 a very large new constructive programme was embarked upon, and the output since then has progressively increased. At first we relied chiefly on France for the engines of our flying-machines. Now some of our best engines are made at home.