<text id=00he0304><title>Subordinate Air Power</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>Subordinate Air Power</hdr><body>
<p>The fact is that during its entire employment in the conflict, American air power was subordinated to ground armies and their immediate tactical needs. The Air Service tried, but was never officially permitted, to develop a strategic bombardment force to strike deep into Germany's industry.
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<p>French Premier Alexandre Ribot cabled President Wilson on 24 May 1917, proposing that the US send an air arm of 4,500 planes, 5,000 pilots and 15,000 mechanics overseas by June 1918. It was the first of many overly ambitious plans and programs, none realized, that characterized America's first war air effort.
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<p>The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which had been established in 1915 "...to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight..." had proposed a more modest, even realistic, program six days after the US entered the fray: build 3,700 planes in 1918, 6,000 in 1919 and 10,000 in 1920.
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<p>The War Department developed its own goal, based on Ribot's stated needs: 12,000 airplanes and 24,000 engines, to be produced between 1 January and 30 June 1918.
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<p>But what to build? Only Britain and France were producing contemporary fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The answer was obvious: make arrangements to build those airplanes in the United States. So a group of aviation officers under Major Raynal C. Bolling was sent to Europe in June 1917 to investigate and negotiate with the British, French and Italians for American production of their aircraft.
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<p>Six types were recommended by two of Bolling's staff, Captains Virginius E. Clark and Edgar S. Gorrell, in their report of 17 August 1917: the Bristol Scout for advanced training; the Bristol F.2B fighter for army cooperation; the de Havilland D.H.4 for long-range reconnaissance and bombing by day; the 200-hp (266-kW) S.P.A.D. as one fighter, and a new S.P.A.D. design with a Gnome rotary engine as the other; and the Caproni triplane for night bombing.
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<p>Aircraft design, never static, was a very dynamic art in those years. Before the final report could be acted upon, the list began to change as superior models became available. The D.H.9 replaced the D.H.4; the Caproni triplane gave way to a smaller biplane design; the Handley Page O/400 was also considered as a night bomber; the new S.P.A.D. was a failure.
