Page:O que eu vi, o que nós veremos (1918).pdf/74

 Consider, however, the events since that time. Let us consider the valuable work that the airplane has produced in the present war.

Aviation has revolutionized the art of war.

Cavalry, which was of great importance at valuable times, has ceased to exist.

In my book "My Airships", published in 1904, I said:

"... I cannot abandon this topic, however, without referring to one unique maritime advantage of the air-ship. This is its navigator's ability to perceive bodies moving beneath the surface of the water. Cruising at the end of its guide rope, the air-ship will carry its navigator here and there at will at the right height above the waves. Any submarine boat, stealthily pursuing its course underneath them, will be beautifully visible to him, while from a warship's deck it would be quite invisible. This is a well-observed fact, and depends on certain optical laws. Thus, very curiously, the twentieth century air-ship must become from the beginning the great enemy of that other twentieth century marvel—the submarine boat—and not