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+Project Gutenberg's Learning to Fly, by Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Learning to Fly
+       A Practical Manual for Beginners
+
+Author: Claude Grahame-White
+        Harry Harper
+
+Release Date: December 18, 2008 [EBook #27557]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEARNING TO FLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LEARNING TO FLY
+
+
+  [Illustration: _Photo by Topical Press Agency._
+  A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT.]
+
+
+  LEARNING TO FLY
+
+  A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR
+  BEGINNERS
+
+  BY
+
+  CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE
+  AND
+  HARRY HARPER
+
+  _FULLY ILLUSTRATED_
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+
+
+  PRINTED IN ENGLAND.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       I. THEORIES OF TUITION                                  9
+
+      II. TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN                          20
+
+     III. FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE                 24
+          (AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME-WHITE)
+
+      IV. THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST-TYPE CRAFT                31
+
+       V. THE STAGES OF TUITION                               38
+
+      VI. THE TEST FLIGHTS                                    53
+
+     VII. PERILS OF THE AIR                                   56
+
+    VIII. FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY                        76
+
+      IX. A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS              82
+
+       X. CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING                                92
+
+      XI. AVIATION AS A PROFESSION                            99
+
+     XII. THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT                               104
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+    A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT                   _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                       FACE PAGE
+
+    GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE                              34
+
+    THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                          36
+
+    REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                             38
+
+    POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                           40
+
+    MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR--ANOTHER VIEW                        42
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT                   44
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1)                        46
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2)                        48
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3)                        50
+
+
+
+
+Authors' Note.--The photographs to illustrate this book, as set forth
+above, were taken at the Grahame-White Flying School, the London
+Aerodrome, Hendon, by operators of the Topical Press Agency, 10 and 11,
+Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHORS' NOTE
+
+
+This book is written for the novice--and for the novice who is
+completely a novice. We have assumed, in writing it, that it will come
+into the hands of men who, having determined to enter this great and
+growing industry of aviation, and having decided wisely to learn to
+fly as their preliminary step, feel they would like to gain
+beforehand--before, that is to say, they take the plunge of selecting
+and joining a flying school--all that can be imparted non-technically,
+and in such a brief manual as this, not only as to the stages of
+tuition and the tests to be undergone, but also in regard to such
+general questions as, having once turned their thoughts towards flying,
+they take a sudden and a very active interest.
+
+It has been our aim, bearing in mind this first and somewhat restless
+interest, to cover a wide rather than a restricted field; and this
+being so, and remembering also the limitations of space, we cannot
+pretend--and do not for a moment wish it to be assumed that we
+pretend--to cover exhaustively the various topics we discuss. Our
+endeavour, in the pages at our disposal, has not been to satisfy
+completely this first curiosity of the novice, but rather to stimulate
+and strengthen it, and guide it, so to say, on lines which will lead
+to a fuller and more detailed research.
+
+It is from this point of view, as a short yet comprehensive
+introduction, and particularly as an aid to the beginner in his choice
+of a school, and in what may be called his mental preparation for the
+stages of his tuition, that we desire our book to be regarded.
+
+  C. G.-W.
+  H. H.
+
+  _April_, 1916.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THEORIES OF TUITION
+
+
+Only eight years ago, in 1908, it was declared impossible for one man
+to teach another to fly. Those few men who had risen from the ground
+in aeroplanes, notably the Wright brothers, were held to be endowed by
+nature in some very peculiar way; to be men who possessed some
+remarkable and hitherto unexplained sense of equilibrium. That these
+men would be able to take other men--ordinary members of the human
+race--and teach them in their turn to navigate the air, was a
+suggestion that was ridiculed. But Wilbur Wright, after a series of
+brilliant flights, began actually to instruct his first pupils; doing
+so with the same care and precision, and the same success, that had
+characterised all his pioneer work. And these first men who were
+taught to fly on strange machines--as apart from the pioneers who had
+taught themselves to fly with craft of their own construction--made
+progress which confounded the sceptics. They went in easy and
+leisurely fashion from stage to stage, and learned to become aviators
+without difficulty, and mainly without accident.
+
+After this, increasing in numbers from two or three to a dozen, and
+from a dozen to fifty and then a hundred, the army of airmen grew
+until it could be totalled in thousands. Instead of being haphazard,
+the teaching of men to fly became a business. Flying schools were
+established; courses of tuition were arranged; certain pilots
+specialised in the work of instruction. It was shown beyond doubt that,
+instead of its being necessary for an aviator to be a species of
+acrobat, any average man could learn to fly.
+
+Certainly a man who intends to fly should be constitutionally sound;
+this point is important. When in an aeroplane, one passes very quickly
+through the air, and such rapid movement--and also the effect of
+varying altitudes--entail a certain physical strain. A man with a weak
+heart might find himself affected adversely by flying; while one whose
+lungs were not sound might find that his breathing was impeded
+seriously by a swift passage through the air. More than one fatality,
+doubtful as to its exact cause, has been attributed to the collapse of
+a pilot who was not organically sound, or who ascended when in poor
+health. And here again is an important point. No man, even a normally
+healthy man, should attempt to pilot a machine in flight when he is
+feeling unwell. In such cases the strain of flying, and the effect of
+the swift motion through the air, may cause a temporary collapse; and
+in the air, when a man is alone in a machine, any slight attack of
+faintness may be sufficient to bring about a fatality.
+
+A fair judgment of speed, and an eye for distance, are very helpful to
+the man who would learn to fly, and it is here that a man who has
+motored a good deal, driving his own car, is at advantage at first
+over one who has not. But otherwise, and writing generally, any man of
+average quickness of movement, of average agility, can learn without
+difficulty to control an aeroplane in flight. It is wrong to imagine
+that exceptional men are required. An unusual facility, of course,
+marks the expert pilot; but we are writing of men who would attain an
+average skill.
+
+There has been discussion as to the age at which a man should learn to
+fly, or as to the introduction of age limits generally in the piloting
+of aircraft. But this introduces a difficult question; one which
+depends so entirely on the individual, and regarding which we need the
+data that will be provided by further experience. Some men retain from
+year to year, and to a remarkable extent, the faculties that are
+necessary; others lose them rapidly. The late Mr. S. F. Cody was
+flying constantly, and with a very conspicuous skill, at an age when
+he might have been thought unfit. But then he was a man of a rare
+vitality and a great enthusiasm--a man who, though he flew so often,
+declared that each of his flights was an "adventure." Taking men in
+the average one may say this: the younger a man is, when he learns to
+fly, the better for him. Much depends, naturally, on the sort of
+flying he intends to do after he has attained proficiency. If he is
+going to fly in war, or under conditions that impose a heavy strain,
+then he must be a young man. But if he intends to fly for his own
+pleasure, and under favourable conditions, then this factor of age
+loses much of its importance, and it is only necessary that a man
+should retain say, an ordinary activity, and a normal quickness of
+vision and of judgment.
+
+Flying is not difficult. It is in a sense too easy, and this is just
+where its hidden danger lies. If a pupil is carefully taught, and
+flies at first only when the weather conditions are suitable, he will
+find it surprisingly easy to pilot an aeroplane. That it is not
+dangerous to learn to fly is proved daily. Though hundreds and
+thousands of pupils have now passed through the schools, anything in
+the nature of a serious accident is very rarely chronicled. This
+immunity from accident is due largely to the care and experience of
+instructors, and also to the fact that all pupils pass through a very
+carefully graduated tuition, and that no hazardous flights are allowed;
+while another and an important element of safety lies in the fact
+that no flying is permitted at the schools unless weather conditions
+are favourable. It is now a fair contention that, provided a man
+exercises judgment, and ascends only in weather that is reasonably
+suitable, there is no more danger in flying an aeroplane than in
+driving a motor-car.
+
+Much depends of course on the dexterity of the pupil, and particularly
+on his manual dexterity--on what is known, colloquially, as "hands."
+Some men, even after they have been carefully taught, are apt to
+remain heavy and clumsy in their control. Others, though, seem to
+acquire the right touch almost by instinct; and these are the men who
+have in them the making of good pilots. Horsemen refer to "hands" when
+they speak of a man who rides well; and in flying, if a man is to
+handle a machine skilfully, there is need for that same instinctive
+delicacy of touch.
+
+Nowadays, when a pupil joins a well-established flying school, he
+finds that everything is made easy and pleasant for him. Most men
+enjoy very thoroughly the period of their tuition. A friendly regard
+springs up between the pupils and their instructors, and men who have
+learned to fly, and are now expert pilots, bear with them very
+pleasant reminiscences of their "school" days. But there were times,
+and it seems already in the dim and distant past, when learning to fly
+was a strange, haphazard, and hardly pleasant experience; though it
+had a sporting interest certainly, and offered such prospects of
+adventure as commended it to bold spirits who were prepared for
+hardship, and had a well-filled purse. The last requirement was very
+necessary. In the bad old days, amusing days though they were without
+doubt, no fixed charge was made to cover such breakages, or damage to
+an aeroplane, as a pupil might be guilty of during his period of
+instruction. These items of damage--broken propellers, planes, or
+landing gear--were all entered up very carefully on special bills, and
+presented from time to time to the dismayed novice; and a man who was
+clumsy or impetuous found learning to fly an expensive affair. There
+was a pupil who joined a school soon after Bleriot's crossing of the
+Channel by air. It was a monoplane school; and the monoplane, unless a
+man is careful and very patient, is not an easy machine to learn to
+fly. This beginner was not patient; he was indeed more than usually
+impetuous. His landings, in particular, were often abrupt. He broke
+propellers, frequently, to say nothing of wings and of alighting gear.
+And of all these breakages a note was made. Bills were handed to
+him--long and intricate bills, with each item amounting to so many
+hundreds of francs. Having a sense of humour, the pupil began to paper
+his shed with these formidable bills, allowing them to hang in
+festoons around the walls. What it cost him to learn to fly nobody
+except himself knew. He paid away certainly, in his bills for
+breakages, enough money to buy several aeroplanes.
+
+This was in the early days, when aviators were few and all flying
+schools experimental. To-day a pupil need not concern himself, even if
+he does damage a machine. Before beginning his tuition he pays his fee,
+one definite sum which covers all contingencies that may arise. It
+includes any and all damage that he may do to the aircraft of his
+instructors; it covers also any third-party claims that may be made
+against him--claims that is to say from any third person who might be
+injured in an accident for which he was responsible. This inclusive
+fee varies, in schools of repute, from £75 to £100.
+
+The modern aerodromes, or schools of flight, at which a pupil receives
+his tuition, have been evolved rapidly from the humblest of
+beginnings. The first flying grounds were, as a rule, nothing more
+than open tracts of land, such as offered a fairly smooth
+landing-place and an absence of dangerous wind-gusts. Then, as
+aviation developed, pilots came together at these grounds, and sheds
+were built to house their craft. And after this, quickly as a rule, an
+organisation was built up. Beginning from rough shelters, erected
+hastily on the brink of a stretch of open land, there grew row upon
+row of neatly-built sheds, with workshops near them in which aircraft
+could be constructed or repaired. And from this stage, not content
+with the provision made for them by nature, those in control of the
+aerodromes began to dig up trees, fill in ditches and hollows, and
+smooth away rough contours of the land, so as to obtain a huge, smooth
+expanse on which aircraft might alight and manoeuvre without accident.
+And after this came the building up of fences and entrance gates, the
+erection of executive offices and restaurants, the provision of
+telephone exchanges and other facilities--the creation in fact of a
+modern aerodrome.
+
+A pupil to-day, if he decides to learn to fly, finds he has an ample
+choice in the matter of a school. He may feel indeed that there is
+almost an embarrassment of facilities. But there are certain very
+definite requirements, in regard to any modern flying school; and if a
+novice bears these in mind, and thinks of them carefully when he is
+considering what school he shall join, he cannot go far wrong. First
+there is the question of the aerodrome on which, and above which, the
+pupil will undergo his instruction. This should be of ample size and
+of an adequately smooth surface; and it should be so situated, also,
+that it is free from wind eddies and gusts, such as are set up by
+hills, woods, or contours of the land, and are likely to inconvenience
+a novice when he makes his first flights. The best position for an
+aerodrome is in a valley, not abrupt but gently sloping. With a flying
+ground so placed, shielded well by nature on every hand, it may prove
+sufficiently calm for instruction even on days when there is a gusty
+wind blowing across more exposed points; and such a natural advantage
+is of importance for a pupil. It may mean that he is obtaining his
+tuition from day to day, when other pupils, learning to fly at grounds
+less favourably situated, have to remain compulsorily idle, waiting
+either for the wind to drop, or to veer to some quarter from which
+their aerodrome is sheltered.
+
+It is very necessary, of course, in the operation of a flying school,
+that there should be competent instructors; also a sufficient number
+of these to prevent them from being over-taxed, or having more pupils
+at any one time than they can handle conveniently. And it is greatly
+to the advantage of a pupil if these instructors have been chosen with
+an intelligent care. A man may be a capable pilot, and yet not have
+the temperament that will suit him for imparting his knowledge to
+others. The instructor who, besides being a fine flyer, has the
+patience and sympathy of a born teacher, is by no means easy to find.
+A school which does find such men, and retains their services, offers
+attractions for a pupil which--in any preliminary visit he pays to a
+school before joining it--he should look for keenly. And he should
+make certain, too, that the school has a staff of skilled and
+experienced mechanics.
+
+Another indispensable feature of a school is a sufficient number of
+aeroplanes, machines suited specially for the purposes of tuition, and
+maintained at a high efficiency. It has been no uncommon thing--though
+here again one is writing of the past--for the total resources of a
+school to comprise, say, two machines. Hence a couple of smashes would
+put such a school temporarily out of action, and leave the pupils with
+nothing to do but kick their heels, and wait until the machines had
+been repaired. It is certainly an advantage, from the pupil's point of
+view, if there are well-equipped workshops in connection with the
+school he joins; also if the proprietors of his school have an ample
+supply of engines. With facilities for repair work immediately at hand,
+and with a spare engine ready at once to put in a machine--while one
+that has been giving trouble is dealt with in the engine-shop--there
+should always be a full complement of craft for the work of
+instruction. When workshops are in operation in connection with a
+school an opportunity is usually provided, also, for a novice to gain
+some knowledge as to the mechanism and working of the aero-motor: and
+this of course will be useful to him.
+
+There has been discussion as to the type of aeroplane on which one
+should learn to fly; but in this question, as in that of an age limit
+for airmen, it is extremely difficult, besides being unwise, to
+attempt to frame a hard-and-fast rule. The monoplane, for instance, is
+not an easy machine to learn to fly: it is not easy, that is to say,
+compared with certain types of biplane. Yet numbers of pupils have
+been taught on monoplanes, and this without accident. There is also a
+question whether, among biplanes, it is best to learn on a tractor
+machine--one that is to say with the engine in front of the main
+planes--or on a "pusher" type of craft; this last mentioned having its
+motor behind the planes. Aeroplanes of both types are in use; and it
+would be advantageous, of course, for a novice to accustom himself to
+handle either. But from the point of view of those who operate large
+flying schools, and have to weigh one point against another, and
+eliminate so far as possible the elements of risk or difficulty, there
+are very distinct advantages in a "pusher" biplane, such as is
+illustrated facing page 34. The control of such a machine is simple,
+and can be grasped quite readily. It provides the novice, when he is
+seated in it, with a clear and unobstructed view of the ground
+immediately in front of and below him; and this, in the early stages
+of tuition, is an extremely important point. A craft of such a type,
+also, when built specially for instruction, can be given a very strong
+alighting gear, and this makes for safety when a pupil is in his first
+tests, and may be guilty of an abrupt or rough descent. Again, while
+such a school machine as this is engined adequately, it is at the same
+time comparatively slow in flight, and has the advantage also that it
+will alight at slow speeds. In the air, too, it has a large measure of
+stability, and is not too rapid in its response to its controls. It
+gives a pupil what is very necessary for him in his first flights, and
+that is a certain latitude for error. It is safe to say, indeed,
+without being dogmatic, that a "pusher" biplane of the type
+illustrated, if constructed specially for school work, offers a pupil
+two very clearly marked advantages. These are: (1) A craft which he
+can learn to fly quickly; and (2) A machine on which he can pass
+through his tuition with the least risk of accident.
+
+This last-mentioned point is, naturally, one of extreme importance. It
+is very necessary, apart from any question of personal injury, that a
+pupil should be protected during his tuition from anything in the
+nature of a bad smash. A man should start to learn to fly with full
+confidence; the more he has the better, provided it is tempered with
+caution. And if he can go through his training without accident, and
+preserve the steadily growing confidence that his proficiency will
+give him, he is on the high road to success as a pilot. But if he
+meets with an accident while he is learning--some sudden and quite
+unexpected fall--this may have a serious and a permanent influence on
+his nerves, even if he escapes without injury. It happened frequently
+in the early days that a promising pupil, a man who showed both
+confidence and skill, had his nerve ruined, and all his "dash" taken
+from him, by some unlucky accident while he was learning to fly.
+
+There are certain minor points a pupil should consider when he selects
+a flying school--points which have reference mainly to his own comfort
+and convenience. He will prefer, for instance, other things being
+equal, a school that is near some large town or city, and not buried
+away inaccessibly. It is a convenience also, and one that facilitates
+instruction, if a pupil can obtain, quite near the aerodrome, rooms
+where he can live temporarily while undergoing his instruction, and so
+be able to reach the flying ground in a minute or so, whenever and at
+any time the weather conditions are favourable. It is a convenience
+again if, either on the aerodrome itself or immediately adjacent,
+there is a canteen or restaurant where meals and other refreshments
+can be obtained. Dressing-rooms and reading rooms, when provided by
+the proprietors of a school, add to the comfort of the novice while he
+is in attendance on the aerodrome. In winter, particularly, such
+facilities are required.
+
+At a modern school, if it is well conducted, all heroics or
+exceptional feats are discouraged. Pupils who want to do wild things
+must be sternly repressed, even if only for the common good. The aim
+is to train a certain number of pupils, not hastening over the tuition
+but giving each man his full and complete course, and to do this with
+a minimum of risk. In the early days of flying there were remarkable
+exploits at the schools, and some very dangerous ones also. But
+nowadays the reckless, happy-go-lucky spirit has gone. Tuition is
+based on experience. Each pupil must submit to the routine, and listen
+attentively to the instructions given him. There are no short
+cuts--not at any rate with safety--in the art of learning to fly.
+
+The question is asked, often, how long it should take a man to learn
+to fly. It is almost impossible, though, to specify any fixed time. A
+very great deal must depend on the weather. A pupil who joins a school
+in the summer is more likely, naturally, to complete his tuition
+quickly than one who begins in the winter. In periods when there are
+high and gusty winds it may be necessary to suspend school work for
+several days. But at such times the pupil need not be completely idle.
+Lectures on aviation are organised sometimes by the schools; while a
+pupil should have opportunities also--as has been mentioned before--of
+going into the engine-shop and studying the repair and overhaul of
+motors and machines.
+
+It is on record that a pupil has learned to fly in a day, even in a
+few hours; but here the circumstances, and the men, were exceptional.
+Such an unusual facility represents one extreme; while as another, it
+may happen that a man, owing to a combination of adverse circumstances,
+is six months before he gains his certificate of proficiency. It may
+be taken, as a rule, that a pupil should set aside say a couple of
+months in order to undergo thoroughly, and without any haste, his full
+period of tuition. School records prove, as a rule, that the pilots
+who learn to fly abnormally quickly are apt to experience an abnormal
+number of accidents at a later date, due principally to a lack of real
+sound knowledge, which they should have gained during the period of
+their tuition. One must learn to walk before one can run, and this
+takes time; and the remark applies aptly to aviation. It is very
+necessary for the pupil to spend as much time as he can on the
+aerodrome. Much is to be learned, by an observant man, apart from the
+actual time during which he is engaged with his instructor. If he
+watches men who are highly skilled, he may gain many useful hints,
+though he himself is on the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN
+
+
+As aviation passed from its earliest infancy, and a number of men
+began to fly, the temperament of the individual pupil, and the effect
+of this temperament on his progress as an aviator, began to reveal
+itself. And temperament does play a large part in flying; as it does
+in any sport in which a man is given control of a highly sensitive
+apparatus, errors of judgment in the handling of which may lead to
+disaster. It is not, as a rule, until he has passed through his early
+stages of tuition, and has begun to handle an aeroplane alone, and is
+beyond the direct control of his instructor, that the temperament of a
+pupil really plays its part. Up to this point he is one among many,
+conforming to certain rules, and obliged to mould himself to the
+routine of the school. But when he begins to fly by himself, and
+particularly when he has passed his tests for proficiency, and is
+embarking, say, on cross-country flights, then this question of
+temperament begins really to affect his flying.
+
+All men who learn to fly--numbering as they do thousands
+nowadays--cannot be endowed specially by nature for their task. There
+is indeed a wide latitude for temperamental differences--always
+provided that nothing more is required of a man than a certain average
+of skill. But if a man is to become a first-class pilot, one
+distinctly above the average, then the question of his temperament, as
+it influences his flying, is certainly important.
+
+A rough classification of the pupils at a school--just a preliminary
+sorting of types--shows as a rule the existence of two clearly-marked
+temperaments. One is that of the man who is deliberate, whose
+temperament guards him from doing anything perfunctorily or in a hurry;
+the other is that of a man--a type frequently encountered
+nowadays--who while being quick, keen, and intelligent, mars these
+good qualities by a temperamental impatience which he finds it
+difficult or impossible to control, and which makes him irritable and
+restless at any suggestion of delay.
+
+Now the first of these men need not to be wholly commended, nor the
+second entirely condemned. A capacity for deliberation, both in study
+and in practice, is very useful when learning to fly. It will protect
+a man from many errors, and render his progress sure, though it may be
+slow. But something more than deliberation is required in the aviator
+of distinction. There must be the vital spark of enterprise, the
+temperamental quality which is known as "dash," the quick action of
+the mind, in difficulty or peril, that will carry certain men to
+safety through many dangers. This imaginative power is possessed as a
+rule, though in ways that differ considerably, by the second type of
+pupil we have described--the restless, impatient man. But in his case
+this quality is, more often than not, marred by his instability; by
+the lack of that judgment which is so necessary to counterbalance
+imagination, but which is, unfortunately, not so often found.
+
+A man who decides to become an aviator, and particularly if he intends
+to fly professionally, should ask himself quite seriously if his
+temperament is likely to aid him, or whether perhaps it may not be a
+danger. This point is certainly one of importance, though it cannot be
+stated directly or decided in so many words. There is a vital question
+at least that the novice should ask himself; and this is whether his
+temperament, whatever its general tendency may be, includes a
+sufficient leavening of caution. In the navigation of the air caution
+is indispensable. A pupil must remind himself constantly that, though
+it appears easy--and is indeed easy--to learn to handle a machine in
+flight, no liberties must under any circumstances be taken with the
+air. Every instant a man is flying he needs to remember the value of
+caution. In the air one cannot afford to make mistakes.
+
+Naturally there is an ideal temperament for flying; but it is one
+which, owing to the combination of qualities that are required, is
+very rarely met with. The man who possesses it is gifted with courage,
+ambition, "dash," and with a readiness in an emergency that amounts to
+intuition. And yet these positive qualities are, in the ideal
+temperament, allied to, and tempered by, a strong vein of prudence and
+of caution. The pilot has absolute system, method, and thoroughness in
+everything he does. The average pupil cannot hope to be so luckily
+endowed. But he can study his personality, and seek to repress traits
+that may seem harmful.
+
+There is need in flying for a sound judgment, one that will enable a
+man to come to a decision quickly and yet accurately. Things happen
+rapidly in the air. It is one of the grim aspects of flying that, just
+at a moment when everything appears secure, a sudden disaster may
+threaten. So it is of vast importance to a pilot, if he has to fly
+regularly, that he should have an instinctive and dependable judgment;
+a capacity for deciding quickly and without panic; a capacity, when
+several ways present themselves of extricating himself from some
+quandary, of being able to choose the right one, and of not having to
+think long before doing so. This implies a combination really of
+judgment and resource. The man of confidence, the man of resource, is
+well endowed for flying. But he must not be over-confident. The
+over-confident man is a menace to himself and to others. It is not a
+proper spirit at all in which to approach aviation. We do not know
+enough about the navigation of the air to be in the least
+over-confident. The spirit, rather, should be one of humility--a
+determination to proceed warily, and to make very certain of what
+limited knowledge we do possess.
+
+Two of the worst traits in an aviator are impatience and irritability.
+A man who has these temperamental drawbacks in a form which is
+strongly marked, and who cannot control them, should not think of
+becoming an aviator. The man who is impatient and irritable finds
+himself out of harmony with the whole theory of aerial navigation.
+There is a long list of "don'ts" in flying; in the handling of one's
+machine, in the weather one flies in, in all the feats that one should
+attempt and leave alone. A number of details must be memorised, and
+must never be forgotten or overlooked, trivial though some of them may
+seem. The frame of mind of the man who flies must be alert, yet quiet
+and reposeful; he must be clear-headed, not hot-headed. The man who is
+in a hurry, who ignores details when he sets out on a flight, is the
+man who runs risks and is bound sooner or later to pay the penalty.
+The perils of recklessness in flying are very great. The man who
+"takes chances," who thinks he can do something when, as a matter of
+fact, he has neither sufficient knowledge or experience, runs a very
+grave and constant risk. It is the thoughtful, considering frame of
+mind, particularly in a pupil, which is the safe one; but this must
+not be taken to imply a type of man who lacks power of action.
+Initiative, and a quick capacity for action, are most necessary in
+aviation. New problems are being faced continually, and the brain
+succeeds which is the most active and original.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE
+
+(AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME-WHITE)
+
+
+After a period of ballooning, which offers experience for an aviator
+in the judging of heights and distances, and in growing accustomed to
+the sensation of being in the air, I devoted a good deal of time and
+attention--more indeed at the time, and in view of my other
+responsibilities, than I could reasonably spare--to a study of the
+theory of aeroplane construction, and to the making of models. This
+was prior to 1909; Bleriot had not yet flown the Channel in his
+monoplane. But when he did I put models aside, and determined to buy
+an aeroplane and learn to fly.
+
+At the end of August, 1909, so that I might inspect the various
+aeroplanes that were then available, and they were few enough, I went
+to Rheims, in France, and attended the first flying meeting the world
+had seen. At the aerodrome I met and talked with the great pioneers:
+with Bleriot, fresh from his cross-Channel triumph; with Levavasseur,
+the designer of the beautiful but ill-fated Antoinette monoplane,
+which had, through engine failure, let Hubert Latham twice into the
+Channel during his attempts to make the crossing; with Henry Farman
+who, fitting one of the first Gnome motors to a biplane of his own
+construction, flew for more than three hours at Rheims, and created a
+world's record; and also with M. Voisin, whose biplane was then being
+flown by a number of pilots.
+
+Finally, after careful consideration, I made a contract with M.
+Bleriot to purchase from him, at the end of the meeting, a monoplane
+of a type that appeared first at Rheims, and of which there was not
+another model then in existence. This machine differed considerably
+from the one with which M. Bleriot had flown the Channel. His
+cross-Channel monoplane was a single-seated craft fitted with an
+air-cooled motor of about 25 h.p. The machine I agreed to buy at
+Rheims, and which was known as Bleriot No. XII., would carry two
+people, pilot and passenger, while it had an 8-cylinder water-cooled
+motor developing 60 h.p.--an exceptional power in those days. The
+position of the occupants, as they sat in the machine, differed from
+the arrangement in the cross-Channel Bleriot. In the latter the pilot
+sat in a hull placed between the planes, and with his head and
+shoulders above them. But in this new and larger machine the pilot and
+passenger sat in seats which were placed below the planes.
+
+The craft was, as a matter of fact, an experiment, being built almost
+purely for speed; hence its powerful motor. M. Bleriot's idea, in
+constructing it, was to have a machine with which he might win the
+Gordon-Bennett international speed race at Rheims. But this hope he
+did not realise; nor did I obtain delivery of the craft I desired.
+Bleriot, flying alone in this big monoplane, started in a speed flight
+for the Gordon-Bennett; but he was only a quarter of the way round the
+course, on his second lap, when the machine was seen to break suddenly
+into flames and crash to the ground from a height of 100 feet. It was
+wrecked entirely, but Bleriot was fortunate enough to escape with
+nothing worse than burns about the face and hands, and a general
+shock. The cause of the accident was that an indiarubber tube, fixed
+temporarily to carry petrol from the tank to the carburettor, had been
+eaten through and had permitted petrol to leak out, and to ignite, on
+the hot exhaust pipes of the motor.
+
+The destruction of this monoplane was, to me, a great disappointment.
+No other machine of the type was in existence, and I learned that it
+would take three months to build one. M. Bleriot promised, however, to
+put a machine in hand at once; and, as a special concession, I
+obtained permission to go daily to the Bleriot factory and superintend
+the construction of my own machine. This I did for a full period of
+three months, working daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and gaining some
+valuable knowledge as to aeroplane construction.
+
+On November 6, 1909, after delays which had tried my patience sorely,
+I obtained delivery of the new machine--a replica of the craft that
+had been destroyed at Rheims. It was too late that day to begin any
+trials, so I and a friend who was with me arranged with M. Bleriot's
+mechanics that we would be at Issy-les-Moulineaux early next morning,
+and there put the craft through its preliminary tests. I can remember
+we went to bed early, but sleep was impossible; we were both too
+excited at the prospect that lay before us. So presently we got
+up--this was at 2 a.m.--and drove out to the flying ground.
+
+It was pitch dark when we arrived at the aerodrome, but the morning
+promised to be favourable. Foggy it was; but there was no wind, and
+the fog seemed likely to clear. We roused the caretaker, and, after
+lengthy explanations and considerable monetary persuasion, induced him
+to open the shed and allow us to prepare the machine for its first
+flight. Then we waited for the mechanics and the first rays of dawn.
+We felt a desire to get the big engine started up, but had been warned
+of the risk of doing this without the help of mechanics. Time passed
+and still the mechanics did not come. At last, there being now
+sufficient light, we tied the aeroplane with ropes to a fence, so as
+to prevent its leaping forward, and then started up the motor by
+ourselves. I swung the nine-foot propeller--the only way of starting
+the engine; and at the first quarter-turn the motor began to fire.
+Then, as is quite usual, there was an incident that had been
+unforeseen in our excitement. We had forgotten to take up the slack of
+the rope; and the consequence was that, as the engine started, the
+machine gave a bound forward that was sufficient to knock me down. But
+I was unhurt, and picked myself up quickly. Then I hurried round to
+the driving seat and took my place at the control levers, motioning to
+my friend, who was looking after the ropes, to cast these loose and
+jump into the seat beside me. This was easier said than done. Directly
+he released the ropes the machine began to move across the ground,
+gathering speed very quickly; but he managed somehow, before the
+machine was running too fast, to scramble into the seat beside me.
+
+Off we started across the aerodrome, the monoplane gaining a speed of
+40 or 50 miles an hour. I did not attempt to rise from the ground,
+feeling it very necessary at first to grow familiar with the controls.
+So we sped along the ground for a distance of about a mile. Then, on
+nearing the far end, I slowed down the motor and our speed dropped to
+about 20 miles an hour. I wanted to turn the machine round on the
+ground and run back again towards our starting point. But such a
+manoeuvre, particularly for the novice, is far from easy. As the speed
+of the machine is reduced, the pressure of air on the rudder is
+lessened and so it loses its efficiency--in the same way that a ship
+is difficult to steer when she begins to lose way. We were faced also
+by another and a graver difficulty. Confused by the fog, which still
+hung over the aerodrome, I had misjudged our position. We found we
+were much nearer the end of the ground than I had imagined. In front
+of us there loomed suddenly a boundary wall, against which it seemed
+probable we should dash ourselves. There were no brakes on the machine;
+no way of checking it from the driving seat. Our position seemed
+critical.
+
+It was now that I shouted to my friend, telling him to jump out of the
+machine as best he could, and catch hold of the wooden framework
+behind the planes, allowing the machine to drag him along the ground,
+and so using the weight of his body as a brake. This, with great
+dexterity, he managed to do, and we came to a standstill not more than
+a foot or so from the wall. This proved a chastening experience; we
+pictured our aeroplane dashed against the wall, and reduced to a mass
+of wreckage. Very cautiously we lifted round the tail of the machine.
+It was impossible to switch off the motor and have a rest, because, if
+we had stopped it, we should not have been able to start it again
+without our gear, which was away on the other side of the ground.
+
+Now, having got the machine into position for a return trip across the
+aerodrome, I accelerated the engine, and we started off back. For
+about twenty minutes, without further incident, we ran to and fro; and
+now I felt that I had the machine well in control--on the ground at
+any rate. And so the next thing was to rise from the ground into the
+air. I told my friend my intention, calling to him above the noise of
+the motor; and I admired him for the calm way in which he received my
+news. I should not have been surprised if he had demanded that I
+should slow up the machine and let him scramble out. In those days it
+was thought dangerous to go up even with a skilled and more or less
+experienced pilot. How much greater, therefore, must have seemed the
+risk of making a trial flight with me--a complete novice in the
+control of a machine. But my friend nodded and sat still in his seat.
+So I accelerated the motor and raised very slightly our rear elevating
+plane. And then we felt we were off the ground! There was no longer
+any sensation of our contact with the earth--no jolting, no vibration.
+In a moment or so, it seemed, the monoplane was passing through the
+air at a height of about 30 feet. This, to our inexperienced eyes,
+appeared a very great altitude; and I made up my mind at once to
+descend. This manoeuvre, that of making contact with the ground after
+a flight, I had been told was the most difficult of all. It is not
+surprising that this should be so. Our speed through the air was, at
+the moment, about 50 miles an hour; and to bring a machine to the
+ground when it is moving so fast, without a violent shock or jar, is a
+manoeuvre needing considerable judgment. But, remembering that the
+main thing was to handle the control lever gently, I managed to get
+back again to the aerodrome without accident; and after this we turned
+the machine round again and made another flight.
+
+The fog had cleared by now, and we were surprised to see a number of
+people running across the ground towards us. First there came the
+tardy mechanics; and with them were a number of reporters and
+photographers representing the Paris newspapers. These latter
+had--though I only found this out afterwards--been brought by the
+mechanics in the expectation of being able to record, with their
+notebooks and cameras, some catastrophe in which we were expected to
+play the leading parts. Knowing the powerful type of monoplane I had
+acquired, a machine not suited for a novice, the mechanics had felt
+sure some disaster would overtake me. But, as it happened, their
+anticipations were not fulfilled. The journalists and photographers
+did not, however, have a fruitless journey. Though there was nothing
+gruesome to chronicle, they found ample material, when they learned of
+them, in the early morning adventures of myself and my friend with
+this 60 h.p. monoplane. Next day, in fact, our exploits were given
+prominence in the newspapers, and I received a number of
+congratulatory telegrams; not forgetting one of a slightly different
+character which came from M. Bleriot. He was flying at the time in
+Vienna, and he warned me of the dangers of such boldness as I had
+displayed--having regard to the speed and power of my machine--and
+pleaded with me for a greater caution.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST-TYPE CRAFT
+
+
+People are puzzled, often, when they try to explain to themselves how
+it is that an aeroplane, which is so much heavier than air, manages to
+leave the ground and to soar in flight. When balloons or airships
+ascend, it is realised of course that the gas, imprisoned within their
+envelopes, draws them upward. But the aeroplane--weighing with pilot,
+passenger, and fuel perhaps several thousand pounds--rises without the
+aid of a gas-bag and with nothing to sustain it but narrow planes; and
+these do not beat, like the wings of a bird, but are fixed rigidly on
+either side of its body. How is the weight of machine and man borne
+through this element we cannot see, and which appears intangible?
+
+The secret is speed--the sheer pace at which an aeroplane passes
+through the air. As a craft stands on the ground, its planes are
+inoperative. Power lies dormant in the air, but only when it is in
+motion, or when some object or apparatus is propelled through it at
+high speed. Have you stood on a height, in a gale, and felt an air
+wave strike powerfully against your body? The blow is invisible; but
+you yield a step, gasping; and, had you wings at such a moment, you
+would not doubt the power of the wind to sweep you upward. This is the
+force the aeroplane utilises.
+
+If, on a calm day, you accelerate your motor-car to 60 miles an hour,
+the air sweeps past you in a powerful stream; just as it would if you
+were standing still, and there was a gale of wind. Instead of the wind
+possessing the speed, in this instance, it is you who provide it. The
+motor of an aeroplane, driving the propeller of the machine, turns
+this at 1000 or more revolutions a minute, and causes its curved
+blades to screw forward through the air as they turn, like those of a
+ship's propeller through water--or a gimlet into wood. The propeller,
+as it bores its way into the air, draws or pushes the aeroplane across
+the ground; and the speed grows rapidly until the air, sweeping with
+an increasing pressure beneath the planes, becomes sufficient to bear
+the craft in flight.
+
+But the wing of an aeroplane would not sustain its load unless
+designed specially to act upon the air. A man, if he is unlucky enough
+to fall from a tall building, passes through the air at a high speed.
+His body obtains no support from the air; so he crashes to the ground.
+This is because his body is heavy, and presents only a small surface
+to the air. To secure a lifting influence from the air, it must be
+struck swiftly with a large, light surface.
+
+Men go to Nature when building wings for aeroplanes, and imitate the
+birds. The wing of a bird arches upward from front to back, most of
+the curve occurring near the forward edge; and this shape, when
+applied to an aeroplane wing, is known as its camber. With an
+aeroplane wing, if its curve is adjusted precisely, the air not only
+thrusts up from below as a machine passes through it, but has a
+lifting influence also from above; an effect that is secured by the
+downward slope of the plane towards its rear edge. The air, sweeping
+above the raised front section of the plane, is deflected upward, and
+with such force that it cannot descend again immediately and follow
+the downward curve of the surface. So, between this swiftly-moving air
+stream, and the slope to the rear of the plane, a partial vacuum is
+formed, and this sucks powerfully upward. With a single wing,
+therefore, it is possible to gain a double lifting influence--one
+above and one below.
+
+The building of aeroplanes, once their wing lift is known, becomes a
+matter of precision. According to the speed at which they fly, and the
+size and curve of their planes, machines will sustain varying loads.
+In some machines, as a general illustration--craft which fly fast--the
+planes may bear a load equal to 10 lbs. per square foot. In others the
+loading may be less than 3 lbs. per square foot.
+
+Apart from raising a craft into the air, by the lifting power of its
+wings, there is the problem of controlling it when in flight. The air
+is treacherous, quickly moving. Gusts of abnormal strength, sweeping
+up as they do invisibly, may threaten to overturn a machine and dash
+it to earth. Eddies are formed between layers of warm and cold air.
+There are, as a craft flies, constant increases or lessenings of
+pressure in the air-stream that is sweeping under and over its wings;
+and all these fluctuations influence its equilibrium. Unless,
+therefore, a machine is automatically stable--and with craft of this
+type we shall deal later--the pilot must be ready, by a movement of
+the surfaces which govern the flight of the machine, to counteract
+quickly, with a suitable action of his levers, the overturning
+influence that may be exercised by a gust of wind. Here lies the art
+of flying. A man is given a machine which, by the action of its motor
+and propeller, will raise itself into the air; and it is his task,
+when the craft is once aloft, to manipulate it accurately and without
+accident, and to bring it to earth safely after he has made a flight.
+
+In the description of controlling movements which follows we shall,
+for the sake of convenience, and for the sake also of brevity, deal
+only with the type of "pusher" biplane to which reference has been
+made already, and on which large numbers of pupils have been, and are
+being, trained to fly. This casts no aspersion whatever on tractor
+machines or on monoplanes. On either, if he has an inclination, a
+pupil can undergo his instruction, and do so usually with success. But
+explanation is rendered more easy, and there is less likelihood of a
+dispersal of interest, if one machine is selected for illustration;
+and our reasons for the choice of a "pusher" biplane, regarded from
+the point of view of tuition, have been explained already.
+
+First, therefore, one may deal with raising the craft into the air,
+and causing it to descend. In the photograph of the school machine
+shown facing this page, it will be seen that the control surfaces are
+indicated by lettering. In front of the biplane, on outriggers, is the
+plane "A." This surface (aided in its action by a rear plane) governs
+the rise or descent of the machine. When the motor is started, and the
+propeller drives the biplane across the ground on its chassis B, the
+machine would, if this lifting plane was held in a negative position,
+continue to move forward on the earth and would make no attempt to
+rise. In order to leave the ground, when the speed of the machine is
+sufficient for its main-planes (C.C.) to become operative, and bear
+its weight through the air, the pilot draws back slightly towards him
+a lever, which is placed just to the right of his driving-seat and is
+held with the right hand. A photograph which shows this lever, and the
+other controls, appears facing page 36, the lever to which we are
+referring being indicated by the figure 1. The effect on the aircraft
+when the pilot draws back this lever--the motion being slight and made
+gently--is to tilt up the elevating plane A, and this in its turn,
+owing to the pressure of air upon it, raises the front of the machine.
+The result of this alteration in the angle of the craft is that it
+presents its main-planes at a steeper angle to the air. Their lifting
+influence is increased, with the result that--at an angle governed by
+the pilot with his movement of the elevating plane--they bear the
+machine from the ground into the air.
+
+  [Illustration: GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE (TYPE XV.) _Photo by
+  Topical Press Agency._
+
+  A.--The front elevating plane, which acts in conjunction with the
+  rear-plane marked A1; B.--The landing-chassis; C.C.--The main-planes;
+  D.D.--The ailerons; E.E.--The rudders; F.--Engine (a 60-h.p. Le Rhone)
+  and propeller.]
+
+A reverse movement of the elevator reduces the lift of the main-planes;
+hence, when an aviator wishes to descend, he tilts down his elevator,
+bringing his machine at such an angle that it is inclined towards the
+ground. Then, switching off his engine so as to moderate the speed of
+his descent, and by such manipulations as may be necessary of his
+elevator, he pilots his craft to earth in a vol-plané, during which
+gravity takes the place of his motor, and he is able--by steadying his
+machine and bringing it into a horizontal position just at the right
+moment--to make a gentle contact with the ground.
+
+A pilot must be able to do more than cause his aeroplane to ascend and
+to alight: he must have means to check the lateral movements which,
+under the influence of wind gusts, may develop while the biplane is in
+flight. At the rear extremities of the main-planes as illustrated in
+the photograph facing page 34--and marked D.D.--are flaps, or ailerons,
+which are hinged so that they may be either raised or lowered. These
+ailerons are operated, through the medium of wires, by the same
+hand-lever which governs the movement of the elevator. This lever is
+mounted on a universal joint, and can be moved from side to side as
+well as to and fro. Should the biplane tilt, while flying, say towards
+the left, the pilot moves his hand-lever sideways towards the right.
+This is a natural movement, the instinct being to move the lever away
+from the direction in which the machine is heeling. This movement of
+the lever has the effect of drawing down the ailerons on the left-hand
+side of the machine; on the side, that is to say, which is tilted down;
+and the depression of these auxiliary surfaces, increasing suddenly
+as they do the lifting influence of the main-planes to which they are
+attached, tend to thrust up the down-tilted wings, and so restore the
+equilibrium of the machine.
+
+In the operation of his ailerons, combined with the use of his
+elevator, a pilot is given means to balance his craft while in flight.
+One should not gain the impression that an aeroplane is threatening
+ceaselessly to heel this way and that. This is not so. The machine has
+a large measure of stability, apart from any manipulation of its
+controls, and needs balancing only when some disturbance of the
+atmosphere affects its equilibrium. Under favourable conditions, such
+as a pupil will experience in his first flights, nothing more is
+necessary with the hand-lever than a very slight but fairly constant
+action; a similar motion, in a way, as is made by the driver of a
+motor-car when he maintains, by his "feel" on the wheel, his sense of
+control over the machine. In the controlling actions of an
+aeroplane--and this is a fact which tends sometimes to the confusion
+of the novice--nothing more is required, normally, than the most
+delicate of movements. The difference say between ascending, and
+skimming along the ground, is represented by a movement of the
+hand-lever of only a few inches. Delicate, sure, quick, and firm; such
+is the touch needed with an aeroplane.
+
+With the one hand-lever, as we have shown, it is possible for a pilot
+to control the rise and descent, and also the lateral movements of his
+machine; and there remains only the steering to be effected--the
+movement from side to side, from right to left, or vice-versa. At the
+rear of the biplane, as shown facing page 34, will be seen two
+vertical planes, E.E. These, being hinged, will swing from side to
+side; and they exercise a sufficient influence, when working in the
+strong current of air that blows upon them when a machine is in flight,
+to steer it accurately in any direction. The pilot, to operate this
+rudder, rests his feet on a conveniently-placed bar, which is mounted
+on a central swivel, and allows the bar to be swung by a pressure of
+either foot. When the pilot needs to make a turn say to the left, as
+he is flying, he presses his left foot forward. This swings the bar in
+same direction; and, by a simple connection of wires running to the
+tail of the machine, the rudders are made to swing over to the left
+also, and the machine turns in response to them. A similar movement to
+the right produces a right-hand turn. This foot rudder bar, being
+numbered 2, is shown in the picture facing page 36.
+
+  [Illustration: THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  1.--The upright lever which, working on a universal joint, operates
+  the elevator and ailerons; 2.--The bar, actuated by the pilot's feet,
+  which operates the rudders of the machine; 3.--The pilot's seat;
+  4.--The passenger's seat.]
+
+Apart from the movements we have described, which are extremely simple,
+a pilot needs also to maintain control over his motor. Near his left
+hand, fixed to the framework just at one side of his seat, are levers
+which govern the speed of the engine, also the petrol supply; while
+close to them is the switch by which the ignition can be switched on
+or off.
+
+A final word is necessary here, perhaps, and it is this: the glamour
+and mystery which, in the early days, clung to the handling of an
+aeroplane has now been dispelled almost entirely. A well-constructed
+machine, flying under favourable conditions, requires surprisingly
+little control; what it does, one may almost say, is to fly itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE STAGES OF TUITION
+
+
+Flying schools--those which really can be described as such--have been
+in operation now for seven years; and during this time, with thousands
+of pupils going through their period of tuition, many very valuable
+lessons have naturally been learned. To-day, at a well-managed school,
+each stage in a pupil's instruction, mapped out as a result of
+experience, is arranged methodically and with care; the idea being
+that the novice should pass from one stage to another by a
+smoothly-graduated scale, facilitating his progress and reducing
+elements of risk.
+
+It is in the early morning, and again in the evening, that the flying
+schools are most busy as a rule. At such times--morning and
+evening--the wind blows with least violence; and it is very necessary
+that a pupil, when he is handling craft for the first time, should
+have weather conditions which are favourable. Summer and winter, as
+soon as it is light, and granted conditions appear suitable, mechanics
+wheel the aeroplanes from the sheds, and the instructors begin their
+work. Should there be any doubt as to the weather, or as to the
+existence, say, of difficult air currents, an instructor will fly
+first, circling above the aerodrome at various heights, and satisfying
+himself, by the behaviour of his machine, whether it will be safe for
+the novices to ascend. If he pronounces "all well," school work begins
+in earnest, and continues--provided the weather remains
+favourable--until all the pupils have had a spell of instruction.
+Towards the middle of the day, and in the afternoon, it is quite
+likely the wind may blow and school work be suspended. But in the
+evening again, when there is usually a lull, a second period of
+instruction will be carried out. In well-equipped schools, to meet
+such conditions as these, it is customary to provide two complete and
+distinct staffs, both of instructors and mechanics. One staff takes
+the morning spell of work, while the second is held in readiness for
+the evening. This ensures that, both morning and evening, there shall
+be available for instruction a fresh, alert, and unfatigued staff.
+
+  [Illustration: REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical Press
+  Agency._
+
+  This photograph shows clearly the hinged ailerons fixed at the
+  extremities of the plane-ends for maintaining lateral stability: also
+  the rear elevating plane (which acts in conjunction with the
+  fore-plane mounted on outriggers at the front of the machine) and the
+  twin rudders.]
+
+A pupil will find that, as the first stage of his tuition, he is given
+the task of familiarising himself with the controls of a school
+biplane. The system we have described already, and a pupil should find
+no difficulty in mastering it. Placing himself in the driving-seat of
+the machine, while it is at rest on the ground, the pupil takes the
+upright lever in his right hand, and rests his feet on the rudder-bar,
+making the various movements of control, again and again, until he
+finds he is growing accustomed to them, and can place his levers in a
+position for an ascent or descent, or for a turn, without having to
+wait while he thinks what it is necessary to do.
+
+In the next stage, a more interesting one, the pupil, occupying a seat
+immediately behind his instructor, is taken for a series of passenger
+flights. These accustom him to the sensation of being in the air, and
+also train his eye in judging heights and distances. A minor point the
+pupil should bear in mind, though his instructor will be quick to
+remind him, is not to wear any cap or scarf that may blow free in the
+rush of wind and become entangled with the propeller. Scarves need to
+be tightly wrapped; while it is usual, with a cap, to turn it with the
+peak to the back, and so prevent it from having a tendency to lift
+from the head. Many pupils provide themselves with a helmet designed
+to protect the head in case of an accident, and these are held firmly
+in position. Should a passenger's cap blow off, and come in contact
+with the propeller, it may be the cause of an accident. How
+carelessness may lead to trouble, in this regard, will be gathered
+from the following incident.
+
+Some slight repairs had been made one day to the lower plane of a
+machine while it stood out on the aerodrome, and one of the workmen,
+through inadvertence, had left lying on the plane, near its centre, a
+roll of tape. The pilot decided to make another flight, and the motor
+was started and the machine rose. Suddenly the aviator was startled by
+a sound like a loud report, which seemed to come from the rear of his
+machine. The craft trembled for a moment, and he feared a structural
+collapse. Nothing worse happened, however, and he was able to pilot
+his machine in safety to the aerodrome. What had happened, it was then
+ascertained, was that the roll of tape, sucked back in the rush of
+wind, had been drawn into the revolving propeller and had broken a
+piece out of it. Luckily the impact had not been heavy enough to
+damage the propeller seriously, or cause it to fly to pieces.
+
+A problem with which the pupil will be faced in his first flights,
+particularly if he is learning in winter, will be that of keeping
+himself warm. The speed at which an aeroplane travels, combined with
+the fact that it is at an elevation above the ground, renders the
+"bite" of the cold air all the more keen, and makes it difficult very
+frequently, even when one is warmly clad, to maintain a sufficient
+warmth in the body, and particularly in the hands and feet. The
+question of cold hands is, from a pilot's point of view, often a
+serious one. There is a case on record of an aviator who, his hands
+being so numbed that his fingers refused to move, found he could not
+switch off his motor when the time came to descend; and so he had to
+fly round above the aerodrome, several times, while he worked his numb
+fingers to and fro, and beat some life into them against his body. At
+last, having restored their circulation to some extent, he was able to
+operate the switch and make a landing. While on active service in
+winter, after flying several hours at high altitudes, and in bitter
+cold, the occupants of a machine have descended in such a numbed
+condition, despite their heavy garments, that it has been found
+necessary to lift them out of their seats. But a pupil need not face
+such hardships as these. He will be flying for short periods only, and
+at low altitudes; so if he makes a few wise purchases from among the
+selection of flying gear now available, and particularly if he equips
+himself with some good gloves, he should be able to keep sufficiently
+warm in the air, even if he is going through his training in winter.
+
+  [Illustration: POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  Showing the 60-h.p. Le Rhone Motor, with its mounting on the machine,
+  and the method of attaching the propeller. The fuel tank is also
+  visible; and, forward at the front of the machine, the seats of
+  passenger and pilot.]
+
+A pupil will feel curious, naturally, as to his sensations in the
+first flights he makes with his instructor. Of the exact moment when
+the machine leaves ground he will be unaware probably, save for the
+cessation of any jolting or vibration, such as may be caused by the
+contact of the running wheels with the surface of the aerodrome. His
+first clearly-marked sensation, when in actual flight, will occur most
+likely when the pilot rises a little sharply, so as to gain altitude.
+Then the pupil will have a feeling one might liken to the ascent, in a
+motor-car, of a steep and suddenly-encountered hill; though in this
+case the hill is invisible, and there is no earth contact to be felt.
+This sensation of climbing is exhilarating; and when the pilot makes a
+reverse movement, descending towards the ground, the feeling is
+pleasant enough also, provided the dive is not too steep.
+
+The pupil's chief sensation, probably, will be that of the rush of
+wind which beats against him. Some people feel this much more than
+others. There is sometimes a feeling--it is no more than temporary--of
+inconvenience and of shock. The pupil feels as though his breathing
+was being interfered with seriously; as though the pressure was so
+great he could not expel air from his lungs. But this sensation, even
+when it is experienced, is short-lived. In a second flight, quite
+often, the novice finds that this oppression diminishes very
+perceptibly; and soon he does not notice it at all. Motoring
+experience proves useful here, particularly high-speed driving on a
+track.
+
+Some confusion is felt by the pupil, as a rule, and this is only
+natural, in regard to the pace at which the aeroplane travels through
+the air, and at the way in which the ground seems to be tearing away
+below. Occasionally, in a first flight, this impression of speed, and
+of height, produce in the pupil a sensation of physical discomfort;
+but it is one again which, in the majority of cases, is quickly
+overcome. A few balloon trips are a useful preliminary to flights in
+an aeroplane. They familiarise one in a pleasant way with the
+sensation of height, and accustom the eye also to the look of the
+ground, as it passes away below.
+
+While he is making his first flights with the instructor, and apart
+from analysing his sensations, the pupil will observe the lever
+movements made by the pilot in controlling the machine; and the fact
+that will impress itself upon him, as he watches these movements, is
+that they are not made roughly or spasmodically, but are almost
+invariably gentle. During these flights as a passenger, and after he
+has accustomed himself to the novelty of being in the air, the pupil
+will be allowed by the instructor to lean forward and place his hand
+on the control lever; and in this way, by actually following and
+feeling for himself the control actions the pilot makes, he will gain
+an idea of just the extent to which the lever must be moved, to gain
+any specific result in the flight of the machine.
+
+  [Illustration: MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR--ANOTHER VIEW. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  This shows the constructional unit that is formed, on a suitably
+  strong framework of wood, by the engine, propeller, and fuel tank, and
+  also by the seats for the pilot and passenger.]
+
+The next stage of tuition is that in which a pupil is allowed to
+handle a biplane alone, not in flight though but only in "rolling"
+practice on the ground--driving the machine to and fro across the
+aerodrome. The motor is adjusted so that, while it gives sufficient
+power to drive the machine on the ground and render the control
+surfaces effective, it will not permit the craft to rise into the air.
+This stage, a very necessary one, teaches the pupil, from his own
+unaided experience just what movements he must make with his levers to
+influence the control surface of the machine, and to maintain it, say,
+on a straight path while it runs across the ground. One of the
+discoveries he will make is that the biplane, if left to itself, shows
+a tendency to swerve a little to the left--the way the propeller is
+turning; but this inclination may be corrected, easily, by a movement
+of the rudder.
+
+The pupil learns also to accustom himself, while in this stage, to the
+engine controls which have been explained already; and he is not
+likely to be guilty of the error of one excitable novice who, while
+driving his machine back on the ground towards the sheds at an
+aerodrome, after his first experience in "rolling" became so confused,
+as he saw the buildings looming before him, that he lost his head
+completely and forgot to switch off his motor. The result was that the
+aeroplane, unchecked in its course, crashed into some railings in
+front of the sheds and stood on its head. Not much damage was done
+however, and the novice was unhurt. He seemed as surprised as anyone
+at what had happened, and confessed that, for the moment, his mind had
+been an utter blank.
+
+A pupil continues his practice in "rolling" till he can drive his
+machine to and fro across the aerodrome on a straight course, and with
+its tail raised off the ground; the latter action being obtained by
+the pupil by means of a suitable movement of the vertical lever which
+operates his elevating planes.
+
+Now comes the time when a pupil, taking the pilot's seat, and with the
+instructor sitting behind him--so as to be ready, if necessary, to
+correct any error the novice may make--begins his first short flights
+across the aerodrome. He rises only a few feet to begin with, and
+flies on a straight course, alighting each time before he turns, and
+running his machine round on the ground. He repeats this test until
+his instructor feels he is sufficiently expert to take the machine
+into the air alone. When this stage is reached, the instructor leaves
+his position behind the pupil, and the latter goes on with his
+practice till he can fly the length of the aerodrome alone, landing
+neatly and bringing his machine round on the ground, and then flying
+back again to his starting point.
+
+In the early days of flying schools, before a pupil went through any
+regular system of instruction, there were remarkable incidents in
+regard to these first flights. In one case a pupil, having bought his
+own aeroplane from the proprietors of a school, insisted on having
+installed in it a motor of exceptional power. When the time came for
+him to make his first flight alone, and he opened the throttle of this
+engine and it began to give its full power, the aeroplane ran only a
+short distance across the ground, and then leapt into the air. The
+engine was in charge of the machine, in fact, and not the pupil. Away
+above the aerodrome, and beyond its limits, in a strange, erratic
+flight, the biplane made its way. As the pupil struggled valiantly
+with his engine switch, which appeared to have become jammed, he made
+unconscious and jerky movements of his control levers. One moment the
+machine would ascend a little, the next it would approach nearer the
+ground; then it would swing either right or left. Those watching from
+the aerodrome held their breath. But with the luck of the beginner, a
+luck which is proverbial and sometimes amazing, the pupil managed at
+length to stop his motor and land without accident--though by no means
+gracefully--in an abrupt gliding descent.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT. _Photo by
+  Topical Press Agency._
+
+  The pupil, occupying in this case the driving seat, has in his right
+  hand the lever controlling the elevator and ailerons, while his feet
+  are on the bar which operates the rudder. The instructor (in the
+  passenger's seat) is demonstrating how, when necessary, he can place
+  his hand on the control lever, above that of the pupil, and correct
+  any error in manipulation of which the latter may be guilty.]
+
+Another story concerns one of those temperamentally reckless,
+happy-go-lucky men who, though providence seems to watch over them,
+are an anxiety nevertheless to their instructors. This pupil, breaking
+the rules of a school, flew out on one of his first flights beyond the
+limits of the aerodrome, disappearing indeed from the view of those
+near the sheds. Not far from the aerodrome lay a main road, with
+tramway-lines along it. A tram, with passengers on top, happened to be
+passing down the road; and it was to the astonishment of these
+passengers, and to their perturbation as well, that they observed an
+aeroplane in full flight, moving very low across a neighbouring field,
+and bearing down straight towards them. The machine passed, indeed,
+unpleasantly close above their heads, and then vanished as
+dramatically as it had appeared. Its pilot, as may be guessed, was the
+pupil who had disobeyed orders, and was now on a wild and erratic
+flight. Presently, after swerves and wanderings over the surrounding
+country, he was discerned making his way back towards the aerodrome,
+still flying unreasonably low. Some trees bordered one end of the
+aerodrome; and towards these, as though he meant to finish his exploit
+by charging into them, the novice was seen to be steering an
+undeviating course. Nearer he came to them, and still he did not turn
+either right or left. The instructor, and those gathered with him,
+made up their minds that nothing could avert an accident. But it
+happened that there was, between two of the trees, a space only large
+enough for an aeroplane to pass through. A skilled pilot, a man of
+experience, would not have cared to risk his machine in an endeavour
+to creep between those trees. But this pupil, a complete novice,
+steered boldly towards the opening and slipped through it with a
+precision that would have aroused the envy of an accomplished pilot.
+Then he landed on the aerodrome and climbed in leisurely fashion from
+his machine--"not having turned a hair," as the saying goes. The
+remarks of the instructor when he neared the machine, and began to
+unburden himself, do not appear to be on record, and no doubt this is
+as well.
+
+Having shown his ability to make a succession of straight flights,
+taking his machine into the air with precision and landing without
+awkwardness, the pupil finds himself faced next with the problem of
+turning while in the air. On this stage, however, he is not allowed to
+embark alone. The instructor takes his place again in the passenger's
+seat, so as to be ready to help the novice should he become confused,
+or find himself in any difficulty. Turns to the left are attempted
+first; and the reason is that, the propeller of the aeroplane
+revolving to the left--and the motor too if it is a rotary one--the
+machine has a tendency which is natural to turn in this direction.
+Half turns only are tried at first, the pupil landing before he has
+completed the movement. In making these first turns a pupil finds that,
+apart from his action with the rudder-bar, it is necessary to employ
+the ailerons slightly, so as to prevent the biplane from tilting
+sideways. The outer plane-ends of the machine have indeed, when a turn
+is being made, a natural tendency to "bank" as it is called, or tilt
+upward; the reason being that, as the machine swings round, these
+outer plane-ends, moving faster for the moment than the wing-tips on
+the inside of the turn, exercise a greater lift, and have an
+inclination to rise. An experienced aviator, having learned what is a
+safe "banking" angle, makes a deliberate use of this tendency when he
+is turning, and may on occasion even exaggerate it, to facilitate the
+swing of his machine on a very rapid turn, and to prevent it skidding
+outwards. But with the novice, engrossed completely as he is with the
+mere problem of getting his machine round in the air, "banking" is an
+art that must be deferred for awhile. It is perilously easy, for a
+beginner, to overstep the danger-line between a safe "bank" and a
+side-slip.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  A school biplane is seen just after it has left the ground, with the
+  pupil at the control levers, and the instructor seated behind
+  him--ready, if necessary, to correct any error the novice may make.]
+
+It is not long before the pupil can make a full left-hand turn; and
+then he goes on to perfect himself in this movement, flying alone now,
+and repeating the turn till he feels he can make it with confidence,
+and at a fair height.
+
+And now he comes to his final evolutions. Having mastered the
+left-hand turn, he proceeds to make one to the right. It used to be
+the contention--a contention that is now disputed--that in this
+movement, if the pupil employed his rudder-bar only, he would find the
+biplane showed an inclination to rise; a tendency due to the
+gyroscopic influence of the engine and propeller which--assuming a
+rotary engine is used--are now revolving in the opposite direction to
+that on which the machine is turned. What the pupil was recommended to
+do, in order to counteract this rising movement, was to tilt down his
+elevator a little, as he would in making a descent.
+
+When right-hand turns can be made with the same facility as those to
+the left, the pupil begins to combine the two without descending,
+making left turns and right turns, and so achieving in the air a
+series of figures of eight. He learns also to fly a little higher,
+thus preparing himself for one of his certificate tests.
+
+There are now certain very important rules which, in the navigation of
+his craft, he must accustom himself to bear constantly in mind. Should
+the engine of his machine, for example, betray any signs of failing,
+he must tilt down his elevator very promptly, and place his craft in a
+position for a descent. If he does not do this, and should the motor
+stop before he has his biplane at an angle for descent, the machine
+may lose speed so quickly, and its tail-planes show such a tendency to
+droop--owing to the lessening of pressure on their surfaces,
+consequent upon the failure of the motor--that there is a risk of the
+craft coming to a standstill in the air and then either falling
+tail-first, or beginning a side-slip that may bring it crashing to the
+ground.
+
+The pupil must learn also, and this again is important, not to force
+his machine round on a turn while it is climbing. If he does so the
+power absorbed in the ascent, combined with the resistance of the turn,
+may so reduce the speed of the machine that it threatens to become
+"stalled," or reach a standstill in the air, with the result that it
+either side-slips or falls tail-first. The procedure the pupil is
+taught to follow is this: when he leaves the ground he climbs a little,
+then he allows his machine to move straight ahead; then he proceeds
+to ascend again for a spell, repeating afterwards the horizontal
+flight. In this way he ascends by a series of steps, like climbing a
+succession of hills in a car; and his turns should be made only during
+the spells when he is flying horizontally.
+
+In this stage of his tuition, the pupil must learn also to make a
+vol-plané, or descent with his engine stopped. The essential point to
+be borne in mind, here, is that an aeroplane will continue in flight,
+and remain under control, even when it is no longer propelled by its
+engine. But what the aviator must do, should his engine stop through a
+breakdown, or should he himself switch it off, is to bring the force
+of gravity to his aid, and maintain the flying speed of his craft by
+directing it in a glide towards the ground. Provided he does this, and
+keeps his machine at such an inclination that it is moving at a
+sufficient speed through the air, he will find that the craft
+maintains its stability and that he has full command over its control
+surfaces, being able to turn, say, right or left, or either increase
+or slightly decrease the steepness of his descent. But all the time,
+of course, seeing that it is gravity alone which is giving him his
+flying speed, he is obliged to plane downward.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  This shows clearly how the instructor, from his seat behind the pupil,
+  can lean forward and, by placing his hand on the control lever, check
+  the novice in an error of manipulation.]
+
+A vital point to remember, when a pupil is handling a "pusher" type of
+biplane, is to incline the machine well downward, by a use of the
+elevator, before switching off the motor. Unless this is done, and if
+the machine is, say, at its normal horizontal angle when the engine is
+stopped, the sudden removal of pressure from the tail-planes of the
+craft, brought about by the absence of the wind-draught from the
+propeller, may cause the tail so to droop as to render inoperative any
+subsequent action of the elevator. When the tail droops, the
+main-planes are set at a steep angle to the air, and this has a
+slowing-up influence on the whole machine. It threatens therefore to
+stand still in the air; its controls become useless; and the pupil is
+faced probably with the danger of a side-slip.
+
+A story will illustrate this point; and it is one that has a special
+significance, seeing that the error which might have cost him his life
+was made by an aviator of experience. He had learned to fly on a
+monoplane, and had devoted his subsequent flying, for many months, to
+this one type of machine. Then he found himself associated with an
+enterprise in which a number of "pusher" biplanes were employed, and
+he decided that it would be useful for him to become accustomed to
+this type of machine. His flying experience of course helped him, and
+he soon found himself passing to and fro above the aerodrome, the
+biplane well in hand. Then he thought he would make a vol-plané, with
+his motor stopped, as he had been in the habit of doing in a
+monoplane. He switched off his engine without further thought, and
+moved his elevator to a position for the descent. But it was here that
+he made the mistake. In a monoplane, which has the weight of the
+engine and other gear well forward in the machine, the bow has a
+natural tendency to tilt down when the motor is cut off--particularly
+as the propeller-draught ceases to sweep under the sustaining planes.
+Therefore one can, in such a machine, switch off safely without first
+shifting the elevator, and getting the bow down as a preliminary. What
+the pilot had forgotten, for the moment, was the essential difference
+between monoplane and biplane. When he had switched off the engine in
+the biplane, and moved his elevator as he was accustomed to do, he
+found to his dismay that the machine failed to respond. Instead of
+pointing its bow down, indeed, it began to tilt rearward. Also, and
+this fact was noted by the airman with even more dismay, the craft
+lost forward speed so rapidly that it became uncontrollable. The next
+moment, the pilot helpless in his seat, the machine began a side-slip
+towards the ground. One sweep it made sideways, falling till it was
+not far short of the surface of the aerodrome. It paused an instant,
+then began a side-slip in the opposite direction. But here good
+fortune came to the pilot's aid. In this second swing, the machine
+being near the ground, it came in contact with the surface of the
+aerodrome before the "slip" had time to develop any high rate of
+speed. The biplane took the ground sideways, breaking its
+landing-chassis and damaging the plane-ends which came first in
+contact with the earth. But the pilot emerged from the wreckage
+unhurt. The accident was a lesson to him, though, as it was to others,
+and as it should be to all pupils. A machine must be in a gliding
+position before the engine is switched off.
+
+The art of the accomplished pilot, granted there is no reason for him
+to reach earth quickly, is to glide at as fine an angle as is possible,
+consistent of course with maintaining the speed of the machine
+through the air, and so preserving his command over its controls. A
+beautifully-timed, fine glide, the machine stealing down gracefully,
+and touching the aerodrome light as a feather, at a precise spot the
+airman has decided on even when he was several thousand feet high, is
+a delightful spectacle for the onlooker, and a keen pleasure
+also--from the point of view of his manipulative skill--to the aviator
+himself. But a pupil, at any rate in his first attempts, must not
+concern himself too much with any idea of a fine or graceful glide. It
+is his business to get to the ground safely, and not trouble too much
+whether his method is accomplished, or merely effective. Once with the
+bow of his machine down, and his motor switched off, it must be his
+concern to maintain the forward speed of his machine, which can be
+done only by holding it well on its dive. For the novice, if he
+attempts any fine or fancy gliding, there is the very real danger that,
+in his inexperience, he may lose forward speed to such an extent that
+his controls become inoperative, and his machine threatens to
+side-slip. One's ear should, apart from the inclination of the machine,
+and the sensation of the descent, help one materially in judging the
+speed of a glide. There is a "swish" that comes to the ear, now the
+engine is no longer making its clamour, which gives a guide to the
+pace of one's downward movement. Aviators who are skilled, and have
+done a large amount of flying, are able to judge with accuracy, by the
+ear alone and without the aid of a mechanical indicator, what their
+speed is as they pass through the air.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  Here the pupil is descending in a glide with his engine stopped, the
+  cylinders of the rotary motor being clearly visible.]
+
+Having held his machine firmly on its glide, till it is quite near the
+surface of the aerodrome, the pupil has next to think of making a neat
+contact with the ground. The art here is, at a moment which must be
+gauged accurately, to check the descent of the machine by a movement
+of the elevator--to "flatten out," as the expression goes. If the
+movement is made neatly the craft should, when only a few feet from
+the ground, change from a descent into horizontal flight, and continue
+on this horizontal flight for a short distance, losing speed naturally
+each moment--seeing that there is no driving power behind it--and so
+losing altitude also through its decrease in speed, until its wheels
+come lightly in contact with the ground, and it runs forward and then
+stands still. What the novice may do, if he is not careful, is to
+"flatten out" when he is too high above the ground. The result is that
+the machine slows up till it stands still in the air, robbed of its
+speed, and then makes what is called a "pancake" landing: it descends
+vertically, that is to say, instead of making contact with the ground
+at a fine angle and with its planes still supporting it; and the
+effect of such a "pancake," if the machine comes down with any force,
+may be that the landing-chassis is damaged, or perhaps wrecked. But as
+a rule, remembering that he has careful instruction to guide him
+before he attempts a gliding descent, the pupil masters the art of
+landing without difficulty, and without mishap.
+
+Now, after repeating perhaps certain of his evolutions, at the
+discretion of his instructor, in order to make sure that he can
+accomplish them with ease, the pupil is ready for the tests which will
+give him his certificate of proficiency.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE TEST FLIGHTS
+
+
+The sport of aviation is controlled throughout the world, and flying
+tests and events of a competitive character are governed, by the
+International Aeronautical Federation. To the deliberations of this
+central authority are sent delegates from the Aero Clubs of various
+countries; and to these Aero Clubs, each in its respective country,
+falls the task of governing flight, according to the rules and
+decisions of the central authority. In Britain, controlling aviation
+in the same way that the Jockey Club controls the Turf, we have the
+Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom; and it is this body, acting in
+its official capacity, which grants to each new aviator, after he has
+passed certain prescribed tests, a certificate which proclaims him a
+pilot of proved capacity, and without which it is impossible for him
+to take part in any contests held under the auspices of the Club. The
+certificate, which is of a convenient size for carrying in the pocket,
+contains a photograph of the pilot for purposes of identification, and
+specifies also the rules under which the certificate is issued and
+held.
+
+The theory of these tests, as imposed by the Club before it grants its
+certificates, is that the novice should--so far as is possible in one
+or two flights, made over a restricted area, and in a limited space of
+time--be called on to show that he has a full control over a machine
+in what may be called the normal conditions of flight. He is asked to
+ascend, for instance, and gain a fair flying altitude; then to make
+such evolutions as will demonstrate his command over the control
+surfaces of the machine; and finally to show that he can, with his
+motor switched off, descend accurately in a vol-plané, and bring his
+machine to a halt within a specified distance of a mark. The tests are
+set forth, officially, as follows:--
+
+  _A and B._ Two distance flights, consisting of at least 5 kilometres
+  (3 miles 185 yards) each in a closed circuit, without touching the
+  ground; the distance to be measured as described below.
+
+  _C._ One altitude flight, during which a height of at least 100 metres
+  (328 feet) above the point of departure must be attained; the descent
+  to be made from that height with the motor cut off. The landing must
+  be made in view of the observers, without re-starting the motor.
+
+The rules drafted by the Club to govern these flights
+are set forth herewith:--
+
+  The candidate must be alone in the aircraft during the tests.
+
+  The course on which the aviator accomplishes tests A and B must be
+  marked out by two posts situated not more than 500 metres (547 yards)
+  apart.
+
+  The turns round the posts must be made alternately to the right and to
+  the left, so that the flights will consist of an uninterrupted series
+  of figures of eight.
+
+  The distance flown will be reckoned as if in a straight line between
+  the two posts.
+
+  The alighting after the two distance flights in tests A and B shall be
+  made:--
+
+  (_a_) By stopping the motor at or before the moment of touching the
+  ground.
+
+  (_b_) By bringing the aircraft to rest not more than 50 metres
+  (164 feet) from a point indicated previously to the candidate.
+
+  All alightings must be made in a normal manner, and the observers must
+  report any irregularity.
+
+These flights as specified to-day, though they present no difficulty
+to the pupil who has been well trained, are more stringent than they
+were in the first scheme of tests as prescribed by the Club, and as
+enforced for several years. In those early rules the distances were
+the same as they are to-day, but in the altitude flight the height
+required was only 50 metres (164 feet)--just half the height specified
+to-day. It was not laid down, either, in the first rules, that the
+engine should be stopped in this altitude flight when at the maximum
+height, and that the descent should be made in a complete vol-plané,
+without once re-starting the motor. As originally framed, indeed, the
+rule as to the control of the engine in this altitude test was the
+same as in regard to the distance flights--_i.e._, that it should be
+stopped "at or before the moment of touching the ground." What the
+present rule means, in this respect, is that the pupil must be really
+proficient at making a vol-plané, without any aid at all from his
+engine, before he can hope to pass the test; and such a proved
+skill--say in the making of his first cross-country flight, should his
+engine fail suddenly--may spell the difference between a safe or a
+dangerous landing.
+
+The test flights for the certificate, undertaken only in such weather
+conditions as the pupil's instructor may think suitable, are watched
+by official observers appointed by the Royal Aero Club. It is the
+business of these observers, when the prescribed flights have been
+made, to send in a written report concerning them to the Club; and
+acting on this report, after it has been considered and shown to be in
+order, the Club issues to the pupil his numbered certificate. With the
+successful passing of his tests the pupil's tuition is at an end. He
+is regarded no longer as a novice, but as a qualified pilot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+PERILS OF THE AIR
+
+
+There are people, very many people, who still regard flying as an
+undertaking of an unreasonable peril, essayed mainly by those who are
+in quest of money, notoriety, or sensation at any price. Such
+people--still to be met with--have one mental picture, and one only,
+of the flight of an aeroplane. They imagine a man in the air--and this
+mere idea of altitude makes them shudder; and they picture this man in
+a frail apparatus of wood and wire, capable of breaking to pieces at
+any moment; or even if it does not break, needing an incessant
+movement of levers to maintain it in a safe equilibrium; while they
+reckon also that, should the engine of the machine suffer any
+breakdown, the craft will drop to earth like a stone. Prejudice dies
+hard; harder no doubt in England than in other countries. There are
+still people, not few of them but many, who would be ready to declare,
+offhand, that one aeroplane flight in six ends in a disaster.
+
+It is a truism, but one that has a peculiar truth in aviation, to say
+that history repeats itself. To-day we find large numbers of people
+who still cherish the opinion that--save perhaps when on service in
+war--it is nothing less than criminal foolishness for men to ascend in
+aeroplanes. That attitude of mind persists; the growing safety of
+flight has not affected it to any appreciable degree. But those eager
+for the progress of aviation need not despair, or imagine that their
+particular industry is being treated with any exceptional
+disapprobation. They have only to look back a little in our history,
+no great distance, and read of the receptions that were accorded the
+first pioneers of our railways. Public meetings of protest have not
+been held to condemn aviation; yet they were frequent in the days when
+the first railways were projected. Vast indignation was indeed aroused;
+it was declared to be against all reason, and a matter of appalling
+risk, that people should be asked to travel from place to place in
+such "engines of destruction." But the railways managed to survive
+this storm. They were placed here and there about the country; they
+were improved rapidly; and it would be hard, to-day, to find a safer
+place than the compartment of a railway train.
+
+Motor-cars, when their turn came, had to go through a similar ordeal.
+There was the same indignation, the same chorus of protest; and when
+the first of the pioneers, greatly daring, began actually to drive
+their cars on the public highway, there were people who believed, and
+who declared forcibly, that to permit such machines on our roads was
+the crime of the century. Had not these pioneers struggled valiantly,
+sparing neither time nor money, it is possible that the motor-car
+might have been driven from the highway. But here again progress,
+though it was retarded, could not be checked. The motor-car triumphed.
+It grew rapidly more reliable, more silent, more pleasing to the eye;
+and to-day it glides in thousands along our roads, a pleasure to those
+who occupy it, a nuisance neither to pedestrians nor to other wheeled
+traffic; more under control when it is well driven, and more ready to
+stop quickly when required, than any horsed vehicle which it may have
+replaced. At one time the papers were full of such headlines as:
+"Another Motor-car Accident." Each small mishap received prominent
+attention: and to the majority of people it seemed the wildest folly
+to travel in such vehicles. Yet to-day--such is progress--these same
+people ride in a motor-car, or a motor-cab, quite as a matter of
+course and without a thought of risk.
+
+When one discusses flying and its dangers, it is essential to maintain
+an accurate sense of proportion. In the very earliest days, for
+instance, it must be realised that the few men who then flew--they
+could be numbered on the fingers of one hand--exercised the greatest
+caution. They did not fly in high winds; they treated the air,
+realising its unknown perils, with a very great and a very commendable
+respect. Thus it was that thousands of miles were flown, even with the
+crudest of these early machines, and with motors that were constantly
+giving trouble, without serious accident. But after this, and very
+quickly, the number of airmen grew. New aviators appeared every day;
+contests were organised extensively; there were large sums of money to
+be won, provided that one pilot could excel another. And the spirit of
+caution was abandoned. Even while they were still using purely
+experimental machines--craft of which neither the stability nor the
+structural strength had been tested adequately--there grew a tendency
+among airmen to fly in higher winds, to subject their machines to
+greater strains, and to attempt dangerous manoeuvres so as to please
+the crowds who paid to see them fly.
+
+It was not surprising, therefore, that flying entered upon an era of
+accidents. Such disasters were inevitable--inevitable, that is to say,
+in view of the tendencies that then prevailed; though it is a
+melancholy reflection that, had men been content to go ahead with the
+same slow sureness of the pioneers, many of those lives which were
+lost could have been saved.
+
+To the public, not aware exactly of all that was going on, it appeared
+as though the navigation of the air, instead of growing safer, was
+becoming more dangerous. There were suggestions, indeed, made quite
+seriously and in good faith, that these endeavours to fly should cease;
+that the law should step in, and prevent any more men from risking
+their lives. What people failed to realise, when they adopted this
+view, was that instead of one or two men flying there were now
+hundreds who navigated the air; that flights in large numbers were
+being made daily; that thousands of miles instead of hundreds were
+being traversed by air--and often under conditions the pioneers would
+have considered far too dangerous. These facts, had they been realised,
+would have shown people what was actually the true state of affairs;
+that, though accidents seemed numerous, and were indeed more frequent
+than they had been in the earliest days of flying, they were as a
+matter of proportion, reckoning the greater number of men who were
+flying, and the thousands of miles which were flown, growing steadily
+less frequent.
+
+There was this important fact to be reckoned with also. Each accident
+that happened taught its lesson, and so made for future safety. A
+considerable number of those early accidents can, for instance, be
+traced to some structural weakness in a machine. The need in an
+aircraft then, as now, was lightness; and in those days designers and
+builders, owing purely to their inexperience, had not learned the art,
+as they have to-day, of combining lightness with strength. So it was
+that, as more powerful motors began to be fitted to aeroplanes, and
+greater speeds were attained, it happened sometimes, when a machine
+was being driven fast through a wind, that a plane would collapse, and
+send the machine crashing to the ground; or in making a dive, perhaps,
+either of necessity or to show his skill, a pilot would subject his
+machine to such a strain that some part of it would break.
+
+From such disasters as a rule, greatly to be regretted though they
+were, the industry emerged so much the wiser. The strength of machines
+was increased; the engines which drove them were rendered more
+reliable; and gradually too, though none too rapidly, the airmen who
+piloted them grew in knowledge and skill. But all this time, while
+flying was being made more safe, there were accidents frequently for
+the papers to report; and this was due entirely to the fact that there
+were now thousands of men flying, where previously there had been
+fifties and hundreds. The public could not realise how rapidly the
+number of airmen had grown; that practically every day, at aerodromes
+scattered over Europe, flights were so frequent that they were
+becoming a commonplace. It was in 1912, as one of its many services to
+aviation that the Aero Club of France was able to show, by means of
+statistics which could not be questioned, that for every fatality
+which had occurred in France, during that particular year, a distance
+of nearly 100,000 miles had been flown in safety.
+
+The cause of many of the early accidents was, as we have suggested,
+the breakage of some part of a machine while in flight. In an analysis
+for instance of thirty-two such disasters, it was shown that fourteen
+were due to the collapse of sustaining planes, control-surfaces, or
+some other vital part of a machine. And this risk of breakage in the
+air was increased, in many cases, by the building of experimental
+machines by men who had no qualifications for their task, and who
+erred only too frequently, in their desire to attain lightness, on the
+side of a lack, rather than an excess, of structural strength.
+
+There are many cases, unfortunately, that might be cited; but one may
+be sufficient here. A man with an idea for a light type of biplane, a
+machine designed mainly for speed, had an experimental craft
+built--this was in the pioneer days of 1909--and insisted on fitting
+to it a motor of considerable power. It was pointed out to him that
+his construction was not sufficiently strong, in view of the speed at
+which his machine would pass through the air. But he was of the quiet,
+determined, self-opinionated type, who pursued his own way and said
+little. He did not strengthen his constructional, and he began a
+series of flying tests. In the first of these, which were short, the
+planes stood up to their work, and the fears of the critics seemed
+groundless. But a day came when, venturing to some height, the aviator
+encountered a strong and gusty wind; whereupon one of his main-planes
+broke, and he fell to his death.
+
+As a contrast to this tragedy, and a welcome one, there is a humorous
+story, that is true, told of one experimenter. His knowledge of
+construction was small, but what he lacked in this respect he made up
+for in confidence; and he built a monoplane. This was in the days just
+after the cross-Channel flight, and experimenters all over the world
+were building monoplanes, some of them machines of the weirdest
+description. The craft built by this enthusiast seemed all right in
+its appearance; nothing had been spared, for instance, in the way of
+varnish. When wheeled into the sun, for its first rolling test under
+power, it looked an imposing piece of work. Friends were in attendance,
+photographers also; and the would-be aviator was in faultless flying
+gear. Mounting a ladder, which had been placed beside the machine, he
+allowed his weight to bear upon the fusilage, and proceeded to settle
+himself in his seat. But he, and the onlookers, were startled as he
+did so by an ominous cracking of wood. It grew louder; something
+serious and very unexpected was happening to the machine. As a matter
+of fact, and just as it stood there without having moved a yard, the
+whole of the flimsy structure parted in the middle, and the machine
+settled down ignominiously upon the ground, its back broken, and with
+the discomfited inventor struggling in the _débris_.
+
+It was far from easy, in the early days, for even an expert
+constructor to calculate the strains encountered under various
+conditions of flight. In wind pressure, under certain states of the
+air, there are dangerous fluctuations--fluctuations which, even with
+the knowledge we possess to-day, and this is far from meagre, exhibit
+phenomena concerning which much more information is required. Machines
+have collapsed suddenly, while flying on a day when the wind has been
+uncertain, and have done so in a way which has suggested that they had
+encountered, suddenly, a gust of an altogether abnormal strength.
+Occasionally, though research work in this field is extremely
+difficult, it has been possible to gain data as to the existence of
+conditions, prevalent as a rule over a small area, which would spell
+grave risk for any aeroplane which encountered them. There is a
+strange case, verified beyond question, which occurred during some
+tests with man-lifting kites at Farnborough. These kites are strongly
+built, and withstand as a rule extremely high winds. On this
+particular day a kite, when it had reached a certain altitude, was
+seen to crumple up suddenly. The wind did not seem specially
+strong--not at any rate on the ground; and there appeared no reason
+for the breakage of the kite. Another was sent up; but the same thing
+happened, and at the same altitude. Then the officer who was in charge
+of the kites sent for a superior. A third kite was flown to see what
+would happen. This one broke exactly as the others had done, and at
+just the same height--about five hundred feet. Precise data could not
+be gained as to this phenomenon; but the breaking of these
+kites--which had withstood extremely high pressure in previous
+tests--was reckoned to be due to the fact that, when they reached a
+certain point in the air, they were subjected to the violent strain of
+a sudden and complete change in the direction of the wind. To the
+pilot of an aeroplane, entering without warning some such area of
+danger, the result might naturally be serious in the extreme.
+
+The air has been, and is still, an uncharted sea. It does not flow
+with uniformity over the surface of the earth. It is a constantly
+disturbed element, and one that has the disadvantage of being
+invisible. An aviator cannot see the dangerous currents and eddies
+into which he may be steering his craft; and so it was not surprising,
+in those days when aircraft were frailer than they should have been,
+and cross-country flights were first being made, that machines broke
+often while in flight and that the airman's enemy, the wind, claimed
+many victims.
+
+Wind fluctuations that are dangerous, those which possess for one
+reason or another an abnormal strength, are encountered frequently
+when a pilot is fairly near the earth; and his peril is all the
+greater in consequence. On a windy day, one on which there are heavy
+gusts followed by comparative lulls, it is when he is close to the
+ground, either in ascending or before alighting, that a pilot has most
+to fear. If he is well aloft, with plenty of air space beneath him,
+and particularly if he has a machine that is inherently stable, he has
+little to fear from the wind; save, perhaps, should his engine fail
+him, or should he find--as has been the case in war flying--that the
+force of the wind, blowing heavily against him, and reducing the speed
+of his machine, has prevented him from regaining his own lines before
+his petrol has become exhausted. The modern aeroplane, when its
+engine-power is ample, and it is at a suitable altitude, can wage
+battle successfully even with a gale. But it must rise from the earth
+when it begins a flight, and return to earth again when its journey is
+done; and here, in the areas of wind that are disturbed by hills,
+woods, and contours of the land, there are often grave dangers. The
+wind at these low altitudes blows flukily. Its direction may be
+affected, for instance, owing to the influence of a hill or ridge. A
+side gust, blowing powerfully and unexpectedly against a machine, just
+as it is nearing the ground before alighting, may cause it to tilt to
+such an angle that it begins a side-slip. If the craft was
+sufficiently high in the air, when this happened, the pilot would be
+able, probably, to convert the side-slip into a dive, and the dive
+into a renewal of his normal flight. But if such a side-slip begins
+near the ground, and there is an insufficient amount of clear space
+below the machine, it may strike the ground in its fall, and become a
+wreck, before there is time for the pilot, or for the machine itself,
+to exercise a righting influence. The fact that a craft may be forced
+temporarily from its equilibrium, say by a side-slip, is known now to
+represent no great risk for the airman, granted always that he has the
+advantage of altitude. The machine, in such circumstances, falls a
+certain distance. This is inevitable, and for the reason that it must
+regain forward speed--which it has lost temporarily in its
+side-slip--before its own inherent stability can become effective, or
+its pilot regain influence over his controls. And it is this
+unavoidable descent, this short period during which the machine is
+recovering its momentum, and during which the pilot has no power of
+control, that represents in a heavy wind the moments of peril, should
+a pilot enter an area of disturbance just as he nears the ground.
+
+An aeroplane, when it sets out to fly in bad weather, may be likened
+to a boat that is being launched from a beach upon a rough and stormy
+sea. It is the waves close inshore, which may raise his craft only to
+dash it to destruction, that the boatman has chiefly to fear; and for
+the aviator, when he leaves the land and embarks upon the aerial sea,
+or when he returns again from this element and must make his contact
+with the earth, there lurks a risk that, caught suddenly by an air
+wave, and with insufficient space beneath his machine, he may be
+forced into a damaging impact with the ground. But the skill of
+designers and constructors, to say nothing of the growing experience
+of aviators, is working constantly towards a greater safety.
+
+Of the risk attached to engine failure, when he is piloting a craft
+fitted with only one motor, an airman is reminded frequently, not only
+from his own experience, but from that of other flyers. With the
+aeroplane engine, even with types that have gained a high average of
+reliability, there are many possibilities of a slight mishap--each of
+them sufficient, for the moment, to put an engine out of action--that
+the pilot who is flying across country must, all the time he is in the
+air, have at the back of his mind the thought that at any moment, and
+perhaps without any warning, he may find that his motive power has
+gone. A magneto may fail temporarily; an ignition wire or a valve
+spring break. The aeroplane engine of to-day is, of course, an
+infinitely more reliable piece of apparatus than it was in those early
+days when Henry Farman, working with extraordinary patience at
+Issy-les-Moulineaux, was endeavouring--and for a long time without
+success--to make the motor in his Voisin biplane run for five
+consecutive minutes without breakdown. The war has shown us, and under
+working conditions which have been exceptionally trying, how reliable
+the aero-motor has become. But until duplicate plants have been
+perfected, and more than one motor is fitted to aircraft as a matter
+of course, there must always be this risk of failure.
+
+In the mere stoppage of a motor no great danger is implied. The pilot
+must descend; that is all. His power gone, he must glide earthward.
+But where the risk does lie, in engine failure, is that it may occur
+at a moment when the airman is in such a position, either above
+dangerous country or while over the sea, that he cannot during his
+glide reach a place of safety. A study of flying will show how awkward,
+and how perilous on many occasions, has been the stoppage of a motor
+while a machine is in the air. Two historic instances, though they did
+not, fortunately, end in a loss of the pilot's life, were the
+compulsory descents into the Channel made by the late Mr. Hubert
+Latham, during his attempts, in 1909, to fly from Calais to Dover. In
+both these cases--once when only a few miles from the French shore,
+and on the second occasion when the aeroplane was quite near its
+destination--the motor of the Antoinette monoplane failed suddenly,
+and the aviator could do nothing but plane down into the water. On the
+first occasion he alighted neatly, suffering no injury, and being
+rescued by a torpedo boat; but in the second descent, striking the
+water hard, he was thrown forward in his seat and his head injured by
+a strut.
+
+Less fortunate, in a case of presumed engine failure that will become
+historic, was Mr. Gustave Hamel. Eager to reach Hendon, so as to take
+part in the Aerial Derby on May 23rd, 1914, his great experience of
+Channel flying induced him to risk the crossing with a motor which, on
+his flight from Paris to the coast, had not been running well. His
+monoplane was a fast machine, and the flight across Channel would have
+taken him less than half an hour. But at some point during the
+crossing, it seems obvious, his engine failed him, and he was unable
+to prolong his glide either to gain the shore, or the vicinity of a
+passing ship. His monoplane was never recovered; but the body of the
+aviator--whose loss was mourned throughout the flying world and by the
+general public as well--was discovered by some fishermen while
+cruising off the French coast, and identified by means of a map,
+clothing, and an inflated motor-cycle tyre; the last-named being
+carried by the airman round his body to act as an improvised life-belt.
+
+Engine failure, though a fruitful cause of minor accidents, and of the
+breakage of machines, has led to few fatalities; and this has been due
+very largely to the fact that, though machines have descended under
+dangerous circumstances, and have been wrecked in a manner that would
+appear almost certain to kill their occupants, the pilots and
+passengers have, as a matter of fact, escaped often with no more than
+a shock or bruises. An aeroplane does not strike the ground with the
+impact of a hard, unyielding structure. It is essentially frail in its
+construction; and this frailness, though it spells destruction for the
+machine in a bad descent, provides at the same time an element of
+safety for its crew. Take the case for instance of a machine falling
+sideways, and striking the ground with one plane or planes. These
+planes, built of nothing stronger as a rule than wood, crumple under
+the impact. But in their collapse, which is telescopic and to a
+certain extent gradual, a large part of the shock is absorbed. By the
+time the fusilage which contains the pilot touches ground, the full
+force of the impact is gone. And it is the same, often, if a machine
+makes a bad landing, say on awkward ground, and strikes heavily
+bow-first. Granted that the occupants of the machine are well-placed,
+and prevented by retaining belts from being flung from the machine,
+they should escape injury from the fact that there is so much to be
+broken, in the way of landing-gear and other parts, before the shock
+of the impact can reach them in their seats.
+
+Had it not been for the capacity of the aeroplane to alight in awkward
+places without injury to its pilot, many lives might have been lost
+through descents in which motors have failed. Aviators have been
+obliged to land in most unsuitable places: on the roofs of houses, for
+instance, in small gardens, and frequently on the tops of trees. If he
+finds his engine fail him when he is over a wood or forest, and there
+is no chance save to descend upon the trees, a skilled pilot may save
+himself as a rule from injury. Planing down, till he is just above the
+tree-tops, he will then check suddenly, by a movement of his elevator,
+the forward speed of his machine. The craft will come to a standstill
+in the air; then, the support gone from its planes owing to the loss
+of forward speed, it will sink down almost vertically, and with very
+little violence, on to the tops of the trees. The machine itself will
+naturally be damaged, seeing that boughs will pierce its wings in many
+places, and that one or more of its planes may possibly collapse. But
+the net result of such a landing--and this is the point which is
+important for the pilot--is that the machine will be caught up and
+suspended on the trees, making a comparatively light and gradual
+contact, instead of there being any risk of its driving through the
+trees and making a heavy impact with the ground.
+
+Humour, sometimes, may be extracted from such a predicament as engine
+failure, though it needs an aviator with a very deeply ingrained sense
+of humour to do so. The story is told, however, of a pilot who, flying
+across difficult country with a passenger, found that his motor
+failed--as they often will--just at a moment when there seemed no
+possible landing-point below. Looking over the side of his machine,
+and glancing quickly here and there, the aviator saw no alternative
+but to bring his craft down in an orchard that lay below. Pointing
+downward, to acquaint his passenger with their unpleasant situation,
+and to call his attention also to the orchard, the pilot said with a
+smile:
+
+  "I hope you're fond of apples!"
+
+There is a risk in engine failure which has been emphasised more than
+once; and it is that which may attend the pilot who, while prolonging
+a glide in order to reach some landing-point, may be struck by a gust,
+or enter some area of disturbed wind, just before he reaches the
+ground and while his machine, moving slowly, is not in a position to
+respond effectually to its controls. In one case an aviator,
+struggling back towards the aerodrome with a motor which was not
+giving its power, found that it stopped suddenly when he was not far
+from a wood. Beyond the wood, which stood on a ridge, there was a
+stretch of grassland. Endeavouring to reach this promised
+landing-point, and holding his machine on a long glide, the airman
+came across above the trees. He had almost reached his goal when his
+machine entered a sudden down-current of wind--occasioned, no doubt,
+by the proximity of the trees and ridge. Caught by this eddy, with no
+motive power to help him and very little speed on his machine, the
+pilot could not check its sudden dive; and the craft struck ground so
+heavily that both he and his passenger were killed.
+
+We have mentioned previously, as a fruitful cause of accident, that
+structural weakness of machines which has led, when conditions have
+been unfavourable, to a sudden collapse in the air. But apart from
+weakness in construction, and notably in accidents with early-type
+machines, there was the risk attached to mistakes in design, which
+produced machines which were unstable under certain conditions--and
+the dangers also which were due to inefficient controlling surfaces.
+It was no uncommon thing, in pioneer days, for a machine to be built
+which would not respond adequately to its elevator or rudder; though
+this unpleasant fact might not be discovered by the pilot until he was
+actually in flight, and perhaps at some distance from the earth. In
+one case, which is authenticated, a two-seated monoplane of a new type
+was tested at first in a series of straight flights, and found to be
+promising in its behaviour. A skilled pilot then took charge of it,
+and, carrying a passenger, proceeded to some more ambitious flights.
+Steering the machine away across the aerodrome, and flying at a low
+elevation, he approached a belt of woods. The machine was too near the
+ground to pass over the tops of the trees; so the aviator decided to
+make a turn, and fly parallel with the wood. But when he put his
+rudder over, so as to bring the machine round in a half-circle, he
+found to his dismay that there was no response. In the design of the
+machine, as it was found afterwards, the rudder had been made too
+small: it would not steer the machine at all. In the little space that
+was left him, and to avoid crashing into the trees, the pilot had to
+bring his craft to earth in such an abrupt dive that it was wrecked
+completely. He and the passenger, though, escaped unhurt.
+
+Carelessness has, fairly frequently, played its part in aeroplane
+disasters. Sometimes a pilot has been careless, or perhaps in a hurry,
+and has failed to locate some defect which, had it been seen and
+attended to, would have saved a disaster when a machine was in flight.
+Such inattention, which is sufficiently dangerous in the handling of
+any piece of mechanism, is deadly in its peril when those who are
+guilty of it navigate the air. A man who brings out a machine time
+after time, and ascends without examining it carefully, is adding
+vastly to the risks that may attend his flight; and the same remark
+will apply to the carelessness of mechanics; though as a class, in
+view of the arduous nature of their work, and of the long hours they
+have frequently to be on duty, with no more than hasty intervals for
+rest, their average of care and accuracy is very high. But there have
+been cases--mostly in the past though--in which a machine has
+developed a structural defect, or some defect say in its control gear,
+which ought to have been observed by its mechanics, but which has not
+been so detected, and has led to a catastrophe in flight. With
+machines built lightly, and subjected to heavy strains when at high
+speeds, it is vital that the inspection of such craft, that the
+examination of every detail of them, should be carried out in a spirit
+of the greatest care. The fraying through of a control wire, unnoticed
+by those in charge of a machine, has been sufficient to cause a
+disaster; while carelessness in overhauling a motor, a task of supreme
+importance, seeing that its engine is the heart of an aeroplane, has
+been another cause of accident. It is vital that, when an airman
+ascends, both his machine and his motor should be in perfect working
+trim. He himself, before he flies, and after his aeroplane has been
+wheeled from its shed, should make it a habit to look over the machine,
+so as to impose his own personal check upon the work his mechanics
+have done.
+
+Even when every care has been taken, and a machine ascends in perfect
+trim, there is the human factor, represented by the pilot, which must
+be considered always in a study of aeroplane accidents. There is often,
+when a catastrophe seems imminent, a choice of things that may be
+done. If an engine fails, for instance, under awkward circumstances,
+the pilot may have, say, three courses open to him in regard to his
+descent. Two may spell disaster and the third safety. It is here that
+the innate judgment of a pilot, combined with his experience, will
+tell its tale. But this personal element in flying, and particularly
+in regard to an accident, is often a very difficult one for which to
+make allowances.
+
+The whole problem of aeroplane disasters is, to the analyst, one of
+unusual complexity. Take for example the case of a pilot who is flying
+alone in his machine, and at an altitude of several thousand feet.
+Suddenly something happens; the machine is seen to fall and the pilot
+is killed. Experts come to examine the aircraft, but it is wrecked so
+completely that little which is reliable can be gathered from any
+inspection; while the man who could explain what has happened--the
+pilot of the machine--is dead. The statements of eyewitnesses, when
+taken on such occasions, are often misleading. One person heard a
+crash, and saw something fall away from the machine. Another declares
+the engine stopped suddenly and that the machine "fell like a stone."
+Another says he is sure he saw one of the wings fold upwards and the
+machine swing and fall. And so on. It is extremely difficult, even for
+a technical eye-witness, to be sure of what he sees when things happen
+quickly and at a distance from him; while the statements of
+non-technical people, who are not trained in observation, are
+generally so unreliable as to be useless.
+
+It has happened often therefore, far too often, in aeroplane
+fatalities that have happened from time to time, that the cause of
+such accidents has, even after the most careful investigation, had to
+be written down a mystery. But in more than a few cases, though the
+evidence has been far from conclusive, it has been considered that a
+pilot has been guilty of some error of judgment. There were puzzling
+instances, notably in the early days of flying, when airmen began
+first to make cross-country flights, of engines being heard to fail
+suddenly, and machines seen to fall to destruction. That engines
+should break down was not surprising; they were doing so constantly;
+but there was no reason why, even if they did fail, a machine should
+fall helplessly instead of gliding. But what was thought to have
+happened, in more than one of these cases, was that the pilot, through
+an error of judgment, had failed to get down the bow of his machine
+when his motor gave signs of stopping. The craft concerned were, it
+should be mentioned, "pusher" biplanes; and the same rule applied to
+them, in cases of engine failure, as has been explained in a previous
+chapter, and as is emphasised nowadays in the instruction of the
+novice. But in those days the beginner had frequently to learn, not
+from wise tuition, but from bitter experience; and he was lucky, often,
+if he learned his lesson and still retained his life. On certain
+early-type biplanes, for instance, machines with large tail-planes,
+and engined as a rule by a motor which was giving less than its proper
+amount of power, it was most dangerous for a pilot if, on observing
+any signs of failing in his engine, he sought to fly on in the hope
+that the motor would "pick up" again, and continue its work. Directly
+there was a tendency of the motor to miss-fire, or lessen in the
+number of its revolutions per minute, the consequent reduction of the
+propeller draught, as it acted on the tail of the machine, would cause
+this tail to droop, and the machine to assume very quickly a dangerous
+position. And when once it began to get tail-down, as pilots found to
+their cost, there was nothing to be done. The machine lost what little
+forward speed it had, and either fell tail-first, or slipped down
+sideways. Such risks as these, which were very real, were rendered
+worse owing to the fact that, in much of the cross country flying of
+the early days, pilots flew too low. They lacked the confidence of
+those who followed them, and were too prone to hug the earth, instead
+of attaining altitude. It was not realised clearly then, as it is now,
+that in height lies safety. And so when a machine lost headway through
+engine failure, and was not put quickly enough into a glide, it
+happened often that it had come in contact with the earth, and had
+been wrecked, before there was any chance for the pilot to regain
+control, or for the machine itself to exhaust its side-slip, and come
+back to anything like a normal position.
+
+But the failure of the human factor in flying, the lack of skill of a
+pilot that may lead to disaster, is shown by statistics to play no
+more than a small part, when accidents are studied in numbers and in
+detail. Some time before the war, in an analysis of the accidents that
+had befallen aviators in France--accidents concerning which there was
+adequate data--it was shown that only 15 per cent. of them could be
+attributed to a failure in judgment or skill on the part of the pilot.
+
+Apart from errors, however, in what may be called legitimate piloting,
+there have been regrettable accidents due to trick or fancy flying.
+Putting a machine through a series of evolutions, to interest and
+amuse spectators, is not of course in itself to be condemned. In such
+flying, and notably for instance in "looping the loop," facts were
+learnt concerning the navigation of the air, and as to the apparently
+hopeless positions from which an aeroplane would extricate itself,
+which were of very high value, from both a scientific and practical
+standpoint. Public interest in aviation was increased also by such
+displays; and it is very necessary that there should be public
+interest in flying, seeing that it is the public which is asked to pay
+for the development of our air-fleets. But the man who undertakes
+exhibition flying needs not only to be a highly-skilled pilot, but a
+man also of an exceptional temperament--a man whose familiarity with
+the air never leads him into a contempt for its hidden dangers; a man
+who will not, even though he is called on to repeat a feat time after
+time, abate in any way the precautions which may be necessary for his
+safety. In looping the loop, for instance, or in upside-down flying,
+it is necessary always that the aeroplane should be at a certain
+minimum height above the ground. Then, should anything unexpected
+happen, and the pilot lose command temporarily over his machine, he
+knows he has a certain distance which he may fall, before striking the
+ground; and during this fall the natural stability of his machine,
+aided by his own operation of the guiding surfaces, may bring it back
+again within control. But if he has been tempted to fly too near the
+ground, and has ignored for the moment this vital precaution, and if
+something happens for which he is not prepared, then the impact may
+come before he can do anything to save himself.
+
+In the early days of flying, when aviators attempted an acrobatic feat,
+they ran a far heavier risk than would be the case to-day; and for
+the simple reason that their machines, not having a strength
+sufficient to withstand any abnormal stresses, were likely to collapse
+in the air if they were made to dive too rapidly, or placed suddenly
+at any angle which threw a heavy strain on their planes. A machine for
+exhibition flying needs to be constructed specially; but this was not
+realised till accidents had taught their lesson.
+
+It is a regrettable fact, one which emerges directly from a study of
+aeroplane accidents, that many of them might have been avoided had men
+been content to follow warily in the footsteps of the pioneers, and
+not run heavy risks till they themselves, and the machines they
+controlled, had been prepared, by a long period of steady flying, to
+meet such greater dangers. The first men who flew realised fully the
+risks they ran. But when flying became more general, and men found
+machines ready to their hands, machines which it was a simple matter
+to learn to fly, this early spirit of caution was forsaken, and feats
+were attempted which brought fatalities in their train, and which
+seemed to emphasise the risks of aviation, and did it the very bad
+service that they fixed in the public mind a notion of its dangers,
+and prevented men from coming forward to take up flying as a sport.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY
+
+
+It has been calculated that nearly half the aeroplane disasters of the
+early days were due to a structural weakness in machines, or to
+mistakes either in their design, or in such details as the position,
+shape, and size of their surfaces. To-day, thanks to science, and to
+the growing skill and experience of aeroplane designers and
+constructors, this risk of the collapse of a machine in the air, or of
+its failure to respond to its controls at some critical moment through
+an error in design, has been to a large extent eliminated. That such
+risks should be eliminated wholly is, as yet, too much to expect.
+
+One of the factors making for safety has been the steady growth in the
+general efficiency of aircraft: in the curve of their wings which, as
+a result largely of scientific research, has been made to yield a
+greater lift for a given surface and to offer a minimum of resistance
+to their passage through the air; in the power and reliability of
+their engines; in the efficiency of their propellers; and in the
+shaping of the fusilage of a machine, and in the placing and
+"stream-lining" of such parts as meet the air, so as to reduce the
+head resistance which is encountered at high speeds. Such gains in
+efficiency, which give constructors more latitude in the placing of
+weight and strength where experience show they are needed, have gone
+far to produce an airworthy machine. In the old days, when machines
+were inefficient, a few revolutions more or less per minute in the
+running of an engine meant all the difference between an ascent and
+merely passing along the ground. But nowadays, through the all-round
+increase in efficiency that has been obtained, a machine will still
+fly upon its course without losing altitude, and respond to its
+controls, even should the number of revolutions per minute of its
+engine be reduced considerably.
+
+When given a greater efficiency in lifting surfaces and
+power-plants--and profiting also from the lessons that had been learnt
+in the piloting of machines--constructors were able to devote their
+attention, and to do so with certainty instead of in a haphazard way,
+to the provision of factors of safety when a craft was in flight. With
+a machine of any given type, if driven through the air at a certain
+speed, it is possible to estimate with accuracy what the normal
+strains will be to which it is subjected. But even if such data are
+obtained, and the machine given the strength indicated, this factor of
+safety is insufficient. It is not so much the normal strains, as those
+which are abnormal, that must be guarded against in flight. A
+high-speed machine, if piloted on a day when the air is turbulent, may
+be subjected to extraordinarily heavy strains; rising many feet in the
+air one moment, falling again the next, and being met suddenly by
+vicious gusts of wind--in much the same way that a fast-moving ship,
+when fighting its way through a rough sea, is beaten and buffeted by
+the waves. Air waves have not of course the weight, when they deliver
+a blow, that lies behind a mass of water; but that these wind-waves
+attain sometimes an abnormal speed, and have a tremendous power of
+destruction, is shown in the havoc that is caused by hurricanes.
+
+It seems astonishing to many people that such a frail machine as the
+aeroplane, with its outspread wings containing nothing stronger often
+than wooden spars and ribs, covered by a cotton fabric, should be
+capable of being driven through the air at such a speed, say, as 100
+miles an hour, encountering not only the pressure of the air, but
+resisting also the fluctuations to which it may be subjected. But,
+underlying the lightness and apparent frailty of such a wing, when one
+sees it in the workshop in its skeleton form, before it has been
+clothed in fabric, there is a skill in construction, and an experience
+in the choice, selection, and working of woods, that produces a
+structure which, for all its fragile appearance, is amazingly strong.
+And the same applies, nowadays, to all the other parts of an
+aeroplane. That it should have taken years to gain such strength, and
+to reduce so largely the risk of breakage, is not in itself
+surprising. Men had to devise new methods in construction--always with
+the knowledge that weight must be saved--and to create new factors of
+safety, before they could build an airworthy craft.
+
+To-day, when a man flies, he need have no lurking fear, as had the
+pioneers, that his craft may break in the air. Even when it is driven
+through a gale, plunging in the rushes of the wind, yet held straining
+to its task by the power of its motor, the modern aeroplane can be
+relied upon; and not in one detail of its construction, but in every
+part. Experience, the researches of science, and the growing skill
+with which aircraft are built, stand between the airman and many of
+his previous dangers. The aeroplane to-day, one of the structural
+triumphs of the world in its lightness and its strength, has a factor
+of safety which is sufficient to meet, and to withstand, not merely
+ordinary strains, but any such abnormal stresses as it may
+encounter--and which may be many times greater than the strains of
+normal flight.
+
+The aviator knows also that his engine, as it gives him power to
+combat successfully his treacherous enemy, the wind, represents the
+fruit of many tests and of many failures, and of the spending of
+hundreds of thousands of pounds. Many of its defects have revealed
+themselves, and been rectified; it is no longer light where it should
+have weight of metal, nor weak where it should be strong. So far as
+any piece of mechanism can be made reliable, consisting as it does of
+a large number of delicate parts, operating at high speed, the
+aeroplane motor has been made reliable. But, so long as one motor is
+used, there must always, as we have said, remain a risk of breakdown.
+It is for this reason that, thanks largely to the stimulus of the
+war--which has created a practical demand for such machines--aeroplanes
+are now being built, and flown with success, which are fitted with
+duplicate motors. With such machines, which give us a first insight as
+to the aircraft of the future, engine failure begins to lose its
+perils--particularly in regard to war. More than once during the great
+campaign, when flying a single-engine machine, an aviator has found
+his motor fail him, and has been obliged to land on hostile soil; with
+the result that he has been made prisoner. But with dual-engine
+machines it has been found that, when one motor has failed
+mechanically, or has been put out of action by shrapnel, the remaining
+unit has been sufficient--though the machine has flown naturally at a
+reduced rate--to enable the pilot to regain his own lines.
+
+In peace flying, too, as well as in war, the multiple-engined
+aeroplane brings a new factor of safety. If one of his motors fails,
+and he is over country which offers no suitable landing-place, the
+pilot with a duplicate power-plant need not be concerned. His
+remaining unit or units will carry him on. There are problems with
+duplicate engines which remain to be solved--problems of a technical
+nature--which involve general efficiency, transmission gear, and the
+number and the placing of propellers; but already, though this new
+stride in aviation is in its earliest infancy, results that are most
+promising have been obtained.
+
+To those who study aviation, and have done so constantly, say from the
+year 1909, one of the most striking signs of progress lies in the fact
+that, though unable at first to fly even in the lightest winds, the
+aviator of to-day will fight successfully against a 60 miles-an-hour
+wind, and will do battle if need be, once he is well aloft, with a
+gale which has a velocity of 90 miles an hour. He will ascend indeed,
+and fly, in any wind that permits him to take his machine from the
+ground into the air, or which the motor of his craft will allow it to
+make headway against. And here, though machines are still experimental,
+there is removed at one stroke the earliest and the most positive
+objection of those who criticised a man's power to fly. When the first
+aeroplanes flew the sceptics said: "You have still to conquer the wind,
+and that you will never do. Aeroplanes will be built to fly only in
+favourable weather, and this will limit their use so greatly that they
+will have no significance." But to-day the aviator has ceased, one
+might almost say, to be checked or hampered by the wind. If the need
+is urgent, as it often is in war, then it will be nothing less than a
+gale that will keep a pilot to the ground, provided he has a
+sufficiently powerful machine, and a suitable ground from which to
+rise--and granted also that he has no long distance to fly.
+Wind-flying resolves itself into a question of having ample
+engine-power, of being able to launch a machine without accident, and
+get it to earth again without mishap; and of being able to make a
+reasonable headway against the wind when once aloft; and these
+difficulties should solve themselves, as larger and heavier machines
+are built.
+
+Apart from the growing skill of the aviator, which has been bought
+dearly, science can now give him a machine, when he is in a wind, that
+needs no exhausting effort to hold it in flight. Craft are built, as a
+matter of certainty and routine, which have an automatic stability.
+Science has made it possible indeed, by a mere shaping and placing of
+surfaces, and without the aid of mechanical devices, to give an
+aeroplane such a natural and inherent stability that, when it is
+assailed by wind gusts in flight, it will exercise itself an adequate
+correcting influence. To understand what this means it should be
+realised that, when such a machine is in flight say in war on a
+strategical reconnaissance, and carries pilot and passenger, the
+former can take it to a suitable altitude and then set and lock his
+controls, and afterwards devote his time, in common with that of his
+passenger, to the making of observations or the writing of notes. The
+machine meanwhile flies itself, adapting itself automatically to all
+the differences of wind pressure which, if it had not this natural
+stability, would need a constant action of the pilot to overcome. All
+he need do is to maintain it on its course by an occasional movement
+of the rudder. With such a machine, even on a day when there is a
+rough and gusty wind, it is possible for an airman to fly for hours
+without fatigue; whereas with a machine which is not automatically
+stable, and needs a ceaseless operation of its controls, the physical
+exhaustion of a pilot, after hours of flight, is very severe.
+
+So, already, one sees these factors of safety emerge and take their
+place. There is no longer a grave peril of machines breaking in the
+air; there need be no longer, with duplicate power-plants, the
+constant risk of engine failing; while that implacable and treacherous
+foe, the wind, is being robbed daily of its perils.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS
+
+
+The masters of flying, and this is a fact the novice should ponder
+well, have been conspicuous almost invariably for their prudence. No
+matter how great has been their personal skill, they have never lost
+their respect for the air; and this is why so many of the great flyers,
+after running the heaviest of risks in their pioneer work, have
+managed to escape with their lives. What patience and sound judgment
+can accomplish, when pitted even against such dangers as must be faced
+by an experimenter when he seeks to fly, is shown by an incident from
+the early career of the Wright brothers. With one of their gliders, a
+necessarily frail machine, and in tests made when they were both
+complete novices, they managed to make nearly 1000 glides; and not
+once in all those flights, during which they were learning the
+rudiments of balance and control, did they have a mishap which damaged
+at all seriously their machine.
+
+These two brothers, Wilbur and Orville, offer to the student of flying,
+apart from the historical interest which is attached to their work, a
+temperamental study of the greatest interest. Wilbur, who was grave,
+judicial--a man of infinite patience and with an exceptional power of
+lucid thinking--found in his brother and co-worker, Orville, a
+disposition just such as was necessary to strengthen and support him
+in his great research; a disposition more vivacious and more
+enthusiastic than his, and one which acted as a balance to his own
+gravity. The method of these brothers in first attacking a mass of
+data, most of it contradictory--and a large amount of it of little
+intrinsic value--and then framing their own research on lines which
+they discussed and studied with methodical care, forms a model of
+sound judgment for workers in any complex field. Their kite
+experiments, their gliders, their refusal to hasten their steps unduly
+in the fitting of an engine to their machine, reveal again their
+discretion, and that judgment which never failed them. Perseveringly
+and unswervingly, exhibiting doggedness without obstinacy, and with
+their work illuminated always by the highest intelligence, they moved
+surely from stage to stage; and at last, when they fitted a motor to
+their machine, such was their knowledge of the air, and of the control
+of their craft when in flight, that they were able to make this
+crucial step, from a glider to a machine driven by power, without any
+breakage of their apparatus or injury to themselves.
+
+The same self-control marked them when, having demonstrated that men
+can ascend in a power-driven machine, and steer such a craft at will,
+they dismantled their apparatus and commenced their negotiations with
+foreign Governments. Wilbur Wright, too, when he came to France to
+give his first public demonstrations, provided by his methods a model
+for aviators, either present or future. He resisted all temptations to
+make injudicious flights. If he considered the weather conditions at
+all unsuitable he said that he would not ascend, no matter who might
+have come to see him fly, and that settled the question once and for
+all. He was deaf to all pleadings, to all proffered advice. When
+conditions were perfectly suitable, and then only, would he have his
+craft brought from its shed.
+
+The same meticulous care, in every flight he made, marked his
+preparation of his machine. Motor, controls, propeller-gearing, every
+vital part, received its due attention; and this attention was never
+relaxed, no matter how frequently he flew, nor how great was his
+success. An observer of one of his early flights at Le Mans has given
+us an impression that is typical of this unremitting care. There was a
+question of some small adjustment that Wilbur had instructed should be
+made to the machine. When the time came to fly, and he was in the
+driving-seat waiting for the motor to be started, he called a question
+as to whether this detail had been attended to. He was assured it had.
+But this was not enough for Wilbur Wright. Climbing from his seat and
+walking round the biplane, he made a careful examination for himself,
+and then returned quietly to the front of the machine. People who came
+to see him fly, and expected some picturesque hero, leaping lightly
+into his machine and sweeping through the air, found that reality
+disappointed them. This quiet, unassuming man, who slept in his shed
+near his aeroplane, and took his meals there also, refused to be fêted
+or made a fuss of; while his deliberation in regard to every flight,
+and his indifference to the wishes or convenience of those who were
+watching him, drove nearly frantic some of those influential people
+who, coming in motor-cars and with a patronising spirit, thought the
+aviator might be treated rather as a superior mountebank, who would be
+only too glad to come out and fly when a distinguished guest arrived.
+
+M. Louis Bleriot, whose name was next to become world-famous, after
+that of the Wrights, and who owed his distinction to his crossing of
+the English Channel by air, revealed in his character determination
+and courage, and imagination as well. And yet allied to these
+qualities--and here lay his temperamental strength--he had a spirit of
+quiet calculation and an eery considerable shrewdness. He knew, and was
+not afraid of showing that he knew, the full value of caution. And yet
+on occasion also--as in the cross-Channel flight--he was ready to put
+everything to the test, and to take promptly and with full knowledge
+the heaviest of risks. The motor in his cross-Channel monoplane was an
+experimental one of low power, air-cooled, and prone to over-heat and
+lose power after only a short period of running. To cross the Channel,
+even under the most favourable circumstances, he knew this engine must
+run without breakdown for thirty-five or forty minutes. This it had
+not done--at any rate in the air--before. There was a strong
+probability--and Bleriot knew this better than anyone else--that the
+motor would fail before he reached the English shore, and that he
+would have to glide down into the sea. It was arranged that a
+torpedo-boat-destroyer should follow him, and this afforded an element
+of safety. But Bleriot guessed--as was actually the case--that he
+would outdistance this vessel in his flight, and soon be lost to the
+view of those upon it. And he did not deceive himself as to what might
+happen, if his engine stopped and he fell into the water. His
+monoplane, as it lay on the surface of the water, would, he knew,
+prove a very difficult object to locate by any vessel searching for it;
+while it was so frail that it would not withstand for long the
+buffeting of the waves. He carried an air-bag fixed inside the
+fusilage, it is true; but, in spite of this precaution, Bleriot knew
+he ran a very grave peril of being drowned. There was, on the morning
+of his flight, another disturbing factor to be reckoned with. The wind,
+calm enough when he first determined to start, began very quickly to
+rise; and by the time he had motored from Calais to the spot where his
+aeroplane lay, and the machine itself was ready for flight, the wind
+out to sea was so strong that the waves had become white-capped. But
+Bleriot, aware of the value at such moments of decision, had made up
+his mind. He knew that, if his engine only served him, his flight
+would be quickly made. And so he reckoned that, even though the wind
+was rising, he would be able to complete his journey before it had
+become high enough seriously to inconvenience him; and in this
+calculation, as events proved, he was right. His motor did its work;
+and, though the wind tossed his machine dangerously when he came near
+the cliffs of the English coast, he succeeded in making a landing and
+in winning the £1000 prize.
+
+M. Hubert Latham, Bleriot's competitor in the cross-Channel flight,
+had that peculiar outlook on life, with its blend of positive and
+negative--puzzling often to its owner as well as to the onlooker--that
+is called, for the sake of calling it something, the artistic
+temperament. He was impulsive, yet impassive often to a disconcerting
+extent: extremely sensitive and reserved as a rule, yet on occasion
+almost boyishly frank and communicative. He lacked entirely ordinary
+shrewdness, or everyday commonsense. He was a man of a deeply romantic
+temperament, and this inclined him towards aviation and the conquest
+of the air; while in actual piloting he had such a quickness and
+delicacy of touch, and such a sure and instinctive judgment of
+distance and of speed, that he was undoubtedly a born aviator--one of,
+if not the, finest the world has seen. That he did not attain greater
+success, from a practical point of view, was due to the fact that he
+was without the level-headedness and the business ability which
+characterised others of the pioneers. When he was in flight in his
+Antoinette--Latham flew that machine and no other--he was a supreme
+artist. His machine was beautiful, and his handling of it was
+beautiful.
+
+M. Henri Farman, beyond question, of course, another of the great
+pioneers, is a man of imagination and of a highly nervous temperament,
+yet possessing at the same time a very pronounced vein of caution. No
+success has for an instant caused him to lose his head. At Rheims, in
+1909, when he had created a world's record by flying for more than
+three hours without alighting, those who hastened to congratulate him,
+after his descent, found him absolutely normal and unmoved. Washing
+his hands at a little basin in the corner of the shed, he discussed
+very quietly and yet interestedly, and entirely without any
+affectation of nonchalance, the details of his flight and the
+behaviour of his motor. His attitude was that the flight was something,
+yet not a great deal, and that very much more remained to be done; a
+perfectly right and proper attitude, one which was just as it should
+be, yet one encountered very rarely under such circumstances--human
+nature being what it is.
+
+Farman's patience, his perseverance, were in the very early days what
+gave him his first success. With the biplane the Voisins built him,
+for example, nothing but his own determination, and his ceaseless work
+upon his engine, enabled him to do more with this type of machine than
+others had done.
+
+As the aeroplane increased in efficiency, and in the reliability of
+its engine, and was used in cross-country journeys, there came an era
+of flying contests, in which large prizes were offered, and in which
+airmen passed between cities and across frontiers, and traversed in
+their voyages the greater part of Europe. In the making of these
+flights, which needed an exceptional determination and skill, allied
+also to a perfect bodily fitness, there came into prominence certain
+aviators whose precision in their daily flights, passing across
+country with the speed and regularity of express trains, won
+admiration throughout the world. Prominent among these champions was
+the French naval officer, Lieut. J. Conneau, who adopted in his
+contests the flying name of "Beaumont." His success and his exactitude,
+when piloting a Bleriot monoplane for long distances above unknown
+country, guiding himself by map and compass, gave the public an
+indication, for the first time, of what might be accomplished by an
+expert airman when flying a reliable machine. Lieut. Conneau's success,
+winning as he did several of the great contests one after another,
+and the absence of error in his flying from stage to stage, and his
+accurate landings upon strange and often badly-surfaced aerodromes,
+should provide for the novice in aviation--when the secret of this
+success is understood--an object-lesson that is of value.
+
+This quiet, efficient airman, and his methods in making himself so
+competent, afford indeed an interesting study. Here was one who,
+suited already by temperament for the tasks he undertook, trained
+himself with such care, with such patience, that he attained as nearly
+to the ideal as is possible for living man. When he had asked for, and
+obtained, permission from the Minister of Marine to study aviation in
+all its aspects, he began his task in a spirit that was admirable. "I
+was convinced," he wrote afterwards, "that a perfect knowledge of
+machines and motors was necessary before one could use them." For
+nearly a year, on leaving the sea, he worked to obtain a certificate
+as a practical engineer. This gained, he went through a period of
+motor-cycling and motor-car driving, varied by flights in captive
+balloons and free balloons, and afterwards in airships. Following this
+he obtained leave to stay for a time at Argenteuil, and enter the
+works of the builders of the Gnome motor. Here he lived the life of a
+mechanic, and learned to understand completely the operation of this
+famous engine, which he was destined to drive afterwards in his great
+flights.
+
+Presently he went to Pau, in order to obtain his certificate as an
+aeroplane pilot. At first, taking his turn with a number of other
+pupils, he could only get a few minutes at a time in a machine. But
+being a keen observer he found that, by listening to the instructors,
+and watching the flights made, he could pick up useful information
+without being in the air; and this led him to the observation that "to
+learn to fly quickly, one must begin by staying on the ground."
+
+He secured in due course his certificate of proficiency, astonishing
+the instructors by his skill and sureness in the handling of his
+machine. Then followed what might be called an apprenticeship to
+cross-country flying. He made constant flights in all weathers, flying
+for instance from Pau to Paris, and studying closely not only the
+piloting of his machine and the aerial conditions he encountered, but
+also the art of using a map and compass, and in finding a path without
+deviation from point to point. Improving daily in confidence and skill,
+and learning practically all there was to be learned as to the
+handling of a Gnome-engined Bleriot, he was able soon to fly under
+weather conditions which would have seemed hopeless to a pilot of less
+experience; while engine failure and other troubles, which overtook
+him frequently on these long flights, taught him to alight without
+damaging his machine on the most unpromising ground.
+
+Now, feeling himself at last competent, he obtained permission to
+figure on the retired list, so that he might take part in the aviation
+races which were then being organised. Of these great contests Lieut.
+Conneau won three in succession--the Paris-Rome Race, in which he flew
+928 miles in 21 hours 10 minutes; the European Circuit, in which he
+flew 1,060 miles in a total flying time of 24 hours 18 minutes; and
+the Circuit of Britain, in which he flew 1,006 miles in 22 hours 26
+minutes. Lieut. Conneau's success, which appeared extraordinary, and
+his skill in finding his way across country, which seemed abnormal,
+were due as a matter of fact to his assiduous preparation, and to a
+temperament which, even under the heavy strains of constant flying,
+saved him from errors of judgment or ill-advised decisions. His
+temperament was, indeed, ideal for a racing airman. He was quiet and
+collected, with a natural tendency to resist excitement or confusion.
+His physique was admirable, and he had that elasticity of strength,
+both in body and nerve, which are invaluable to a pilot when on long
+flights. Also, and this was of importance, Lieut. Conneau had a
+natural cheerfulness of disposition which carried him without
+irritation or despondency through those ordeals of weather, and of
+mechanical breakdowns and delays, which are inseparable from such
+contests as those in which he was engaged.
+
+A contrast to Lieut. Conneau, both in temperament and method, was his
+rival Jules Vedrines--the aviator who, notably in the Circuit of
+Britain, flew doggedly against Lieut. Conneau from stage to stage.
+Vedrines, who had not had the advantages in tuition that had been
+enjoyed by Lieut. Conneau, nor his grounding in technique, was
+nevertheless a born aviator; a man of a natural and exceptional skill.
+In energy, courage, and determination he was unexcelled; but such
+qualities, though of extreme value in a long and trying contest, were
+marred by an impetuosity and an excitability which Vedrines could not
+master, and which more than once cost him dear. He had not, besides,
+as was shown in the Circuit of Britain, that skill in steering by map
+and compass which aided Lieut. Conneau so greatly in all his flying.
+
+A personality of unusual interest was that of the late Mr. S. F.
+Cody--a man of a great though untutored imagination, and of an
+extraordinary and ceaseless energy. A big man, and one whom it might
+be thought would have been clumsy in the handling of an aeroplane, he
+piloted the biplanes of his own construction with a remarkable skill.
+He flew no other, of course, and this was greatly to his advantage in
+actual manipulation. The great pilots who have excelled--one may
+instance again Lieut. Conneau--have concentrated their attention as a
+rule on one type of machine, learning all there is to be learned about
+this particular craft, and being prepared in consequence, through
+their knowledge both of its capacities and weaknesses, for any
+contingency that may arise in flight. Another instance of such
+specialisation was provided by Mr. Gustave Hamel. M. Bleriot--an
+admirable judge in this respect--singled out Mr. Hamel, while this
+young man was learning to fly in France, as an aviator of quite
+unusual promise; and his prediction was, of course, more than
+fulfilled. Devoting himself exclusively to the monoplane, Mr. Hamel
+became a pilot whose perfection of control, very wonderful to witness,
+was marked strongly by his own individuality. He had beautiful
+"hands"--a precision and delicacy on the controls which marked his
+flying from that of all others; while his judgment of speed and
+distance, which was remarkable, represented natural abilities which
+had been improved and strengthened by his constant flying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING
+
+
+When a pupil has finished his flying school tests, and has received
+his certificate from the Royal Aero Club, he is in a stage of
+proficiency which means that he has learned to control an aeroplane
+when above an aerodrome and in conditions that are favourable, and
+that he may be relied on to make no elementary mistakes. But as to
+cross-country flying, with its greater hazards, he is still a novice,
+with everything to learn. And so it is to flights from point to point,
+generally between neighbouring aerodromes, that he next devotes
+himself.
+
+Aviators have been commiserated with, often, on what is thought to be
+the monotony of a cross-country flight. The pilot, raised to a lonely
+height above the earth, is pictured sitting more or less inertly in
+his seat, with nothing to do but retain his control on the levers, and
+look out occasionally so as to keep upon his course. But the beginner,
+when he first attempts cross-country flying, will have an impression
+not of inactivity, but of the necessity to be constantly on the alert.
+He will be engrossed completely by the manipulation of his machine,
+with no time to sit in idle speculation, or to analyse his feelings as
+the country passes away below.
+
+When preliminaries on the ground have been gone through, and the pilot
+is in the air, there will first be a need to gain a height of several
+thousand feet. Altitude is essential in cross-country flying. The
+higher a pilot flies, within reason and having regard to the state of
+the atmosphere, the better chance will he have of making a safe
+landing, should his motor fail suddenly and force him to descend. So
+the first concern is climbing--and in doing so the pilot must remember
+the teachings of his instructor, and not force his craft on too steep
+or rapid an ascent. He may prefer, in his early flights, to remain
+above the aerodrome while he is gaining altitude, watching his height
+recorder from moment to moment so as to note his progress upward. He
+will be occupied also with his engine, listening to its rhythm of
+sound, and keeping an eye on the indicator that tells him how many
+revolutions per minute the motor is actually making, and which will
+warn him at once should it begin to fail.
+
+Granted his motor is running well, a pilot should soon gain altitude.
+Then, assuming the air is clear--as it should be on his early
+flights--he will note some landmark, away on the line of his flight,
+and set off across country towards it. Fixed conveniently in front of
+him will be a map, of a kind devised specially for the use of
+aviators. A pilot's view, as he flies high above the ground, is
+bird-like. Landmarks fail to attract his attention, at this altitude,
+which would be clearly seen if he were on the ground. Hills, for
+example, unless they are high, are so dwarfed as he looks down on them
+that they scarcely catch his eye. What is done, by the designer of air
+maps, is to accentuate such details of a landscape as will prove
+conspicuous when seen from above. A river, or an expanse of water, is
+clearly seen; so also are railways and main roads; while factory
+chimneys, and large buildings which stand alone, may be identified
+from a distance when a pilot is in flight. So on an airman's map, made
+to stand out by various colourings in a way that catches the eye, are
+railways, roads, rivers, lakes and woods, with here and there a
+factory chimney or a church, should these be in a position rendering
+them visible easily from the air. That such maps should be bold in
+their design, and free from a mass of small details, is very necessary
+when it is remembered that the aviator, passing through the air at
+high speeds, has no time for a leisurely inspection of his map.
+
+With a good map, and aided when necessary by the compass that is
+placed in a position so that he can see it readily, a pilot has no
+difficulty as a rule, once he has acquired the facility that comes
+with practice, in steering accurately from point to point, even when
+on a long flight. On a favourable day, when the land below is clearly
+visible, he will glance ahead, or to one side, and after observing
+some landmark, look on his map to identify the position he has just
+seen. Under such conditions steering is easy, and the compass plays a
+subsidiary part. But it may happen that, while he is on a long flight
+and at a considerable altitude, the earth below may be obscured by
+clouds, or a low-lying mist, and all landmarks vanish from his view.
+Sometimes too, he may find himself flying through mist and cloud, with
+all signs of the earth gone from below. Whereupon, robbed for awhile
+of any direct guidance, he must fly by aid of his map and compass,
+holding his machine on its compass course, and noting carefully the
+needle of his height-recorder, so that he is sure of maintaining
+altitude. A risk exists under such conditions, when there is no
+visible object by which to judge a course, that an airman may make
+leeway, unconsciously, under the pressure of a side-wind; and so he
+must be ready to note carefully, immediately that a view of the earth
+is vouchsafed him, whether he has actually been making leeway, either
+to one hand or the other, even while the bow of his machine has been
+held on its compass course. There is a risk also, when a pilot is
+flying in fog or at night, that, having no visible horizon from which
+to gauge the inclination of his craft, it may assume gradually some
+abnormal angle, without his own sensations telling him what is taking
+place. The craft may, for the sake of illustration, incline sideways,
+imperceptibly to the pilot, till it begins to side-slip. But science
+can meet this danger by providing inclinometers, fitted within the
+hull so that the aviator can see them easily; and by means of these
+instruments, which are illuminated at night, it is possible for a
+pilot to tell, merely by a glance, at what angle his machine is moving
+forward through the air--whether it is up or down at the bow, or
+whether its position laterally is normal.
+
+The beginner, on his first cross-country flight, need not be troubled
+by such intricacies. He is flying, one assumes, on a fine day, with
+the land spread clearly below him. So as he moves through the air,
+listening always to the hum of his motor, he need have no fear,
+granted that his observation is ordinarily keen, of losing his way.
+
+Naturally, being a novice, he will feel the responsibility of his
+position. His eyes will rove constantly from one instrument to another;
+as indeed, from habit, do those of a practised flyer. He will glance
+at the height recorder; then at the engine revolution indicator; then
+at the dial which tells him what his speed is relative to the air.
+There is a dial, also, showing the pressure in his petrol-tank; while
+there will be a clock on his dashboard at which he will glance
+occasionally, after he has marked some position away on the land below,
+so as to determine what progress he is making from the point of view
+of time.
+
+Besides these preoccupations, and the ceaseless even if almost
+unconscious attention that he must pay to his engine, there is the
+need to bear constantly in his mind's eye the lie of the land. Should
+his motor fail suddenly, or something happen which necessitates an
+immediate descent, it is imperative that he should be able, without
+delay, to choose from the ground that is visible below him some field
+or open space that will provide a safe landing-point. And this is
+easier said than done. The earth, when viewed by a airman who looks
+down almost directly upon it, is apt to be deceptive as to its
+contour. A field that is selected say, from a height of several
+thousand feet, may not prove--as the aviator nears it in his glide--to
+be at all the haven he imagined it. More than once, seeking to alight
+on a field which appeared to him, as he was high above it, to be level
+as a billiard table, a pilot has found, when it is too late, that the
+ground has sloped so steeply that his machine, after landing, has run
+on downhill and ended by crashing into a fence or ditch.
+
+It is very necessary for an airman to learn to judge, by its
+appearance, the difference between an expanse, say, of pasture land,
+or a field which is in green corn or standing hay. It has happened
+often that a pilot, descending after engine failure towards what he
+has reckoned a grass field, has discovered--when too low to change his
+landing-point--that his pasture land is actually a field of green corn;
+and a landing under such conditions, with the corn binding on the
+running-gear of the machine, may end in the aircraft coming to an
+abrupt halt, and then pitching forward on its nose; with a broken
+propeller and perhaps other damages in consequence.
+
+In choosing a landing ground, as in other problems that face the
+novice in cross-country flying, experience will prove his safeguard.
+He will learn for instance that cattle or sheep, if they can be
+discerned below in a field, go to show that this field is one of
+pasture and not of crops. If no cattle are to be seen in a field, and
+the aviator is doubtful about it, and yet if it happens to be the only
+suitable one he can locate, then he may look closely at the gateway
+which leads into the field. If, in this gateway, he can detect such
+scars or markings on the ground as are caused by the feet of cattle as
+they walk daily in and out, he may feel satisfied the field is one of
+pasture.
+
+When cattle or sheep are seen standing in a field so that they face in
+the same direction, this may suggest either the existence of a slope,
+or the presence of a strong ground wind; while a stream or brook at
+the edge of a stretch of open land, or a belt of woods, may suggest a
+sloping of the ground.
+
+It is amusing for a pilot--or it was so, rather, in the days when few
+aeroplanes were in existence--to note the astonishment which his
+descent, made quite unexpectedly perhaps in some quiet and rural
+country, will occasion amongst the inhabitants. Sometimes, under the
+stress of such an excitement, people appear to lose for the time being
+their power of coherent speech. A pilot in a cross-country contest,
+not being sure whether he was on his right course, decided to make a
+landing and ask his way. He noticed, after a while, the figure of a
+man in a field below. Planing down, and alighting in the field, he
+shouted questions to this man, switching his engine off and on, while
+he did so, in order that his words, and those of the other, might be
+audible. But the man in the field, demoralised by the advent of this
+being from the air, and gazing at him and his machine with an
+expression of blank amazement, was unequal to the task of giving even
+the simplest directions. He waved his arms, it is true, but no words
+that could be understood issued from his lips. The pilot repeated his
+questions, but it was no good. The man waved and mouthed, and rolled
+his eyes, but when he tried to speak intelligibly he could not. So the
+aviator, loath to waste further time, accelerated his engine again and
+continued his flight.
+
+As a contrast to this, there was the experience of a pilot who, after
+a long flight from England to the Continent, landed at length near a
+small village. In the next field to that in which he alighted there
+was a labourer, digging patiently. The aviator expected that this man
+would fling down his spade in excitement, and run wildly towards the
+aeroplane. But such was not the case. This labourer, a marvel of
+placidity and unconcern, merely raised his head slowly and looked
+across at the aircraft, and then went on with his digging.
+
+In his first cross-country flights, being concerned chiefly as to the
+manipulation of his machine, and having so many things to think of,
+the novice may feel tired after even a short journey by air. His chief
+sensation, as he switches off his engine to descend towards the
+aerodrome he sees below him, will be one of relief that he has escaped
+engine failure, and that he has been able to find his way from point
+to point. The joy of flight, of passing swiftly thousands of feet
+above the earth, will have made but a small impression upon him--at
+any rate consciously. It will not be until the handling of his machine
+becomes less laborious, and he has time to accustom himself to his
+unique view-point, and the strangeness and beauty of the scene below
+him, that the novice will realise some of the fascinations of aerial
+travel; fascinations that it is difficult to describe. The sensation
+of having thrown off the bonds of earth-bound folk; of soaring above
+the noise and dust of highways; of being free from the obstructions of
+traffic; of sweeping forward smoothly, swiftly, and serenely--the land
+stretching below in an ever-changing panorama, with the drone of the
+motor in one's ears, and a wine-like exhilaration in the rush of the
+air: these, and others more obscure, are among the sensations of
+cross-country flying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+AVIATION AS A PROFESSION
+
+
+Young men, and parents on their behalf, are seeking always some
+profession which will yield an adequate return for the enthusiasm
+which youth lavishes upon it. Too often, though, at any rate in the
+past, this search for a man's work in life has been narrowed into ruts;
+conducted on certain set lines which, though they have found
+employment for the beginner, have given him no scope for that
+enthusiasm with which he will attack the first tasks presented him.
+Aviation, till the coming of the war, was looked at askance by parents
+who had sons on their hands. Apart from the risks of flying, which
+appeared to them ceaseless and terrible, the actual industry of
+building aeroplanes, regarded as an industry, seemed so haphazard and
+objectless an affair--so much like playing at work--that they
+discouraged any wish that a youth might show to enter it. Many people,
+these people of intelligence, regarded the building and flying of
+aeroplanes as being no more than a passing phase, and a regrettable
+one, which it was hoped men would soon abandon, and turn their
+attention to tasks more serious and profitable. But that was before
+aircraft had proved their value as instruments of war. Now it is known
+that aeroplanes have the power, granted they are supplied in
+sufficient numbers, of altering the tenor of a great campaign, both by
+land and sea; and that in any future war of nations, should one come,
+a battle between the hostile flying fleets, fought to determine the
+command of the air, will determine also, to a very large extent, the
+fortunes of armies on the land and navies on the sea. It is clear
+indeed that, for any great nation that strives to maintain its place,
+a powerful air fleet has become a necessity; while for Britain, an
+island no longer from the military point of view, seeing that we must
+face seriously the question of invasions by air, there is a vital need
+to strive for command of the air, as we now hold command of the sea.
+
+The building up of our air fleet will be an arduous task, needing men,
+money, and time; but without it we cannot be secure. Therefore the
+work must be faced, the men and the money forthcoming. Aviation, as an
+industry, must prepare for years of strenuous work. A great air
+service must be created. Machines must be designed and built in
+thousands instead of hundreds, and men trained to fly them. Nor is
+this all. The aeroplane, though it has such significance as a weapon
+of war, is destined primarily and eventually to be an instrument of
+peace; a machine for the transport by air of passengers, mails, and
+goods, at speeds greater than will be feasible by land or water; and a
+craft also for the use of travellers and tourists, enabling them to
+make such journeys, with ease and pleasure, as will again prove
+impossible by land or sea. So aviation has two immense tasks ahead of
+it, instead of one. Not only must it create, by years of patient and
+determined effort, a flying service which will command the air, but
+craft must be designed and built also for the mail, goods, and
+passenger-carrying services, and to meet the needs of the aerial
+tourist.
+
+This new task that has been given to men, that of designing, building,
+and piloting aircraft, is still on the eve of its expansion. The
+opportunities it offers to young men--to men whose minds are quick to
+grasp a new idea and who have the powers of initiative and
+decision--are almost boundless. Flying will, as it develops,
+revolutionise the world's system of transport; while the developments
+even of the immediate future promise to be so great, and so important,
+that it is not easy to visualise them. But this at least is clear: now
+is the time for newcomers to enter the world of flight. Aviation needs
+men, is calling aloud for men; and they are needed for many kinds of
+work. First, of course, should be placed the flying services, naval
+and military, to join which during the war men have come forward so
+admirably. But it will need, in the expansion that must follow this
+campaign, a steady and a ceaseless growth in numbers, not only of the
+men who handle machines in flight, but of those who serve the
+squadrons by their work on land, and who build up the organisation
+which is vital to success.
+
+For skilled aviators, other than those who join the services, there is
+scope for remunerative work. A constant demand exists for men who will
+test and fly in their trials the new machines that are built by
+manufacturers; for men who will fly, in public exhibitions, the craft
+that are used at the various aerodromes; and for men who will qualify
+as instructors, and join the flying schools which are already in
+existence, or in process of formation. In countries oversea, too,
+there is the definite promise that aircraft will be needed, not only
+for survey work over wide tracts of land, and for maintaining
+communication and bearing mails over districts where land travel is
+difficult, but also for exploration; and this again means that pilots
+will be required. New aerodromes must come into existence also; not
+only to act as alighting points for touring craft, but to provide
+grounds for the training of pupils; and at these aerodromes pilots
+will be needed.
+
+Of other opportunities, apart from the piloting of aircraft, there are
+many--though it is desirable for a man to learn to fly, and obtain his
+certificate of proficiency, even if afterwards he does not intend
+continuing as a pilot. The practical experience he gains, while
+learning actually to handle an aircraft in flight, will prove
+extremely useful to him subsequently, even though the task he
+undertakes is one that keeps him on the ground. He may qualify, for
+instance, for a post in a aeroplane factory as a designer or
+draughtsman; or he may specialise in aero-motors, and seek a post in
+the engine-shops. At the aerodromes, too, there are openings which
+present themselves; as, for example, in the management of a flying
+school.
+
+It has been shown that the public will go in thousands to see sporting
+contests with aeroplanes, and here is another field for organisation
+and effort; while there is a constant demand for men of ability in the
+executive departments of firms which are established already in the
+industry, and are expanding steadily, or in those which are now being
+formed, or are joining aviation from day to day.
+
+The industry is at last on a footing that is practical and sound. It
+presents a new field for effort, and one that is unexploited; while
+for the man who enters it--and this should be the attraction for
+youth--there are occupations as fascinating as one's imagination could
+depict. But one thing must be understood clearly. Flying is, of exact
+sciences, surely the most exact. The man who is only half-trained, who
+is more or less slovenly in his work, who will not bend his whole
+energies to his task, will find no place in this new industry. A young
+man is wasting his time, if, after deciding to enter aviation, he
+acquires knowledge that is no more than haphazard. He who contemplates
+aviation as a profession must set himself the task of learning all
+there is to be learned, and in the right way.
+
+Individual opportunities and circumstances will, necessarily, play so
+large a part in the steps taken by a young man--or by his parents on
+his behalf--to launch him on a career in aviation that it is
+impossible, here, to do more than generalise. Certainly, as we have
+said, it is an excellent preliminary to learn to fly; and it may be
+stated also that it is now possible to place, with aviation companies
+of repute, premium pupils who will undergo instruction extending over
+a period of three years. A youth may, also, gain his knowledge of the
+industry by becoming an indentured apprentice.
+
+One may say, as a conclusion to this chapter, that a great, new, and
+potential industry is springing up in our midst, one which will prove
+to be equally if not more important and far-reaching than the British
+shipbuilding industry, and one which will employ thousands of skilled
+engineers and artisans. Ships are limited to one element, the water,
+which has very definite boundaries. Aircraft, too, are limited to one
+element, the air; but this element has no boundaries so far as the
+earth is concerned, and aircraft will be navigable to any and every
+part of the globe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT
+
+
+It is a hopeful augury, to those concerned with aviation, that public
+interest in flying should not only be keen, but should be growing. In
+the early days, even when aeroplanes were so great a novelty, it was
+difficult to induce people in any numbers to witness a flying display.
+The first meetings, though they were organised with enthusiasm, ended
+as a rule with a heavy financial loss; and this fact of course, when
+it became known, had a discouraging influence on those who might, had
+these early meetings proved a success, have been willing to finance
+aerodromes and the building of machines. But as it was, business men,
+who are quick to form conclusions, said that people would never be
+induced to pay to see aeroplanes fly. But here they failed to reckon
+with the fact that, though public interest in flying has been of very
+slow growth, yet at the same time it has been a steady and continuous
+growth. From month to month, and from year to year, as aeroplane
+constructors and pilots have continued at their tasks, overcoming
+technical difficulties and personal risks, the interest of ordinary
+people has grown perceptibly. Even before the war--which has done so
+much to focus attention on flying--the attitude of scepticism and
+apathy had been greatly changed. When the London Aerodrome at Hendon
+was established, there were shrewd men in the city, men who are
+ordinarily very sound in their conclusions, who declared the public
+would never go there in appreciable numbers. How wrong they were, how
+little they gauged the change that was taking place in the public mind,
+is shown by the fact that, on a popular day at this aerodrome, as
+many as 60,000 people have paid for admission.
+
+In the immediate future, as in the immediate past, aviation will be
+concerned largely with the building of naval and military craft. This
+will, so to say, be the foundation of its development in other
+directions. War for instance, notably in the fitting of craft with
+duplicate power-plants, will provide data that is invaluable in the
+building of commercial craft, and in machines also for the use of the
+tourist. In aerial touring there lies an important field for the
+development of aircraft--one which may serve to bridge the gap between
+a relatively small, purely pleasure-type machine, and a craft which
+has utility in the fields of commerce. The motor-car provides an
+enjoyable means of travelling from place to place; but in the
+aeroplane, once it is airworthy, reliable, and comfortable, the
+tourist has a vehicle which is distinctly more pleasurable and
+exhilarating. The day was dawning before the war, and will now be
+hastened, when, garaging his aircraft at the London Aerodrome as a
+convenient starting-point, an aerial traveller will tour regularly by
+air, using his flying machine as he would a motor. Already, dotted
+about England, are aerodromes he may use as halting-points on his
+flight, and at which he can house his machine and secure the attention
+of mechanics; and the number of these grounds should grow rapidly in
+the future.
+
+In the aeroplane for the tourist, for the man who buys a machine and
+flies for his own pleasure, it is necessary to combine comfort and
+safety. As regards comfort, though much remains to be done in the
+perfection of detail, the occupants of a machine are now more studied
+than they were in the pioneer days. Then a pilot sat out on a crude
+seat, exposed fully to the rush of wind as a machine moved through the
+air. Now he is placed within a covered-in hull, a screen to protect
+him from the wind. From this stage, as was the case with the motor-car,
+rapid progress should be made in a provision of comfort.
+
+When touring by air under favourable conditions, there should be no
+more risk with an aircraft than with a motor-car. One of the most
+frequent causes of accident, as we have shown, has been the structural
+weakness of a machine. Now, with the experience of the war on which to
+draw, and with many clever brains focussed on the development of the
+industry, this risk may be regarded as almost non-existent; as
+negligible a factor as it is possible to make it, remembering that
+aircraft, like other mechanism, have to be built by human hands.
+
+Another risk, that of engine failure, may, as we have explained, be
+eliminated by the use of more than one motor. In the application of
+such systems there is still much to be learned; but the obstacles are
+not insuperable. One advantage that can be offered the aerial tourist,
+reckoning him as a pilot of no more than average skill, who needs all
+the aid that science can give him, is that he can obtain a machine
+which, owing to its automatic stability, requires merely to be taken
+into the air and brought to earth again, and which will practically
+fly itself, once it is aloft.
+
+One of the needs with a touring machine, to which makers must devote
+their attention, is that it should be able to leave the ground quickly
+in its ascent, and so permit its pilot to rise even from a small
+starting ground. And it is equally necessary that, on occasion, a
+machine should be able to alight safely, and at a slow speed, in quite
+a small field. An aviator who had given up aviation temporarily, after
+a long spell of cross-country flying, was asked one day when he was
+going to fly again. "I shan't do so," he said, "till I can buy a
+machine with which I can alight in my own garden."
+
+Already there are craft which, provided high speeds are not expected
+of them, and they are given ample plane-surface, will alight at quite
+a moderate pace; but in the future, by the use of machines which have
+the power of increasing or reducing their wing-surfaces while in
+flight, it should be possible to descend in a space no larger, say,
+than a garden. In the construction of variable-surface machines,
+technical problems need to be faced which are unusually difficult. The
+theory with such craft is that their sustaining planes, either by a
+telescopic system, or by some process of reefing, are built so that
+they can be expanded or contracted at the will of the pilot. Thus in
+rising, when a machine is required to ascend with a minimum run
+forward across the ground, a large area of lifting surface would be
+exposed; and at the moment of alighting, also, when it was desired
+that a machine should make its contact with the ground at the slowest
+possible speed, a maximum of plane surface would be employed. But when
+aloft, and in full flight, the pilot would be able if he so desired to
+reduce the area of his lifting surface, and so increase materially his
+speed. With a machine of this type, when perfected, it should be
+possible to rise quickly, and descend slowly, and yet at the same time,
+when well aloft, attain a high speed with moderate engine-power.
+
+The commercial possibilities of aviation are vast and far-reaching:
+not for nothing, after centuries of striving, have men conquered the
+air. The aeroplane is destined, by the facilities it offers for
+communication between nations, to play a vital part in the growth of
+civilisation. The construction and perfection of a commercial
+aeroplane, a machine which can be used for the transport of passengers,
+mails, and goods, represents largely a question of time and of money.
+Technical problems still need to be solved. But none of them are
+insurmountable. All should be overcome by an expenditure of money and
+in the process of time--granted of course that research is directed
+upon the right lines. A sufficient amount of money for experimental
+work, which in aviation is very costly, was one of the prime
+difficulties before the war. Capitalists were chary of aviation; they
+had no faith in it. Now, after the work aircraft have done in war, and
+with the need to provide the world with air fleets, the industry need
+live no longer from hand to mouth. There should be funds available for
+experiments with commercial-type aeroplanes.
+
+As to the factor of time, this depends largely on the facilities that
+are obtained by the industry--apart from its work on naval and
+military craft--for test work with other machines. But in five years' time,
+granted progress continues on the lines now promised, we should
+have a service of passenger aeroplanes, each carrying fifty or more
+people, flying daily between London, the Midlands, and the North;
+while in ten years' time it should be possible to cross the Atlantic,
+from London to New York, by means of a regular service of aerial craft.
+
+The commercial aeroplane, even when perfected, would not be likely to
+compete successfully with other means of transit unless it could offer
+the advantages of a greater speed. Here, indeed, in the speeds they
+will attain, lies the future of aircraft. The air will be our highway
+because, in the air, speeds will be reached that are impossible on
+land or sea. As civilisation extends--this is of course a
+truism--there grows with it a need for speedier travel; and we have
+seen land and sea transit striving to meet this demand. But both have
+reached, or are rapidly reaching, a limit of speed--a limit imposed by
+the need to carry their passengers and goods on a remunerative basis.
+On the sea, by burning excessive quantities of coal, it is possible to
+add a few knots to the speed of a great liner. But then the problem
+becomes one of profit and loss; while with trains--so nearly under
+existing conditions have they reached a limit of speed--that a
+difficulty is experienced, even on long runs, and under favourable
+circumstances, in saving a minute here and there. It is not of course
+to be assumed, when the spur of a greater necessity comes, that land
+and sea transit will fail altogether to increase their existing
+speeds. There is the mono-rail system of land traction, electrically
+propelled, which has yet to be tested in a practical way; while on the
+sea, perhaps, under pressure of competition, and with an increasing
+demand for greater speeds, it may be possible to adapt with advantage,
+even on large craft, some principle of the hydroplane.
+
+But by way of the air, granted even a speeding-up on land and sea,
+should go the high-speed traffic of the future. By a greater
+efficiency in lifting surfaces and by reductions in the resistance a
+craft offers to its own passage through the air; by the provision of
+systems which will permit a pilot to reduce plane-area when his
+machine has gained altitude and he desires a maximum speed; by the
+equipping of craft with motors developing thousands of horse-power for
+a very low weight--by such means, and by a general improvement in
+design, it should be possible, eventually, to attain flying speeds of
+150, 200, and even 250 miles an hour. From London to New York by air
+liner, in less than twenty hours; such, for instance, should be an
+attainment of the future.
+
+It seems probable, in the development of the commercial aeroplane, we
+shall have machines for touring and for pleasure flights--craft not of
+large size but in which efforts are made to obtain a greater
+reliability and comfort. Then it appears likely that aircraft may
+reach a practical use as carriers of mails and of light express goods;
+first of all in localities, and under conditions, which favour
+specially an aerial transit. And from this phase we should move to the
+passenger-carrying craft; to the days when we shall be able to spend a
+week-end in New York, as readily as it has been the habit to do in
+Paris; when we shall be able to reach any part of the world in a
+journey by air lasting, say, a week or ten days. Then, as a recompense
+for the lives that have been lost, and for a conquest that has been so
+dearly won, the world will enter upon an age of aerial transit--the
+age when frontiers and seas will act as barriers no longer, when
+journeys that now last weeks will be reduced to days, and those of
+days to hours; when first of all Europe, and then the world, will be
+linked by airway.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+    AERODROMES, their evolution, 14
+
+    Age, its relation to flying, 11
+
+    Alighting, operation of, 51
+
+
+    BIPLANES and tuition, the "pusher" type, 16
+
+    Bleriot, Louis, study of his methods as a pilot, 84
+
+
+    CERTIFICATE of proficiency, tests for, 54
+
+    Cody, S. F., 90
+
+    Commercial possibilities of aviation, 107
+
+    Conneau, Lieut. J. ("Beaumont"), 87
+
+    Constructional weakness in aeroplanes, risks of, 60
+
+    Controllability of aeroplanes, problems of, 33
+
+    Cross-country flying, pupils' first experiences, 92
+
+
+    DUAL-ENGINE machines, 79
+
+
+    ENGINE failure, risks of, 65
+
+    Enjoyment of learning to fly, 12
+
+
+    FARMAN, Henri, pioneer work as an aviator, 86
+
+    Fees for tuition, 13
+
+    First flights, pupil as passenger, 39
+
+
+    HEALTH and flying, 10
+
+    Human factor in relation to accidents, 71
+
+
+    IMPROVEMENTS in aircraft which spell safety, 76
+
+    Industry of aviation, its expansion, 100
+
+    Instructors, qualifications necessary, 15
+
+
+    LATHAM, HUBERT, temperamental study, 86
+
+    Learning to fly not dangerous, 11
+
+
+    MANUAL dexterity, need of, 12
+
+
+    OPPORTUNITIES for the newcomer in aviation, 101
+
+
+    "ROLLING" (handling a machine on the ground), 43
+
+
+    SCHOOL aeroplanes, types of, 16
+    ---- aeroplanes, need for ample supply, 15
+    ---- biplane, its controls, 34
+
+    Schools, modern, their conveniences, 18
+
+    Sensations of flight, 41
+
+    Speed in its relation to flying, 31
+
+    Speed, promise of the future, 109
+
+    Straight flights, 44
+
+    Sustaining planes, their operation, 32
+
+
+    TEMPERAMENT, the ideal for flying, 22
+
+    Time required in learning to fly, 19
+
+    Touring by air, 105
+
+    Turning in the air, 46
+
+
+    VEDRINES, Jules, his piloting, 90
+
+    Vol-plané, the, 48
+
+
+    WEATHER, its effect on tuition, 38
+
+    Wind fluctuation, dangers of, 62
+    ---- flying, 80
+
+    Wrights, Wilbur and Orville, 82
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+_Some books selected as being likely to appeal to a man, without
+technical knowledge, who contemplates learning to fly._
+
+"THE AIRMAN," by CAPTAIN C. MELLOR, R.E. Published by Mr. John Lane,
+the Bodley Head, London. (3s. 6d.)
+
+Describes the author's experiences, in France, while obtaining a
+brevet on a Maurice Farman biplane.
+
+"THE ESSAYS OF AN AVIATOR." Obtainable from "Aeronautics," 170, Fleet
+Street, London, E.C. (2s. 6d.)
+
+A series of admirable papers, written by a pilot and from a pilot's
+point of view.
+
+"THE AERONAUTICAL CLASSICS." A series of booklets issued at 1s. each
+by the Aeronautical Society, 11, Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.
+
+Describe authoritatively, and very interestingly, the work of great
+pioneers.
+
+"FLIGHT WITHOUT FORMULÆ," by COMMANDANT DUCHENE, of the French Génie
+(translated from the French by John H. Ledeboer). Published by
+Longmans, Green & Co., 39, Paternoster Row, E.C. (7s. 6d.)
+
+Instructive discussions, clearly expressed, on the mechanics of the
+aeroplane.
+
+"PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT," by A. E. BERRIMAN. Obtainable from "Flight"
+Offices, St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. (2s.)
+
+"AERO ENGINES," by G. A. BURLS. Published by Charles Griffen & Co., 12,
+Exeter Street, Strand, London, W.C. (8s. 6d.).
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+AUTHORS' NOTE.--The above list does not, of course, pretend to
+be in any way complete. It is designed merely to act as a
+suggestion for the novice.--C. G.-W., H. H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE LONDON AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Learning to Fly, by
+Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Learning to Fly, by Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Learning to Fly
+       A Practical Manual for Beginners
+
+Author: Claude Grahame-White
+        Harry Harper
+
+Release Date: December 18, 2008 [EBook #27557]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEARNING TO FLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="tn">Transcriber's note:<br>
+Author's Note, Index and Bibliography have been added to
+the table of contents for this ebook.</p>
+
+
+<h2>LEARNING TO FLY</h2>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a>
+<img src="images/i002.jpg" alt="A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT." width="500" height="291"></p>
+<p class="caption"><i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="tiny">
+
+<h1>LEARNING TO FLY</h1>
+
+<h5>A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR<br>
+BEGINNERS</h5>
+
+<h6>BY</h6>
+<h3>CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE</h3>
+<h6>AND</h6>
+<h3>HARRY HARPER</h3>
+
+<h4><i>FULLY ILLUSTRATED</i></h4>
+
+<h5>NEW YORK<br>
+THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</h5>
+
+
+<h5>PRINTED IN ENGLAND.</h5>
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="table of contents">
+  <tbody>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#note">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Authors' Note</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch1">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Theories of Tuition</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">9</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch2">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Temperament and the Airman</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">20</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch3">
+  <span class="smallcaps">First Experiences with an Aeroplane<br><small>(as described by mr. grahame-white)</small></span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">24</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch4">
+  <span class="smallcaps">The Controlling of Latest-Type Craft</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">31</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch5">
+  <span class="smallcaps">The Stages of Tuition</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">38</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch6">
+  <span class="smallcaps">The Test Flights</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">53</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch7">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Perils of the Air</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">56</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch8">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Factors that Make for Safety</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">76</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch9">
+  <span class="smallcaps">A Study of the Methods of Great Pilots</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">82</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch10">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Cross-Country Flying</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">92</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch11">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Aviation as a Profession</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">99</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#ch12">
+  <span class="smallcaps">The Future of Flight</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">104</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#index">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Index</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">111</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td><a href="#biblio">
+  <span class="smallcaps">Bibliography</span></a></td>
+  <td class="number">112</td>
+  </tr>
+</tbody></table>
+
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span>
+
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="table of illustrations">
+  <tbody>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#frontispiece">A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;"><i>Frontispiece</i></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">face page</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_34">GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">34</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_36">THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">36</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_38">REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">38</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_40">POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">40</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_42">MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR&mdash;ANOTHER VIEW</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">42</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_44">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">44</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_46">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1)</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">46</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_48">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2)</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">48</td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+    <td><a href="#facing_page_50">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3)</a></td>
+    <td style="text-align: right;">50</td>
+    </tr>
+  </tbody>
+</table>
+
+
+<hr class="mid">
+
+<div class="note"><span class="smallcaps">Authors' Note.</span>&mdash;The
+photographs to illustrate this book, as set forth above, were taken at
+the Grahame-White Flying School, the London Aerodrome, Hendon, by
+operators of the Topical Press Agency, 10 and 11, Red Lion Court,
+Fleet Street, London, E.C.</div>
+
+<hr class="mid">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span>
+
+<h2><a name="note" id="note"></a>AUTHORS' NOTE</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">This</span> book is written for the novice&mdash;and for the novice who is
+completely a novice. We have assumed, in writing it, that it will come
+into the hands of men who, having determined to enter this great and
+growing industry of aviation, and having decided wisely to learn to
+fly as their preliminary step, feel they would like to gain
+beforehand&mdash;before, that is to say, they take the plunge of selecting
+and joining a flying school&mdash;all that can be imparted non-technically,
+and in such a brief manual as this, not only as to the stages of
+tuition and the tests to be undergone, but also in regard to such
+general questions as, having once turned their thoughts towards flying,
+they take a sudden and a very active interest.</p>
+
+<p>It has been our aim, bearing in mind this first and somewhat restless
+interest, to cover a wide rather than a restricted field; and this
+being so, and remembering also the limitations of space, we cannot
+pretend&mdash;and do not for a moment wish it to be assumed that we
+pretend&mdash;to cover exhaustively the various topics we discuss. Our
+endeavour, in the pages at our disposal, has not been to satisfy
+completely this first curiosity of the novice, but rather to stimulate
+and strengthen it, and guide it, so to say, on lines which will lead
+to a fuller and more detailed research.</p>
+
+<p>It is from this point of view, as a short yet comprehensive
+introduction, and particularly as an aid to the beginner in his choice
+of a school, and in what may be called his mental preparation for the
+stages of his tuition, that we desire our book to be regarded.</p>
+
+<p class="r">C. G.-W.<br>
+H. H.</p>
+
+<p class="l"><i>April</i>, 1916.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch1" id="ch1"></a>CHAPTER I</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span>
+
+<h3>THEORIES OF TUITION</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">Only</span> eight years ago, in 1908, it was declared impossible for one man
+to teach another to fly. Those few men who had risen from the ground
+in aeroplanes, notably the Wright brothers, were held to be endowed by
+nature in some very peculiar way; to be men who possessed some
+remarkable and hitherto unexplained sense of equilibrium. That these
+men would be able to take other men&mdash;ordinary members of the human
+race&mdash;and teach them in their turn to navigate the air, was a
+suggestion that was ridiculed. But Wilbur Wright, after a series of
+brilliant flights, began actually to instruct his first pupils; doing
+so with the same care and precision, and the same success, that had
+characterised all his pioneer work. And these first men who were
+taught to fly on strange machines&mdash;as apart from the pioneers who had
+taught themselves to fly with craft of their own construction&mdash;made
+progress which confounded the sceptics. They went in easy and
+leisurely fashion from stage to stage, and learned to become aviators
+without difficulty, and mainly without accident.</p>
+
+<p>After this, increasing in numbers from two or three to a dozen, and
+from a dozen to fifty and then a hundred, the army of airmen grew
+until it could be totalled in thousands. Instead of being haphazard,
+the teaching of men to fly became a business. Flying schools were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span>
+established; courses of tuition were arranged; certain pilots
+specialised in the work of instruction. It was shown beyond doubt that,
+instead of its being necessary for an aviator to be a species of
+acrobat, any average man could learn to fly.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly a man who intends to fly should be constitutionally sound;
+this point is important. When in an aeroplane, one passes very quickly
+through the air, and such rapid movement&mdash;and also the effect of
+varying altitudes&mdash;entail a certain physical strain. A man with a weak
+heart might find himself affected adversely by flying; while one whose
+lungs were not sound might find that his breathing was impeded
+seriously by a swift passage through the air. More than one fatality,
+doubtful as to its exact cause, has been attributed to the collapse of
+a pilot who was not organically sound, or who ascended when in poor
+health. And here again is an important point. No man, even a normally
+healthy man, should attempt to pilot a machine in flight when he is
+feeling unwell. In such cases the strain of flying, and the effect of
+the swift motion through the air, may cause a temporary collapse; and
+in the air, when a man is alone in a machine, any slight attack of
+faintness may be sufficient to bring about a fatality.</p>
+
+<p>A fair judgment of speed, and an eye for distance, are very helpful to
+the man who would learn to fly, and it is here that a man who has
+motored a good deal, driving his own car, is at advantage at first
+over one who has not. But otherwise, and writing generally, any man of
+average quickness of movement, of average agility, can learn without
+difficulty to control an aeroplane in flight. It is wrong to imagine
+that exceptional men are required. An unusual facility, of course,
+marks the expert pilot; but we are writing of men who would attain an
+average skill.</p>
+
+<p>There has been discussion as to the age at which a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> man should learn to
+fly, or as to the introduction of age limits generally in the piloting
+of aircraft. But this introduces a difficult question; one which
+depends so entirely on the individual, and regarding which we need the
+data that will be provided by further experience. Some men retain from
+year to year, and to a remarkable extent, the faculties that are
+necessary; others lose them rapidly. The late Mr. S. F. Cody was
+flying constantly, and with a very conspicuous skill, at an age when
+he might have been thought unfit. But then he was a man of a rare
+vitality and a great enthusiasm&mdash;a man who, though he flew so often,
+declared that each of his flights was an "adventure." Taking men in
+the average one may say this: the younger a man is, when he learns to
+fly, the better for him. Much depends, naturally, on the sort of
+flying he intends to do after he has attained proficiency. If he is
+going to fly in war, or under conditions that impose a heavy strain,
+then he must be a young man. But if he intends to fly for his own
+pleasure, and under favourable conditions, then this factor of age
+loses much of its importance, and it is only necessary that a man
+should retain say, an ordinary activity, and a normal quickness of
+vision and of judgment.</p>
+
+<p>Flying is not difficult. It is in a sense too easy, and this is just
+where its hidden danger lies. If a pupil is carefully taught, and
+flies at first only when the weather conditions are suitable, he will
+find it surprisingly easy to pilot an aeroplane. That it is not
+dangerous to learn to fly is proved daily. Though hundreds and
+thousands of pupils have now passed through the schools, anything in
+the nature of a serious accident is very rarely chronicled. This
+immunity from accident is due largely to the care and experience of
+instructors, and also to the fact that all pupils pass through a very
+carefully graduated tuition, and that no hazardous flights are allowed;
+while another and an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> important element of safety lies in the fact
+that no flying is permitted at the schools unless weather conditions
+are favourable. It is now a fair contention that, provided a man
+exercises judgment, and ascends only in weather that is reasonably
+suitable, there is no more danger in flying an aeroplane than in
+driving a motor-car.</p>
+
+<p>Much depends of course on the dexterity of the pupil, and particularly
+on his manual dexterity&mdash;on what is known, colloquially, as "hands."
+Some men, even after they have been carefully taught, are apt to
+remain heavy and clumsy in their control. Others, though, seem to
+acquire the right touch almost by instinct; and these are the men who
+have in them the making of good pilots. Horsemen refer to "hands" when
+they speak of a man who rides well; and in flying, if a man is to
+handle a machine skilfully, there is need for that same instinctive
+delicacy of touch.</p>
+
+<p>Nowadays, when a pupil joins a well-established flying school, he
+finds that everything is made easy and pleasant for him. Most men
+enjoy very thoroughly the period of their tuition. A friendly regard
+springs up between the pupils and their instructors, and men who have
+learned to fly, and are now expert pilots, bear with them very
+pleasant reminiscences of their "school" days. But there were times,
+and it seems already in the dim and distant past, when learning to fly
+was a strange, haphazard, and hardly pleasant experience; though it
+had a sporting interest certainly, and offered such prospects of
+adventure as commended it to bold spirits who were prepared for
+hardship, and had a well-filled purse. The last requirement was very
+necessary. In the bad old days, amusing days though they were without
+doubt, no fixed charge was made to cover such breakages, or damage to
+an aeroplane, as a pupil might be guilty of during his period of
+instruction. These items of damage&mdash;broken propellers, planes, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span>
+landing gear&mdash;were all entered up very carefully on special bills, and
+presented from time to time to the dismayed novice; and a man who was
+clumsy or impetuous found learning to fly an expensive affair. There
+was a pupil who joined a school soon after Bleriot's crossing of the
+Channel by air. It was a monoplane school; and the monoplane, unless a
+man is careful and very patient, is not an easy machine to learn to
+fly. This beginner was not patient; he was indeed more than usually
+impetuous. His landings, in particular, were often abrupt. He broke
+propellers, frequently, to say nothing of wings and of alighting gear.
+And of all these breakages a note was made. Bills were handed to
+him&mdash;long and intricate bills, with each item amounting to so many
+hundreds of francs. Having a sense of humour, the pupil began to paper
+his shed with these formidable bills, allowing them to hang in
+festoons around the walls. What it cost him to learn to fly nobody
+except himself knew. He paid away certainly, in his bills for
+breakages, enough money to buy several aeroplanes.</p>
+
+<p>This was in the early days, when aviators were few and all flying
+schools experimental. To-day a pupil need not concern himself, even if
+he does damage a machine. Before beginning his tuition he pays his fee,
+one definite sum which covers all contingencies that may arise. It
+includes any and all damage that he may do to the aircraft of his
+instructors; it covers also any third-party claims that may be made
+against him&mdash;claims that is to say from any third person who might be
+injured in an accident for which he was responsible. This inclusive
+fee varies, in schools of repute, from £75 to £100.</p>
+
+<p>The modern aerodromes, or schools of flight, at which a pupil receives
+his tuition, have been evolved rapidly from the humblest of
+beginnings. The first flying grounds were, as a rule, nothing more
+than open<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> tracts of land, such as offered a fairly smooth
+landing-place and an absence of dangerous wind-gusts. Then, as
+aviation developed, pilots came together at these grounds, and sheds
+were built to house their craft. And after this, quickly as a rule, an
+organisation was built up. Beginning from rough shelters, erected
+hastily on the brink of a stretch of open land, there grew row upon
+row of neatly-built sheds, with workshops near them in which aircraft
+could be constructed or repaired. And from this stage, not content
+with the provision made for them by nature, those in control of the
+aerodromes began to dig up trees, fill in ditches and hollows, and
+smooth away rough contours of the land, so as to obtain a huge, smooth
+expanse on which aircraft might alight and man&oelig;uvre without accident.
+And after this came the building up of fences and entrance gates, the
+erection of executive offices and restaurants, the provision of
+telephone exchanges and other facilities&mdash;the creation in fact of a
+modern aerodrome.</p>
+
+<p>A pupil to-day, if he decides to learn to fly, finds he has an ample
+choice in the matter of a school. He may feel indeed that there is
+almost an embarrassment of facilities. But there are certain very
+definite requirements, in regard to any modern flying school; and if a
+novice bears these in mind, and thinks of them carefully when he is
+considering what school he shall join, he cannot go far wrong. First
+there is the question of the aerodrome on which, and above which, the
+pupil will undergo his instruction. This should be of ample size and
+of an adequately smooth surface; and it should be so situated, also,
+that it is free from wind eddies and gusts, such as are set up by
+hills, woods, or contours of the land, and are likely to inconvenience
+a novice when he makes his first flights. The best position for an
+aerodrome is in a valley, not abrupt but gently sloping. With a flying
+ground so placed, shielded well by nature on every hand, it may prove<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span>
+sufficiently calm for instruction even on days when there is a gusty
+wind blowing across more exposed points; and such a natural advantage
+is of importance for a pupil. It may mean that he is obtaining his
+tuition from day to day, when other pupils, learning to fly at grounds
+less favourably situated, have to remain compulsorily idle, waiting
+either for the wind to drop, or to veer to some quarter from which
+their aerodrome is sheltered.</p>
+
+<p>It is very necessary, of course, in the operation of a flying school,
+that there should be competent instructors; also a sufficient number
+of these to prevent them from being over-taxed, or having more pupils
+at any one time than they can handle conveniently. And it is greatly
+to the advantage of a pupil if these instructors have been chosen with
+an intelligent care. A man may be a capable pilot, and yet not have
+the temperament that will suit him for imparting his knowledge to
+others. The instructor who, besides being a fine flyer, has the
+patience and sympathy of a born teacher, is by no means easy to find.
+A school which does find such men, and retains their services, offers
+attractions for a pupil which&mdash;in any preliminary visit he pays to a
+school before joining it&mdash;he should look for keenly. And he should
+make certain, too, that the school has a staff of skilled and
+experienced mechanics.</p>
+
+<p>Another indispensable feature of a school is a sufficient number of
+aeroplanes, machines suited specially for the purposes of tuition, and
+maintained at a high efficiency. It has been no uncommon thing&mdash;though
+here again one is writing of the past&mdash;for the total resources of a
+school to comprise, say, two machines. Hence a couple of smashes would
+put such a school temporarily out of action, and leave the pupils with
+nothing to do but kick their heels, and wait until the machines had
+been repaired. It is certainly an advantage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> from the pupil's point of
+view, if there are well-equipped workshops in connection with the
+school he joins; also if the proprietors of his school have an ample
+supply of engines. With facilities for repair work immediately at hand,
+and with a spare engine ready at once to put in a machine&mdash;while one
+that has been giving trouble is dealt with in the engine-shop&mdash;there
+should always be a full complement of craft for the work of
+instruction. When workshops are in operation in connection with a
+school an opportunity is usually provided, also, for a novice to gain
+some knowledge as to the mechanism and working of the aero-motor: and
+this of course will be useful to him.</p>
+
+<p>There has been discussion as to the type of aeroplane on which one
+should learn to fly; but in this question, as in that of an age limit
+for airmen, it is extremely difficult, besides being unwise, to
+attempt to frame a hard-and-fast rule. The monoplane, for instance, is
+not an easy machine to learn to fly: it is not easy, that is to say,
+compared with certain types of biplane. Yet numbers of pupils have
+been taught on monoplanes, and this without accident. There is also a
+question whether, among biplanes, it is best to learn on a tractor
+machine&mdash;one that is to say with the engine in front of the main
+planes&mdash;or on a "pusher" type of craft; this last mentioned having its
+motor behind the planes. Aeroplanes of both types are in use; and it
+would be advantageous, of course, for a novice to accustom himself to
+handle either. But from the point of view of those who operate large
+flying schools, and have to weigh one point against another, and
+eliminate so far as possible the elements of risk or difficulty, there
+are very distinct advantages in a "pusher" biplane, such as is
+illustrated <a href="#facing_page_34">facing page 34</a>. The control of such a machine is simple,
+and can be grasped quite readily. It provides the novice, when he is
+seated in it, with a clear and unobstructed view of the ground<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span>
+immediately in front of and below him; and this, in the early stages
+of tuition, is an extremely important point. A craft of such a type,
+also, when built specially for instruction, can be given a very strong
+alighting gear, and this makes for safety when a pupil is in his first
+tests, and may be guilty of an abrupt or rough descent. Again, while
+such a school machine as this is engined adequately, it is at the same
+time comparatively slow in flight, and has the advantage also that it
+will alight at slow speeds. In the air, too, it has a large measure of
+stability, and is not too rapid in its response to its controls. It
+gives a pupil what is very necessary for him in his first flights, and
+that is a certain latitude for error. It is safe to say, indeed,
+without being dogmatic, that a "pusher" biplane of the type
+illustrated, if constructed specially for school work, offers a pupil
+two very clearly marked advantages. These are: (1) A craft which he
+can learn to fly quickly; and (2) A machine on which he can pass
+through his tuition with the least risk of accident.</p>
+
+<p>This last-mentioned point is, naturally, one of extreme importance. It
+is very necessary, apart from any question of personal injury, that a
+pupil should be protected during his tuition from anything in the
+nature of a bad smash. A man should start to learn to fly with full
+confidence; the more he has the better, provided it is tempered with
+caution. And if he can go through his training without accident, and
+preserve the steadily growing confidence that his proficiency will
+give him, he is on the high road to success as a pilot. But if he
+meets with an accident while he is learning&mdash;some sudden and quite
+unexpected fall&mdash;this may have a serious and a permanent influence on
+his nerves, even if he escapes without injury. It happened frequently
+in the early days that a promising pupil, a man who showed both
+confidence and skill,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> had his nerve ruined, and all his "dash" taken
+from him, by some unlucky accident while he was learning to fly.</p>
+
+<p>There are certain minor points a pupil should consider when he selects
+a flying school&mdash;points which have reference mainly to his own comfort
+and convenience. He will prefer, for instance, other things being
+equal, a school that is near some large town or city, and not buried
+away inaccessibly. It is a convenience also, and one that facilitates
+instruction, if a pupil can obtain, quite near the aerodrome, rooms
+where he can live temporarily while undergoing his instruction, and so
+be able to reach the flying ground in a minute or so, whenever and at
+any time the weather conditions are favourable. It is a convenience
+again if, either on the aerodrome itself or immediately adjacent,
+there is a canteen or restaurant where meals and other refreshments
+can be obtained. Dressing-rooms and reading rooms, when provided by
+the proprietors of a school, add to the comfort of the novice while he
+is in attendance on the aerodrome. In winter, particularly, such
+facilities are required.</p>
+
+<p>At a modern school, if it is well conducted, all heroics or
+exceptional feats are discouraged. Pupils who want to do wild things
+must be sternly repressed, even if only for the common good. The aim
+is to train a certain number of pupils, not hastening over the tuition
+but giving each man his full and complete course, and to do this with
+a minimum of risk. In the early days of flying there were remarkable
+exploits at the schools, and some very dangerous ones also. But
+nowadays the reckless, happy-go-lucky spirit has gone. Tuition is
+based on experience. Each pupil must submit to the routine, and listen
+attentively to the instructions given him. There are no short
+cuts&mdash;not at any rate with safety&mdash;in the art of learning to fly.</p>
+
+<p>The question is asked, often, how long it should take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> a man to learn
+to fly. It is almost impossible, though, to specify any fixed time. A
+very great deal must depend on the weather. A pupil who joins a school
+in the summer is more likely, naturally, to complete his tuition
+quickly than one who begins in the winter. In periods when there are
+high and gusty winds it may be necessary to suspend school work for
+several days. But at such times the pupil need not be completely idle.
+Lectures on aviation are organised sometimes by the schools; while a
+pupil should have opportunities also&mdash;as has been mentioned before&mdash;of
+going into the engine-shop and studying the repair and overhaul of
+motors and machines.</p>
+
+<p>It is on record that a pupil has learned to fly in a day, even in a
+few hours; but here the circumstances, and the men, were exceptional.
+Such an unusual facility represents one extreme; while as another, it
+may happen that a man, owing to a combination of adverse circumstances,
+is six months before he gains his certificate of proficiency. It may
+be taken, as a rule, that a pupil should set aside say a couple of
+months in order to undergo thoroughly, and without any haste, his full
+period of tuition. School records prove, as a rule, that the pilots
+who learn to fly abnormally quickly are apt to experience an abnormal
+number of accidents at a later date, due principally to a lack of real
+sound knowledge, which they should have gained during the period of
+their tuition. One must learn to walk before one can run, and this
+takes time; and the remark applies aptly to aviation. It is very
+necessary for the pupil to spend as much time as he can on the
+aerodrome. Much is to be learned, by an observant man, apart from the
+actual time during which he is engaged with his instructor. If he
+watches men who are highly skilled, he may gain many useful hints,
+though he himself is on the ground.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch2" id="ch2"></a>CHAPTER II</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span>
+
+<h3>TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">As</span> aviation passed from its earliest infancy, and a number of men
+began to fly, the temperament of the individual pupil, and the effect
+of this temperament on his progress as an aviator, began to reveal
+itself. And temperament does play a large part in flying; as it does
+in any sport in which a man is given control of a highly sensitive
+apparatus, errors of judgment in the handling of which may lead to
+disaster. It is not, as a rule, until he has passed through his early
+stages of tuition, and has begun to handle an aeroplane alone, and is
+beyond the direct control of his instructor, that the temperament of a
+pupil really plays its part. Up to this point he is one among many,
+conforming to certain rules, and obliged to mould himself to the
+routine of the school. But when he begins to fly by himself, and
+particularly when he has passed his tests for proficiency, and is
+embarking, say, on cross-country flights, then this question of
+temperament begins really to affect his flying.</p>
+
+<p>All men who learn to fly&mdash;numbering as they do thousands
+nowadays&mdash;cannot be endowed specially by nature for their task. There
+is indeed a wide latitude for temperamental differences&mdash;always
+provided that nothing more is required of a man than a certain average
+of skill. But if a man is to become a first-class pilot, one
+distinctly above the average, then the question of his temperament, as
+it influences his flying, is certainly important.</p>
+
+<p>A rough classification of the pupils at a school&mdash;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>just a preliminary
+sorting of types&mdash;shows as a rule the existence of two clearly-marked
+temperaments. One is that of the man who is deliberate, whose
+temperament guards him from doing anything perfunctorily or in a hurry;
+the other is that of a man&mdash;a type frequently encountered
+nowadays&mdash;who while being quick, keen, and intelligent, mars these
+good qualities by a temperamental impatience which he finds it
+difficult or impossible to control, and which makes him irritable and
+restless at any suggestion of delay.</p>
+
+<p>Now the first of these men need not to be wholly commended, nor the
+second entirely condemned. A capacity for deliberation, both in study
+and in practice, is very useful when learning to fly. It will protect
+a man from many errors, and render his progress sure, though it may be
+slow. But something more than deliberation is required in the aviator
+of distinction. There must be the vital spark of enterprise, the
+temperamental quality which is known as "dash," the quick action of
+the mind, in difficulty or peril, that will carry certain men to
+safety through many dangers. This imaginative power is possessed as a
+rule, though in ways that differ considerably, by the second type of
+pupil we have described&mdash;the restless, impatient man. But in his case
+this quality is, more often than not, marred by his instability; by
+the lack of that judgment which is so necessary to counterbalance
+imagination, but which is, unfortunately, not so often found.</p>
+
+<p>A man who decides to become an aviator, and particularly if he intends
+to fly professionally, should ask himself quite seriously if his
+temperament is likely to aid him, or whether perhaps it may not be a
+danger. This point is certainly one of importance, though it cannot be
+stated directly or decided in so many words. There is a vital question
+at least that the novice should ask himself; and this is whether his
+temperament, whatever its general tendency may be, includes a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span>
+sufficient leavening of caution. In the navigation of the air caution
+is indispensable. A pupil must remind himself constantly that, though
+it appears easy&mdash;and is indeed easy&mdash;to learn to handle a machine in
+flight, no liberties must under any circumstances be taken with the
+air. Every instant a man is flying he needs to remember the value of
+caution. In the air one cannot afford to make mistakes.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally there is an ideal temperament for flying; but it is one
+which, owing to the combination of qualities that are required, is
+very rarely met with. The man who possesses it is gifted with courage,
+ambition, "dash," and with a readiness in an emergency that amounts to
+intuition. And yet these positive qualities are, in the ideal
+temperament, allied to, and tempered by, a strong vein of prudence and
+of caution. The pilot has absolute system, method, and thoroughness in
+everything he does. The average pupil cannot hope to be so luckily
+endowed. But he can study his personality, and seek to repress traits
+that may seem harmful.</p>
+
+<p>There is need in flying for a sound judgment, one that will enable a
+man to come to a decision quickly and yet accurately. Things happen
+rapidly in the air. It is one of the grim aspects of flying that, just
+at a moment when everything appears secure, a sudden disaster may
+threaten. So it is of vast importance to a pilot, if he has to fly
+regularly, that he should have an instinctive and dependable judgment;
+a capacity for deciding quickly and without panic; a capacity, when
+several ways present themselves of extricating himself from some
+quandary, of being able to choose the right one, and of not having to
+think long before doing so. This implies a combination really of
+judgment and resource. The man of confidence, the man of resource, is
+well endowed for flying. But he must not be over-confident. The
+over-confident man is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> menace to himself and to others. It is not a
+proper spirit at all in which to approach aviation. We do not know
+enough about the navigation of the air to be in the least
+over-confident. The spirit, rather, should be one of humility&mdash;a
+determination to proceed warily, and to make very certain of what
+limited knowledge we do possess.</p>
+
+<p>Two of the worst traits in an aviator are impatience and irritability.
+A man who has these temperamental drawbacks in a form which is
+strongly marked, and who cannot control them, should not think of
+becoming an aviator. The man who is impatient and irritable finds
+himself out of harmony with the whole theory of aerial navigation.
+There is a long list of "don'ts" in flying; in the handling of one's
+machine, in the weather one flies in, in all the feats that one should
+attempt and leave alone. A number of details must be memorised, and
+must never be forgotten or overlooked, trivial though some of them may
+seem. The frame of mind of the man who flies must be alert, yet quiet
+and reposeful; he must be clear-headed, not hot-headed. The man who is
+in a hurry, who ignores details when he sets out on a flight, is the
+man who runs risks and is bound sooner or later to pay the penalty.
+The perils of recklessness in flying are very great. The man who
+"takes chances," who thinks he can do something when, as a matter of
+fact, he has neither sufficient knowledge or experience, runs a very
+grave and constant risk. It is the thoughtful, considering frame of
+mind, particularly in a pupil, which is the safe one; but this must
+not be taken to imply a type of man who lacks power of action.
+Initiative, and a quick capacity for action, are most necessary in
+aviation. New problems are being faced continually, and the brain
+succeeds which is the most active and original.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch3" id="ch3"></a>CHAPTER III</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span>
+
+<h3>FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE</h3>
+<h4 class="chapter">(AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME-WHITE)</h4>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">After</span> a period of ballooning, which offers experience for an aviator
+in the judging of heights and distances, and in growing accustomed to
+the sensation of being in the air, I devoted a good deal of time and
+attention&mdash;more indeed at the time, and in view of my other
+responsibilities, than I could reasonably spare&mdash;to a study of the
+theory of aeroplane construction, and to the making of models. This
+was prior to 1909; Bleriot had not yet flown the Channel in his
+monoplane. But when he did I put models aside, and determined to buy
+an aeroplane and learn to fly.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of August, 1909, so that I might inspect the various
+aeroplanes that were then available, and they were few enough, I went
+to Rheims, in France, and attended the first flying meeting the world
+had seen. At the aerodrome I met and talked with the great pioneers:
+with Bleriot, fresh from his cross-Channel triumph; with Levavasseur,
+the designer of the beautiful but ill-fated Antoinette monoplane,
+which had, through engine failure, let Hubert Latham twice into the
+Channel during his attempts to make the crossing; with Henry Farman
+who, fitting one of the first Gnome motors to a biplane of his own
+construction, flew for more than three hours at Rheims, and created a
+world's record; and also with M. Voisin, whose biplane was then being
+flown by a number of pilots.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, after careful consideration, I made a contract<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> with M.
+Bleriot to purchase from him, at the end of the meeting, a monoplane
+of a type that appeared first at Rheims, and of which there was not
+another model then in existence. This machine differed considerably
+from the one with which M. Bleriot had flown the Channel. His
+cross-Channel monoplane was a single-seated craft fitted with an
+air-cooled motor of about 25 h.p. The machine I agreed to buy at
+Rheims, and which was known as Bleriot No. XII., would carry two
+people, pilot and passenger, while it had an 8-cylinder water-cooled
+motor developing 60 h.p.&mdash;an exceptional power in those days. The
+position of the occupants, as they sat in the machine, differed from
+the arrangement in the cross-Channel Bleriot. In the latter the pilot
+sat in a hull placed between the planes, and with his head and
+shoulders above them. But in this new and larger machine the pilot and
+passenger sat in seats which were placed below the planes.</p>
+
+<p>The craft was, as a matter of fact, an experiment, being built almost
+purely for speed; hence its powerful motor. M. Bleriot's idea, in
+constructing it, was to have a machine with which he might win the
+Gordon-Bennett international speed race at Rheims. But this hope he
+did not realise; nor did I obtain delivery of the craft I desired.
+Bleriot, flying alone in this big monoplane, started in a speed flight
+for the Gordon-Bennett; but he was only a quarter of the way round the
+course, on his second lap, when the machine was seen to break suddenly
+into flames and crash to the ground from a height of 100 feet. It was
+wrecked entirely, but Bleriot was fortunate enough to escape with
+nothing worse than burns about the face and hands, and a general
+shock. The cause of the accident was that an indiarubber tube, fixed
+temporarily to carry petrol from the tank to the carburettor, had been
+eaten through and had permitted petrol to leak out, and to ignite, on
+the hot exhaust pipes of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> motor.</p>
+
+<p>The destruction of this monoplane was, to me, a great disappointment.
+No other machine of the type was in existence, and I learned that it
+would take three months to build one. M. Bleriot promised, however, to
+put a machine in hand at once; and, as a special concession, I
+obtained permission to go daily to the Bleriot factory and superintend
+the construction of my own machine. This I did for a full period of
+three months, working daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and gaining some
+valuable knowledge as to aeroplane construction.</p>
+
+<p>On November 6, 1909, after delays which had tried my patience sorely,
+I obtained delivery of the new machine&mdash;a replica of the craft that
+had been destroyed at Rheims. It was too late that day to begin any
+trials, so I and a friend who was with me arranged with M. Bleriot's
+mechanics that we would be at Issy-les-Moulineaux early next morning,
+and there put the craft through its preliminary tests. I can remember
+we went to bed early, but sleep was impossible; we were both too
+excited at the prospect that lay before us. So presently we got
+up&mdash;this was at 2 a.m.&mdash;and drove out to the flying ground.</p>
+
+<p>It was pitch dark when we arrived at the aerodrome, but the morning
+promised to be favourable. Foggy it was; but there was no wind, and
+the fog seemed likely to clear. We roused the caretaker, and, after
+lengthy explanations and considerable monetary persuasion, induced him
+to open the shed and allow us to prepare the machine for its first
+flight. Then we waited for the mechanics and the first rays of dawn.
+We felt a desire to get the big engine started up, but had been warned
+of the risk of doing this without the help of mechanics. Time passed
+and still the mechanics did not come. At last, there being now
+sufficient light, we tied the aeroplane with ropes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> a fence, so as
+to prevent its leaping forward, and then started up the motor by
+ourselves. I swung the nine-foot propeller&mdash;the only way of starting
+the engine; and at the first quarter-turn the motor began to fire.
+Then, as is quite usual, there was an incident that had been
+unforeseen in our excitement. We had forgotten to take up the slack of
+the rope; and the consequence was that, as the engine started, the
+machine gave a bound forward that was sufficient to knock me down. But
+I was unhurt, and picked myself up quickly. Then I hurried round to
+the driving seat and took my place at the control levers, motioning to
+my friend, who was looking after the ropes, to cast these loose and
+jump into the seat beside me. This was easier said than done. Directly
+he released the ropes the machine began to move across the ground,
+gathering speed very quickly; but he managed somehow, before the
+machine was running too fast, to scramble into the seat beside me.</p>
+
+<p>Off we started across the aerodrome, the monoplane gaining a speed of
+40 or 50 miles an hour. I did not attempt to rise from the ground,
+feeling it very necessary at first to grow familiar with the controls.
+So we sped along the ground for a distance of about a mile. Then, on
+nearing the far end, I slowed down the motor and our speed dropped to
+about 20 miles an hour. I wanted to turn the machine round on the
+ground and run back again towards our starting point. But such a
+man&oelig;uvre, particularly for the novice, is far from easy. As the speed
+of the machine is reduced, the pressure of air on the rudder is
+lessened and so it loses its efficiency&mdash;in the same way that a ship
+is difficult to steer when she begins to lose way. We were faced also
+by another and a graver difficulty. Confused by the fog, which still
+hung over the aerodrome, I had misjudged our position. We found we
+were much nearer the end of the ground than I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> imagined. In front
+of us there loomed suddenly a boundary wall, against which it seemed
+probable we should dash ourselves. There were no brakes on the machine;
+no way of checking it from the driving seat. Our position seemed
+critical.</p>
+
+<p>It was now that I shouted to my friend, telling him to jump out of the
+machine as best he could, and catch hold of the wooden framework
+behind the planes, allowing the machine to drag him along the ground,
+and so using the weight of his body as a brake. This, with great
+dexterity, he managed to do, and we came to a standstill not more than
+a foot or so from the wall. This proved a chastening experience; we
+pictured our aeroplane dashed against the wall, and reduced to a mass
+of wreckage. Very cautiously we lifted round the tail of the machine.
+It was impossible to switch off the motor and have a rest, because, if
+we had stopped it, we should not have been able to start it again
+without our gear, which was away on the other side of the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Now, having got the machine into position for a return trip across the
+aerodrome, I accelerated the engine, and we started off back. For
+about twenty minutes, without further incident, we ran to and fro; and
+now I felt that I had the machine well in control&mdash;on the ground at
+any rate. And so the next thing was to rise from the ground into the
+air. I told my friend my intention, calling to him above the noise of
+the motor; and I admired him for the calm way in which he received my
+news. I should not have been surprised if he had demanded that I
+should slow up the machine and let him scramble out. In those days it
+was thought dangerous to go up even with a skilled and more or less
+experienced pilot. How much greater, therefore, must have seemed the
+risk of making a trial flight with me&mdash;a complete novice in the
+control of a machine. But my friend nodded and sat still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> in his seat.
+So I accelerated the motor and raised very slightly our rear elevating
+plane. And then we felt we were off the ground! There was no longer
+any sensation of our contact with the earth&mdash;no jolting, no vibration.
+In a moment or so, it seemed, the monoplane was passing through the
+air at a height of about 30 feet. This, to our inexperienced eyes,
+appeared a very great altitude; and I made up my mind at once to
+descend. This man&oelig;uvre, that of making contact with the ground after
+a flight, I had been told was the most difficult of all. It is not
+surprising that this should be so. Our speed through the air was, at
+the moment, about 50 miles an hour; and to bring a machine to the
+ground when it is moving so fast, without a violent shock or jar, is a
+man&oelig;uvre needing considerable judgment. But, remembering that the
+main thing was to handle the control lever gently, I managed to get
+back again to the aerodrome without accident; and after this we turned
+the machine round again and made another flight.</p>
+
+<p>The fog had cleared by now, and we were surprised to see a number of
+people running across the ground towards us. First there came the
+tardy mechanics; and with them were a number of reporters and
+photographers representing the Paris newspapers. These latter
+had&mdash;though I only found this out afterwards&mdash;been brought by the
+mechanics in the expectation of being able to record, with their
+notebooks and cameras, some catastrophe in which we were expected to
+play the leading parts. Knowing the powerful type of monoplane I had
+acquired, a machine not suited for a novice, the mechanics had felt
+sure some disaster would overtake me. But, as it happened, their
+anticipations were not fulfilled. The journalists and photographers
+did not, however, have a fruitless journey. Though there was nothing
+gruesome to chronicle, they found ample material, when they learned of
+them, in the early<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> morning adventures of myself and my friend with
+this 60 h.p. monoplane. Next day, in fact, our exploits were given
+prominence in the newspapers, and I received a number of
+congratulatory telegrams; not forgetting one of a slightly different
+character which came from M. Bleriot. He was flying at the time in
+Vienna, and he warned me of the dangers of such boldness as I had
+displayed&mdash;having regard to the speed and power of my machine&mdash;and
+pleaded with me for a greater caution.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch4" id="ch4"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span>
+
+<h3>THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST-TYPE CRAFT</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">People</span> are puzzled, often, when they try to explain to themselves how
+it is that an aeroplane, which is so much heavier than air, manages to
+leave the ground and to soar in flight. When balloons or airships
+ascend, it is realised of course that the gas, imprisoned within their
+envelopes, draws them upward. But the aeroplane&mdash;weighing with pilot,
+passenger, and fuel perhaps several thousand pounds&mdash;rises without the
+aid of a gas-bag and with nothing to sustain it but narrow planes; and
+these do not beat, like the wings of a bird, but are fixed rigidly on
+either side of its body. How is the weight of machine and man borne
+through this element we cannot see, and which appears intangible?</p>
+
+<p>The secret is speed&mdash;the sheer pace at which an aeroplane passes
+through the air. As a craft stands on the ground, its planes are
+inoperative. Power lies dormant in the air, but only when it is in
+motion, or when some object or apparatus is propelled through it at
+high speed. Have you stood on a height, in a gale, and felt an air
+wave strike powerfully against your body? The blow is invisible; but
+you yield a step, gasping; and, had you wings at such a moment, you
+would not doubt the power of the wind to sweep you upward. This is the
+force the aeroplane utilises.</p>
+
+<p>If, on a calm day, you accelerate your motor-car to 60 miles an hour,
+the air sweeps past you in a powerful stream; just as it would if you
+were standing still, and there was a gale of wind. Instead of the wind
+possessing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> the speed, in this instance, it is you who provide it. The
+motor of an aeroplane, driving the propeller of the machine, turns
+this at 1000 or more revolutions a minute, and causes its curved
+blades to screw forward through the air as they turn, like those of a
+ship's propeller through water&mdash;or a gimlet into wood. The propeller,
+as it bores its way into the air, draws or pushes the aeroplane across
+the ground; and the speed grows rapidly until the air, sweeping with
+an increasing pressure beneath the planes, becomes sufficient to bear
+the craft in flight.</p>
+
+<p>But the wing of an aeroplane would not sustain its load unless
+designed specially to act upon the air. A man, if he is unlucky enough
+to fall from a tall building, passes through the air at a high speed.
+His body obtains no support from the air; so he crashes to the ground.
+This is because his body is heavy, and presents only a small surface
+to the air. To secure a lifting influence from the air, it must be
+struck swiftly with a large, light surface.</p>
+
+<p>Men go to Nature when building wings for aeroplanes, and imitate the
+birds. The wing of a bird arches upward from front to back, most of
+the curve occurring near the forward edge; and this shape, when
+applied to an aeroplane wing, is known as its camber. With an
+aeroplane wing, if its curve is adjusted precisely, the air not only
+thrusts up from below as a machine passes through it, but has a
+lifting influence also from above; an effect that is secured by the
+downward slope of the plane towards its rear edge. The air, sweeping
+above the raised front section of the plane, is deflected upward, and
+with such force that it cannot descend again immediately and follow
+the downward curve of the surface. So, between this swiftly-moving air
+stream, and the slope to the rear of the plane, a partial vacuum is
+formed, and this sucks powerfully upward. With a single wing,
+therefore, it is possible to gain a double<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> lifting influence&mdash;one
+above and one below.</p>
+
+<p>The building of aeroplanes, once their wing lift is known, becomes a
+matter of precision. According to the speed at which they fly, and the
+size and curve of their planes, machines will sustain varying loads.
+In some machines, as a general illustration&mdash;craft which fly fast&mdash;the
+planes may bear a load equal to 10 lbs. per square foot. In others the
+loading may be less than 3 lbs. per square foot.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from raising a craft into the air, by the lifting power of its
+wings, there is the problem of controlling it when in flight. The air
+is treacherous, quickly moving. Gusts of abnormal strength, sweeping
+up as they do invisibly, may threaten to overturn a machine and dash
+it to earth. Eddies are formed between layers of warm and cold air.
+There are, as a craft flies, constant increases or lessenings of
+pressure in the air-stream that is sweeping under and over its wings;
+and all these fluctuations influence its equilibrium. Unless,
+therefore, a machine is automatically stable&mdash;and with craft of this
+type we shall deal later&mdash;the pilot must be ready, by a movement of
+the surfaces which govern the flight of the machine, to counteract
+quickly, with a suitable action of his levers, the overturning
+influence that may be exercised by a gust of wind. Here lies the art
+of flying. A man is given a machine which, by the action of its motor
+and propeller, will raise itself into the air; and it is his task,
+when the craft is once aloft, to manipulate it accurately and without
+accident, and to bring it to earth safely after he has made a flight.</p>
+
+<p>In the description of controlling movements which follows we shall,
+for the sake of convenience, and for the sake also of brevity, deal
+only with the type of "pusher" biplane to which reference has been
+made already, and on which large numbers of pupils have been, and are
+being, trained to fly. This casts no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> aspersion whatever on tractor
+machines or on monoplanes. On either, if he has an inclination, a
+pupil can undergo his instruction, and do so usually with success. But
+explanation is rendered more easy, and there is less likelihood of a
+dispersal of interest, if one machine is selected for illustration;
+and our reasons for the choice of a "pusher" biplane, regarded from
+the point of view of tuition, have been explained already.</p>
+
+<p>First, therefore, one may deal with raising the craft into the air,
+and causing it to descend. In the photograph of the school machine
+shown, <a href="#facing_page_34">facing this page</a> it will be seen that the control surfaces are
+indicated by lettering. In front of the biplane, on outriggers, is the
+plane "A." This surface (aided in its action by a rear plane) governs
+the rise or descent of the machine. When the motor is started, and the
+propeller drives the biplane across the ground on its chassis B, the
+machine would, if this lifting plane was held in a negative position,
+continue to move forward on the earth and would make no attempt to
+rise. In order to leave the ground, when the speed of the machine is
+sufficient for its main-planes (C.C.) to become operative, and bear
+its weight through the air, the pilot draws back slightly towards him
+a lever, which is placed just to the right of his driving-seat and is
+held with the right hand. A photograph which shows this lever, and the
+other controls, appears, <a href="#facing_page_36">facing page 36</a> the lever to which we are
+referring being indicated by the figure 1. The effect on the aircraft
+when the pilot draws back this lever&mdash;the motion being slight and made
+gently&mdash;is to tilt up the elevating plane A, and this in its turn,
+owing to the pressure of air upon it, raises the front of the machine.
+The result of this alteration in the angle of the craft is that it
+presents its main-planes at a steeper angle to the air. Their lifting
+influence is increased, with the result that&mdash;at an angle governed by
+the pilot with his movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> of the elevating plane&mdash;they bear the
+machine from the ground into the air.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_34" id="facing_page_34"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_34.jpg" alt="GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE (TYPE XV.)" width="500" height="198"></p>
+
+<p class="caption">GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE (TYPE XV.)<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>A.&mdash;The front elevating plane, which acts in conjunction with
+the rear-plane marked A<sup>1</sup>; B.&mdash;The landing-chassis;
+C.C.&mdash;The main-planes; D.D.&mdash;The ailerons; E.E.&mdash;The
+rudders; F.&mdash;Engine (a 60-h.p. Le Rhone) and propeller.</p>
+
+<p>A reverse movement of the elevator reduces the lift of the main-planes;
+hence, when an aviator wishes to descend, he tilts down his elevator,
+bringing his machine at such an angle that it is inclined towards the
+ground. Then, switching off his engine so as to moderate the speed of
+his descent, and by such manipulations as may be necessary of his
+elevator, he pilots his craft to earth in a vol-plané, during which
+gravity takes the place of his motor, and he is able&mdash;by steadying his
+machine and bringing it into a horizontal position just at the right
+moment&mdash;to make a gentle contact with the ground.</p>
+
+<p>A pilot must be able to do more than cause his aeroplane to ascend and
+to alight: he must have means to check the lateral movements which,
+under the influence of wind gusts, may develop while the biplane is in
+flight. At the rear extremities of the main-planes as illustrated in
+the photograph <a href="#facing_page_34">facing page 34</a>&mdash;and marked D.D.&mdash;are flaps, or ailerons,
+which are hinged so that they may be either raised or lowered. These
+ailerons are operated, through the medium of wires, by the same
+hand-lever which governs the movement of the elevator. This lever is
+mounted on a universal joint, and can be moved from side to side as
+well as to and fro. Should the biplane tilt, while flying, say towards
+the left, the pilot moves his hand-lever sideways towards the right.
+This is a natural movement, the instinct being to move the lever away
+from the direction in which the machine is heeling. This movement of
+the lever has the effect of drawing down the ailerons on the left-hand
+side of the machine; on the side, that is to say, which is tilted down;
+and the depression of these auxiliary surfaces, increasing suddenly
+as they do the lifting influence of the main-planes to which they are
+attached, tend to thrust up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> the down-tilted wings, and so restore the
+equilibrium of the machine.</p>
+
+<p>In the operation of his ailerons, combined with the use of his
+elevator, a pilot is given means to balance his craft while in flight.
+One should not gain the impression that an aeroplane is threatening
+ceaselessly to heel this way and that. This is not so. The machine has
+a large measure of stability, apart from any manipulation of its
+controls, and needs balancing only when some disturbance of the
+atmosphere affects its equilibrium. Under favourable conditions, such
+as a pupil will experience in his first flights, nothing more is
+necessary with the hand-lever than a very slight but fairly constant
+action; a similar motion, in a way, as is made by the driver of a
+motor-car when he maintains, by his "feel" on the wheel, his sense of
+control over the machine. In the controlling actions of an
+aeroplane&mdash;and this is a fact which tends sometimes to the confusion
+of the novice&mdash;nothing more is required, normally, than the most
+delicate of movements. The difference say between ascending, and
+skimming along the ground, is represented by a movement of the
+hand-lever of only a few inches. Delicate, sure, quick, and firm; such
+is the touch needed with an aeroplane.</p>
+
+<p>With the one hand-lever, as we have shown, it is possible for a pilot
+to control the rise and descent, and also the lateral movements of his
+machine; and there remains only the steering to be effected&mdash;the
+movement from side to side, from right to left, or vice-versa. At the
+rear of the biplane, as shown, <a href="#facing_page_34">facing page 34</a> will be seen two
+vertical planes, E.E. These, being hinged, will swing from side to
+side; and they exercise a sufficient influence, when working in the
+strong current of air that blows upon them when a machine is in flight,
+to steer it accurately in any direction. The pilot, to operate this
+rudder, rests his feet on a conveniently-placed bar, which is mounted
+on a central swivel, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> allows the bar to be swung by a pressure of
+either foot. When the pilot needs to make a turn say to the left, as
+he is flying, he presses his left foot forward. This swings the bar in
+same direction; and, by a simple connection of wires running to the
+tail of the machine, the rudders are made to swing over to the left
+also, and the machine turns in response to them. A similar movement to
+the right produces a right-hand turn. This foot rudder bar, being
+numbered 2, is shown in the picture <a href="#facing_page_36">facing page 36</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_36" id="facing_page_36"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_36.jpg" alt="THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE." width="500" height="329"> </p>
+
+<p class="caption">THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE.<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>1.&mdash;The upright lever which, working on a universal joint,
+operates the elevator and ailerons; 2.&mdash;The bar, actuated by the
+pilot's feet, which operates the rudders of the machine; 3.&mdash;The
+pilot's seat; 4.&mdash;The passenger's seat.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from the movements we have described, which are extremely simple,
+a pilot needs also to maintain control over his motor. Near his left
+hand, fixed to the framework just at one side of his seat, are levers
+which govern the speed of the engine, also the petrol supply; while
+close to them is the switch by which the ignition can be switched on
+or off.</p>
+
+<p>A final word is necessary here, perhaps, and it is this: the glamour
+and mystery which, in the early days, clung to the handling of an
+aeroplane has now been dispelled almost entirely. A well-constructed
+machine, flying under favourable conditions, requires surprisingly
+little control; what it does, one may almost say, is to fly itself.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch5" id="ch5"></a>CHAPTER V</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span>
+
+<h3>THE STAGES OF TUITION</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">Flying</span> schools&mdash;those which really can be described as such&mdash;have been
+in operation now for seven years; and during this time, with thousands
+of pupils going through their period of tuition, many very valuable
+lessons have naturally been learned. To-day, at a well-managed school,
+each stage in a pupil's instruction, mapped out as a result of
+experience, is arranged methodically and with care; the idea being
+that the novice should pass from one stage to another by a
+smoothly-graduated scale, facilitating his progress and reducing
+elements of risk.</p>
+
+<p>It is in the early morning, and again in the evening, that the flying
+schools are most busy as a rule. At such times&mdash;morning and
+evening&mdash;the wind blows with least violence; and it is very necessary
+that a pupil, when he is handling craft for the first time, should
+have weather conditions which are favourable. Summer and winter, as
+soon as it is light, and granted conditions appear suitable, mechanics
+wheel the aeroplanes from the sheds, and the instructors begin their
+work. Should there be any doubt as to the weather, or as to the
+existence, say, of difficult air currents, an instructor will fly
+first, circling above the aerodrome at various heights, and satisfying
+himself, by the behaviour of his machine, whether it will be safe for
+the novices to ascend. If he pronounces "all well," school work begins
+in earnest, and continues&mdash;provided the weather remains
+favourable&mdash;until all the pupils have had a spell of instruction.
+Towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> the middle of the day, and in the afternoon, it is quite
+likely the wind may blow and school work be suspended. But in the
+evening again, when there is usually a lull, a second period of
+instruction will be carried out. In well-equipped schools, to meet
+such conditions as these, it is customary to provide two complete and
+distinct staffs, both of instructors and mechanics. One staff takes
+the morning spell of work, while the second is held in readiness for
+the evening. This ensures that, both morning and evening, there shall
+be available for instruction a fresh, alert, and unfatigued staff.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_38" id="facing_page_38"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_38.jpg" alt="REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE." width="500" height="199"> </p>
+
+<p class="caption">REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE.<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>This photograph shows clearly the hinged ailerons fixed at the
+extremities of the plane-ends for maintaining lateral stability: also
+the rear elevating plane (which acts in conjunction with the
+fore-plane mounted on outriggers at the front of the machine) and the
+twin rudders.</p>
+
+<p>A pupil will find that, as the first stage of his tuition, he is given
+the task of familiarising himself with the controls of a school
+biplane. The system we have described already, and a pupil should find
+no difficulty in mastering it. Placing himself in the driving-seat of
+the machine, while it is at rest on the ground, the pupil takes the
+upright lever in his right hand, and rests his feet on the rudder-bar,
+making the various movements of control, again and again, until he
+finds he is growing accustomed to them, and can place his levers in a
+position for an ascent or descent, or for a turn, without having to
+wait while he thinks what it is necessary to do.</p>
+
+<p>In the next stage, a more interesting one, the pupil, occupying a seat
+immediately behind his instructor, is taken for a series of passenger
+flights. These accustom him to the sensation of being in the air, and
+also train his eye in judging heights and distances. A minor point the
+pupil should bear in mind, though his instructor will be quick to
+remind him, is not to wear any cap or scarf that may blow free in the
+rush of wind and become entangled with the propeller. Scarves need to
+be tightly wrapped; while it is usual, with a cap, to turn it with the
+peak to the back, and so prevent it from having a tendency to lift
+from the head. Many pupils provide themselves with a helmet designed
+to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> protect the head in case of an accident, and these are held firmly
+in position. Should a passenger's cap blow off, and come in contact
+with the propeller, it may be the cause of an accident. How
+carelessness may lead to trouble, in this regard, will be gathered
+from the following incident.</p>
+
+<p>Some slight repairs had been made one day to the lower plane of a
+machine while it stood out on the aerodrome, and one of the workmen,
+through inadvertence, had left lying on the plane, near its centre, a
+roll of tape. The pilot decided to make another flight, and the motor
+was started and the machine rose. Suddenly the aviator was startled by
+a sound like a loud report, which seemed to come from the rear of his
+machine. The craft trembled for a moment, and he feared a structural
+collapse. Nothing worse happened, however, and he was able to pilot
+his machine in safety to the aerodrome. What had happened, it was then
+ascertained, was that the roll of tape, sucked back in the rush of
+wind, had been drawn into the revolving propeller and had broken a
+piece out of it. Luckily the impact had not been heavy enough to
+damage the propeller seriously, or cause it to fly to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>A problem with which the pupil will be faced in his first flights,
+particularly if he is learning in winter, will be that of keeping
+himself warm. The speed at which an aeroplane travels, combined with
+the fact that it is at an elevation above the ground, renders the
+"bite" of the cold air all the more keen, and makes it difficult very
+frequently, even when one is warmly clad, to maintain a sufficient
+warmth in the body, and particularly in the hands and feet. The
+question of cold hands is, from a pilot's point of view, often a
+serious one. There is a case on record of an aviator who, his hands
+being so numbed that his fingers refused to move, found he could not
+switch off his motor when the time came to descend; and so he had to
+fly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> round above the aerodrome, several times, while he worked his numb
+fingers to and fro, and beat some life into them against his body. At
+last, having restored their circulation to some extent, he was able to
+operate the switch and make a landing. While on active service in
+winter, after flying several hours at high altitudes, and in bitter
+cold, the occupants of a machine have descended in such a numbed
+condition, despite their heavy garments, that it has been found
+necessary to lift them out of their seats. But a pupil need not face
+such hardships as these. He will be flying for short periods only, and
+at low altitudes; so if he makes a few wise purchases from among the
+selection of flying gear now available, and particularly if he equips
+himself with some good gloves, he should be able to keep sufficiently
+warm in the air, even if he is going through his training in winter.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_40" id="facing_page_40"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_40.jpg" alt="POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE." width="500" height="326"> </p>
+
+<p class="caption">POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE.<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>Showing the 60-h.p. Le Rhone Motor, with its mounting on the
+machine, and the method of attaching the propeller. The fuel tank is
+also visible; and, forward at the front of the machine, the seats of
+passenger and pilot.</p>
+
+<p>A pupil will feel curious, naturally, as to his sensations in the
+first flights he makes with his instructor. Of the exact moment when
+the machine leaves ground he will be unaware probably, save for the
+cessation of any jolting or vibration, such as may be caused by the
+contact of the running wheels with the surface of the aerodrome. His
+first clearly-marked sensation, when in actual flight, will occur most
+likely when the pilot rises a little sharply, so as to gain altitude.
+Then the pupil will have a feeling one might liken to the ascent, in a
+motor-car, of a steep and suddenly-encountered hill; though in this
+case the hill is invisible, and there is no earth contact to be felt.
+This sensation of climbing is exhilarating; and when the pilot makes a
+reverse movement, descending towards the ground, the feeling is
+pleasant enough also, provided the dive is not too steep.</p>
+
+<p>The pupil's chief sensation, probably, will be that of the rush of
+wind which beats against him. Some people feel this much more than
+others. There is sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> a feeling&mdash;it is no more than temporary&mdash;of
+inconvenience and of shock. The pupil feels as though his breathing
+was being interfered with seriously; as though the pressure was so
+great he could not expel air from his lungs. But this sensation, even
+when it is experienced, is short-lived. In a second flight, quite
+often, the novice finds that this oppression diminishes very
+perceptibly; and soon he does not notice it at all. Motoring
+experience proves useful here, particularly high-speed driving on a
+track.</p>
+
+<p>Some confusion is felt by the pupil, as a rule, and this is only
+natural, in regard to the pace at which the aeroplane travels through
+the air, and at the way in which the ground seems to be tearing away
+below. Occasionally, in a first flight, this impression of speed, and
+of height, produce in the pupil a sensation of physical discomfort;
+but it is one again which, in the majority of cases, is quickly
+overcome. A few balloon trips are a useful preliminary to flights in
+an aeroplane. They familiarise one in a pleasant way with the
+sensation of height, and accustom the eye also to the look of the
+ground, as it passes away below.</p>
+
+<p>While he is making his first flights with the instructor, and apart
+from analysing his sensations, the pupil will observe the lever
+movements made by the pilot in controlling the machine; and the fact
+that will impress itself upon him, as he watches these movements, is
+that they are not made roughly or spasmodically, but are almost
+invariably gentle. During these flights as a passenger, and after he
+has accustomed himself to the novelty of being in the air, the pupil
+will be allowed by the instructor to lean forward and place his hand
+on the control lever; and in this way, by actually following and
+feeling for himself the control actions the pilot makes, he will gain
+an idea of just the extent to which the lever must be moved, to gain
+any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> specific result in the flight of the machine.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_42" id="facing_page_42"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_42.jpg" alt="MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR&mdash;ANOTHER VIEW."
+width="500" height="325"></p>
+
+<p class="caption">MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR&mdash;ANOTHER VIEW.<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>This shows the constructional unit that is formed, on a suitably
+strong framework of wood, by the engine, propeller, and fuel tank, and
+also by the seats for the pilot and passenger.</p>
+
+<p>The next stage of tuition is that in which a pupil is allowed to
+handle a biplane alone, not in flight though but only in "rolling"
+practice on the ground&mdash;driving the machine to and fro across the
+aerodrome. The motor is adjusted so that, while it gives sufficient
+power to drive the machine on the ground and render the control
+surfaces effective, it will not permit the craft to rise into the air.
+This stage, a very necessary one, teaches the pupil, from his own
+unaided experience just what movements he must make with his levers to
+influence the control surface of the machine, and to maintain it, say,
+on a straight path while it runs across the ground. One of the
+discoveries he will make is that the biplane, if left to itself, shows
+a tendency to swerve a little to the left&mdash;the way the propeller is
+turning; but this inclination may be corrected, easily, by a movement
+of the rudder.</p>
+
+<p>The pupil learns also to accustom himself, while in this stage, to the
+engine controls which have been explained already; and he is not
+likely to be guilty of the error of one excitable novice who, while
+driving his machine back on the ground towards the sheds at an
+aerodrome, after his first experience in "rolling" became so confused,
+as he saw the buildings looming before him, that he lost his head
+completely and forgot to switch off his motor. The result was that the
+aeroplane, unchecked in its course, crashed into some railings in
+front of the sheds and stood on its head. Not much damage was done
+however, and the novice was unhurt. He seemed as surprised as anyone
+at what had happened, and confessed that, for the moment, his mind had
+been an utter blank.</p>
+
+<p>A pupil continues his practice in "rolling" till he can drive his
+machine to and fro across the aerodrome on a straight course, and with
+its tail raised off the ground; the latter action being obtained by
+the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> pupil by means of a suitable movement of the vertical lever which
+operates his elevating planes.</p>
+
+<p>Now comes the time when a pupil, taking the pilot's seat, and with the
+instructor sitting behind him&mdash;so as to be ready, if necessary, to
+correct any error the novice may make&mdash;begins his first short flights
+across the aerodrome. He rises only a few feet to begin with, and
+flies on a straight course, alighting each time before he turns, and
+running his machine round on the ground. He repeats this test until
+his instructor feels he is sufficiently expert to take the machine
+into the air alone. When this stage is reached, the instructor leaves
+his position behind the pupil, and the latter goes on with his
+practice till he can fly the length of the aerodrome alone, landing
+neatly and bringing his machine round on the ground, and then flying
+back again to his starting point.</p>
+
+<p>In the early days of flying schools, before a pupil went through any
+regular system of instruction, there were remarkable incidents in
+regard to these first flights. In one case a pupil, having bought his
+own aeroplane from the proprietors of a school, insisted on having
+installed in it a motor of exceptional power. When the time came for
+him to make his first flight alone, and he opened the throttle of this
+engine and it began to give its full power, the aeroplane ran only a
+short distance across the ground, and then leapt into the air. The
+engine was in charge of the machine, in fact, and not the pupil. Away
+above the aerodrome, and beyond its limits, in a strange, erratic
+flight, the biplane made its way. As the pupil struggled valiantly
+with his engine switch, which appeared to have become jammed, he made
+unconscious and jerky movements of his control levers. One moment the
+machine would ascend a little, the next it would approach nearer the
+ground; then it would swing either right or left. Those watching from the aerodrome held their breath.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> But with the luck
+of the beginner, a luck which is proverbial and sometimes amazing, the
+pupil managed at length to stop his motor and land without
+accident&mdash;though by no means gracefully&mdash;in an abrupt gliding descent.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_44" id="facing_page_44"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_44.jpg" alt="PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT." width="500" height="325"> </p>
+
+<p class="caption">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT.<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>The pupil, occupying in this case the driving seat, has in his
+right hand the lever controlling the elevator and ailerons, while his
+feet are on the bar which operates the rudder. The instructor (in the
+passenger's seat) is demonstrating how, when necessary, he can place
+his hand on the control lever, above that of the pupil, and correct
+any error in manipulation of which the latter may be guilty.</p>
+
+<p>Another story concerns one of those temperamentally reckless,
+happy-go-lucky men who, though providence seems to watch over them,
+are an anxiety nevertheless to their instructors. This pupil, breaking
+the rules of a school, flew out on one of his first flights beyond the
+limits of the aerodrome, disappearing indeed from the view of those
+near the sheds. Not far from the aerodrome lay a main road, with
+tramway-lines along it. A tram, with passengers on top, happened to be
+passing down the road; and it was to the astonishment of these
+passengers, and to their perturbation as well, that they observed an
+aeroplane in full flight, moving very low across a neighbouring field,
+and bearing down straight towards them. The machine passed, indeed,
+unpleasantly close above their heads, and then vanished as
+dramatically as it had appeared. Its pilot, as may be guessed, was the
+pupil who had disobeyed orders, and was now on a wild and erratic
+flight. Presently, after swerves and wanderings over the surrounding
+country, he was discerned making his way back towards the aerodrome,
+still flying unreasonably low. Some trees bordered one end of the
+aerodrome; and towards these, as though he meant to finish his exploit
+by charging into them, the novice was seen to be steering an
+undeviating course. Nearer he came to them, and still he did not turn
+either right or left. The instructor, and those gathered with him,
+made up their minds that nothing could avert an accident. But it
+happened that there was, between two of the trees, a space only large
+enough for an aeroplane to pass through. A skilled pilot, a man of
+experience, would not have cared to risk his machine in an endeavour
+to creep between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> those trees. But this pupil, a complete novice,
+steered boldly towards the opening and slipped through it with a
+precision that would have aroused the envy of an accomplished pilot.
+Then he landed on the aerodrome and climbed in leisurely fashion from
+his machine&mdash;"not having turned a hair," as the saying goes. The
+remarks of the instructor when he neared the machine, and began to
+unburden himself, do not appear to be on record, and no doubt this is
+as well.</p>
+
+<p>Having shown his ability to make a succession of straight flights,
+taking his machine into the air with precision and landing without
+awkwardness, the pupil finds himself faced next with the problem of
+turning while in the air. On this stage, however, he is not allowed to
+embark alone. The instructor takes his place again in the passenger's
+seat, so as to be ready to help the novice should he become confused,
+or find himself in any difficulty. Turns to the left are attempted
+first; and the reason is that, the propeller of the aeroplane
+revolving to the left&mdash;and the motor too if it is a rotary one&mdash;the
+machine has a tendency which is natural to turn in this direction.
+Half turns only are tried at first, the pupil landing before he has
+completed the movement. In making these first turns a pupil finds that,
+apart from his action with the rudder-bar, it is necessary to employ
+the ailerons slightly, so as to prevent the biplane from tilting
+sideways. The outer plane-ends of the machine have indeed, when a turn
+is being made, a natural tendency to "bank" as it is called, or tilt
+upward; the reason being that, as the machine swings round, these
+outer plane-ends, moving faster for the moment than the wing-tips on
+the inside of the turn, exercise a greater lift, and have an
+inclination to rise. An experienced aviator, having learned what is a
+safe "banking" angle, makes a deliberate use of this tendency when he
+is turning, and may on occasion even exaggerate it, to facilitate the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>
+swing of his machine on a very rapid turn, and to prevent it skidding
+outwards. But with the novice, engrossed completely as he is with the
+mere problem of getting his machine round in the air, "banking" is an
+art that must be deferred for awhile. It is perilously easy, for a
+beginner, to overstep the danger-line between a safe "bank" and a
+side-slip.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_46" id="facing_page_46"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_46.jpg" alt="PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1)." width="500" height="233"></p>
+
+<p class="caption">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1).<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>A school biplane is seen just after it has left the ground, with
+the pupil at the control levers, and the instructor seated behind
+him&mdash;ready, if necessary, to correct any error the novice may
+make.</p>
+
+<p>It is not long before the pupil can make a full left-hand turn; and
+then he goes on to perfect himself in this movement, flying alone now,
+and repeating the turn till he feels he can make it with confidence,
+and at a fair height.</p>
+
+<p>And now he comes to his final evolutions. Having mastered the
+left-hand turn, he proceeds to make one to the right. It used to be
+the contention&mdash;a contention that is now disputed&mdash;that in this
+movement, if the pupil employed his rudder-bar only, he would find the
+biplane showed an inclination to rise; a tendency due to the
+gyroscopic influence of the engine and propeller which&mdash;assuming a
+rotary engine is used&mdash;are now revolving in the opposite direction to
+that on which the machine is turned. What the pupil was recommended to
+do, in order to counteract this rising movement, was to tilt down his
+elevator a little, as he would in making a descent.</p>
+
+<p>When right-hand turns can be made with the same facility as those to
+the left, the pupil begins to combine the two without descending,
+making left turns and right turns, and so achieving in the air a
+series of figures of eight. He learns also to fly a little higher,
+thus preparing himself for one of his certificate tests.</p>
+
+<p>There are now certain very important rules which, in the navigation of
+his craft, he must accustom himself to bear constantly in mind. Should
+the engine of his machine, for example, betray any signs of failing,
+he must tilt down his elevator very promptly, and place his craft in a
+position for a descent. If he does not do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> this, and should the motor
+stop before he has his biplane at an angle for descent, the machine
+may lose speed so quickly, and its tail-planes show such a tendency to
+droop&mdash;owing to the lessening of pressure on their surfaces,
+consequent upon the failure of the motor&mdash;that there is a risk of the
+craft coming to a standstill in the air and then either falling
+tail-first, or beginning a side-slip that may bring it crashing to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>The pupil must learn also, and this again is important, not to force
+his machine round on a turn while it is climbing. If he does so the
+power absorbed in the ascent, combined with the resistance of the turn,
+may so reduce the speed of the machine that it threatens to become
+"stalled," or reach a standstill in the air, with the result that it
+either side-slips or falls tail-first. The procedure the pupil is
+taught to follow is this: when he leaves the ground he climbs a little,
+then he allows his machine to move straight ahead; then he proceeds
+to ascend again for a spell, repeating afterwards the horizontal
+flight. In this way he ascends by a series of steps, like climbing a
+succession of hills in a car; and his turns should be made only during
+the spells when he is flying horizontally.</p>
+
+<p>In this stage of his tuition, the pupil must learn also to make a
+vol-plané, or descent with his engine stopped. The essential point to
+be borne in mind, here, is that an aeroplane will continue in flight,
+and remain under control, even when it is no longer propelled by its
+engine. But what the aviator must do, should his engine stop through a
+breakdown, or should he himself switch it off, is to bring the force
+of gravity to his aid, and maintain the flying speed of his craft by
+directing it in a glide towards the ground. Provided he does this, and
+keeps his machine at such an inclination that it is moving at a
+sufficient speed through the air, he will find that the craft
+maintains its stability<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> and that he has full command over its control
+surfaces, being able to turn, say, right or left, or either increase
+or slightly decrease the steepness of his descent. But all the time,
+of course, seeing that it is gravity alone which is giving him his
+flying speed, he is obliged to plane downward.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_48" id="facing_page_48"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_48.jpg" alt="PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2)." width="500" height="299"></p>
+
+<p class="caption">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2).<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>This shows clearly how the instructor, from his seat behind the
+pupil, can lean forward and, by placing his hand on the control lever,
+check the novice in an error of manipulation.</p>
+
+<p>A vital point to remember, when a pupil is handling a "pusher" type of
+biplane, is to incline the machine well downward, by a use of the
+elevator, before switching off the motor. Unless this is done, and if
+the machine is, say, at its normal horizontal angle when the engine is
+stopped, the sudden removal of pressure from the tail-planes of the
+craft, brought about by the absence of the wind-draught from the
+propeller, may cause the tail so to droop as to render inoperative any
+subsequent action of the elevator. When the tail droops, the
+main-planes are set at a steep angle to the air, and this has a
+slowing-up influence on the whole machine. It threatens therefore to
+stand still in the air; its controls become useless; and the pupil is
+faced probably with the danger of a side-slip.</p>
+
+<p>A story will illustrate this point; and it is one that has a special
+significance, seeing that the error which might have cost him his life
+was made by an aviator of experience. He had learned to fly on a
+monoplane, and had devoted his subsequent flying, for many months, to
+this one type of machine. Then he found himself associated with an
+enterprise in which a number of "pusher" biplanes were employed, and
+he decided that it would be useful for him to become accustomed to
+this type of machine. His flying experience of course helped him, and
+he soon found himself passing to and fro above the aerodrome, the
+biplane well in hand. Then he thought he would make a vol-plané, with
+his motor stopped, as he had been in the habit of doing in a
+monoplane. He switched off his engine without further thought, and
+moved his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> elevator to a position for the descent. But it was here that
+he made the mistake. In a monoplane, which has the weight of the
+engine and other gear well forward in the machine, the bow has a
+natural tendency to tilt down when the motor is cut off&mdash;particularly
+as the propeller-draught ceases to sweep under the sustaining planes.
+Therefore one can, in such a machine, switch off safely without first
+shifting the elevator, and getting the bow down as a preliminary. What
+the pilot had forgotten, for the moment, was the essential difference
+between monoplane and biplane. When he had switched off the engine in
+the biplane, and moved his elevator as he was accustomed to do, he
+found to his dismay that the machine failed to respond. Instead of
+pointing its bow down, indeed, it began to tilt rearward. Also, and
+this fact was noted by the airman with even more dismay, the craft
+lost forward speed so rapidly that it became uncontrollable. The next
+moment, the pilot helpless in his seat, the machine began a side-slip
+towards the ground. One sweep it made sideways, falling till it was
+not far short of the surface of the aerodrome. It paused an instant,
+then began a side-slip in the opposite direction. But here good
+fortune came to the pilot's aid. In this second swing, the machine
+being near the ground, it came in contact with the surface of the
+aerodrome before the "slip" had time to develop any high rate of
+speed. The biplane took the ground sideways, breaking its
+landing-chassis and damaging the plane-ends which came first in
+contact with the earth. But the pilot emerged from the wreckage
+unhurt. The accident was a lesson to him, though, as it was to others,
+and as it should be to all pupils. A machine must be in a gliding
+position before the engine is switched off.</p>
+
+<p>The art of the accomplished pilot, granted there is no reason for him
+to reach earth quickly, is to glide at as fine an angle as is possible,
+consistent of course with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> maintaining the speed of the machine
+through the air, and so preserving his command over its controls. A
+beautifully-timed, fine glide, the machine stealing down gracefully,
+and touching the aerodrome light as a feather, at a precise spot the
+airman has decided on even when he was several thousand feet high, is
+a delightful spectacle for the onlooker, and a keen pleasure
+also&mdash;from the point of view of his manipulative skill&mdash;to the aviator
+himself. But a pupil, at any rate in his first attempts, must not
+concern himself too much with any idea of a fine or graceful glide. It
+is his business to get to the ground safely, and not trouble too much
+whether his method is accomplished, or merely effective. Once with the
+bow of his machine down, and his motor switched off, it must be his
+concern to maintain the forward speed of his machine, which can be
+done only by holding it well on its dive. For the novice, if he
+attempts any fine or fancy gliding, there is the very real danger that,
+in his inexperience, he may lose forward speed to such an extent that
+his controls become inoperative, and his machine threatens to
+side-slip. One's ear should, apart from the inclination of the machine,
+and the sensation of the descent, help one materially in judging the
+speed of a glide. There is a "swish" that comes to the ear, now the
+engine is no longer making its clamour, which gives a guide to the
+pace of one's downward movement. Aviators who are skilled, and have
+done a large amount of flying, are able to judge with accuracy, by the
+ear alone and without the aid of a mechanical indicator, what their
+speed is as they pass through the air.</p>
+
+<p class="illustration"><a name="facing_page_50" id="facing_page_50"></a>
+<img src="images/facing_page_50.jpg" alt="PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3)." width="500" height="253"></p>
+
+<p class="caption">PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3).<br>
+<i>Photo by Topical Press Agency.</i>
+<br>
+<br>Here the pupil is descending in a glide with his engine stopped,
+the cylinders of the rotary motor being clearly visible.</p>
+
+<p>Having held his machine firmly on its glide, till it is quite near the
+surface of the aerodrome, the pupil has next to think of making a neat
+contact with the ground. The art here is, at a moment which must be
+gauged accurately, to check the descent of the machine by a movement
+of the elevator&mdash;to "flatten out," as the expression goes. If the
+movement is made neatly the craft should, when only a few feet from
+the ground, change from a descent into horizontal flight, and continue
+on this horizontal flight for a short distance, losing speed naturally
+each moment&mdash;seeing that there is no driving power behind it&mdash;and so
+losing altitude also through its decrease in speed, until its wheels
+come lightly in contact with the ground, and it runs forward and then
+stands still. What the novice may do, if he is not careful, is to
+"flatten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> out" when he is too high above the ground. The result is that
+the machine slows up till it stands still in the air, robbed of its
+speed, and then makes what is called a "pancake" landing: it descends
+vertically, that is to say, instead of making contact with the ground
+at a fine angle and with its planes still supporting it; and the
+effect of such a "pancake," if the machine comes down with any force,
+may be that the landing-chassis is damaged, or perhaps wrecked. But as
+a rule, remembering that he has careful instruction to guide him
+before he attempts a gliding descent, the pupil masters the art of
+landing without difficulty, and without mishap.</p>
+
+<p>Now, after repeating perhaps certain of his evolutions, at the
+discretion of his instructor, in order to make sure that he can
+accomplish them with ease, the pupil is ready for the tests which will
+give him his certificate of proficiency.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch6" id="ch6"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span>
+
+<h3>THE TEST FLIGHTS</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">The</span> sport of aviation is controlled throughout the world, and flying
+tests and events of a competitive character are governed, by the
+International Aeronautical Federation. To the deliberations of this
+central authority are sent delegates from the Aero Clubs of various
+countries; and to these Aero Clubs, each in its respective country,
+falls the task of governing flight, according to the rules and
+decisions of the central authority. In Britain, controlling aviation
+in the same way that the Jockey Club controls the Turf, we have the
+Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom; and it is this body, acting in
+its official capacity, which grants to each new aviator, after he has
+passed certain prescribed tests, a certificate which proclaims him a
+pilot of proved capacity, and without which it is impossible for him
+to take part in any contests held under the auspices of the Club. The
+certificate, which is of a convenient size for carrying in the pocket,
+contains a photograph of the pilot for purposes of identification, and
+specifies also the rules under which the certificate is issued and
+held.</p>
+
+<p>The theory of these tests, as imposed by the Club before it grants its
+certificates, is that the novice should&mdash;so far as is possible in one
+or two flights, made over a restricted area, and in a limited space of
+time&mdash;be called on to show that he has a full control over a machine
+in what may be called the normal conditions of flight. He is asked to
+ascend, for instance, and gain a fair flying altitude; then to make
+such evolutions as will demonstrate his command over the control
+surfaces<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> of the machine; and finally to show that he can, with his
+motor switched off, descend accurately in a vol-plané, and bring his
+machine to a halt within a specified distance of a mark. The tests are
+set forth, officially, as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquote1"><p><i>A and B.</i> Two distance flights, consisting of at least
+5 kilometres (3 miles 185 yards) each in a closed circuit, without
+touching the ground; the distance to be measured as described
+below.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i> One altitude flight, during which a height of at least 100
+metres (328 feet) above the point of departure must be attained; the
+descent to be made from that height with the motor cut off. The
+landing must be made in view of the observers, without re-starting the
+motor.</p></div>
+
+<p>The rules drafted by the Club to govern these flights
+are set forth herewith:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquote1"><p>The candidate must be alone in the aircraft during the tests.</p>
+
+<p>The course on which the aviator accomplishes tests A and B must be
+marked out by two posts situated not more than 500 metres (547 yards)
+apart.</p>
+
+<p>The turns round the posts must be made alternately to the right and to
+the left, so that the flights will consist of an uninterrupted series
+of figures of eight.</p>
+
+<p>The distance flown will be reckoned as if in a straight line between
+the two posts.</p>
+
+<p>The alighting after the two distance flights in tests A and B shall be
+made:&mdash;</p></div>
+
+<div class="blockquote2"><p>(<i>a</i>) By stopping the motor at or before the moment of touching the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) By bringing the aircraft to rest not more than 50 metres
+(164 feet) from a point indicated previously to the candidate.</p></div>
+
+<div class="blockquote1"><p> All alightings must be made in a normal manner,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> and the observers must
+report any irregularity.</p></div>
+
+<p>These flights as specified to-day, though they present no difficulty
+to the pupil who has been well trained, are more stringent than they
+were in the first scheme of tests as prescribed by the Club, and as
+enforced for several years. In those early rules the distances were
+the same as they are to-day, but in the altitude flight the height
+required was only 50 metres (164 feet)&mdash;just half the height specified
+to-day. It was not laid down, either, in the first rules, that the
+engine should be stopped in this altitude flight when at the maximum
+height, and that the descent should be made in a complete vol-plané,
+without once re-starting the motor. As originally framed, indeed, the
+rule as to the control of the engine in this altitude test was the
+same as in regard to the distance flights&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, that it should be
+stopped "at or before the moment of touching the ground." What the
+present rule means, in this respect, is that the pupil must be really
+proficient at making a vol-plané, without any aid at all from his
+engine, before he can hope to pass the test; and such a proved
+skill&mdash;say in the making of his first cross-country flight, should his
+engine fail suddenly&mdash;may spell the difference between a safe or a
+dangerous landing.</p>
+
+<p>The test flights for the certificate, undertaken only in such weather
+conditions as the pupil's instructor may think suitable, are watched
+by official observers appointed by the Royal Aero Club. It is the
+business of these observers, when the prescribed flights have been
+made, to send in a written report concerning them to the Club; and
+acting on this report, after it has been considered and shown to be in
+order, the Club issues to the pupil his numbered certificate. With the
+successful passing of his tests the pupil's tuition is at an end. He
+is regarded no longer as a novice, but as a qualified pilot.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch7" id="ch7"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span>
+
+<h3>PERILS OF THE AIR</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">There</span> are people, very many people, who still regard flying as an
+undertaking of an unreasonable peril, essayed mainly by those who are
+in quest of money, notoriety, or sensation at any price. Such
+people&mdash;still to be met with&mdash;have one mental picture, and one only,
+of the flight of an aeroplane. They imagine a man in the air&mdash;and this
+mere idea of altitude makes them shudder; and they picture this man in
+a frail apparatus of wood and wire, capable of breaking to pieces at
+any moment; or even if it does not break, needing an incessant
+movement of levers to maintain it in a safe equilibrium; while they
+reckon also that, should the engine of the machine suffer any
+breakdown, the craft will drop to earth like a stone. Prejudice dies
+hard; harder no doubt in England than in other countries. There are
+still people, not few of them but many, who would be ready to declare,
+offhand, that one aeroplane flight in six ends in a disaster.</p>
+
+<p>It is a truism, but one that has a peculiar truth in aviation, to say
+that history repeats itself. To-day we find large numbers of people
+who still cherish the opinion that&mdash;save perhaps when on service in
+war&mdash;it is nothing less than criminal foolishness for men to ascend in
+aeroplanes. That attitude of mind persists; the growing safety of
+flight has not affected it to any appreciable degree. But those eager
+for the progress of aviation need not despair, or imagine that their
+particular industry is being treated with any exceptional
+disapprobation. They have only to look back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> a little in our history,
+no great distance, and read of the receptions that were accorded the
+first pioneers of our railways. Public meetings of protest have not
+been held to condemn aviation; yet they were frequent in the days when
+the first railways were projected. Vast indignation was indeed aroused;
+it was declared to be against all reason, and a matter of appalling
+risk, that people should be asked to travel from place to place in
+such "engines of destruction." But the railways managed to survive
+this storm. They were placed here and there about the country; they
+were improved rapidly; and it would be hard, to-day, to find a safer
+place than the compartment of a railway train.</p>
+
+<p>Motor-cars, when their turn came, had to go through a similar ordeal.
+There was the same indignation, the same chorus of protest; and when
+the first of the pioneers, greatly daring, began actually to drive
+their cars on the public highway, there were people who believed, and
+who declared forcibly, that to permit such machines on our roads was
+the crime of the century. Had not these pioneers struggled valiantly,
+sparing neither time nor money, it is possible that the motor-car
+might have been driven from the highway. But here again progress,
+though it was retarded, could not be checked. The motor-car triumphed.
+It grew rapidly more reliable, more silent, more pleasing to the eye;
+and to-day it glides in thousands along our roads, a pleasure to those
+who occupy it, a nuisance neither to pedestrians nor to other wheeled
+traffic; more under control when it is well driven, and more ready to
+stop quickly when required, than any horsed vehicle which it may have
+replaced. At one time the papers were full of such headlines as:
+"Another Motor-car Accident." Each small mishap received prominent
+attention: and to the majority of people it seemed the wildest folly
+to travel in such vehicles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> Yet to-day&mdash;such is progress&mdash;these same
+people ride in a motor-car, or a motor-cab, quite as a matter of
+course and without a thought of risk.</p>
+
+<p>When one discusses flying and its dangers, it is essential to maintain
+an accurate sense of proportion. In the very earliest days, for
+instance, it must be realised that the few men who then flew&mdash;they
+could be numbered on the fingers of one hand&mdash;exercised the greatest
+caution. They did not fly in high winds; they treated the air,
+realising its unknown perils, with a very great and a very commendable
+respect. Thus it was that thousands of miles were flown, even with the
+crudest of these early machines, and with motors that were constantly
+giving trouble, without serious accident. But after this, and very
+quickly, the number of airmen grew. New aviators appeared every day;
+contests were organised extensively; there were large sums of money to
+be won, provided that one pilot could excel another. And the spirit of
+caution was abandoned. Even while they were still using purely
+experimental machines&mdash;craft of which neither the stability nor the
+structural strength had been tested adequately&mdash;there grew a tendency
+among airmen to fly in higher winds, to subject their machines to
+greater strains, and to attempt dangerous man&oelig;uvres so as to please
+the crowds who paid to see them fly.</p>
+
+<p>It was not surprising, therefore, that flying entered upon an era of
+accidents. Such disasters were inevitable&mdash;inevitable, that is to say,
+in view of the tendencies that then prevailed; though it is a
+melancholy reflection that, had men been content to go ahead with the
+same slow sureness of the pioneers, many of those lives which were
+lost could have been saved.</p>
+
+<p>To the public, not aware exactly of all that was going on, it appeared
+as though the navigation of the air, instead of growing safer, was
+becoming more dangerous. There were suggestions, indeed, made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> quite
+seriously and in good faith, that these endeavours to fly should cease;
+that the law should step in, and prevent any more men from risking
+their lives. What people failed to realise, when they adopted this
+view, was that instead of one or two men flying there were now
+hundreds who navigated the air; that flights in large numbers were
+being made daily; that thousands of miles instead of hundreds were
+being traversed by air&mdash;and often under conditions the pioneers would
+have considered far too dangerous. These facts, had they been realised,
+would have shown people what was actually the true state of affairs;
+that, though accidents seemed numerous, and were indeed more frequent
+than they had been in the earliest days of flying, they were as a
+matter of proportion, reckoning the greater number of men who were
+flying, and the thousands of miles which were flown, growing steadily
+less frequent.</p>
+
+<p>There was this important fact to be reckoned with also. Each accident
+that happened taught its lesson, and so made for future safety. A
+considerable number of those early accidents can, for instance, be
+traced to some structural weakness in a machine. The need in an
+aircraft then, as now, was lightness; and in those days designers and
+builders, owing purely to their inexperience, had not learned the art,
+as they have to-day, of combining lightness with strength. So it was
+that, as more powerful motors began to be fitted to aeroplanes, and
+greater speeds were attained, it happened sometimes, when a machine
+was being driven fast through a wind, that a plane would collapse, and
+send the machine crashing to the ground; or in making a dive, perhaps,
+either of necessity or to show his skill, a pilot would subject his
+machine to such a strain that some part of it would break.</p>
+
+<p>From such disasters as a rule, greatly to be regretted though they
+were, the industry emerged so much the wiser. The strength of machines
+was increased;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> the engines which drove them were rendered more
+reliable; and gradually too, though none too rapidly, the airmen who
+piloted them grew in knowledge and skill. But all this time, while
+flying was being made more safe, there were accidents frequently for
+the papers to report; and this was due entirely to the fact that there
+were now thousands of men flying, where previously there had been
+fifties and hundreds. The public could not realise how rapidly the
+number of airmen had grown; that practically every day, at aerodromes
+scattered over Europe, flights were so frequent that they were
+becoming a commonplace. It was in 1912, as one of its many services to
+aviation that the Aero Club of France was able to show, by means of
+statistics which could not be questioned, that for every fatality
+which had occurred in France, during that particular year, a distance
+of nearly 100,000 miles had been flown in safety.</p>
+
+<p>The cause of many of the early accidents was, as we have suggested,
+the breakage of some part of a machine while in flight. In an analysis
+for instance of thirty-two such disasters, it was shown that fourteen
+were due to the collapse of sustaining planes, control-surfaces, or
+some other vital part of a machine. And this risk of breakage in the
+air was increased, in many cases, by the building of experimental
+machines by men who had no qualifications for their task, and who
+erred only too frequently, in their desire to attain lightness, on the
+side of a lack, rather than an excess, of structural strength.</p>
+
+<p>There are many cases, unfortunately, that might be cited; but one may
+be sufficient here. A man with an idea for a light type of biplane, a
+machine designed mainly for speed, had an experimental craft
+built&mdash;this was in the pioneer days of 1909&mdash;and insisted on fitting
+to it a motor of considerable power. It was pointed out to him that
+his construction was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> sufficiently strong, in view of the speed at
+which his machine would pass through the air. But he was of the quiet,
+determined, self-opinionated type, who pursued his own way and said
+little. He did not strengthen his constructional, and he began a
+series of flying tests. In the first of these, which were short, the
+planes stood up to their work, and the fears of the critics seemed
+groundless. But a day came when, venturing to some height, the aviator
+encountered a strong and gusty wind; whereupon one of his main-planes
+broke, and he fell to his death.</p>
+
+<p>As a contrast to this tragedy, and a welcome one, there is a humorous
+story, that is true, told of one experimenter. His knowledge of
+construction was small, but what he lacked in this respect he made up
+for in confidence; and he built a monoplane. This was in the days just
+after the cross-Channel flight, and experimenters all over the world
+were building monoplanes, some of them machines of the weirdest
+description. The craft built by this enthusiast seemed all right in
+its appearance; nothing had been spared, for instance, in the way of
+varnish. When wheeled into the sun, for its first rolling test under
+power, it looked an imposing piece of work. Friends were in attendance,
+photographers also; and the would-be aviator was in faultless flying
+gear. Mounting a ladder, which had been placed beside the machine, he
+allowed his weight to bear upon the fusilage, and proceeded to settle
+himself in his seat. But he, and the onlookers, were startled as he
+did so by an ominous cracking of wood. It grew louder; something
+serious and very unexpected was happening to the machine. As a matter
+of fact, and just as it stood there without having moved a yard, the
+whole of the flimsy structure parted in the middle, and the machine
+settled down ignominiously upon the ground, its back broken, and with
+the discomfited inventor struggling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> in the <i>débris</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It was far from easy, in the early days, for even an expert
+constructor to calculate the strains encountered under various
+conditions of flight. In wind pressure, under certain states of the
+air, there are dangerous fluctuations&mdash;fluctuations which, even with
+the knowledge we possess to-day, and this is far from meagre, exhibit
+phenomena concerning which much more information is required. Machines
+have collapsed suddenly, while flying on a day when the wind has been
+uncertain, and have done so in a way which has suggested that they had
+encountered, suddenly, a gust of an altogether abnormal strength.
+Occasionally, though research work in this field is extremely
+difficult, it has been possible to gain data as to the existence of
+conditions, prevalent as a rule over a small area, which would spell
+grave risk for any aeroplane which encountered them. There is a
+strange case, verified beyond question, which occurred during some
+tests with man-lifting kites at Farnborough. These kites are strongly
+built, and withstand as a rule extremely high winds. On this
+particular day a kite, when it had reached a certain altitude, was
+seen to crumple up suddenly. The wind did not seem specially
+strong&mdash;not at any rate on the ground; and there appeared no reason
+for the breakage of the kite. Another was sent up; but the same thing
+happened, and at the same altitude. Then the officer who was in charge
+of the kites sent for a superior. A third kite was flown to see what
+would happen. This one broke exactly as the others had done, and at
+just the same height&mdash;about five hundred feet. Precise data could not
+be gained as to this phenomenon; but the breaking of these
+kites&mdash;which had withstood extremely high pressure in previous
+tests&mdash;was reckoned to be due to the fact that, when they reached a
+certain point in the air, they were subjected to the violent strain of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>
+a sudden and complete change in the direction of the wind. To the
+pilot of an aeroplane, entering without warning some such area of
+danger, the result might naturally be serious in the extreme.</p>
+
+<p>The air has been, and is still, an uncharted sea. It does not flow
+with uniformity over the surface of the earth. It is a constantly
+disturbed element, and one that has the disadvantage of being
+invisible. An aviator cannot see the dangerous currents and eddies
+into which he may be steering his craft; and so it was not surprising,
+in those days when aircraft were frailer than they should have been,
+and cross-country flights were first being made, that machines broke
+often while in flight and that the airman's enemy, the wind, claimed
+many victims.</p>
+
+<p>Wind fluctuations that are dangerous, those which possess for one
+reason or another an abnormal strength, are encountered frequently
+when a pilot is fairly near the earth; and his peril is all the
+greater in consequence. On a windy day, one on which there are heavy
+gusts followed by comparative lulls, it is when he is close to the
+ground, either in ascending or before alighting, that a pilot has most
+to fear. If he is well aloft, with plenty of air space beneath him,
+and particularly if he has a machine that is inherently stable, he has
+little to fear from the wind; save, perhaps, should his engine fail
+him, or should he find&mdash;as has been the case in war flying&mdash;that the
+force of the wind, blowing heavily against him, and reducing the speed
+of his machine, has prevented him from regaining his own lines before
+his petrol has become exhausted. The modern aeroplane, when its
+engine-power is ample, and it is at a suitable altitude, can wage
+battle successfully even with a gale. But it must rise from the earth
+when it begins a flight, and return to earth again when its journey is
+done; and here, in the areas of wind that are disturbed by hills,
+woods, and contours<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> of the land, there are often grave dangers. The
+wind at these low altitudes blows flukily. Its direction may be
+affected, for instance, owing to the influence of a hill or ridge. A
+side gust, blowing powerfully and unexpectedly against a machine, just
+as it is nearing the ground before alighting, may cause it to tilt to
+such an angle that it begins a side-slip. If the craft was
+sufficiently high in the air, when this happened, the pilot would be
+able, probably, to convert the side-slip into a dive, and the dive
+into a renewal of his normal flight. But if such a side-slip begins
+near the ground, and there is an insufficient amount of clear space
+below the machine, it may strike the ground in its fall, and become a
+wreck, before there is time for the pilot, or for the machine itself,
+to exercise a righting influence. The fact that a craft may be forced
+temporarily from its equilibrium, say by a side-slip, is known now to
+represent no great risk for the airman, granted always that he has the
+advantage of altitude. The machine, in such circumstances, falls a
+certain distance. This is inevitable, and for the reason that it must
+regain forward speed&mdash;which it has lost temporarily in its
+side-slip&mdash;before its own inherent stability can become effective, or
+its pilot regain influence over his controls. And it is this
+unavoidable descent, this short period during which the machine is
+recovering its momentum, and during which the pilot has no power of
+control, that represents in a heavy wind the moments of peril, should
+a pilot enter an area of disturbance just as he nears the ground.</p>
+
+<p>An aeroplane, when it sets out to fly in bad weather, may be likened
+to a boat that is being launched from a beach upon a rough and stormy
+sea. It is the waves close inshore, which may raise his craft only to
+dash it to destruction, that the boatman has chiefly to fear; and for
+the aviator, when he leaves the land and embarks upon the aerial sea,
+or when he returns again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> from this element and must make his contact
+with the earth, there lurks a risk that, caught suddenly by an air
+wave, and with insufficient space beneath his machine, he may be
+forced into a damaging impact with the ground. But the skill of
+designers and constructors, to say nothing of the growing experience
+of aviators, is working constantly towards a greater safety.</p>
+
+<p>Of the risk attached to engine failure, when he is piloting a craft
+fitted with only one motor, an airman is reminded frequently, not only
+from his own experience, but from that of other flyers. With the
+aeroplane engine, even with types that have gained a high average of
+reliability, there are many possibilities of a slight mishap&mdash;each of
+them sufficient, for the moment, to put an engine out of action&mdash;that
+the pilot who is flying across country must, all the time he is in the
+air, have at the back of his mind the thought that at any moment, and
+perhaps without any warning, he may find that his motive power has
+gone. A magneto may fail temporarily; an ignition wire or a valve
+spring break. The aeroplane engine of to-day is, of course, an
+infinitely more reliable piece of apparatus than it was in those early
+days when Henry Farman, working with extraordinary patience at
+Issy-les-Moulineaux, was endeavouring&mdash;and for a long time without
+success&mdash;to make the motor in his Voisin biplane run for five
+consecutive minutes without breakdown. The war has shown us, and under
+working conditions which have been exceptionally trying, how reliable
+the aero-motor has become. But until duplicate plants have been
+perfected, and more than one motor is fitted to aircraft as a matter
+of course, there must always be this risk of failure.</p>
+
+<p>In the mere stoppage of a motor no great danger is implied. The pilot
+must descend; that is all. His power gone, he must glide earthward.
+But where the risk does lie, in engine failure, is that it may occur
+at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> moment when the airman is in such a position, either above
+dangerous country or while over the sea, that he cannot during his
+glide reach a place of safety. A study of flying will show how awkward,
+and how perilous on many occasions, has been the stoppage of a motor
+while a machine is in the air. Two historic instances, though they did
+not, fortunately, end in a loss of the pilot's life, were the
+compulsory descents into the Channel made by the late Mr. Hubert
+Latham, during his attempts, in 1909, to fly from Calais to Dover. In
+both these cases&mdash;once when only a few miles from the French shore,
+and on the second occasion when the aeroplane was quite near its
+destination&mdash;the motor of the Antoinette monoplane failed suddenly,
+and the aviator could do nothing but plane down into the water. On the
+first occasion he alighted neatly, suffering no injury, and being
+rescued by a torpedo boat; but in the second descent, striking the
+water hard, he was thrown forward in his seat and his head injured by
+a strut.</p>
+
+<p>Less fortunate, in a case of presumed engine failure that will become
+historic, was Mr. Gustave Hamel. Eager to reach Hendon, so as to take
+part in the Aerial Derby on May 23rd, 1914, his great experience of
+Channel flying induced him to risk the crossing with a motor which, on
+his flight from Paris to the coast, had not been running well. His
+monoplane was a fast machine, and the flight across Channel would have
+taken him less than half an hour. But at some point during the
+crossing, it seems obvious, his engine failed him, and he was unable
+to prolong his glide either to gain the shore, or the vicinity of a
+passing ship. His monoplane was never recovered; but the body of the
+aviator&mdash;whose loss was mourned throughout the flying world and by the
+general public as well&mdash;was discovered by some fishermen while
+cruising off the French coast, and identified by means of a map,
+clothing, and an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> inflated motor-cycle tyre; the last-named being
+carried by the airman round his body to act as an improvised life-belt.</p>
+
+<p>Engine failure, though a fruitful cause of minor accidents, and of the
+breakage of machines, has led to few fatalities; and this has been due
+very largely to the fact that, though machines have descended under
+dangerous circumstances, and have been wrecked in a manner that would
+appear almost certain to kill their occupants, the pilots and
+passengers have, as a matter of fact, escaped often with no more than
+a shock or bruises. An aeroplane does not strike the ground with the
+impact of a hard, unyielding structure. It is essentially frail in its
+construction; and this frailness, though it spells destruction for the
+machine in a bad descent, provides at the same time an element of
+safety for its crew. Take the case for instance of a machine falling
+sideways, and striking the ground with one plane or planes. These
+planes, built of nothing stronger as a rule than wood, crumple under
+the impact. But in their collapse, which is telescopic and to a
+certain extent gradual, a large part of the shock is absorbed. By the
+time the fusilage which contains the pilot touches ground, the full
+force of the impact is gone. And it is the same, often, if a machine
+makes a bad landing, say on awkward ground, and strikes heavily
+bow-first. Granted that the occupants of the machine are well-placed,
+and prevented by retaining belts from being flung from the machine,
+they should escape injury from the fact that there is so much to be
+broken, in the way of landing-gear and other parts, before the shock
+of the impact can reach them in their seats.</p>
+
+<p>Had it not been for the capacity of the aeroplane to alight in awkward
+places without injury to its pilot, many lives might have been lost
+through descents in which motors have failed. Aviators have been
+obliged to land in most unsuitable places: on the roofs of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> houses, for
+instance, in small gardens, and frequently on the tops of trees. If he
+finds his engine fail him when he is over a wood or forest, and there
+is no chance save to descend upon the trees, a skilled pilot may save
+himself as a rule from injury. Planing down, till he is just above the
+tree-tops, he will then check suddenly, by a movement of his elevator,
+the forward speed of his machine. The craft will come to a standstill
+in the air; then, the support gone from its planes owing to the loss
+of forward speed, it will sink down almost vertically, and with very
+little violence, on to the tops of the trees. The machine itself will
+naturally be damaged, seeing that boughs will pierce its wings in many
+places, and that one or more of its planes may possibly collapse. But
+the net result of such a landing&mdash;and this is the point which is
+important for the pilot&mdash;is that the machine will be caught up and
+suspended on the trees, making a comparatively light and gradual
+contact, instead of there being any risk of its driving through the
+trees and making a heavy impact with the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Humour, sometimes, may be extracted from such a predicament as engine
+failure, though it needs an aviator with a very deeply ingrained sense
+of humour to do so. The story is told, however, of a pilot who, flying
+across difficult country with a passenger, found that his motor
+failed&mdash;as they often will&mdash;just at a moment when there seemed no
+possible landing-point below. Looking over the side of his machine,
+and glancing quickly here and there, the aviator saw no alternative
+but to bring his craft down in an orchard that lay below. Pointing
+downward, to acquaint his passenger with their unpleasant situation,
+and to call his attention also to the orchard, the pilot said with a
+smile:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquote1">"I hope you're fond of apples!"</div>
+
+<p>There is a risk in engine failure which has been emphasised more than
+once; and it is that which may attend the pilot who, while prolonging
+a glide in order<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> to reach some landing-point, may be struck by a gust,
+or enter some area of disturbed wind, just before he reaches the
+ground and while his machine, moving slowly, is not in a position to
+respond effectually to its controls. In one case an aviator,
+struggling back towards the aerodrome with a motor which was not
+giving its power, found that it stopped suddenly when he was not far
+from a wood. Beyond the wood, which stood on a ridge, there was a
+stretch of grassland. Endeavouring to reach this promised
+landing-point, and holding his machine on a long glide, the airman
+came across above the trees. He had almost reached his goal when his
+machine entered a sudden down-current of wind&mdash;occasioned, no doubt,
+by the proximity of the trees and ridge. Caught by this eddy, with no
+motive power to help him and very little speed on his machine, the
+pilot could not check its sudden dive; and the craft struck ground so
+heavily that both he and his passenger were killed.</p>
+
+<p>We have mentioned previously, as a fruitful cause of accident, that
+structural weakness of machines which has led, when conditions have
+been unfavourable, to a sudden collapse in the air. But apart from
+weakness in construction, and notably in accidents with early-type
+machines, there was the risk attached to mistakes in design, which
+produced machines which were unstable under certain conditions&mdash;and
+the dangers also which were due to inefficient controlling surfaces.
+It was no uncommon thing, in pioneer days, for a machine to be built
+which would not respond adequately to its elevator or rudder; though
+this unpleasant fact might not be discovered by the pilot until he was
+actually in flight, and perhaps at some distance from the earth. In
+one case, which is authenticated, a two-seated monoplane of a new type
+was tested at first in a series of straight flights, and found to be
+promising in its behaviour. A skilled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> pilot then took charge of it,
+and, carrying a passenger, proceeded to some more ambitious flights.
+Steering the machine away across the aerodrome, and flying at a low
+elevation, he approached a belt of woods. The machine was too near the
+ground to pass over the tops of the trees; so the aviator decided to
+make a turn, and fly parallel with the wood. But when he put his
+rudder over, so as to bring the machine round in a half-circle, he
+found to his dismay that there was no response. In the design of the
+machine, as it was found afterwards, the rudder had been made too
+small: it would not steer the machine at all. In the little space that
+was left him, and to avoid crashing into the trees, the pilot had to
+bring his craft to earth in such an abrupt dive that it was wrecked
+completely. He and the passenger, though, escaped unhurt.</p>
+
+<p>Carelessness has, fairly frequently, played its part in aeroplane
+disasters. Sometimes a pilot has been careless, or perhaps in a hurry,
+and has failed to locate some defect which, had it been seen and
+attended to, would have saved a disaster when a machine was in flight.
+Such inattention, which is sufficiently dangerous in the handling of
+any piece of mechanism, is deadly in its peril when those who are
+guilty of it navigate the air. A man who brings out a machine time
+after time, and ascends without examining it carefully, is adding
+vastly to the risks that may attend his flight; and the same remark
+will apply to the carelessness of mechanics; though as a class, in
+view of the arduous nature of their work, and of the long hours they
+have frequently to be on duty, with no more than hasty intervals for
+rest, their average of care and accuracy is very high. But there have
+been cases&mdash;mostly in the past though&mdash;in which a machine has
+developed a structural defect, or some defect say in its control gear,
+which ought to have been observed by its mechanics, but which has not
+been so detected, and has led to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> catastrophe in flight. With
+machines built lightly, and subjected to heavy strains when at high
+speeds, it is vital that the inspection of such craft, that the
+examination of every detail of them, should be carried out in a spirit
+of the greatest care. The fraying through of a control wire, unnoticed
+by those in charge of a machine, has been sufficient to cause a
+disaster; while carelessness in overhauling a motor, a task of supreme
+importance, seeing that its engine is the heart of an aeroplane, has
+been another cause of accident. It is vital that, when an airman
+ascends, both his machine and his motor should be in perfect working
+trim. He himself, before he flies, and after his aeroplane has been
+wheeled from its shed, should make it a habit to look over the machine,
+so as to impose his own personal check upon the work his mechanics
+have done.</p>
+
+<p>Even when every care has been taken, and a machine ascends in perfect
+trim, there is the human factor, represented by the pilot, which must
+be considered always in a study of aeroplane accidents. There is often,
+when a catastrophe seems imminent, a choice of things that may be
+done. If an engine fails, for instance, under awkward circumstances,
+the pilot may have, say, three courses open to him in regard to his
+descent. Two may spell disaster and the third safety. It is here that
+the innate judgment of a pilot, combined with his experience, will
+tell its tale. But this personal element in flying, and particularly
+in regard to an accident, is often a very difficult one for which to
+make allowances.</p>
+
+<p>The whole problem of aeroplane disasters is, to the analyst, one of
+unusual complexity. Take for example the case of a pilot who is flying
+alone in his machine, and at an altitude of several thousand feet.
+Suddenly something happens; the machine is seen to fall and the pilot
+is killed. Experts come to examine the aircraft,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> but it is wrecked so
+completely that little which is reliable can be gathered from any
+inspection; while the man who could explain what has happened&mdash;the
+pilot of the machine&mdash;is dead. The statements of eyewitnesses, when
+taken on such occasions, are often misleading. One person heard a
+crash, and saw something fall away from the machine. Another declares
+the engine stopped suddenly and that the machine "fell like a stone."
+Another says he is sure he saw one of the wings fold upwards and the
+machine swing and fall. And so on. It is extremely difficult, even for
+a technical eye-witness, to be sure of what he sees when things happen
+quickly and at a distance from him; while the statements of
+non-technical people, who are not trained in observation, are
+generally so unreliable as to be useless.</p>
+
+<p>It has happened often therefore, far too often, in aeroplane
+fatalities that have happened from time to time, that the cause of
+such accidents has, even after the most careful investigation, had to
+be written down a mystery. But in more than a few cases, though the
+evidence has been far from conclusive, it has been considered that a
+pilot has been guilty of some error of judgment. There were puzzling
+instances, notably in the early days of flying, when airmen began
+first to make cross-country flights, of engines being heard to fail
+suddenly, and machines seen to fall to destruction. That engines
+should break down was not surprising; they were doing so constantly;
+but there was no reason why, even if they did fail, a machine should
+fall helplessly instead of gliding. But what was thought to have
+happened, in more than one of these cases, was that the pilot, through
+an error of judgment, had failed to get down the bow of his machine
+when his motor gave signs of stopping. The craft concerned were, it
+should be mentioned, "pusher" biplanes; and the same rule applied to
+them, in cases of engine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> failure, as has been explained in a previous
+chapter, and as is emphasised nowadays in the instruction of the
+novice. But in those days the beginner had frequently to learn, not
+from wise tuition, but from bitter experience; and he was lucky, often,
+if he learned his lesson and still retained his life. On certain
+early-type biplanes, for instance, machines with large tail-planes,
+and engined as a rule by a motor which was giving less than its proper
+amount of power, it was most dangerous for a pilot if, on observing
+any signs of failing in his engine, he sought to fly on in the hope
+that the motor would "pick up" again, and continue its work. Directly
+there was a tendency of the motor to miss-fire, or lessen in the
+number of its revolutions per minute, the consequent reduction of the
+propeller draught, as it acted on the tail of the machine, would cause
+this tail to droop, and the machine to assume very quickly a dangerous
+position. And when once it began to get tail-down, as pilots found to
+their cost, there was nothing to be done. The machine lost what little
+forward speed it had, and either fell tail-first, or slipped down
+sideways. Such risks as these, which were very real, were rendered
+worse owing to the fact that, in much of the cross country flying of
+the early days, pilots flew too low. They lacked the confidence of
+those who followed them, and were too prone to hug the earth, instead
+of attaining altitude. It was not realised clearly then, as it is now,
+that in height lies safety. And so when a machine lost headway through
+engine failure, and was not put quickly enough into a glide, it
+happened often that it had come in contact with the earth, and had
+been wrecked, before there was any chance for the pilot to regain
+control, or for the machine itself to exhaust its side-slip, and come
+back to anything like a normal position.</p>
+
+<p>But the failure of the human factor in flying, the lack of skill of a
+pilot that may lead to disaster, is shown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> by statistics to play no
+more than a small part, when accidents are studied in numbers and in
+detail. Some time before the war, in an analysis of the accidents that
+had befallen aviators in France&mdash;accidents concerning which there was
+adequate data&mdash;it was shown that only 15 per cent. of them could be
+attributed to a failure in judgment or skill on the part of the pilot.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from errors, however, in what may be called legitimate piloting,
+there have been regrettable accidents due to trick or fancy flying.
+Putting a machine through a series of evolutions, to interest and
+amuse spectators, is not of course in itself to be condemned. In such
+flying, and notably for instance in "looping the loop," facts were
+learnt concerning the navigation of the air, and as to the apparently
+hopeless positions from which an aeroplane would extricate itself,
+which were of very high value, from both a scientific and practical
+standpoint. Public interest in aviation was increased also by such
+displays; and it is very necessary that there should be public
+interest in flying, seeing that it is the public which is asked to pay
+for the development of our air-fleets. But the man who undertakes
+exhibition flying needs not only to be a highly-skilled pilot, but a
+man also of an exceptional temperament&mdash;a man whose familiarity with
+the air never leads him into a contempt for its hidden dangers; a man
+who will not, even though he is called on to repeat a feat time after
+time, abate in any way the precautions which may be necessary for his
+safety. In looping the loop, for instance, or in upside-down flying,
+it is necessary always that the aeroplane should be at a certain
+minimum height above the ground. Then, should anything unexpected
+happen, and the pilot lose command temporarily over his machine, he
+knows he has a certain distance which he may fall, before striking the
+ground; and during this fall the natural stability of his machine,
+aided by his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> operation of the guiding surfaces, may bring it back
+again within control. But if he has been tempted to fly too near the
+ground, and has ignored for the moment this vital precaution, and if
+something happens for which he is not prepared, then the impact may
+come before he can do anything to save himself.</p>
+
+<p>In the early days of flying, when aviators attempted an acrobatic feat,
+they ran a far heavier risk than would be the case to-day; and for
+the simple reason that their machines, not having a strength
+sufficient to withstand any abnormal stresses, were likely to collapse
+in the air if they were made to dive too rapidly, or placed suddenly
+at any angle which threw a heavy strain on their planes. A machine for
+exhibition flying needs to be constructed specially; but this was not
+realised till accidents had taught their lesson.</p>
+
+<p>It is a regrettable fact, one which emerges directly from a study of
+aeroplane accidents, that many of them might have been avoided had men
+been content to follow warily in the footsteps of the pioneers, and
+not run heavy risks till they themselves, and the machines they
+controlled, had been prepared, by a long period of steady flying, to
+meet such greater dangers. The first men who flew realised fully the
+risks they ran. But when flying became more general, and men found
+machines ready to their hands, machines which it was a simple matter
+to learn to fly, this early spirit of caution was forsaken, and feats
+were attempted which brought fatalities in their train, and which
+seemed to emphasise the risks of aviation, and did it the very bad
+service that they fixed in the public mind a notion of its dangers,
+and prevented men from coming forward to take up flying as a sport.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch8" id="ch8"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span>
+
+<h3>FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">It</span> has been calculated that nearly half the aeroplane disasters of the
+early days were due to a structural weakness in machines, or to
+mistakes either in their design, or in such details as the position,
+shape, and size of their surfaces. To-day, thanks to science, and to
+the growing skill and experience of aeroplane designers and
+constructors, this risk of the collapse of a machine in the air, or of
+its failure to respond to its controls at some critical moment through
+an error in design, has been to a large extent eliminated. That such
+risks should be eliminated wholly is, as yet, too much to expect.</p>
+
+<p>One of the factors making for safety has been the steady growth in the
+general efficiency of aircraft: in the curve of their wings which, as
+a result largely of scientific research, has been made to yield a
+greater lift for a given surface and to offer a minimum of resistance
+to their passage through the air; in the power and reliability of
+their engines; in the efficiency of their propellers; and in the
+shaping of the fusilage of a machine, and in the placing and
+"stream-lining" of such parts as meet the air, so as to reduce the
+head resistance which is encountered at high speeds. Such gains in
+efficiency, which give constructors more latitude in the placing of
+weight and strength where experience show they are needed, have gone
+far to produce an airworthy machine. In the old days, when machines
+were inefficient, a few revolutions more or less per minute in the
+running of an engine meant all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> difference between an ascent and
+merely passing along the ground. But nowadays, through the all-round
+increase in efficiency that has been obtained, a machine will still
+fly upon its course without losing altitude, and respond to its
+controls, even should the number of revolutions per minute of its
+engine be reduced considerably.</p>
+
+<p>When given a greater efficiency in lifting surfaces and
+power-plants&mdash;and profiting also from the lessons that had been learnt
+in the piloting of machines&mdash;constructors were able to devote their
+attention, and to do so with certainty instead of in a haphazard way,
+to the provision of factors of safety when a craft was in flight. With
+a machine of any given type, if driven through the air at a certain
+speed, it is possible to estimate with accuracy what the normal
+strains will be to which it is subjected. But even if such data are
+obtained, and the machine given the strength indicated, this factor of
+safety is insufficient. It is not so much the normal strains, as those
+which are abnormal, that must be guarded against in flight. A
+high-speed machine, if piloted on a day when the air is turbulent, may
+be subjected to extraordinarily heavy strains; rising many feet in the
+air one moment, falling again the next, and being met suddenly by
+vicious gusts of wind&mdash;in much the same way that a fast-moving ship,
+when fighting its way through a rough sea, is beaten and buffeted by
+the waves. Air waves have not of course the weight, when they deliver
+a blow, that lies behind a mass of water; but that these wind-waves
+attain sometimes an abnormal speed, and have a tremendous power of
+destruction, is shown in the havoc that is caused by hurricanes.</p>
+
+<p>It seems astonishing to many people that such a frail machine as the
+aeroplane, with its outspread wings containing nothing stronger often
+than wooden spars and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> ribs, covered by a cotton fabric, should be
+capable of being driven through the air at such a speed, say, as 100
+miles an hour, encountering not only the pressure of the air, but
+resisting also the fluctuations to which it may be subjected. But,
+underlying the lightness and apparent frailty of such a wing, when one
+sees it in the workshop in its skeleton form, before it has been
+clothed in fabric, there is a skill in construction, and an experience
+in the choice, selection, and working of woods, that produces a
+structure which, for all its fragile appearance, is amazingly strong.
+And the same applies, nowadays, to all the other parts of an
+aeroplane. That it should have taken years to gain such strength, and
+to reduce so largely the risk of breakage, is not in itself
+surprising. Men had to devise new methods in construction&mdash;always with
+the knowledge that weight must be saved&mdash;and to create new factors of
+safety, before they could build an airworthy craft.</p>
+
+<p>To-day, when a man flies, he need have no lurking fear, as had the
+pioneers, that his craft may break in the air. Even when it is driven
+through a gale, plunging in the rushes of the wind, yet held straining
+to its task by the power of its motor, the modern aeroplane can be
+relied upon; and not in one detail of its construction, but in every
+part. Experience, the researches of science, and the growing skill
+with which aircraft are built, stand between the airman and many of
+his previous dangers. The aeroplane to-day, one of the structural
+triumphs of the world in its lightness and its strength, has a factor
+of safety which is sufficient to meet, and to withstand, not merely
+ordinary strains, but any such abnormal stresses as it may
+encounter&mdash;and which may be many times greater than the strains of
+normal flight.</p>
+
+<p>The aviator knows also that his engine, as it gives him power to
+combat successfully his treacherous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> enemy, the wind, represents the
+fruit of many tests and of many failures, and of the spending of
+hundreds of thousands of pounds. Many of its defects have revealed
+themselves, and been rectified; it is no longer light where it should
+have weight of metal, nor weak where it should be strong. So far as
+any piece of mechanism can be made reliable, consisting as it does of
+a large number of delicate parts, operating at high speed, the
+aeroplane motor has been made reliable. But, so long as one motor is
+used, there must always, as we have said, remain a risk of breakdown.
+It is for this reason that, thanks largely to the stimulus of the
+war&mdash;which has created a practical demand for such
+machines&mdash;aeroplanes are now being built, and flown with success,
+which are fitted with duplicate motors. With such machines, which give
+us a first insight as to the aircraft of the future, engine failure
+begins to lose its perils&mdash;particularly in regard to war. More than
+once during the great campaign, when flying a single-engine machine,
+an aviator has found his motor fail him, and has been obliged to land
+on hostile soil; with the result that he has been made prisoner. But
+with dual-engine machines it has been found that, when one motor has
+failed mechanically, or has been put out of action by shrapnel, the
+remaining unit has been sufficient&mdash;though the machine has flown
+naturally at a reduced rate&mdash;to enable the pilot to regain his own
+lines.</p>
+
+<p>In peace flying, too, as well as in war, the multiple-engined
+aeroplane brings a new factor of safety. If one of his motors fails,
+and he is over country which offers no suitable landing-place, the
+pilot with a duplicate power-plant need not be concerned. His
+remaining unit or units will carry him on. There are problems with
+duplicate engines which remain to be solved&mdash;problems of a technical
+nature&mdash;which involve general efficiency, transmission gear, and the
+number<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> and the placing of propellers; but already, though this new
+stride in aviation is in its earliest infancy, results that are most
+promising have been obtained.</p>
+
+<p>To those who study aviation, and have done so constantly, say from the
+year 1909, one of the most striking signs of progress lies in the fact
+that, though unable at first to fly even in the lightest winds, the
+aviator of to-day will fight successfully against a 60 miles-an-hour
+wind, and will do battle if need be, once he is well aloft, with a
+gale which has a velocity of 90 miles an hour. He will ascend indeed,
+and fly, in any wind that permits him to take his machine from the
+ground into the air, or which the motor of his craft will allow it to
+make headway against. And here, though machines are still experimental,
+there is removed at one stroke the earliest and the most positive
+objection of those who criticised a man's power to fly. When the first
+aeroplanes flew the sceptics said: "You have still to conquer the wind,
+and that you will never do. Aeroplanes will be built to fly only in
+favourable weather, and this will limit their use so greatly that they
+will have no significance." But to-day the aviator has ceased, one
+might almost say, to be checked or hampered by the wind. If the need
+is urgent, as it often is in war, then it will be nothing less than a
+gale that will keep a pilot to the ground, provided he has a
+sufficiently powerful machine, and a suitable ground from which to
+rise&mdash;and granted also that he has no long distance to fly.
+Wind-flying resolves itself into a question of having ample
+engine-power, of being able to launch a machine without accident, and
+get it to earth again without mishap; and of being able to make a
+reasonable headway against the wind when once aloft; and these
+difficulties should solve themselves, as larger and heavier machines
+are built.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from the growing skill of the aviator, which has been bought
+dearly, science can now give him a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> machine, when he is in a wind, that
+needs no exhausting effort to hold it in flight. Craft are built, as a
+matter of certainty and routine, which have an automatic stability.
+Science has made it possible indeed, by a mere shaping and placing of
+surfaces, and without the aid of mechanical devices, to give an
+aeroplane such a natural and inherent stability that, when it is
+assailed by wind gusts in flight, it will exercise itself an adequate
+correcting influence. To understand what this means it should be
+realised that, when such a machine is in flight say in war on a
+strategical reconnaissance, and carries pilot and passenger, the
+former can take it to a suitable altitude and then set and lock his
+controls, and afterwards devote his time, in common with that of his
+passenger, to the making of observations or the writing of notes. The
+machine meanwhile flies itself, adapting itself automatically to all
+the differences of wind pressure which, if it had not this natural
+stability, would need a constant action of the pilot to overcome. All
+he need do is to maintain it on its course by an occasional movement
+of the rudder. With such a machine, even on a day when there is a
+rough and gusty wind, it is possible for an airman to fly for hours
+without fatigue; whereas with a machine which is not automatically
+stable, and needs a ceaseless operation of its controls, the physical
+exhaustion of a pilot, after hours of flight, is very severe.</p>
+
+<p>So, already, one sees these factors of safety emerge and take their
+place. There is no longer a grave peril of machines breaking in the
+air; there need be no longer, with duplicate power-plants, the
+constant risk of engine failing; while that implacable and treacherous
+foe, the wind, is being robbed daily of its perils.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch9" id="ch9"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span>
+
+<h3>A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">The</span> masters of flying, and this is a fact the novice should ponder
+well, have been conspicuous almost invariably for their prudence. No
+matter how great has been their personal skill, they have never lost
+their respect for the air; and this is why so many of the great flyers,
+after running the heaviest of risks in their pioneer work, have
+managed to escape with their lives. What patience and sound judgment
+can accomplish, when pitted even against such dangers as must be faced
+by an experimenter when he seeks to fly, is shown by an incident from
+the early career of the Wright brothers. With one of their gliders, a
+necessarily frail machine, and in tests made when they were both
+complete novices, they managed to make nearly 1000 glides; and not
+once in all those flights, during which they were learning the
+rudiments of balance and control, did they have a mishap which damaged
+at all seriously their machine.</p>
+
+<p>These two brothers, Wilbur and Orville, offer to the student of flying,
+apart from the historical interest which is attached to their work, a
+temperamental study of the greatest interest. Wilbur, who was grave,
+judicial&mdash;a man of infinite patience and with an exceptional power of
+lucid thinking&mdash;found in his brother and co-worker, Orville, a
+disposition just such as was necessary to strengthen and support him
+in his great research; a disposition more vivacious and more
+enthusiastic than his, and one which acted as a balance to his own
+gravity. The method of these brothers in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> first attacking a mass of
+data, most of it contradictory&mdash;and a large amount of it of little
+intrinsic value&mdash;and then framing their own research on lines which
+they discussed and studied with methodical care, forms a model of
+sound judgment for workers in any complex field. Their kite
+experiments, their gliders, their refusal to hasten their steps unduly
+in the fitting of an engine to their machine, reveal again their
+discretion, and that judgment which never failed them. Perseveringly
+and unswervingly, exhibiting doggedness without obstinacy, and with
+their work illuminated always by the highest intelligence, they moved
+surely from stage to stage; and at last, when they fitted a motor to
+their machine, such was their knowledge of the air, and of the control
+of their craft when in flight, that they were able to make this
+crucial step, from a glider to a machine driven by power, without any
+breakage of their apparatus or injury to themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The same self-control marked them when, having demonstrated that men
+can ascend in a power-driven machine, and steer such a craft at will,
+they dismantled their apparatus and commenced their negotiations with
+foreign Governments. Wilbur Wright, too, when he came to France to
+give his first public demonstrations, provided by his methods a model
+for aviators, either present or future. He resisted all temptations to
+make injudicious flights. If he considered the weather conditions at
+all unsuitable he said that he would not ascend, no matter who might
+have come to see him fly, and that settled the question once and for
+all. He was deaf to all pleadings, to all proffered advice. When
+conditions were perfectly suitable, and then only, would he have his
+craft brought from its shed.</p>
+
+<p>The same meticulous care, in every flight he made, marked his
+preparation of his machine. Motor, controls, propeller-gearing, every
+vital part, received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> its due attention; and this attention was never
+relaxed, no matter how frequently he flew, nor how great was his
+success. An observer of one of his early flights at Le Mans has given
+us an impression that is typical of this unremitting care. There was a
+question of some small adjustment that Wilbur had instructed should be
+made to the machine. When the time came to fly, and he was in the
+driving-seat waiting for the motor to be started, he called a question
+as to whether this detail had been attended to. He was assured it had.
+But this was not enough for Wilbur Wright. Climbing from his seat and
+walking round the biplane, he made a careful examination for himself,
+and then returned quietly to the front of the machine. People who came
+to see him fly, and expected some picturesque hero, leaping lightly
+into his machine and sweeping through the air, found that reality
+disappointed them. This quiet, unassuming man, who slept in his shed
+near his aeroplane, and took his meals there also, refused to be fêted
+or made a fuss of; while his deliberation in regard to every flight,
+and his indifference to the wishes or convenience of those who were
+watching him, drove nearly frantic some of those influential people
+who, coming in motor-cars and with a patronising spirit, thought the
+aviator might be treated rather as a superior mountebank, who would be
+only too glad to come out and fly when a distinguished guest arrived.</p>
+
+<p>M. Louis Bleriot, whose name was next to become world-famous, after
+that of the Wrights, and who owed his distinction to his crossing of
+the English Channel by air, revealed in his character determination
+and courage, and imagination as well. And yet allied to these
+qualities&mdash;and here lay his temperamental strength&mdash;he had a spirit of
+quiet calculation and an eery considerable shrewdness. He knew, and was
+not afraid of showing that he knew, the full value of caution. And yet
+on occasion also&mdash;as in the cross-Channel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> flight&mdash;he was ready to put
+everything to the test, and to take promptly and with full knowledge
+the heaviest of risks. The motor in his cross-Channel monoplane was an
+experimental one of low power, air-cooled, and prone to over-heat and
+lose power after only a short period of running. To cross the Channel,
+even under the most favourable circumstances, he knew this engine must
+run without breakdown for thirty-five or forty minutes. This it had
+not done&mdash;at any rate in the air&mdash;before. There was a strong
+probability&mdash;and Bleriot knew this better than anyone else&mdash;that the
+motor would fail before he reached the English shore, and that he
+would have to glide down into the sea. It was arranged that a
+torpedo-boat-destroyer should follow him, and this afforded an element
+of safety. But Bleriot guessed&mdash;as was actually the case&mdash;that he
+would outdistance this vessel in his flight, and soon be lost to the
+view of those upon it. And he did not deceive himself as to what might
+happen, if his engine stopped and he fell into the water. His
+monoplane, as it lay on the surface of the water, would, he knew,
+prove a very difficult object to locate by any vessel searching for it;
+while it was so frail that it would not withstand for long the
+buffeting of the waves. He carried an air-bag fixed inside the
+fusilage, it is true; but, in spite of this precaution, Bleriot knew
+he ran a very grave peril of being drowned. There was, on the morning
+of his flight, another disturbing factor to be reckoned with. The wind,
+calm enough when he first determined to start, began very quickly to
+rise; and by the time he had motored from Calais to the spot where his
+aeroplane lay, and the machine itself was ready for flight, the wind
+out to sea was so strong that the waves had become white-capped. But
+Bleriot, aware of the value at such moments of decision, had made up
+his mind. He knew that, if his engine only served him, his flight
+would be quickly made. And so he reckoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> that, even though the wind
+was rising, he would be able to complete his journey before it had
+become high enough seriously to inconvenience him; and in this
+calculation, as events proved, he was right. His motor did its work;
+and, though the wind tossed his machine dangerously when he came near
+the cliffs of the English coast, he succeeded in making a landing and
+in winning the £1000 prize.</p>
+
+<p>M. Hubert Latham, Bleriot's competitor in the cross-Channel flight,
+had that peculiar outlook on life, with its blend of positive and
+negative&mdash;puzzling often to its owner as well as to the onlooker&mdash;that
+is called, for the sake of calling it something, the artistic
+temperament. He was impulsive, yet impassive often to a disconcerting
+extent: extremely sensitive and reserved as a rule, yet on occasion
+almost boyishly frank and communicative. He lacked entirely ordinary
+shrewdness, or everyday commonsense. He was a man of a deeply romantic
+temperament, and this inclined him towards aviation and the conquest
+of the air; while in actual piloting he had such a quickness and
+delicacy of touch, and such a sure and instinctive judgment of
+distance and of speed, that he was undoubtedly a born aviator&mdash;one of,
+if not the, finest the world has seen. That he did not attain greater
+success, from a practical point of view, was due to the fact that he
+was without the level-headedness and the business ability which
+characterised others of the pioneers. When he was in flight in his
+Antoinette&mdash;Latham flew that machine and no other&mdash;he was a supreme
+artist. His machine was beautiful, and his handling of it was
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>M. Henri Farman, beyond question, of course, another of the great
+pioneers, is a man of imagination and of a highly nervous temperament,
+yet possessing at the same time a very pronounced vein of caution. No
+success has for an instant caused him to lose his head. At Rheims, in
+1909, when he had created a world's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> record by flying for more than
+three hours without alighting, those who hastened to congratulate him,
+after his descent, found him absolutely normal and unmoved. Washing
+his hands at a little basin in the corner of the shed, he discussed
+very quietly and yet interestedly, and entirely without any
+affectation of nonchalance, the details of his flight and the
+behaviour of his motor. His attitude was that the flight was something,
+yet not a great deal, and that very much more remained to be done; a
+perfectly right and proper attitude, one which was just as it should
+be, yet one encountered very rarely under such circumstances&mdash;human
+nature being what it is.</p>
+
+<p>Farman's patience, his perseverance, were in the very early days what
+gave him his first success. With the biplane the Voisins built him,
+for example, nothing but his own determination, and his ceaseless work
+upon his engine, enabled him to do more with this type of machine than
+others had done.</p>
+
+<p>As the aeroplane increased in efficiency, and in the reliability of
+its engine, and was used in cross-country journeys, there came an era
+of flying contests, in which large prizes were offered, and in which
+airmen passed between cities and across frontiers, and traversed in
+their voyages the greater part of Europe. In the making of these
+flights, which needed an exceptional determination and skill, allied
+also to a perfect bodily fitness, there came into prominence certain
+aviators whose precision in their daily flights, passing across
+country with the speed and regularity of express trains, won
+admiration throughout the world. Prominent among these champions was
+the French naval officer, Lieut. J. Conneau, who adopted in his
+contests the flying name of "Beaumont." His success and his exactitude,
+when piloting a Bleriot monoplane for long distances above unknown
+country, guiding himself by map and compass, gave the public an
+indication,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> for the first time, of what might be accomplished by an
+expert airman when flying a reliable machine. Lieut. Conneau's success,
+winning as he did several of the great contests one after another,
+and the absence of error in his flying from stage to stage, and his
+accurate landings upon strange and often badly-surfaced aerodromes,
+should provide for the novice in aviation&mdash;when the secret of this
+success is understood&mdash;an object-lesson that is of value.</p>
+
+<p>This quiet, efficient airman, and his methods in making himself so
+competent, afford indeed an interesting study. Here was one who,
+suited already by temperament for the tasks he undertook, trained
+himself with such care, with such patience, that he attained as nearly
+to the ideal as is possible for living man. When he had asked for, and
+obtained, permission from the Minister of Marine to study aviation in
+all its aspects, he began his task in a spirit that was admirable. "I
+was convinced," he wrote afterwards, "that a perfect knowledge of
+machines and motors was necessary before one could use them." For
+nearly a year, on leaving the sea, he worked to obtain a certificate
+as a practical engineer. This gained, he went through a period of
+motor-cycling and motor-car driving, varied by flights in captive
+balloons and free balloons, and afterwards in airships. Following this
+he obtained leave to stay for a time at Argenteuil, and enter the
+works of the builders of the Gnome motor. Here he lived the life of a
+mechanic, and learned to understand completely the operation of this
+famous engine, which he was destined to drive afterwards in his great
+flights.</p>
+
+<p>Presently he went to Pau, in order to obtain his certificate as an
+aeroplane pilot. At first, taking his turn with a number of other
+pupils, he could only get a few minutes at a time in a machine. But
+being a keen observer he found that, by listening to the instructors,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span>
+and watching the flights made, he could pick up useful information
+without being in the air; and this led him to the observation that "to
+learn to fly quickly, one must begin by staying on the ground."</p>
+
+<p>He secured in due course his certificate of proficiency, astonishing
+the instructors by his skill and sureness in the handling of his
+machine. Then followed what might be called an apprenticeship to
+cross-country flying. He made constant flights in all weathers, flying
+for instance from Pau to Paris, and studying closely not only the
+piloting of his machine and the aerial conditions he encountered, but
+also the art of using a map and compass, and in finding a path without
+deviation from point to point. Improving daily in confidence and skill,
+and learning practically all there was to be learned as to the
+handling of a Gnome-engined Bleriot, he was able soon to fly under
+weather conditions which would have seemed hopeless to a pilot of less
+experience; while engine failure and other troubles, which overtook
+him frequently on these long flights, taught him to alight without
+damaging his machine on the most unpromising ground.</p>
+
+<p>Now, feeling himself at last competent, he obtained permission to
+figure on the retired list, so that he might take part in the aviation
+races which were then being organised. Of these great contests Lieut.
+Conneau won three in succession&mdash;the Paris-Rome Race, in which he flew
+928 miles in 21 hours 10 minutes; the European Circuit, in which he
+flew 1,060 miles in a total flying time of 24 hours 18 minutes; and
+the Circuit of Britain, in which he flew 1,006 miles in 22 hours 26
+minutes. Lieut. Conneau's success, which appeared extraordinary, and
+his skill in finding his way across country, which seemed abnormal,
+were due as a matter of fact to his assiduous preparation, and to a
+temperament which, even under the heavy strains of constant flying,
+saved him from errors of judgment or ill-advised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> decisions. His
+temperament was, indeed, ideal for a racing airman. He was quiet and
+collected, with a natural tendency to resist excitement or confusion.
+His physique was admirable, and he had that elasticity of strength,
+both in body and nerve, which are invaluable to a pilot when on long
+flights. Also, and this was of importance, Lieut. Conneau had a
+natural cheerfulness of disposition which carried him without
+irritation or despondency through those ordeals of weather, and of
+mechanical breakdowns and delays, which are inseparable from such
+contests as those in which he was engaged.</p>
+
+<p>A contrast to Lieut. Conneau, both in temperament and method, was his
+rival Jules Vedrines&mdash;the aviator who, notably in the Circuit of
+Britain, flew doggedly against Lieut. Conneau from stage to stage.
+Vedrines, who had not had the advantages in tuition that had been
+enjoyed by Lieut. Conneau, nor his grounding in technique, was
+nevertheless a born aviator; a man of a natural and exceptional skill.
+In energy, courage, and determination he was unexcelled; but such
+qualities, though of extreme value in a long and trying contest, were
+marred by an impetuosity and an excitability which Vedrines could not
+master, and which more than once cost him dear. He had not, besides,
+as was shown in the Circuit of Britain, that skill in steering by map
+and compass which aided Lieut. Conneau so greatly in all his flying.</p>
+
+<p>A personality of unusual interest was that of the late Mr. S. F.
+Cody&mdash;a man of a great though untutored imagination, and of an
+extraordinary and ceaseless energy. A big man, and one whom it might
+be thought would have been clumsy in the handling of an aeroplane, he
+piloted the biplanes of his own construction with a remarkable skill.
+He flew no other, of course, and this was greatly to his advantage in
+actual manipulation. The great pilots who have excelled&mdash;one may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span>
+instance again Lieut. Conneau&mdash;have concentrated their attention as a
+rule on one type of machine, learning all there is to be learned about
+this particular craft, and being prepared in consequence, through
+their knowledge both of its capacities and weaknesses, for any
+contingency that may arise in flight. Another instance of such
+specialisation was provided by Mr. Gustave Hamel. M. Bleriot&mdash;an
+admirable judge in this respect&mdash;singled out Mr. Hamel, while this
+young man was learning to fly in France, as an aviator of quite
+unusual promise; and his prediction was, of course, more than
+fulfilled. Devoting himself exclusively to the monoplane, Mr. Hamel
+became a pilot whose perfection of control, very wonderful to witness,
+was marked strongly by his own individuality. He had beautiful
+"hands"&mdash;a precision and delicacy on the controls which marked his
+flying from that of all others; while his judgment of speed and
+distance, which was remarkable, represented natural abilities which
+had been improved and strengthened by his constant flying.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch10" id="ch10"></a>CHAPTER X</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span>
+
+<h3>CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">When</span> a pupil has finished his flying school tests, and has received
+his certificate from the Royal Aero Club, he is in a stage of
+proficiency which means that he has learned to control an aeroplane
+when above an aerodrome and in conditions that are favourable, and
+that he may be relied on to make no elementary mistakes. But as to
+cross-country flying, with its greater hazards, he is still a novice,
+with everything to learn. And so it is to flights from point to point,
+generally between neighbouring aerodromes, that he next devotes
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Aviators have been commiserated with, often, on what is thought to be
+the monotony of a cross-country flight. The pilot, raised to a lonely
+height above the earth, is pictured sitting more or less inertly in
+his seat, with nothing to do but retain his control on the levers, and
+look out occasionally so as to keep upon his course. But the beginner,
+when he first attempts cross-country flying, will have an impression
+not of inactivity, but of the necessity to be constantly on the alert.
+He will be engrossed completely by the manipulation of his machine,
+with no time to sit in idle speculation, or to analyse his feelings as
+the country passes away below.</p>
+
+<p>When preliminaries on the ground have been gone through, and the pilot
+is in the air, there will first be a need to gain a height of several
+thousand feet. Altitude is essential in cross-country flying. The
+higher a pilot flies, within reason and having regard to the state of
+the atmosphere, the better chance will he have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> of making a safe
+landing, should his motor fail suddenly and force him to descend. So
+the first concern is climbing&mdash;and in doing so the pilot must remember
+the teachings of his instructor, and not force his craft on too steep
+or rapid an ascent. He may prefer, in his early flights, to remain
+above the aerodrome while he is gaining altitude, watching his height
+recorder from moment to moment so as to note his progress upward. He
+will be occupied also with his engine, listening to its rhythm of
+sound, and keeping an eye on the indicator that tells him how many
+revolutions per minute the motor is actually making, and which will
+warn him at once should it begin to fail.</p>
+
+<p>Granted his motor is running well, a pilot should soon gain altitude.
+Then, assuming the air is clear&mdash;as it should be on his early
+flights&mdash;he will note some landmark, away on the line of his flight,
+and set off across country towards it. Fixed conveniently in front of
+him will be a map, of a kind devised specially for the use of
+aviators. A pilot's view, as he flies high above the ground, is
+bird-like. Landmarks fail to attract his attention, at this altitude,
+which would be clearly seen if he were on the ground. Hills, for
+example, unless they are high, are so dwarfed as he looks down on them
+that they scarcely catch his eye. What is done, by the designer of air
+maps, is to accentuate such details of a landscape as will prove
+conspicuous when seen from above. A river, or an expanse of water, is
+clearly seen; so also are railways and main roads; while factory
+chimneys, and large buildings which stand alone, may be identified
+from a distance when a pilot is in flight. So on an airman's map, made
+to stand out by various colourings in a way that catches the eye, are
+railways, roads, rivers, lakes and woods, with here and there a
+factory chimney or a church, should these be in a position rendering
+them visible easily from the air. That such maps should be bold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> in
+their design, and free from a mass of small details, is very necessary
+when it is remembered that the aviator, passing through the air at
+high speeds, has no time for a leisurely inspection of his map.</p>
+
+<p>With a good map, and aided when necessary by the compass that is
+placed in a position so that he can see it readily, a pilot has no
+difficulty as a rule, once he has acquired the facility that comes
+with practice, in steering accurately from point to point, even when
+on a long flight. On a favourable day, when the land below is clearly
+visible, he will glance ahead, or to one side, and after observing
+some landmark, look on his map to identify the position he has just
+seen. Under such conditions steering is easy, and the compass plays a
+subsidiary part. But it may happen that, while he is on a long flight
+and at a considerable altitude, the earth below may be obscured by
+clouds, or a low-lying mist, and all landmarks vanish from his view.
+Sometimes too, he may find himself flying through mist and cloud, with
+all signs of the earth gone from below. Whereupon, robbed for awhile
+of any direct guidance, he must fly by aid of his map and compass,
+holding his machine on its compass course, and noting carefully the
+needle of his height-recorder, so that he is sure of maintaining
+altitude. A risk exists under such conditions, when there is no
+visible object by which to judge a course, that an airman may make
+leeway, unconsciously, under the pressure of a side-wind; and so he
+must be ready to note carefully, immediately that a view of the earth
+is vouchsafed him, whether he has actually been making leeway, either
+to one hand or the other, even while the bow of his machine has been
+held on its compass course. There is a risk also, when a pilot is
+flying in fog or at night, that, having no visible horizon from which
+to gauge the inclination of his craft, it may assume gradually some
+abnormal angle, without his own sensations telling him what is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> taking
+place. The craft may, for the sake of illustration, incline sideways,
+imperceptibly to the pilot, till it begins to side-slip. But science
+can meet this danger by providing inclinometers, fitted within the
+hull so that the aviator can see them easily; and by means of these
+instruments, which are illuminated at night, it is possible for a
+pilot to tell, merely by a glance, at what angle his machine is moving
+forward through the air&mdash;whether it is up or down at the bow, or
+whether its position laterally is normal.</p>
+
+<p>The beginner, on his first cross-country flight, need not be troubled
+by such intricacies. He is flying, one assumes, on a fine day, with
+the land spread clearly below him. So as he moves through the air,
+listening always to the hum of his motor, he need have no fear,
+granted that his observation is ordinarily keen, of losing his way.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally, being a novice, he will feel the responsibility of his
+position. His eyes will rove constantly from one instrument to another;
+as indeed, from habit, do those of a practised flyer. He will glance
+at the height recorder; then at the engine revolution indicator; then
+at the dial which tells him what his speed is relative to the air.
+There is a dial, also, showing the pressure in his petrol-tank; while
+there will be a clock on his dashboard at which he will glance
+occasionally, after he has marked some position away on the land below,
+so as to determine what progress he is making from the point of view
+of time.</p>
+
+<p>Besides these preoccupations, and the ceaseless even if almost
+unconscious attention that he must pay to his engine, there is the
+need to bear constantly in his mind's eye the lie of the land. Should
+his motor fail suddenly, or something happen which necessitates an
+immediate descent, it is imperative that he should be able, without
+delay, to choose from the ground that is visible below him some field
+or open space that will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> provide a safe landing-point. And this is
+easier said than done. The earth, when viewed by a airman who looks
+down almost directly upon it, is apt to be deceptive as to its
+contour. A field that is selected say, from a height of several
+thousand feet, may not prove&mdash;as the aviator nears it in his glide&mdash;to
+be at all the haven he imagined it. More than once, seeking to alight
+on a field which appeared to him, as he was high above it, to be level
+as a billiard table, a pilot has found, when it is too late, that the
+ground has sloped so steeply that his machine, after landing, has run
+on downhill and ended by crashing into a fence or ditch.</p>
+
+<p>It is very necessary for an airman to learn to judge, by its
+appearance, the difference between an expanse, say, of pasture land,
+or a field which is in green corn or standing hay. It has happened
+often that a pilot, descending after engine failure towards what he
+has reckoned a grass field, has discovered&mdash;when too low to change his
+landing-point&mdash;that his pasture land is actually a field of green corn;
+and a landing under such conditions, with the corn binding on the
+running-gear of the machine, may end in the aircraft coming to an
+abrupt halt, and then pitching forward on its nose; with a broken
+propeller and perhaps other damages in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>In choosing a landing ground, as in other problems that face the
+novice in cross-country flying, experience will prove his safeguard.
+He will learn for instance that cattle or sheep, if they can be
+discerned below in a field, go to show that this field is one of
+pasture and not of crops. If no cattle are to be seen in a field, and
+the aviator is doubtful about it, and yet if it happens to be the only
+suitable one he can locate, then he may look closely at the gateway
+which leads into the field. If, in this gateway, he can detect such
+scars or markings on the ground as are caused by the feet of cattle as
+they walk daily in and out, he may feel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> satisfied the field is one of
+pasture.</p>
+
+<p>When cattle or sheep are seen standing in a field so that they face in
+the same direction, this may suggest either the existence of a slope,
+or the presence of a strong ground wind; while a stream or brook at
+the edge of a stretch of open land, or a belt of woods, may suggest a
+sloping of the ground.</p>
+
+<p>It is amusing for a pilot&mdash;or it was so, rather, in the days when few
+aeroplanes were in existence&mdash;to note the astonishment which his
+descent, made quite unexpectedly perhaps in some quiet and rural
+country, will occasion amongst the inhabitants. Sometimes, under the
+stress of such an excitement, people appear to lose for the time being
+their power of coherent speech. A pilot in a cross-country contest,
+not being sure whether he was on his right course, decided to make a
+landing and ask his way. He noticed, after a while, the figure of a
+man in a field below. Planing down, and alighting in the field, he
+shouted questions to this man, switching his engine off and on, while
+he did so, in order that his words, and those of the other, might be
+audible. But the man in the field, demoralised by the advent of this
+being from the air, and gazing at him and his machine with an
+expression of blank amazement, was unequal to the task of giving even
+the simplest directions. He waved his arms, it is true, but no words
+that could be understood issued from his lips. The pilot repeated his
+questions, but it was no good. The man waved and mouthed, and rolled
+his eyes, but when he tried to speak intelligibly he could not. So the
+aviator, loath to waste further time, accelerated his engine again and
+continued his flight.</p>
+
+<p>As a contrast to this, there was the experience of a pilot who, after
+a long flight from England to the Continent, landed at length near a
+small village. In the next field to that in which he alighted there
+was a labourer, digging patiently. The aviator expected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> that this man
+would fling down his spade in excitement, and run wildly towards the
+aeroplane. But such was not the case. This labourer, a marvel of
+placidity and unconcern, merely raised his head slowly and looked
+across at the aircraft, and then went on with his digging.</p>
+
+<p>In his first cross-country flights, being concerned chiefly as to the
+manipulation of his machine, and having so many things to think of,
+the novice may feel tired after even a short journey by air. His chief
+sensation, as he switches off his engine to descend towards the
+aerodrome he sees below him, will be one of relief that he has escaped
+engine failure, and that he has been able to find his way from point
+to point. The joy of flight, of passing swiftly thousands of feet
+above the earth, will have made but a small impression upon him&mdash;at
+any rate consciously. It will not be until the handling of his machine
+becomes less laborious, and he has time to accustom himself to his
+unique view-point, and the strangeness and beauty of the scene below
+him, that the novice will realise some of the fascinations of aerial
+travel; fascinations that it is difficult to describe. The sensation
+of having thrown off the bonds of earth-bound folk; of soaring above
+the noise and dust of highways; of being free from the obstructions of
+traffic; of sweeping forward smoothly, swiftly, and serenely&mdash;the land
+stretching below in an ever-changing panorama, with the drone of the
+motor in one's ears, and a wine-like exhilaration in the rush of the
+air: these, and others more obscure, are among the sensations of
+cross-country flying.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch11" id="ch11"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span>
+
+<h3>AVIATION AS A PROFESSION</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">Young</span> men, and parents on their behalf, are seeking always some
+profession which will yield an adequate return for the enthusiasm
+which youth lavishes upon it. Too often, though, at any rate in the
+past, this search for a man's work in life has been narrowed into ruts;
+conducted on certain set lines which, though they have found
+employment for the beginner, have given him no scope for that
+enthusiasm with which he will attack the first tasks presented him.
+Aviation, till the coming of the war, was looked at askance by parents
+who had sons on their hands. Apart from the risks of flying, which
+appeared to them ceaseless and terrible, the actual industry of
+building aeroplanes, regarded as an industry, seemed so haphazard and
+objectless an affair&mdash;so much like playing at work&mdash;that they
+discouraged any wish that a youth might show to enter it. Many people,
+these people of intelligence, regarded the building and flying of
+aeroplanes as being no more than a passing phase, and a regrettable
+one, which it was hoped men would soon abandon, and turn their
+attention to tasks more serious and profitable. But that was before
+aircraft had proved their value as instruments of war. Now it is known
+that aeroplanes have the power, granted they are supplied in
+sufficient numbers, of altering the tenor of a great campaign, both by
+land and sea; and that in any future war of nations, should one come,
+a battle between the hostile flying fleets, fought to determine the
+command of the air, will determine also, to a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> large extent, the
+fortunes of armies on the land and navies on the sea. It is clear
+indeed that, for any great nation that strives to maintain its place,
+a powerful air fleet has become a necessity; while for Britain, an
+island no longer from the military point of view, seeing that we must
+face seriously the question of invasions by air, there is a vital need
+to strive for command of the air, as we now hold command of the sea.</p>
+
+<p>The building up of our air fleet will be an arduous task, needing men,
+money, and time; but without it we cannot be secure. Therefore the
+work must be faced, the men and the money forthcoming. Aviation, as an
+industry, must prepare for years of strenuous work. A great air
+service must be created. Machines must be designed and built in
+thousands instead of hundreds, and men trained to fly them. Nor is
+this all. The aeroplane, though it has such significance as a weapon
+of war, is destined primarily and eventually to be an instrument of
+peace; a machine for the transport by air of passengers, mails, and
+goods, at speeds greater than will be feasible by land or water; and a
+craft also for the use of travellers and tourists, enabling them to
+make such journeys, with ease and pleasure, as will again prove
+impossible by land or sea. So aviation has two immense tasks ahead of
+it, instead of one. Not only must it create, by years of patient and
+determined effort, a flying service which will command the air, but
+craft must be designed and built also for the mail, goods, and
+passenger-carrying services, and to meet the needs of the aerial
+tourist.</p>
+
+<p>This new task that has been given to men, that of designing, building,
+and piloting aircraft, is still on the eve of its expansion. The
+opportunities it offers to young men&mdash;to men whose minds are quick to
+grasp a new idea and who have the powers of initiative and
+decision&mdash;are almost boundless. Flying will, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> develops,
+revolutionise the world's system of transport; while the developments
+even of the immediate future promise to be so great, and so important,
+that it is not easy to visualise them. But this at least is clear: now
+is the time for newcomers to enter the world of flight. Aviation needs
+men, is calling aloud for men; and they are needed for many kinds of
+work. First, of course, should be placed the flying services, naval
+and military, to join which during the war men have come forward so
+admirably. But it will need, in the expansion that must follow this
+campaign, a steady and a ceaseless growth in numbers, not only of the
+men who handle machines in flight, but of those who serve the
+squadrons by their work on land, and who build up the organisation
+which is vital to success.</p>
+
+<p>For skilled aviators, other than those who join the services, there is
+scope for remunerative work. A constant demand exists for men who will
+test and fly in their trials the new machines that are built by
+manufacturers; for men who will fly, in public exhibitions, the craft
+that are used at the various aerodromes; and for men who will qualify
+as instructors, and join the flying schools which are already in
+existence, or in process of formation. In countries oversea, too,
+there is the definite promise that aircraft will be needed, not only
+for survey work over wide tracts of land, and for maintaining
+communication and bearing mails over districts where land travel is
+difficult, but also for exploration; and this again means that pilots
+will be required. New aerodromes must come into existence also; not
+only to act as alighting points for touring craft, but to provide
+grounds for the training of pupils; and at these aerodromes pilots
+will be needed.</p>
+
+<p>Of other opportunities, apart from the piloting of aircraft, there are
+many&mdash;though it is desirable for a man to learn to fly, and obtain his
+certificate of proficiency,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> even if afterwards he does not intend
+continuing as a pilot. The practical experience he gains, while
+learning actually to handle an aircraft in flight, will prove
+extremely useful to him subsequently, even though the task he
+undertakes is one that keeps him on the ground. He may qualify, for
+instance, for a post in a aeroplane factory as a designer or
+draughtsman; or he may specialise in aero-motors, and seek a post in
+the engine-shops. At the aerodromes, too, there are openings which
+present themselves; as, for example, in the management of a flying
+school.</p>
+
+<p>It has been shown that the public will go in thousands to see sporting
+contests with aeroplanes, and here is another field for organisation
+and effort; while there is a constant demand for men of ability in the
+executive departments of firms which are established already in the
+industry, and are expanding steadily, or in those which are now being
+formed, or are joining aviation from day to day.</p>
+
+<p>The industry is at last on a footing that is practical and sound. It
+presents a new field for effort, and one that is unexploited; while
+for the man who enters it&mdash;and this should be the attraction for
+youth&mdash;there are occupations as fascinating as one's imagination could
+depict. But one thing must be understood clearly. Flying is, of exact
+sciences, surely the most exact. The man who is only half-trained, who
+is more or less slovenly in his work, who will not bend his whole
+energies to his task, will find no place in this new industry. A young
+man is wasting his time, if, after deciding to enter aviation, he
+acquires knowledge that is no more than haphazard. He who contemplates
+aviation as a profession must set himself the task of learning all
+there is to be learned, and in the right way.</p>
+
+<p>Individual opportunities and circumstances will, necessarily, play so
+large a part in the steps taken by a young man&mdash;or by his parents on
+his behalf&mdash;to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> launch him on a career in aviation that it is
+impossible, here, to do more than generalise. Certainly, as we have
+said, it is an excellent preliminary to learn to fly; and it may be
+stated also that it is now possible to place, with aviation companies
+of repute, premium pupils who will undergo instruction extending over
+a period of three years. A youth may, also, gain his knowledge of the
+industry by becoming an indentured apprentice.</p>
+
+<p>One may say, as a conclusion to this chapter, that a great, new, and
+potential industry is springing up in our midst, one which will prove
+to be equally if not more important and far-reaching than the British
+shipbuilding industry, and one which will employ thousands of skilled
+engineers and artisans. Ships are limited to one element, the water,
+which has very definite boundaries. Aircraft, too, are limited to one
+element, the air; but this element has no boundaries so far as the
+earth is concerned, and aircraft will be navigable to any and every
+part of the globe.</p>
+
+<h2><a name="ch12" id="ch12"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span>
+
+<h3>THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smallcaps">It</span> is a hopeful augury, to those concerned with aviation, that public
+interest in flying should not only be keen, but should be growing. In
+the early days, even when aeroplanes were so great a novelty, it was
+difficult to induce people in any numbers to witness a flying display.
+The first meetings, though they were organised with enthusiasm, ended
+as a rule with a heavy financial loss; and this fact of course, when
+it became known, had a discouraging influence on those who might, had
+these early meetings proved a success, have been willing to finance
+aerodromes and the building of machines. But as it was, business men,
+who are quick to form conclusions, said that people would never be
+induced to pay to see aeroplanes fly. But here they failed to reckon
+with the fact that, though public interest in flying has been of very
+slow growth, yet at the same time it has been a steady and continuous
+growth. From month to month, and from year to year, as aeroplane
+constructors and pilots have continued at their tasks, overcoming
+technical difficulties and personal risks, the interest of ordinary
+people has grown perceptibly. Even before the war&mdash;which has done so
+much to focus attention on flying&mdash;the attitude of scepticism and
+apathy had been greatly changed. When the London Aerodrome at Hendon
+was established, there were shrewd men in the city, men who are
+ordinarily very sound in their conclusions, who declared the public
+would never go there in appreciable numbers. How wrong they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> were, how
+little they gauged the change that was taking place in the public mind,
+is shown by the fact that, on a popular day at this aerodrome, as
+many as 60,000 people have paid for admission.</p>
+
+<p>In the immediate future, as in the immediate past, aviation will be
+concerned largely with the building of naval and military craft. This
+will, so to say, be the foundation of its development in other
+directions. War for instance, notably in the fitting of craft with
+duplicate power-plants, will provide data that is invaluable in the
+building of commercial craft, and in machines also for the use of the
+tourist. In aerial touring there lies an important field for the
+development of aircraft&mdash;one which may serve to bridge the gap between
+a relatively small, purely pleasure-type machine, and a craft which
+has utility in the fields of commerce. The motor-car provides an
+enjoyable means of travelling from place to place; but in the
+aeroplane, once it is airworthy, reliable, and comfortable, the
+tourist has a vehicle which is distinctly more pleasurable and
+exhilarating. The day was dawning before the war, and will now be
+hastened, when, garaging his aircraft at the London Aerodrome as a
+convenient starting-point, an aerial traveller will tour regularly by
+air, using his flying machine as he would a motor. Already, dotted
+about England, are aerodromes he may use as halting-points on his
+flight, and at which he can house his machine and secure the attention
+of mechanics; and the number of these grounds should grow rapidly in
+the future.</p>
+
+<p>In the aeroplane for the tourist, for the man who buys a machine and
+flies for his own pleasure, it is necessary to combine comfort and
+safety. As regards comfort, though much remains to be done in the
+perfection of detail, the occupants of a machine are now more studied
+than they were in the pioneer days. Then a pilot sat out on a crude
+seat, exposed fully to the rush<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> of wind as a machine moved through the
+air. Now he is placed within a covered-in hull, a screen to protect
+him from the wind. From this stage, as was the case with the motor-car,
+rapid progress should be made in a provision of comfort.</p>
+
+<p>When touring by air under favourable conditions, there should be no
+more risk with an aircraft than with a motor-car. One of the most
+frequent causes of accident, as we have shown, has been the structural
+weakness of a machine. Now, with the experience of the war on which to
+draw, and with many clever brains focussed on the development of the
+industry, this risk may be regarded as almost non-existent; as
+negligible a factor as it is possible to make it, remembering that
+aircraft, like other mechanism, have to be built by human hands.</p>
+
+<p>Another risk, that of engine failure, may, as we have explained, be
+eliminated by the use of more than one motor. In the application of
+such systems there is still much to be learned; but the obstacles are
+not insuperable. One advantage that can be offered the aerial tourist,
+reckoning him as a pilot of no more than average skill, who needs all
+the aid that science can give him, is that he can obtain a machine
+which, owing to its automatic stability, requires merely to be taken
+into the air and brought to earth again, and which will practically
+fly itself, once it is aloft.</p>
+
+<p>One of the needs with a touring machine, to which makers must devote
+their attention, is that it should be able to leave the ground quickly
+in its ascent, and so permit its pilot to rise even from a small
+starting ground. And it is equally necessary that, on occasion, a
+machine should be able to alight safely, and at a slow speed, in quite
+a small field. An aviator who had given up aviation temporarily, after
+a long spell of cross-country flying, was asked one day when he was
+going to fly again. "I shan't do so," he said, "till I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> can buy a
+machine with which I can alight in my own garden."</p>
+
+<p>Already there are craft which, provided high speeds are not expected
+of them, and they are given ample plane-surface, will alight at quite
+a moderate pace; but in the future, by the use of machines which have
+the power of increasing or reducing their wing-surfaces while in
+flight, it should be possible to descend in a space no larger, say,
+than a garden. In the construction of variable-surface machines,
+technical problems need to be faced which are unusually difficult. The
+theory with such craft is that their sustaining planes, either by a
+telescopic system, or by some process of reefing, are built so that
+they can be expanded or contracted at the will of the pilot. Thus in
+rising, when a machine is required to ascend with a minimum run
+forward across the ground, a large area of lifting surface would be
+exposed; and at the moment of alighting, also, when it was desired
+that a machine should make its contact with the ground at the slowest
+possible speed, a maximum of plane surface would be employed. But when
+aloft, and in full flight, the pilot would be able if he so desired to
+reduce the area of his lifting surface, and so increase materially his
+speed. With a machine of this type, when perfected, it should be
+possible to rise quickly, and descend slowly, and yet at the same time,
+when well aloft, attain a high speed with moderate engine-power.</p>
+
+<p>The commercial possibilities of aviation are vast and far-reaching:
+not for nothing, after centuries of striving, have men conquered the
+air. The aeroplane is destined, by the facilities it offers for
+communication between nations, to play a vital part in the growth of
+civilisation. The construction and perfection of a commercial
+aeroplane, a machine which can be used for the transport of passengers,
+mails, and goods, represents largely a question of time and of money.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span>
+Technical problems still need to be solved. But none of them are
+insurmountable. All should be overcome by an expenditure of money and
+in the process of time&mdash;granted of course that research is directed
+upon the right lines. A sufficient amount of money for experimental
+work, which in aviation is very costly, was one of the prime
+difficulties before the war. Capitalists were chary of aviation; they
+had no faith in it. Now, after the work aircraft have done in war, and
+with the need to provide the world with air fleets, the industry need
+live no longer from hand to mouth. There should be funds available for
+experiments with commercial-type aeroplanes.</p>
+
+<p>As to the factor of time, this depends largely on the facilities that
+are obtained by the industry&mdash;apart from its work on naval and
+military craft&mdash;for test work with other machines. But in five years'
+time, granted progress continues on the lines now promised, we should
+have a service of passenger aeroplanes, each carrying fifty or more
+people, flying daily between London, the Midlands, and the North;
+while in ten years' time it should be possible to cross the Atlantic,
+from London to New York, by means of a regular service of aerial craft.</p>
+
+<p>The commercial aeroplane, even when perfected, would not be likely to
+compete successfully with other means of transit unless it could offer
+the advantages of a greater speed. Here, indeed, in the speeds they
+will attain, lies the future of aircraft. The air will be our highway
+because, in the air, speeds will be reached that are impossible on
+land or sea. As civilisation extends&mdash;this is of course a
+truism&mdash;there grows with it a need for speedier travel; and we have
+seen land and sea transit striving to meet this demand. But both have
+reached, or are rapidly reaching, a limit of speed&mdash;a limit imposed by
+the need to carry their passengers and goods on a remunerative basis.
+On the sea, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> burning excessive quantities of coal, it is possible to
+add a few knots to the speed of a great liner. But then the problem
+becomes one of profit and loss; while with trains&mdash;so nearly under
+existing conditions have they reached a limit of speed&mdash;that a
+difficulty is experienced, even on long runs, and under favourable
+circumstances, in saving a minute here and there. It is not of course
+to be assumed, when the spur of a greater necessity comes, that land
+and sea transit will fail altogether to increase their existing
+speeds. There is the mono-rail system of land traction, electrically
+propelled, which has yet to be tested in a practical way; while on the
+sea, perhaps, under pressure of competition, and with an increasing
+demand for greater speeds, it may be possible to adapt with advantage,
+even on large craft, some principle of the hydroplane.</p>
+
+<p>But by way of the air, granted even a speeding-up on land and sea,
+should go the high-speed traffic of the future. By a greater
+efficiency in lifting surfaces and by reductions in the resistance a
+craft offers to its own passage through the air; by the provision of
+systems which will permit a pilot to reduce plane-area when his
+machine has gained altitude and he desires a maximum speed; by the
+equipping of craft with motors developing thousands of horse-power for
+a very low weight&mdash;by such means, and by a general improvement in
+design, it should be possible, eventually, to attain flying speeds of
+150, 200, and even 250 miles an hour. From London to New York by air
+liner, in less than twenty hours; such, for instance, should be an
+attainment of the future.</p>
+
+<p>It seems probable, in the development of the commercial aeroplane, we
+shall have machines for touring and for pleasure flights&mdash;craft not of
+large size but in which efforts are made to obtain a greater
+reliability and comfort. Then it appears likely that aircraft<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> may
+reach a practical use as carriers of mails and of light express goods;
+first of all in localities, and under conditions, which favour
+specially an aerial transit. And from this phase we should move to the
+passenger-carrying craft; to the days when we shall be able to spend a
+week-end in New York, as readily as it has been the habit to do in
+Paris; when we shall be able to reach any part of the world in a
+journey by air lasting, say, a week or ten days. Then, as a recompense
+for the lives that have been lost, and for a conquest that has been so
+dearly won, the world will enter upon an age of aerial transit&mdash;the
+age when frontiers and seas will act as barriers no longer, when
+journeys that now last weeks will be reduced to days, and those of
+days to hours; when first of all Europe, and then the world, will be
+linked by airway.</p>
+
+<h4>THE END</h4>
+<br>
+<hr class="tiny">
+
+<h2><a name="index" id="index"></a>INDEX</h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span>
+
+<ul><li><span class="smallcaps">Aerodromes</span>, their evolution, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+
+<li>Age, its relation to flying, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
+
+<li>Alighting, operation of, <a href="#Page_51"> 51</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Biplanes</span> and tuition, the "pusher" type, <a href="#Page_16"> 16</a></li>
+
+<li>Bleriot, Louis, study of his methods as a pilot, <a href="#Page_84"> 84</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Certificate</span> of proficiency, tests for, <a href="#Page_54"> 54</a></li>
+
+<li>Cody, S. F., <a href="#Page_90"> 90</a></li>
+
+<li>Commercial possibilities of aviation, <a href="#Page_107"> 107</a></li>
+
+<li>Conneau, Lieut. J. ("Beaumont"), <a href="#Page_87"> 87</a></li>
+
+<li>Constructional weakness in aeroplanes, risks of, <a href="#Page_60"> 60</a></li>
+
+<li>Controllability of aeroplanes, problems of, <a href="#Page_33"> 33</a></li>
+
+<li>Cross-country flying, pupils' first experiences, <a href="#Page_92"> 92</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Dual-Engine</span> machines, <a href="#Page_79"> 79</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Engine</span> failure, risks of, <a href="#Page_65"> 65</a></li>
+
+<li>Enjoyment of learning to fly, <a href="#Page_12"> 12</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Farman, Henri</span>, pioneer work as an aviator, <a href="#Page_86"> 86</a></li>
+
+<li>Fees for tuition, <a href="#Page_13"> 13</a></li>
+
+<li>First flights, pupil as passenger, <a href="#Page_39"> 39</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Health</span> and flying, <a href="#Page_10"> 10</a></li>
+
+<li>Human factor in relation to accidents, <a href="#Page_71"> 71</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Improvements</span> in aircraft which spell safety, <a href="#Page_76"> 76</a></li>
+
+<li>Industry of aviation, its expansion, <a href="#Page_100"> 100</a></li>
+
+<li>Instructors, qualifications necessary, <a href="#Page_15"> 15</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Latham, Hubert</span>, temperamental study, <a href="#Page_86"> 86</a></li>
+
+<li>Learning to fly not dangerous, <a href="#Page_11"> 11</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Manual</span> dexterity, need of, <a href="#Page_12"> 12</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Opportunities</span> for the newcomer in aviation, <a href="#Page_101"> 101</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li>"<span class="smallcaps">Rolling</span>" (handling a machine on the ground), <a href="#Page_43"> 43</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">School</span> aeroplanes, types of, <a href="#Page_16"> 16</a></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash; aeroplanes, need for ample supply, <a href="#Page_15"> 15</a></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash; biplane, its controls, <a href="#Page_34"> 34</a></li>
+
+<li>Schools, modern, their conveniences, <a href="#Page_18"> 18</a></li>
+
+<li>Sensations of flight, <a href="#Page_41"> 41</a></li>
+
+<li>Speed in its relation to flying, <a href="#Page_31"> 31</a></li>
+
+<li>Speed, promise of the future, <a href="#Page_109"> 109</a></li>
+
+<li>Straight flights, <a href="#Page_44"> 44</a></li>
+
+<li>Sustaining planes, their operation, <a href="#Page_32"> 32</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Temperament</span>, the ideal for flying, <a href="#Page_22"> 22</a></li>
+
+<li>Time required in learning to fly, <a href="#Page_19"> 19</a></li>
+
+<li>Touring by air, <a href="#Page_105"> 105</a></li>
+
+<li>Turning in the air, <a href="#Page_46"> 46</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Vedrines, Jules</span>, his piloting, <a href="#Page_90"> 90</a></li>
+
+<li>Vol-plané, the, <a href="#Page_48"> 48</a><br><br></li>
+
+
+<li><span class="smallcaps">Weather</span>, its effect on tuition, <a href="#Page_38"> 38</a></li>
+
+<li>Wind fluctuation, dangers of, <a href="#Page_62"> 62</a></li>
+<li>&mdash;&mdash; flying, <a href="#Page_80"> 80</a></li>
+
+<li>Wrights, Wilbur and Orville, <a href="#Page_82"> 82</a><br><br></li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr class="tiny">
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span>
+
+<h2><a name="biblio" id="biblio"></a>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2>
+
+<p><i>Some books selected as being likely to appeal to a man, without
+technical knowledge, who contemplates learning to fly.</i></p>
+
+<p>"THE AIRMAN," by <span class="smallcaps">Captain C. Mellor, R.E.</span> Published by Mr. John Lane,
+the Bodley Head, London. (3s. 6d.)</p>
+
+<p>Describes the author's experiences, in France, while obtaining a
+brevet on a Maurice Farman biplane.</p>
+
+<p>"THE ESSAYS OF AN AVIATOR." Obtainable from "Aeronautics," 170, Fleet
+Street, London, E.C. (2s. 6d.)</p>
+
+<p>A series of admirable papers, written by a pilot and from a pilot's
+point of view.</p>
+
+<p>"THE AERONAUTICAL CLASSICS." A series of booklets issued at 1s. each
+by the Aeronautical Society, 11, Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.</p>
+
+<p>Describe authoritatively, and very interestingly, the work of great
+pioneers.</p>
+
+<p>"FLIGHT WITHOUT FORMULÆ," by <span class="smallcaps">Commandant Duchene</span>, of the French Génie
+(translated from the French by John H. Ledeboer). Published by
+Longmans, Green &amp; Co., 39, Paternoster Row, E.C. (7s. 6d.)</p>
+
+<p>Instructive discussions, clearly expressed, on the mechanics of the
+aeroplane.</p>
+
+<p>"PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT," by <span class="smallcaps">A. E. Berriman</span>. Obtainable from "Flight"
+Offices, St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. (2s.)</p>
+
+<p>"AERO ENGINES," by <span class="smallcaps">G. A. Burls</span>. Published by Charles Griffen &amp; Co., 12,
+Exeter Street, Strand, London, W.C. (8s. 6d.).</p>
+
+<hr class="tiny">
+<br>
+<div class="note">AUTHORS' NOTE.&mdash;The above list does not, of course, pretend to
+be in any way complete. It is designed merely to act as a
+suggestion for the novice.&mdash;C. G.-W., H. H.</div>
+<br>
+<hr class="tiny">
+
+<h5>THE LONDON AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND</h5>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Learning to Fly, by
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@@ -0,0 +1,3843 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Learning to Fly, by Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Learning to Fly
+       A Practical Manual for Beginners
+
+Author: Claude Grahame-White
+        Harry Harper
+
+Release Date: December 18, 2008 [EBook #27557]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEARNING TO FLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LEARNING TO FLY
+
+
+  [Illustration: _Photo by Topical Press Agency._
+  A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT.]
+
+
+  LEARNING TO FLY
+
+  A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR
+  BEGINNERS
+
+  BY
+
+  CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE
+  AND
+  HARRY HARPER
+
+  _FULLY ILLUSTRATED_
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+
+
+  PRINTED IN ENGLAND.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       I. THEORIES OF TUITION                                  9
+
+      II. TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN                          20
+
+     III. FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE                 24
+          (AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME-WHITE)
+
+      IV. THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST-TYPE CRAFT                31
+
+       V. THE STAGES OF TUITION                               38
+
+      VI. THE TEST FLIGHTS                                    53
+
+     VII. PERILS OF THE AIR                                   56
+
+    VIII. FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY                        76
+
+      IX. A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS              82
+
+       X. CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING                                92
+
+      XI. AVIATION AS A PROFESSION                            99
+
+     XII. THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT                               104
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+    A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT                   _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                       FACE PAGE
+
+    GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE                              34
+
+    THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                          36
+
+    REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                             38
+
+    POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE                           40
+
+    MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR--ANOTHER VIEW                        42
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT                   44
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1)                        46
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2)                        48
+
+    PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3)                        50
+
+
+
+
+Authors' Note.--The photographs to illustrate this book, as set forth
+above, were taken at the Grahame-White Flying School, the London
+Aerodrome, Hendon, by operators of the Topical Press Agency, 10 and 11,
+Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHORS' NOTE
+
+
+This book is written for the novice--and for the novice who is
+completely a novice. We have assumed, in writing it, that it will come
+into the hands of men who, having determined to enter this great and
+growing industry of aviation, and having decided wisely to learn to
+fly as their preliminary step, feel they would like to gain
+beforehand--before, that is to say, they take the plunge of selecting
+and joining a flying school--all that can be imparted non-technically,
+and in such a brief manual as this, not only as to the stages of
+tuition and the tests to be undergone, but also in regard to such
+general questions as, having once turned their thoughts towards flying,
+they take a sudden and a very active interest.
+
+It has been our aim, bearing in mind this first and somewhat restless
+interest, to cover a wide rather than a restricted field; and this
+being so, and remembering also the limitations of space, we cannot
+pretend--and do not for a moment wish it to be assumed that we
+pretend--to cover exhaustively the various topics we discuss. Our
+endeavour, in the pages at our disposal, has not been to satisfy
+completely this first curiosity of the novice, but rather to stimulate
+and strengthen it, and guide it, so to say, on lines which will lead
+to a fuller and more detailed research.
+
+It is from this point of view, as a short yet comprehensive
+introduction, and particularly as an aid to the beginner in his choice
+of a school, and in what may be called his mental preparation for the
+stages of his tuition, that we desire our book to be regarded.
+
+  C. G.-W.
+  H. H.
+
+  _April_, 1916.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THEORIES OF TUITION
+
+
+Only eight years ago, in 1908, it was declared impossible for one man
+to teach another to fly. Those few men who had risen from the ground
+in aeroplanes, notably the Wright brothers, were held to be endowed by
+nature in some very peculiar way; to be men who possessed some
+remarkable and hitherto unexplained sense of equilibrium. That these
+men would be able to take other men--ordinary members of the human
+race--and teach them in their turn to navigate the air, was a
+suggestion that was ridiculed. But Wilbur Wright, after a series of
+brilliant flights, began actually to instruct his first pupils; doing
+so with the same care and precision, and the same success, that had
+characterised all his pioneer work. And these first men who were
+taught to fly on strange machines--as apart from the pioneers who had
+taught themselves to fly with craft of their own construction--made
+progress which confounded the sceptics. They went in easy and
+leisurely fashion from stage to stage, and learned to become aviators
+without difficulty, and mainly without accident.
+
+After this, increasing in numbers from two or three to a dozen, and
+from a dozen to fifty and then a hundred, the army of airmen grew
+until it could be totalled in thousands. Instead of being haphazard,
+the teaching of men to fly became a business. Flying schools were
+established; courses of tuition were arranged; certain pilots
+specialised in the work of instruction. It was shown beyond doubt that,
+instead of its being necessary for an aviator to be a species of
+acrobat, any average man could learn to fly.
+
+Certainly a man who intends to fly should be constitutionally sound;
+this point is important. When in an aeroplane, one passes very quickly
+through the air, and such rapid movement--and also the effect of
+varying altitudes--entail a certain physical strain. A man with a weak
+heart might find himself affected adversely by flying; while one whose
+lungs were not sound might find that his breathing was impeded
+seriously by a swift passage through the air. More than one fatality,
+doubtful as to its exact cause, has been attributed to the collapse of
+a pilot who was not organically sound, or who ascended when in poor
+health. And here again is an important point. No man, even a normally
+healthy man, should attempt to pilot a machine in flight when he is
+feeling unwell. In such cases the strain of flying, and the effect of
+the swift motion through the air, may cause a temporary collapse; and
+in the air, when a man is alone in a machine, any slight attack of
+faintness may be sufficient to bring about a fatality.
+
+A fair judgment of speed, and an eye for distance, are very helpful to
+the man who would learn to fly, and it is here that a man who has
+motored a good deal, driving his own car, is at advantage at first
+over one who has not. But otherwise, and writing generally, any man of
+average quickness of movement, of average agility, can learn without
+difficulty to control an aeroplane in flight. It is wrong to imagine
+that exceptional men are required. An unusual facility, of course,
+marks the expert pilot; but we are writing of men who would attain an
+average skill.
+
+There has been discussion as to the age at which a man should learn to
+fly, or as to the introduction of age limits generally in the piloting
+of aircraft. But this introduces a difficult question; one which
+depends so entirely on the individual, and regarding which we need the
+data that will be provided by further experience. Some men retain from
+year to year, and to a remarkable extent, the faculties that are
+necessary; others lose them rapidly. The late Mr. S. F. Cody was
+flying constantly, and with a very conspicuous skill, at an age when
+he might have been thought unfit. But then he was a man of a rare
+vitality and a great enthusiasm--a man who, though he flew so often,
+declared that each of his flights was an "adventure." Taking men in
+the average one may say this: the younger a man is, when he learns to
+fly, the better for him. Much depends, naturally, on the sort of
+flying he intends to do after he has attained proficiency. If he is
+going to fly in war, or under conditions that impose a heavy strain,
+then he must be a young man. But if he intends to fly for his own
+pleasure, and under favourable conditions, then this factor of age
+loses much of its importance, and it is only necessary that a man
+should retain say, an ordinary activity, and a normal quickness of
+vision and of judgment.
+
+Flying is not difficult. It is in a sense too easy, and this is just
+where its hidden danger lies. If a pupil is carefully taught, and
+flies at first only when the weather conditions are suitable, he will
+find it surprisingly easy to pilot an aeroplane. That it is not
+dangerous to learn to fly is proved daily. Though hundreds and
+thousands of pupils have now passed through the schools, anything in
+the nature of a serious accident is very rarely chronicled. This
+immunity from accident is due largely to the care and experience of
+instructors, and also to the fact that all pupils pass through a very
+carefully graduated tuition, and that no hazardous flights are allowed;
+while another and an important element of safety lies in the fact
+that no flying is permitted at the schools unless weather conditions
+are favourable. It is now a fair contention that, provided a man
+exercises judgment, and ascends only in weather that is reasonably
+suitable, there is no more danger in flying an aeroplane than in
+driving a motor-car.
+
+Much depends of course on the dexterity of the pupil, and particularly
+on his manual dexterity--on what is known, colloquially, as "hands."
+Some men, even after they have been carefully taught, are apt to
+remain heavy and clumsy in their control. Others, though, seem to
+acquire the right touch almost by instinct; and these are the men who
+have in them the making of good pilots. Horsemen refer to "hands" when
+they speak of a man who rides well; and in flying, if a man is to
+handle a machine skilfully, there is need for that same instinctive
+delicacy of touch.
+
+Nowadays, when a pupil joins a well-established flying school, he
+finds that everything is made easy and pleasant for him. Most men
+enjoy very thoroughly the period of their tuition. A friendly regard
+springs up between the pupils and their instructors, and men who have
+learned to fly, and are now expert pilots, bear with them very
+pleasant reminiscences of their "school" days. But there were times,
+and it seems already in the dim and distant past, when learning to fly
+was a strange, haphazard, and hardly pleasant experience; though it
+had a sporting interest certainly, and offered such prospects of
+adventure as commended it to bold spirits who were prepared for
+hardship, and had a well-filled purse. The last requirement was very
+necessary. In the bad old days, amusing days though they were without
+doubt, no fixed charge was made to cover such breakages, or damage to
+an aeroplane, as a pupil might be guilty of during his period of
+instruction. These items of damage--broken propellers, planes, or
+landing gear--were all entered up very carefully on special bills, and
+presented from time to time to the dismayed novice; and a man who was
+clumsy or impetuous found learning to fly an expensive affair. There
+was a pupil who joined a school soon after Bleriot's crossing of the
+Channel by air. It was a monoplane school; and the monoplane, unless a
+man is careful and very patient, is not an easy machine to learn to
+fly. This beginner was not patient; he was indeed more than usually
+impetuous. His landings, in particular, were often abrupt. He broke
+propellers, frequently, to say nothing of wings and of alighting gear.
+And of all these breakages a note was made. Bills were handed to
+him--long and intricate bills, with each item amounting to so many
+hundreds of francs. Having a sense of humour, the pupil began to paper
+his shed with these formidable bills, allowing them to hang in
+festoons around the walls. What it cost him to learn to fly nobody
+except himself knew. He paid away certainly, in his bills for
+breakages, enough money to buy several aeroplanes.
+
+This was in the early days, when aviators were few and all flying
+schools experimental. To-day a pupil need not concern himself, even if
+he does damage a machine. Before beginning his tuition he pays his fee,
+one definite sum which covers all contingencies that may arise. It
+includes any and all damage that he may do to the aircraft of his
+instructors; it covers also any third-party claims that may be made
+against him--claims that is to say from any third person who might be
+injured in an accident for which he was responsible. This inclusive
+fee varies, in schools of repute, from L75 to L100.
+
+The modern aerodromes, or schools of flight, at which a pupil receives
+his tuition, have been evolved rapidly from the humblest of
+beginnings. The first flying grounds were, as a rule, nothing more
+than open tracts of land, such as offered a fairly smooth
+landing-place and an absence of dangerous wind-gusts. Then, as
+aviation developed, pilots came together at these grounds, and sheds
+were built to house their craft. And after this, quickly as a rule, an
+organisation was built up. Beginning from rough shelters, erected
+hastily on the brink of a stretch of open land, there grew row upon
+row of neatly-built sheds, with workshops near them in which aircraft
+could be constructed or repaired. And from this stage, not content
+with the provision made for them by nature, those in control of the
+aerodromes began to dig up trees, fill in ditches and hollows, and
+smooth away rough contours of the land, so as to obtain a huge, smooth
+expanse on which aircraft might alight and manoeuvre without accident.
+And after this came the building up of fences and entrance gates, the
+erection of executive offices and restaurants, the provision of
+telephone exchanges and other facilities--the creation in fact of a
+modern aerodrome.
+
+A pupil to-day, if he decides to learn to fly, finds he has an ample
+choice in the matter of a school. He may feel indeed that there is
+almost an embarrassment of facilities. But there are certain very
+definite requirements, in regard to any modern flying school; and if a
+novice bears these in mind, and thinks of them carefully when he is
+considering what school he shall join, he cannot go far wrong. First
+there is the question of the aerodrome on which, and above which, the
+pupil will undergo his instruction. This should be of ample size and
+of an adequately smooth surface; and it should be so situated, also,
+that it is free from wind eddies and gusts, such as are set up by
+hills, woods, or contours of the land, and are likely to inconvenience
+a novice when he makes his first flights. The best position for an
+aerodrome is in a valley, not abrupt but gently sloping. With a flying
+ground so placed, shielded well by nature on every hand, it may prove
+sufficiently calm for instruction even on days when there is a gusty
+wind blowing across more exposed points; and such a natural advantage
+is of importance for a pupil. It may mean that he is obtaining his
+tuition from day to day, when other pupils, learning to fly at grounds
+less favourably situated, have to remain compulsorily idle, waiting
+either for the wind to drop, or to veer to some quarter from which
+their aerodrome is sheltered.
+
+It is very necessary, of course, in the operation of a flying school,
+that there should be competent instructors; also a sufficient number
+of these to prevent them from being over-taxed, or having more pupils
+at any one time than they can handle conveniently. And it is greatly
+to the advantage of a pupil if these instructors have been chosen with
+an intelligent care. A man may be a capable pilot, and yet not have
+the temperament that will suit him for imparting his knowledge to
+others. The instructor who, besides being a fine flyer, has the
+patience and sympathy of a born teacher, is by no means easy to find.
+A school which does find such men, and retains their services, offers
+attractions for a pupil which--in any preliminary visit he pays to a
+school before joining it--he should look for keenly. And he should
+make certain, too, that the school has a staff of skilled and
+experienced mechanics.
+
+Another indispensable feature of a school is a sufficient number of
+aeroplanes, machines suited specially for the purposes of tuition, and
+maintained at a high efficiency. It has been no uncommon thing--though
+here again one is writing of the past--for the total resources of a
+school to comprise, say, two machines. Hence a couple of smashes would
+put such a school temporarily out of action, and leave the pupils with
+nothing to do but kick their heels, and wait until the machines had
+been repaired. It is certainly an advantage, from the pupil's point of
+view, if there are well-equipped workshops in connection with the
+school he joins; also if the proprietors of his school have an ample
+supply of engines. With facilities for repair work immediately at hand,
+and with a spare engine ready at once to put in a machine--while one
+that has been giving trouble is dealt with in the engine-shop--there
+should always be a full complement of craft for the work of
+instruction. When workshops are in operation in connection with a
+school an opportunity is usually provided, also, for a novice to gain
+some knowledge as to the mechanism and working of the aero-motor: and
+this of course will be useful to him.
+
+There has been discussion as to the type of aeroplane on which one
+should learn to fly; but in this question, as in that of an age limit
+for airmen, it is extremely difficult, besides being unwise, to
+attempt to frame a hard-and-fast rule. The monoplane, for instance, is
+not an easy machine to learn to fly: it is not easy, that is to say,
+compared with certain types of biplane. Yet numbers of pupils have
+been taught on monoplanes, and this without accident. There is also a
+question whether, among biplanes, it is best to learn on a tractor
+machine--one that is to say with the engine in front of the main
+planes--or on a "pusher" type of craft; this last mentioned having its
+motor behind the planes. Aeroplanes of both types are in use; and it
+would be advantageous, of course, for a novice to accustom himself to
+handle either. But from the point of view of those who operate large
+flying schools, and have to weigh one point against another, and
+eliminate so far as possible the elements of risk or difficulty, there
+are very distinct advantages in a "pusher" biplane, such as is
+illustrated facing page 34. The control of such a machine is simple,
+and can be grasped quite readily. It provides the novice, when he is
+seated in it, with a clear and unobstructed view of the ground
+immediately in front of and below him; and this, in the early stages
+of tuition, is an extremely important point. A craft of such a type,
+also, when built specially for instruction, can be given a very strong
+alighting gear, and this makes for safety when a pupil is in his first
+tests, and may be guilty of an abrupt or rough descent. Again, while
+such a school machine as this is engined adequately, it is at the same
+time comparatively slow in flight, and has the advantage also that it
+will alight at slow speeds. In the air, too, it has a large measure of
+stability, and is not too rapid in its response to its controls. It
+gives a pupil what is very necessary for him in his first flights, and
+that is a certain latitude for error. It is safe to say, indeed,
+without being dogmatic, that a "pusher" biplane of the type
+illustrated, if constructed specially for school work, offers a pupil
+two very clearly marked advantages. These are: (1) A craft which he
+can learn to fly quickly; and (2) A machine on which he can pass
+through his tuition with the least risk of accident.
+
+This last-mentioned point is, naturally, one of extreme importance. It
+is very necessary, apart from any question of personal injury, that a
+pupil should be protected during his tuition from anything in the
+nature of a bad smash. A man should start to learn to fly with full
+confidence; the more he has the better, provided it is tempered with
+caution. And if he can go through his training without accident, and
+preserve the steadily growing confidence that his proficiency will
+give him, he is on the high road to success as a pilot. But if he
+meets with an accident while he is learning--some sudden and quite
+unexpected fall--this may have a serious and a permanent influence on
+his nerves, even if he escapes without injury. It happened frequently
+in the early days that a promising pupil, a man who showed both
+confidence and skill, had his nerve ruined, and all his "dash" taken
+from him, by some unlucky accident while he was learning to fly.
+
+There are certain minor points a pupil should consider when he selects
+a flying school--points which have reference mainly to his own comfort
+and convenience. He will prefer, for instance, other things being
+equal, a school that is near some large town or city, and not buried
+away inaccessibly. It is a convenience also, and one that facilitates
+instruction, if a pupil can obtain, quite near the aerodrome, rooms
+where he can live temporarily while undergoing his instruction, and so
+be able to reach the flying ground in a minute or so, whenever and at
+any time the weather conditions are favourable. It is a convenience
+again if, either on the aerodrome itself or immediately adjacent,
+there is a canteen or restaurant where meals and other refreshments
+can be obtained. Dressing-rooms and reading rooms, when provided by
+the proprietors of a school, add to the comfort of the novice while he
+is in attendance on the aerodrome. In winter, particularly, such
+facilities are required.
+
+At a modern school, if it is well conducted, all heroics or
+exceptional feats are discouraged. Pupils who want to do wild things
+must be sternly repressed, even if only for the common good. The aim
+is to train a certain number of pupils, not hastening over the tuition
+but giving each man his full and complete course, and to do this with
+a minimum of risk. In the early days of flying there were remarkable
+exploits at the schools, and some very dangerous ones also. But
+nowadays the reckless, happy-go-lucky spirit has gone. Tuition is
+based on experience. Each pupil must submit to the routine, and listen
+attentively to the instructions given him. There are no short
+cuts--not at any rate with safety--in the art of learning to fly.
+
+The question is asked, often, how long it should take a man to learn
+to fly. It is almost impossible, though, to specify any fixed time. A
+very great deal must depend on the weather. A pupil who joins a school
+in the summer is more likely, naturally, to complete his tuition
+quickly than one who begins in the winter. In periods when there are
+high and gusty winds it may be necessary to suspend school work for
+several days. But at such times the pupil need not be completely idle.
+Lectures on aviation are organised sometimes by the schools; while a
+pupil should have opportunities also--as has been mentioned before--of
+going into the engine-shop and studying the repair and overhaul of
+motors and machines.
+
+It is on record that a pupil has learned to fly in a day, even in a
+few hours; but here the circumstances, and the men, were exceptional.
+Such an unusual facility represents one extreme; while as another, it
+may happen that a man, owing to a combination of adverse circumstances,
+is six months before he gains his certificate of proficiency. It may
+be taken, as a rule, that a pupil should set aside say a couple of
+months in order to undergo thoroughly, and without any haste, his full
+period of tuition. School records prove, as a rule, that the pilots
+who learn to fly abnormally quickly are apt to experience an abnormal
+number of accidents at a later date, due principally to a lack of real
+sound knowledge, which they should have gained during the period of
+their tuition. One must learn to walk before one can run, and this
+takes time; and the remark applies aptly to aviation. It is very
+necessary for the pupil to spend as much time as he can on the
+aerodrome. Much is to be learned, by an observant man, apart from the
+actual time during which he is engaged with his instructor. If he
+watches men who are highly skilled, he may gain many useful hints,
+though he himself is on the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN
+
+
+As aviation passed from its earliest infancy, and a number of men
+began to fly, the temperament of the individual pupil, and the effect
+of this temperament on his progress as an aviator, began to reveal
+itself. And temperament does play a large part in flying; as it does
+in any sport in which a man is given control of a highly sensitive
+apparatus, errors of judgment in the handling of which may lead to
+disaster. It is not, as a rule, until he has passed through his early
+stages of tuition, and has begun to handle an aeroplane alone, and is
+beyond the direct control of his instructor, that the temperament of a
+pupil really plays its part. Up to this point he is one among many,
+conforming to certain rules, and obliged to mould himself to the
+routine of the school. But when he begins to fly by himself, and
+particularly when he has passed his tests for proficiency, and is
+embarking, say, on cross-country flights, then this question of
+temperament begins really to affect his flying.
+
+All men who learn to fly--numbering as they do thousands
+nowadays--cannot be endowed specially by nature for their task. There
+is indeed a wide latitude for temperamental differences--always
+provided that nothing more is required of a man than a certain average
+of skill. But if a man is to become a first-class pilot, one
+distinctly above the average, then the question of his temperament, as
+it influences his flying, is certainly important.
+
+A rough classification of the pupils at a school--just a preliminary
+sorting of types--shows as a rule the existence of two clearly-marked
+temperaments. One is that of the man who is deliberate, whose
+temperament guards him from doing anything perfunctorily or in a hurry;
+the other is that of a man--a type frequently encountered
+nowadays--who while being quick, keen, and intelligent, mars these
+good qualities by a temperamental impatience which he finds it
+difficult or impossible to control, and which makes him irritable and
+restless at any suggestion of delay.
+
+Now the first of these men need not to be wholly commended, nor the
+second entirely condemned. A capacity for deliberation, both in study
+and in practice, is very useful when learning to fly. It will protect
+a man from many errors, and render his progress sure, though it may be
+slow. But something more than deliberation is required in the aviator
+of distinction. There must be the vital spark of enterprise, the
+temperamental quality which is known as "dash," the quick action of
+the mind, in difficulty or peril, that will carry certain men to
+safety through many dangers. This imaginative power is possessed as a
+rule, though in ways that differ considerably, by the second type of
+pupil we have described--the restless, impatient man. But in his case
+this quality is, more often than not, marred by his instability; by
+the lack of that judgment which is so necessary to counterbalance
+imagination, but which is, unfortunately, not so often found.
+
+A man who decides to become an aviator, and particularly if he intends
+to fly professionally, should ask himself quite seriously if his
+temperament is likely to aid him, or whether perhaps it may not be a
+danger. This point is certainly one of importance, though it cannot be
+stated directly or decided in so many words. There is a vital question
+at least that the novice should ask himself; and this is whether his
+temperament, whatever its general tendency may be, includes a
+sufficient leavening of caution. In the navigation of the air caution
+is indispensable. A pupil must remind himself constantly that, though
+it appears easy--and is indeed easy--to learn to handle a machine in
+flight, no liberties must under any circumstances be taken with the
+air. Every instant a man is flying he needs to remember the value of
+caution. In the air one cannot afford to make mistakes.
+
+Naturally there is an ideal temperament for flying; but it is one
+which, owing to the combination of qualities that are required, is
+very rarely met with. The man who possesses it is gifted with courage,
+ambition, "dash," and with a readiness in an emergency that amounts to
+intuition. And yet these positive qualities are, in the ideal
+temperament, allied to, and tempered by, a strong vein of prudence and
+of caution. The pilot has absolute system, method, and thoroughness in
+everything he does. The average pupil cannot hope to be so luckily
+endowed. But he can study his personality, and seek to repress traits
+that may seem harmful.
+
+There is need in flying for a sound judgment, one that will enable a
+man to come to a decision quickly and yet accurately. Things happen
+rapidly in the air. It is one of the grim aspects of flying that, just
+at a moment when everything appears secure, a sudden disaster may
+threaten. So it is of vast importance to a pilot, if he has to fly
+regularly, that he should have an instinctive and dependable judgment;
+a capacity for deciding quickly and without panic; a capacity, when
+several ways present themselves of extricating himself from some
+quandary, of being able to choose the right one, and of not having to
+think long before doing so. This implies a combination really of
+judgment and resource. The man of confidence, the man of resource, is
+well endowed for flying. But he must not be over-confident. The
+over-confident man is a menace to himself and to others. It is not a
+proper spirit at all in which to approach aviation. We do not know
+enough about the navigation of the air to be in the least
+over-confident. The spirit, rather, should be one of humility--a
+determination to proceed warily, and to make very certain of what
+limited knowledge we do possess.
+
+Two of the worst traits in an aviator are impatience and irritability.
+A man who has these temperamental drawbacks in a form which is
+strongly marked, and who cannot control them, should not think of
+becoming an aviator. The man who is impatient and irritable finds
+himself out of harmony with the whole theory of aerial navigation.
+There is a long list of "don'ts" in flying; in the handling of one's
+machine, in the weather one flies in, in all the feats that one should
+attempt and leave alone. A number of details must be memorised, and
+must never be forgotten or overlooked, trivial though some of them may
+seem. The frame of mind of the man who flies must be alert, yet quiet
+and reposeful; he must be clear-headed, not hot-headed. The man who is
+in a hurry, who ignores details when he sets out on a flight, is the
+man who runs risks and is bound sooner or later to pay the penalty.
+The perils of recklessness in flying are very great. The man who
+"takes chances," who thinks he can do something when, as a matter of
+fact, he has neither sufficient knowledge or experience, runs a very
+grave and constant risk. It is the thoughtful, considering frame of
+mind, particularly in a pupil, which is the safe one; but this must
+not be taken to imply a type of man who lacks power of action.
+Initiative, and a quick capacity for action, are most necessary in
+aviation. New problems are being faced continually, and the brain
+succeeds which is the most active and original.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE
+
+(AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME-WHITE)
+
+
+After a period of ballooning, which offers experience for an aviator
+in the judging of heights and distances, and in growing accustomed to
+the sensation of being in the air, I devoted a good deal of time and
+attention--more indeed at the time, and in view of my other
+responsibilities, than I could reasonably spare--to a study of the
+theory of aeroplane construction, and to the making of models. This
+was prior to 1909; Bleriot had not yet flown the Channel in his
+monoplane. But when he did I put models aside, and determined to buy
+an aeroplane and learn to fly.
+
+At the end of August, 1909, so that I might inspect the various
+aeroplanes that were then available, and they were few enough, I went
+to Rheims, in France, and attended the first flying meeting the world
+had seen. At the aerodrome I met and talked with the great pioneers:
+with Bleriot, fresh from his cross-Channel triumph; with Levavasseur,
+the designer of the beautiful but ill-fated Antoinette monoplane,
+which had, through engine failure, let Hubert Latham twice into the
+Channel during his attempts to make the crossing; with Henry Farman
+who, fitting one of the first Gnome motors to a biplane of his own
+construction, flew for more than three hours at Rheims, and created a
+world's record; and also with M. Voisin, whose biplane was then being
+flown by a number of pilots.
+
+Finally, after careful consideration, I made a contract with M.
+Bleriot to purchase from him, at the end of the meeting, a monoplane
+of a type that appeared first at Rheims, and of which there was not
+another model then in existence. This machine differed considerably
+from the one with which M. Bleriot had flown the Channel. His
+cross-Channel monoplane was a single-seated craft fitted with an
+air-cooled motor of about 25 h.p. The machine I agreed to buy at
+Rheims, and which was known as Bleriot No. XII., would carry two
+people, pilot and passenger, while it had an 8-cylinder water-cooled
+motor developing 60 h.p.--an exceptional power in those days. The
+position of the occupants, as they sat in the machine, differed from
+the arrangement in the cross-Channel Bleriot. In the latter the pilot
+sat in a hull placed between the planes, and with his head and
+shoulders above them. But in this new and larger machine the pilot and
+passenger sat in seats which were placed below the planes.
+
+The craft was, as a matter of fact, an experiment, being built almost
+purely for speed; hence its powerful motor. M. Bleriot's idea, in
+constructing it, was to have a machine with which he might win the
+Gordon-Bennett international speed race at Rheims. But this hope he
+did not realise; nor did I obtain delivery of the craft I desired.
+Bleriot, flying alone in this big monoplane, started in a speed flight
+for the Gordon-Bennett; but he was only a quarter of the way round the
+course, on his second lap, when the machine was seen to break suddenly
+into flames and crash to the ground from a height of 100 feet. It was
+wrecked entirely, but Bleriot was fortunate enough to escape with
+nothing worse than burns about the face and hands, and a general
+shock. The cause of the accident was that an indiarubber tube, fixed
+temporarily to carry petrol from the tank to the carburettor, had been
+eaten through and had permitted petrol to leak out, and to ignite, on
+the hot exhaust pipes of the motor.
+
+The destruction of this monoplane was, to me, a great disappointment.
+No other machine of the type was in existence, and I learned that it
+would take three months to build one. M. Bleriot promised, however, to
+put a machine in hand at once; and, as a special concession, I
+obtained permission to go daily to the Bleriot factory and superintend
+the construction of my own machine. This I did for a full period of
+three months, working daily from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and gaining some
+valuable knowledge as to aeroplane construction.
+
+On November 6, 1909, after delays which had tried my patience sorely,
+I obtained delivery of the new machine--a replica of the craft that
+had been destroyed at Rheims. It was too late that day to begin any
+trials, so I and a friend who was with me arranged with M. Bleriot's
+mechanics that we would be at Issy-les-Moulineaux early next morning,
+and there put the craft through its preliminary tests. I can remember
+we went to bed early, but sleep was impossible; we were both too
+excited at the prospect that lay before us. So presently we got
+up--this was at 2 a.m.--and drove out to the flying ground.
+
+It was pitch dark when we arrived at the aerodrome, but the morning
+promised to be favourable. Foggy it was; but there was no wind, and
+the fog seemed likely to clear. We roused the caretaker, and, after
+lengthy explanations and considerable monetary persuasion, induced him
+to open the shed and allow us to prepare the machine for its first
+flight. Then we waited for the mechanics and the first rays of dawn.
+We felt a desire to get the big engine started up, but had been warned
+of the risk of doing this without the help of mechanics. Time passed
+and still the mechanics did not come. At last, there being now
+sufficient light, we tied the aeroplane with ropes to a fence, so as
+to prevent its leaping forward, and then started up the motor by
+ourselves. I swung the nine-foot propeller--the only way of starting
+the engine; and at the first quarter-turn the motor began to fire.
+Then, as is quite usual, there was an incident that had been
+unforeseen in our excitement. We had forgotten to take up the slack of
+the rope; and the consequence was that, as the engine started, the
+machine gave a bound forward that was sufficient to knock me down. But
+I was unhurt, and picked myself up quickly. Then I hurried round to
+the driving seat and took my place at the control levers, motioning to
+my friend, who was looking after the ropes, to cast these loose and
+jump into the seat beside me. This was easier said than done. Directly
+he released the ropes the machine began to move across the ground,
+gathering speed very quickly; but he managed somehow, before the
+machine was running too fast, to scramble into the seat beside me.
+
+Off we started across the aerodrome, the monoplane gaining a speed of
+40 or 50 miles an hour. I did not attempt to rise from the ground,
+feeling it very necessary at first to grow familiar with the controls.
+So we sped along the ground for a distance of about a mile. Then, on
+nearing the far end, I slowed down the motor and our speed dropped to
+about 20 miles an hour. I wanted to turn the machine round on the
+ground and run back again towards our starting point. But such a
+manoeuvre, particularly for the novice, is far from easy. As the speed
+of the machine is reduced, the pressure of air on the rudder is
+lessened and so it loses its efficiency--in the same way that a ship
+is difficult to steer when she begins to lose way. We were faced also
+by another and a graver difficulty. Confused by the fog, which still
+hung over the aerodrome, I had misjudged our position. We found we
+were much nearer the end of the ground than I had imagined. In front
+of us there loomed suddenly a boundary wall, against which it seemed
+probable we should dash ourselves. There were no brakes on the machine;
+no way of checking it from the driving seat. Our position seemed
+critical.
+
+It was now that I shouted to my friend, telling him to jump out of the
+machine as best he could, and catch hold of the wooden framework
+behind the planes, allowing the machine to drag him along the ground,
+and so using the weight of his body as a brake. This, with great
+dexterity, he managed to do, and we came to a standstill not more than
+a foot or so from the wall. This proved a chastening experience; we
+pictured our aeroplane dashed against the wall, and reduced to a mass
+of wreckage. Very cautiously we lifted round the tail of the machine.
+It was impossible to switch off the motor and have a rest, because, if
+we had stopped it, we should not have been able to start it again
+without our gear, which was away on the other side of the ground.
+
+Now, having got the machine into position for a return trip across the
+aerodrome, I accelerated the engine, and we started off back. For
+about twenty minutes, without further incident, we ran to and fro; and
+now I felt that I had the machine well in control--on the ground at
+any rate. And so the next thing was to rise from the ground into the
+air. I told my friend my intention, calling to him above the noise of
+the motor; and I admired him for the calm way in which he received my
+news. I should not have been surprised if he had demanded that I
+should slow up the machine and let him scramble out. In those days it
+was thought dangerous to go up even with a skilled and more or less
+experienced pilot. How much greater, therefore, must have seemed the
+risk of making a trial flight with me--a complete novice in the
+control of a machine. But my friend nodded and sat still in his seat.
+So I accelerated the motor and raised very slightly our rear elevating
+plane. And then we felt we were off the ground! There was no longer
+any sensation of our contact with the earth--no jolting, no vibration.
+In a moment or so, it seemed, the monoplane was passing through the
+air at a height of about 30 feet. This, to our inexperienced eyes,
+appeared a very great altitude; and I made up my mind at once to
+descend. This manoeuvre, that of making contact with the ground after
+a flight, I had been told was the most difficult of all. It is not
+surprising that this should be so. Our speed through the air was, at
+the moment, about 50 miles an hour; and to bring a machine to the
+ground when it is moving so fast, without a violent shock or jar, is a
+manoeuvre needing considerable judgment. But, remembering that the
+main thing was to handle the control lever gently, I managed to get
+back again to the aerodrome without accident; and after this we turned
+the machine round again and made another flight.
+
+The fog had cleared by now, and we were surprised to see a number of
+people running across the ground towards us. First there came the
+tardy mechanics; and with them were a number of reporters and
+photographers representing the Paris newspapers. These latter
+had--though I only found this out afterwards--been brought by the
+mechanics in the expectation of being able to record, with their
+notebooks and cameras, some catastrophe in which we were expected to
+play the leading parts. Knowing the powerful type of monoplane I had
+acquired, a machine not suited for a novice, the mechanics had felt
+sure some disaster would overtake me. But, as it happened, their
+anticipations were not fulfilled. The journalists and photographers
+did not, however, have a fruitless journey. Though there was nothing
+gruesome to chronicle, they found ample material, when they learned of
+them, in the early morning adventures of myself and my friend with
+this 60 h.p. monoplane. Next day, in fact, our exploits were given
+prominence in the newspapers, and I received a number of
+congratulatory telegrams; not forgetting one of a slightly different
+character which came from M. Bleriot. He was flying at the time in
+Vienna, and he warned me of the dangers of such boldness as I had
+displayed--having regard to the speed and power of my machine--and
+pleaded with me for a greater caution.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST-TYPE CRAFT
+
+
+People are puzzled, often, when they try to explain to themselves how
+it is that an aeroplane, which is so much heavier than air, manages to
+leave the ground and to soar in flight. When balloons or airships
+ascend, it is realised of course that the gas, imprisoned within their
+envelopes, draws them upward. But the aeroplane--weighing with pilot,
+passenger, and fuel perhaps several thousand pounds--rises without the
+aid of a gas-bag and with nothing to sustain it but narrow planes; and
+these do not beat, like the wings of a bird, but are fixed rigidly on
+either side of its body. How is the weight of machine and man borne
+through this element we cannot see, and which appears intangible?
+
+The secret is speed--the sheer pace at which an aeroplane passes
+through the air. As a craft stands on the ground, its planes are
+inoperative. Power lies dormant in the air, but only when it is in
+motion, or when some object or apparatus is propelled through it at
+high speed. Have you stood on a height, in a gale, and felt an air
+wave strike powerfully against your body? The blow is invisible; but
+you yield a step, gasping; and, had you wings at such a moment, you
+would not doubt the power of the wind to sweep you upward. This is the
+force the aeroplane utilises.
+
+If, on a calm day, you accelerate your motor-car to 60 miles an hour,
+the air sweeps past you in a powerful stream; just as it would if you
+were standing still, and there was a gale of wind. Instead of the wind
+possessing the speed, in this instance, it is you who provide it. The
+motor of an aeroplane, driving the propeller of the machine, turns
+this at 1000 or more revolutions a minute, and causes its curved
+blades to screw forward through the air as they turn, like those of a
+ship's propeller through water--or a gimlet into wood. The propeller,
+as it bores its way into the air, draws or pushes the aeroplane across
+the ground; and the speed grows rapidly until the air, sweeping with
+an increasing pressure beneath the planes, becomes sufficient to bear
+the craft in flight.
+
+But the wing of an aeroplane would not sustain its load unless
+designed specially to act upon the air. A man, if he is unlucky enough
+to fall from a tall building, passes through the air at a high speed.
+His body obtains no support from the air; so he crashes to the ground.
+This is because his body is heavy, and presents only a small surface
+to the air. To secure a lifting influence from the air, it must be
+struck swiftly with a large, light surface.
+
+Men go to Nature when building wings for aeroplanes, and imitate the
+birds. The wing of a bird arches upward from front to back, most of
+the curve occurring near the forward edge; and this shape, when
+applied to an aeroplane wing, is known as its camber. With an
+aeroplane wing, if its curve is adjusted precisely, the air not only
+thrusts up from below as a machine passes through it, but has a
+lifting influence also from above; an effect that is secured by the
+downward slope of the plane towards its rear edge. The air, sweeping
+above the raised front section of the plane, is deflected upward, and
+with such force that it cannot descend again immediately and follow
+the downward curve of the surface. So, between this swiftly-moving air
+stream, and the slope to the rear of the plane, a partial vacuum is
+formed, and this sucks powerfully upward. With a single wing,
+therefore, it is possible to gain a double lifting influence--one
+above and one below.
+
+The building of aeroplanes, once their wing lift is known, becomes a
+matter of precision. According to the speed at which they fly, and the
+size and curve of their planes, machines will sustain varying loads.
+In some machines, as a general illustration--craft which fly fast--the
+planes may bear a load equal to 10 lbs. per square foot. In others the
+loading may be less than 3 lbs. per square foot.
+
+Apart from raising a craft into the air, by the lifting power of its
+wings, there is the problem of controlling it when in flight. The air
+is treacherous, quickly moving. Gusts of abnormal strength, sweeping
+up as they do invisibly, may threaten to overturn a machine and dash
+it to earth. Eddies are formed between layers of warm and cold air.
+There are, as a craft flies, constant increases or lessenings of
+pressure in the air-stream that is sweeping under and over its wings;
+and all these fluctuations influence its equilibrium. Unless,
+therefore, a machine is automatically stable--and with craft of this
+type we shall deal later--the pilot must be ready, by a movement of
+the surfaces which govern the flight of the machine, to counteract
+quickly, with a suitable action of his levers, the overturning
+influence that may be exercised by a gust of wind. Here lies the art
+of flying. A man is given a machine which, by the action of its motor
+and propeller, will raise itself into the air; and it is his task,
+when the craft is once aloft, to manipulate it accurately and without
+accident, and to bring it to earth safely after he has made a flight.
+
+In the description of controlling movements which follows we shall,
+for the sake of convenience, and for the sake also of brevity, deal
+only with the type of "pusher" biplane to which reference has been
+made already, and on which large numbers of pupils have been, and are
+being, trained to fly. This casts no aspersion whatever on tractor
+machines or on monoplanes. On either, if he has an inclination, a
+pupil can undergo his instruction, and do so usually with success. But
+explanation is rendered more easy, and there is less likelihood of a
+dispersal of interest, if one machine is selected for illustration;
+and our reasons for the choice of a "pusher" biplane, regarded from
+the point of view of tuition, have been explained already.
+
+First, therefore, one may deal with raising the craft into the air,
+and causing it to descend. In the photograph of the school machine
+shown facing this page, it will be seen that the control surfaces are
+indicated by lettering. In front of the biplane, on outriggers, is the
+plane "A." This surface (aided in its action by a rear plane) governs
+the rise or descent of the machine. When the motor is started, and the
+propeller drives the biplane across the ground on its chassis B, the
+machine would, if this lifting plane was held in a negative position,
+continue to move forward on the earth and would make no attempt to
+rise. In order to leave the ground, when the speed of the machine is
+sufficient for its main-planes (C.C.) to become operative, and bear
+its weight through the air, the pilot draws back slightly towards him
+a lever, which is placed just to the right of his driving-seat and is
+held with the right hand. A photograph which shows this lever, and the
+other controls, appears facing page 36, the lever to which we are
+referring being indicated by the figure 1. The effect on the aircraft
+when the pilot draws back this lever--the motion being slight and made
+gently--is to tilt up the elevating plane A, and this in its turn,
+owing to the pressure of air upon it, raises the front of the machine.
+The result of this alteration in the angle of the craft is that it
+presents its main-planes at a steeper angle to the air. Their lifting
+influence is increased, with the result that--at an angle governed by
+the pilot with his movement of the elevating plane--they bear the
+machine from the ground into the air.
+
+  [Illustration: GRAHAME-WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE (TYPE XV.) _Photo by
+  Topical Press Agency._
+
+  A.--The front elevating plane, which acts in conjunction with the
+  rear-plane marked A1; B.--The landing-chassis; C.C.--The main-planes;
+  D.D.--The ailerons; E.E.--The rudders; F.--Engine (a 60-h.p. Le Rhone)
+  and propeller.]
+
+A reverse movement of the elevator reduces the lift of the main-planes;
+hence, when an aviator wishes to descend, he tilts down his elevator,
+bringing his machine at such an angle that it is inclined towards the
+ground. Then, switching off his engine so as to moderate the speed of
+his descent, and by such manipulations as may be necessary of his
+elevator, he pilots his craft to earth in a vol-plane, during which
+gravity takes the place of his motor, and he is able--by steadying his
+machine and bringing it into a horizontal position just at the right
+moment--to make a gentle contact with the ground.
+
+A pilot must be able to do more than cause his aeroplane to ascend and
+to alight: he must have means to check the lateral movements which,
+under the influence of wind gusts, may develop while the biplane is in
+flight. At the rear extremities of the main-planes as illustrated in
+the photograph facing page 34--and marked D.D.--are flaps, or ailerons,
+which are hinged so that they may be either raised or lowered. These
+ailerons are operated, through the medium of wires, by the same
+hand-lever which governs the movement of the elevator. This lever is
+mounted on a universal joint, and can be moved from side to side as
+well as to and fro. Should the biplane tilt, while flying, say towards
+the left, the pilot moves his hand-lever sideways towards the right.
+This is a natural movement, the instinct being to move the lever away
+from the direction in which the machine is heeling. This movement of
+the lever has the effect of drawing down the ailerons on the left-hand
+side of the machine; on the side, that is to say, which is tilted down;
+and the depression of these auxiliary surfaces, increasing suddenly
+as they do the lifting influence of the main-planes to which they are
+attached, tend to thrust up the down-tilted wings, and so restore the
+equilibrium of the machine.
+
+In the operation of his ailerons, combined with the use of his
+elevator, a pilot is given means to balance his craft while in flight.
+One should not gain the impression that an aeroplane is threatening
+ceaselessly to heel this way and that. This is not so. The machine has
+a large measure of stability, apart from any manipulation of its
+controls, and needs balancing only when some disturbance of the
+atmosphere affects its equilibrium. Under favourable conditions, such
+as a pupil will experience in his first flights, nothing more is
+necessary with the hand-lever than a very slight but fairly constant
+action; a similar motion, in a way, as is made by the driver of a
+motor-car when he maintains, by his "feel" on the wheel, his sense of
+control over the machine. In the controlling actions of an
+aeroplane--and this is a fact which tends sometimes to the confusion
+of the novice--nothing more is required, normally, than the most
+delicate of movements. The difference say between ascending, and
+skimming along the ground, is represented by a movement of the
+hand-lever of only a few inches. Delicate, sure, quick, and firm; such
+is the touch needed with an aeroplane.
+
+With the one hand-lever, as we have shown, it is possible for a pilot
+to control the rise and descent, and also the lateral movements of his
+machine; and there remains only the steering to be effected--the
+movement from side to side, from right to left, or vice-versa. At the
+rear of the biplane, as shown facing page 34, will be seen two
+vertical planes, E.E. These, being hinged, will swing from side to
+side; and they exercise a sufficient influence, when working in the
+strong current of air that blows upon them when a machine is in flight,
+to steer it accurately in any direction. The pilot, to operate this
+rudder, rests his feet on a conveniently-placed bar, which is mounted
+on a central swivel, and allows the bar to be swung by a pressure of
+either foot. When the pilot needs to make a turn say to the left, as
+he is flying, he presses his left foot forward. This swings the bar in
+same direction; and, by a simple connection of wires running to the
+tail of the machine, the rudders are made to swing over to the left
+also, and the machine turns in response to them. A similar movement to
+the right produces a right-hand turn. This foot rudder bar, being
+numbered 2, is shown in the picture facing page 36.
+
+  [Illustration: THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  1.--The upright lever which, working on a universal joint, operates
+  the elevator and ailerons; 2.--The bar, actuated by the pilot's feet,
+  which operates the rudders of the machine; 3.--The pilot's seat;
+  4.--The passenger's seat.]
+
+Apart from the movements we have described, which are extremely simple,
+a pilot needs also to maintain control over his motor. Near his left
+hand, fixed to the framework just at one side of his seat, are levers
+which govern the speed of the engine, also the petrol supply; while
+close to them is the switch by which the ignition can be switched on
+or off.
+
+A final word is necessary here, perhaps, and it is this: the glamour
+and mystery which, in the early days, clung to the handling of an
+aeroplane has now been dispelled almost entirely. A well-constructed
+machine, flying under favourable conditions, requires surprisingly
+little control; what it does, one may almost say, is to fly itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE STAGES OF TUITION
+
+
+Flying schools--those which really can be described as such--have been
+in operation now for seven years; and during this time, with thousands
+of pupils going through their period of tuition, many very valuable
+lessons have naturally been learned. To-day, at a well-managed school,
+each stage in a pupil's instruction, mapped out as a result of
+experience, is arranged methodically and with care; the idea being
+that the novice should pass from one stage to another by a
+smoothly-graduated scale, facilitating his progress and reducing
+elements of risk.
+
+It is in the early morning, and again in the evening, that the flying
+schools are most busy as a rule. At such times--morning and
+evening--the wind blows with least violence; and it is very necessary
+that a pupil, when he is handling craft for the first time, should
+have weather conditions which are favourable. Summer and winter, as
+soon as it is light, and granted conditions appear suitable, mechanics
+wheel the aeroplanes from the sheds, and the instructors begin their
+work. Should there be any doubt as to the weather, or as to the
+existence, say, of difficult air currents, an instructor will fly
+first, circling above the aerodrome at various heights, and satisfying
+himself, by the behaviour of his machine, whether it will be safe for
+the novices to ascend. If he pronounces "all well," school work begins
+in earnest, and continues--provided the weather remains
+favourable--until all the pupils have had a spell of instruction.
+Towards the middle of the day, and in the afternoon, it is quite
+likely the wind may blow and school work be suspended. But in the
+evening again, when there is usually a lull, a second period of
+instruction will be carried out. In well-equipped schools, to meet
+such conditions as these, it is customary to provide two complete and
+distinct staffs, both of instructors and mechanics. One staff takes
+the morning spell of work, while the second is held in readiness for
+the evening. This ensures that, both morning and evening, there shall
+be available for instruction a fresh, alert, and unfatigued staff.
+
+  [Illustration: REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical Press
+  Agency._
+
+  This photograph shows clearly the hinged ailerons fixed at the
+  extremities of the plane-ends for maintaining lateral stability: also
+  the rear elevating plane (which acts in conjunction with the
+  fore-plane mounted on outriggers at the front of the machine) and the
+  twin rudders.]
+
+A pupil will find that, as the first stage of his tuition, he is given
+the task of familiarising himself with the controls of a school
+biplane. The system we have described already, and a pupil should find
+no difficulty in mastering it. Placing himself in the driving-seat of
+the machine, while it is at rest on the ground, the pupil takes the
+upright lever in his right hand, and rests his feet on the rudder-bar,
+making the various movements of control, again and again, until he
+finds he is growing accustomed to them, and can place his levers in a
+position for an ascent or descent, or for a turn, without having to
+wait while he thinks what it is necessary to do.
+
+In the next stage, a more interesting one, the pupil, occupying a seat
+immediately behind his instructor, is taken for a series of passenger
+flights. These accustom him to the sensation of being in the air, and
+also train his eye in judging heights and distances. A minor point the
+pupil should bear in mind, though his instructor will be quick to
+remind him, is not to wear any cap or scarf that may blow free in the
+rush of wind and become entangled with the propeller. Scarves need to
+be tightly wrapped; while it is usual, with a cap, to turn it with the
+peak to the back, and so prevent it from having a tendency to lift
+from the head. Many pupils provide themselves with a helmet designed
+to protect the head in case of an accident, and these are held firmly
+in position. Should a passenger's cap blow off, and come in contact
+with the propeller, it may be the cause of an accident. How
+carelessness may lead to trouble, in this regard, will be gathered
+from the following incident.
+
+Some slight repairs had been made one day to the lower plane of a
+machine while it stood out on the aerodrome, and one of the workmen,
+through inadvertence, had left lying on the plane, near its centre, a
+roll of tape. The pilot decided to make another flight, and the motor
+was started and the machine rose. Suddenly the aviator was startled by
+a sound like a loud report, which seemed to come from the rear of his
+machine. The craft trembled for a moment, and he feared a structural
+collapse. Nothing worse happened, however, and he was able to pilot
+his machine in safety to the aerodrome. What had happened, it was then
+ascertained, was that the roll of tape, sucked back in the rush of
+wind, had been drawn into the revolving propeller and had broken a
+piece out of it. Luckily the impact had not been heavy enough to
+damage the propeller seriously, or cause it to fly to pieces.
+
+A problem with which the pupil will be faced in his first flights,
+particularly if he is learning in winter, will be that of keeping
+himself warm. The speed at which an aeroplane travels, combined with
+the fact that it is at an elevation above the ground, renders the
+"bite" of the cold air all the more keen, and makes it difficult very
+frequently, even when one is warmly clad, to maintain a sufficient
+warmth in the body, and particularly in the hands and feet. The
+question of cold hands is, from a pilot's point of view, often a
+serious one. There is a case on record of an aviator who, his hands
+being so numbed that his fingers refused to move, found he could not
+switch off his motor when the time came to descend; and so he had to
+fly round above the aerodrome, several times, while he worked his numb
+fingers to and fro, and beat some life into them against his body. At
+last, having restored their circulation to some extent, he was able to
+operate the switch and make a landing. While on active service in
+winter, after flying several hours at high altitudes, and in bitter
+cold, the occupants of a machine have descended in such a numbed
+condition, despite their heavy garments, that it has been found
+necessary to lift them out of their seats. But a pupil need not face
+such hardships as these. He will be flying for short periods only, and
+at low altitudes; so if he makes a few wise purchases from among the
+selection of flying gear now available, and particularly if he equips
+himself with some good gloves, he should be able to keep sufficiently
+warm in the air, even if he is going through his training in winter.
+
+  [Illustration: POWER-PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  Showing the 60-h.p. Le Rhone Motor, with its mounting on the machine,
+  and the method of attaching the propeller. The fuel tank is also
+  visible; and, forward at the front of the machine, the seats of
+  passenger and pilot.]
+
+A pupil will feel curious, naturally, as to his sensations in the
+first flights he makes with his instructor. Of the exact moment when
+the machine leaves ground he will be unaware probably, save for the
+cessation of any jolting or vibration, such as may be caused by the
+contact of the running wheels with the surface of the aerodrome. His
+first clearly-marked sensation, when in actual flight, will occur most
+likely when the pilot rises a little sharply, so as to gain altitude.
+Then the pupil will have a feeling one might liken to the ascent, in a
+motor-car, of a steep and suddenly-encountered hill; though in this
+case the hill is invisible, and there is no earth contact to be felt.
+This sensation of climbing is exhilarating; and when the pilot makes a
+reverse movement, descending towards the ground, the feeling is
+pleasant enough also, provided the dive is not too steep.
+
+The pupil's chief sensation, probably, will be that of the rush of
+wind which beats against him. Some people feel this much more than
+others. There is sometimes a feeling--it is no more than temporary--of
+inconvenience and of shock. The pupil feels as though his breathing
+was being interfered with seriously; as though the pressure was so
+great he could not expel air from his lungs. But this sensation, even
+when it is experienced, is short-lived. In a second flight, quite
+often, the novice finds that this oppression diminishes very
+perceptibly; and soon he does not notice it at all. Motoring
+experience proves useful here, particularly high-speed driving on a
+track.
+
+Some confusion is felt by the pupil, as a rule, and this is only
+natural, in regard to the pace at which the aeroplane travels through
+the air, and at the way in which the ground seems to be tearing away
+below. Occasionally, in a first flight, this impression of speed, and
+of height, produce in the pupil a sensation of physical discomfort;
+but it is one again which, in the majority of cases, is quickly
+overcome. A few balloon trips are a useful preliminary to flights in
+an aeroplane. They familiarise one in a pleasant way with the
+sensation of height, and accustom the eye also to the look of the
+ground, as it passes away below.
+
+While he is making his first flights with the instructor, and apart
+from analysing his sensations, the pupil will observe the lever
+movements made by the pilot in controlling the machine; and the fact
+that will impress itself upon him, as he watches these movements, is
+that they are not made roughly or spasmodically, but are almost
+invariably gentle. During these flights as a passenger, and after he
+has accustomed himself to the novelty of being in the air, the pupil
+will be allowed by the instructor to lean forward and place his hand
+on the control lever; and in this way, by actually following and
+feeling for himself the control actions the pilot makes, he will gain
+an idea of just the extent to which the lever must be moved, to gain
+any specific result in the flight of the machine.
+
+  [Illustration: MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR--ANOTHER VIEW. _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  This shows the constructional unit that is formed, on a suitably
+  strong framework of wood, by the engine, propeller, and fuel tank, and
+  also by the seats for the pilot and passenger.]
+
+The next stage of tuition is that in which a pupil is allowed to
+handle a biplane alone, not in flight though but only in "rolling"
+practice on the ground--driving the machine to and fro across the
+aerodrome. The motor is adjusted so that, while it gives sufficient
+power to drive the machine on the ground and render the control
+surfaces effective, it will not permit the craft to rise into the air.
+This stage, a very necessary one, teaches the pupil, from his own
+unaided experience just what movements he must make with his levers to
+influence the control surface of the machine, and to maintain it, say,
+on a straight path while it runs across the ground. One of the
+discoveries he will make is that the biplane, if left to itself, shows
+a tendency to swerve a little to the left--the way the propeller is
+turning; but this inclination may be corrected, easily, by a movement
+of the rudder.
+
+The pupil learns also to accustom himself, while in this stage, to the
+engine controls which have been explained already; and he is not
+likely to be guilty of the error of one excitable novice who, while
+driving his machine back on the ground towards the sheds at an
+aerodrome, after his first experience in "rolling" became so confused,
+as he saw the buildings looming before him, that he lost his head
+completely and forgot to switch off his motor. The result was that the
+aeroplane, unchecked in its course, crashed into some railings in
+front of the sheds and stood on its head. Not much damage was done
+however, and the novice was unhurt. He seemed as surprised as anyone
+at what had happened, and confessed that, for the moment, his mind had
+been an utter blank.
+
+A pupil continues his practice in "rolling" till he can drive his
+machine to and fro across the aerodrome on a straight course, and with
+its tail raised off the ground; the latter action being obtained by
+the pupil by means of a suitable movement of the vertical lever which
+operates his elevating planes.
+
+Now comes the time when a pupil, taking the pilot's seat, and with the
+instructor sitting behind him--so as to be ready, if necessary, to
+correct any error the novice may make--begins his first short flights
+across the aerodrome. He rises only a few feet to begin with, and
+flies on a straight course, alighting each time before he turns, and
+running his machine round on the ground. He repeats this test until
+his instructor feels he is sufficiently expert to take the machine
+into the air alone. When this stage is reached, the instructor leaves
+his position behind the pupil, and the latter goes on with his
+practice till he can fly the length of the aerodrome alone, landing
+neatly and bringing his machine round on the ground, and then flying
+back again to his starting point.
+
+In the early days of flying schools, before a pupil went through any
+regular system of instruction, there were remarkable incidents in
+regard to these first flights. In one case a pupil, having bought his
+own aeroplane from the proprietors of a school, insisted on having
+installed in it a motor of exceptional power. When the time came for
+him to make his first flight alone, and he opened the throttle of this
+engine and it began to give its full power, the aeroplane ran only a
+short distance across the ground, and then leapt into the air. The
+engine was in charge of the machine, in fact, and not the pupil. Away
+above the aerodrome, and beyond its limits, in a strange, erratic
+flight, the biplane made its way. As the pupil struggled valiantly
+with his engine switch, which appeared to have become jammed, he made
+unconscious and jerky movements of his control levers. One moment the
+machine would ascend a little, the next it would approach nearer the
+ground; then it would swing either right or left. Those watching from
+the aerodrome held their breath. But with the luck of the beginner, a
+luck which is proverbial and sometimes amazing, the pupil managed at
+length to stop his motor and land without accident--though by no means
+gracefully--in an abrupt gliding descent.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT. _Photo by
+  Topical Press Agency._
+
+  The pupil, occupying in this case the driving seat, has in his right
+  hand the lever controlling the elevator and ailerons, while his feet
+  are on the bar which operates the rudder. The instructor (in the
+  passenger's seat) is demonstrating how, when necessary, he can place
+  his hand on the control lever, above that of the pupil, and correct
+  any error in manipulation of which the latter may be guilty.]
+
+Another story concerns one of those temperamentally reckless,
+happy-go-lucky men who, though providence seems to watch over them,
+are an anxiety nevertheless to their instructors. This pupil, breaking
+the rules of a school, flew out on one of his first flights beyond the
+limits of the aerodrome, disappearing indeed from the view of those
+near the sheds. Not far from the aerodrome lay a main road, with
+tramway-lines along it. A tram, with passengers on top, happened to be
+passing down the road; and it was to the astonishment of these
+passengers, and to their perturbation as well, that they observed an
+aeroplane in full flight, moving very low across a neighbouring field,
+and bearing down straight towards them. The machine passed, indeed,
+unpleasantly close above their heads, and then vanished as
+dramatically as it had appeared. Its pilot, as may be guessed, was the
+pupil who had disobeyed orders, and was now on a wild and erratic
+flight. Presently, after swerves and wanderings over the surrounding
+country, he was discerned making his way back towards the aerodrome,
+still flying unreasonably low. Some trees bordered one end of the
+aerodrome; and towards these, as though he meant to finish his exploit
+by charging into them, the novice was seen to be steering an
+undeviating course. Nearer he came to them, and still he did not turn
+either right or left. The instructor, and those gathered with him,
+made up their minds that nothing could avert an accident. But it
+happened that there was, between two of the trees, a space only large
+enough for an aeroplane to pass through. A skilled pilot, a man of
+experience, would not have cared to risk his machine in an endeavour
+to creep between those trees. But this pupil, a complete novice,
+steered boldly towards the opening and slipped through it with a
+precision that would have aroused the envy of an accomplished pilot.
+Then he landed on the aerodrome and climbed in leisurely fashion from
+his machine--"not having turned a hair," as the saying goes. The
+remarks of the instructor when he neared the machine, and began to
+unburden himself, do not appear to be on record, and no doubt this is
+as well.
+
+Having shown his ability to make a succession of straight flights,
+taking his machine into the air with precision and landing without
+awkwardness, the pupil finds himself faced next with the problem of
+turning while in the air. On this stage, however, he is not allowed to
+embark alone. The instructor takes his place again in the passenger's
+seat, so as to be ready to help the novice should he become confused,
+or find himself in any difficulty. Turns to the left are attempted
+first; and the reason is that, the propeller of the aeroplane
+revolving to the left--and the motor too if it is a rotary one--the
+machine has a tendency which is natural to turn in this direction.
+Half turns only are tried at first, the pupil landing before he has
+completed the movement. In making these first turns a pupil finds that,
+apart from his action with the rudder-bar, it is necessary to employ
+the ailerons slightly, so as to prevent the biplane from tilting
+sideways. The outer plane-ends of the machine have indeed, when a turn
+is being made, a natural tendency to "bank" as it is called, or tilt
+upward; the reason being that, as the machine swings round, these
+outer plane-ends, moving faster for the moment than the wing-tips on
+the inside of the turn, exercise a greater lift, and have an
+inclination to rise. An experienced aviator, having learned what is a
+safe "banking" angle, makes a deliberate use of this tendency when he
+is turning, and may on occasion even exaggerate it, to facilitate the
+swing of his machine on a very rapid turn, and to prevent it skidding
+outwards. But with the novice, engrossed completely as he is with the
+mere problem of getting his machine round in the air, "banking" is an
+art that must be deferred for awhile. It is perilously easy, for a
+beginner, to overstep the danger-line between a safe "bank" and a
+side-slip.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  A school biplane is seen just after it has left the ground, with the
+  pupil at the control levers, and the instructor seated behind
+  him--ready, if necessary, to correct any error the novice may make.]
+
+It is not long before the pupil can make a full left-hand turn; and
+then he goes on to perfect himself in this movement, flying alone now,
+and repeating the turn till he feels he can make it with confidence,
+and at a fair height.
+
+And now he comes to his final evolutions. Having mastered the
+left-hand turn, he proceeds to make one to the right. It used to be
+the contention--a contention that is now disputed--that in this
+movement, if the pupil employed his rudder-bar only, he would find the
+biplane showed an inclination to rise; a tendency due to the
+gyroscopic influence of the engine and propeller which--assuming a
+rotary engine is used--are now revolving in the opposite direction to
+that on which the machine is turned. What the pupil was recommended to
+do, in order to counteract this rising movement, was to tilt down his
+elevator a little, as he would in making a descent.
+
+When right-hand turns can be made with the same facility as those to
+the left, the pupil begins to combine the two without descending,
+making left turns and right turns, and so achieving in the air a
+series of figures of eight. He learns also to fly a little higher,
+thus preparing himself for one of his certificate tests.
+
+There are now certain very important rules which, in the navigation of
+his craft, he must accustom himself to bear constantly in mind. Should
+the engine of his machine, for example, betray any signs of failing,
+he must tilt down his elevator very promptly, and place his craft in a
+position for a descent. If he does not do this, and should the motor
+stop before he has his biplane at an angle for descent, the machine
+may lose speed so quickly, and its tail-planes show such a tendency to
+droop--owing to the lessening of pressure on their surfaces,
+consequent upon the failure of the motor--that there is a risk of the
+craft coming to a standstill in the air and then either falling
+tail-first, or beginning a side-slip that may bring it crashing to the
+ground.
+
+The pupil must learn also, and this again is important, not to force
+his machine round on a turn while it is climbing. If he does so the
+power absorbed in the ascent, combined with the resistance of the turn,
+may so reduce the speed of the machine that it threatens to become
+"stalled," or reach a standstill in the air, with the result that it
+either side-slips or falls tail-first. The procedure the pupil is
+taught to follow is this: when he leaves the ground he climbs a little,
+then he allows his machine to move straight ahead; then he proceeds
+to ascend again for a spell, repeating afterwards the horizontal
+flight. In this way he ascends by a series of steps, like climbing a
+succession of hills in a car; and his turns should be made only during
+the spells when he is flying horizontally.
+
+In this stage of his tuition, the pupil must learn also to make a
+vol-plane, or descent with his engine stopped. The essential point to
+be borne in mind, here, is that an aeroplane will continue in flight,
+and remain under control, even when it is no longer propelled by its
+engine. But what the aviator must do, should his engine stop through a
+breakdown, or should he himself switch it off, is to bring the force
+of gravity to his aid, and maintain the flying speed of his craft by
+directing it in a glide towards the ground. Provided he does this, and
+keeps his machine at such an inclination that it is moving at a
+sufficient speed through the air, he will find that the craft
+maintains its stability and that he has full command over its control
+surfaces, being able to turn, say, right or left, or either increase
+or slightly decrease the steepness of his descent. But all the time,
+of course, seeing that it is gravity alone which is giving him his
+flying speed, he is obliged to plane downward.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  This shows clearly how the instructor, from his seat behind the pupil,
+  can lean forward and, by placing his hand on the control lever, check
+  the novice in an error of manipulation.]
+
+A vital point to remember, when a pupil is handling a "pusher" type of
+biplane, is to incline the machine well downward, by a use of the
+elevator, before switching off the motor. Unless this is done, and if
+the machine is, say, at its normal horizontal angle when the engine is
+stopped, the sudden removal of pressure from the tail-planes of the
+craft, brought about by the absence of the wind-draught from the
+propeller, may cause the tail so to droop as to render inoperative any
+subsequent action of the elevator. When the tail droops, the
+main-planes are set at a steep angle to the air, and this has a
+slowing-up influence on the whole machine. It threatens therefore to
+stand still in the air; its controls become useless; and the pupil is
+faced probably with the danger of a side-slip.
+
+A story will illustrate this point; and it is one that has a special
+significance, seeing that the error which might have cost him his life
+was made by an aviator of experience. He had learned to fly on a
+monoplane, and had devoted his subsequent flying, for many months, to
+this one type of machine. Then he found himself associated with an
+enterprise in which a number of "pusher" biplanes were employed, and
+he decided that it would be useful for him to become accustomed to
+this type of machine. His flying experience of course helped him, and
+he soon found himself passing to and fro above the aerodrome, the
+biplane well in hand. Then he thought he would make a vol-plane, with
+his motor stopped, as he had been in the habit of doing in a
+monoplane. He switched off his engine without further thought, and
+moved his elevator to a position for the descent. But it was here that
+he made the mistake. In a monoplane, which has the weight of the
+engine and other gear well forward in the machine, the bow has a
+natural tendency to tilt down when the motor is cut off--particularly
+as the propeller-draught ceases to sweep under the sustaining planes.
+Therefore one can, in such a machine, switch off safely without first
+shifting the elevator, and getting the bow down as a preliminary. What
+the pilot had forgotten, for the moment, was the essential difference
+between monoplane and biplane. When he had switched off the engine in
+the biplane, and moved his elevator as he was accustomed to do, he
+found to his dismay that the machine failed to respond. Instead of
+pointing its bow down, indeed, it began to tilt rearward. Also, and
+this fact was noted by the airman with even more dismay, the craft
+lost forward speed so rapidly that it became uncontrollable. The next
+moment, the pilot helpless in his seat, the machine began a side-slip
+towards the ground. One sweep it made sideways, falling till it was
+not far short of the surface of the aerodrome. It paused an instant,
+then began a side-slip in the opposite direction. But here good
+fortune came to the pilot's aid. In this second swing, the machine
+being near the ground, it came in contact with the surface of the
+aerodrome before the "slip" had time to develop any high rate of
+speed. The biplane took the ground sideways, breaking its
+landing-chassis and damaging the plane-ends which came first in
+contact with the earth. But the pilot emerged from the wreckage
+unhurt. The accident was a lesson to him, though, as it was to others,
+and as it should be to all pupils. A machine must be in a gliding
+position before the engine is switched off.
+
+The art of the accomplished pilot, granted there is no reason for him
+to reach earth quickly, is to glide at as fine an angle as is possible,
+consistent of course with maintaining the speed of the machine
+through the air, and so preserving his command over its controls. A
+beautifully-timed, fine glide, the machine stealing down gracefully,
+and touching the aerodrome light as a feather, at a precise spot the
+airman has decided on even when he was several thousand feet high, is
+a delightful spectacle for the onlooker, and a keen pleasure
+also--from the point of view of his manipulative skill--to the aviator
+himself. But a pupil, at any rate in his first attempts, must not
+concern himself too much with any idea of a fine or graceful glide. It
+is his business to get to the ground safely, and not trouble too much
+whether his method is accomplished, or merely effective. Once with the
+bow of his machine down, and his motor switched off, it must be his
+concern to maintain the forward speed of his machine, which can be
+done only by holding it well on its dive. For the novice, if he
+attempts any fine or fancy gliding, there is the very real danger that,
+in his inexperience, he may lose forward speed to such an extent that
+his controls become inoperative, and his machine threatens to
+side-slip. One's ear should, apart from the inclination of the machine,
+and the sensation of the descent, help one materially in judging the
+speed of a glide. There is a "swish" that comes to the ear, now the
+engine is no longer making its clamour, which gives a guide to the
+pace of one's downward movement. Aviators who are skilled, and have
+done a large amount of flying, are able to judge with accuracy, by the
+ear alone and without the aid of a mechanical indicator, what their
+speed is as they pass through the air.
+
+  [Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3). _Photo by Topical
+  Press Agency._
+
+  Here the pupil is descending in a glide with his engine stopped, the
+  cylinders of the rotary motor being clearly visible.]
+
+Having held his machine firmly on its glide, till it is quite near the
+surface of the aerodrome, the pupil has next to think of making a neat
+contact with the ground. The art here is, at a moment which must be
+gauged accurately, to check the descent of the machine by a movement
+of the elevator--to "flatten out," as the expression goes. If the
+movement is made neatly the craft should, when only a few feet from
+the ground, change from a descent into horizontal flight, and continue
+on this horizontal flight for a short distance, losing speed naturally
+each moment--seeing that there is no driving power behind it--and so
+losing altitude also through its decrease in speed, until its wheels
+come lightly in contact with the ground, and it runs forward and then
+stands still. What the novice may do, if he is not careful, is to
+"flatten out" when he is too high above the ground. The result is that
+the machine slows up till it stands still in the air, robbed of its
+speed, and then makes what is called a "pancake" landing: it descends
+vertically, that is to say, instead of making contact with the ground
+at a fine angle and with its planes still supporting it; and the
+effect of such a "pancake," if the machine comes down with any force,
+may be that the landing-chassis is damaged, or perhaps wrecked. But as
+a rule, remembering that he has careful instruction to guide him
+before he attempts a gliding descent, the pupil masters the art of
+landing without difficulty, and without mishap.
+
+Now, after repeating perhaps certain of his evolutions, at the
+discretion of his instructor, in order to make sure that he can
+accomplish them with ease, the pupil is ready for the tests which will
+give him his certificate of proficiency.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE TEST FLIGHTS
+
+
+The sport of aviation is controlled throughout the world, and flying
+tests and events of a competitive character are governed, by the
+International Aeronautical Federation. To the deliberations of this
+central authority are sent delegates from the Aero Clubs of various
+countries; and to these Aero Clubs, each in its respective country,
+falls the task of governing flight, according to the rules and
+decisions of the central authority. In Britain, controlling aviation
+in the same way that the Jockey Club controls the Turf, we have the
+Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom; and it is this body, acting in
+its official capacity, which grants to each new aviator, after he has
+passed certain prescribed tests, a certificate which proclaims him a
+pilot of proved capacity, and without which it is impossible for him
+to take part in any contests held under the auspices of the Club. The
+certificate, which is of a convenient size for carrying in the pocket,
+contains a photograph of the pilot for purposes of identification, and
+specifies also the rules under which the certificate is issued and
+held.
+
+The theory of these tests, as imposed by the Club before it grants its
+certificates, is that the novice should--so far as is possible in one
+or two flights, made over a restricted area, and in a limited space of
+time--be called on to show that he has a full control over a machine
+in what may be called the normal conditions of flight. He is asked to
+ascend, for instance, and gain a fair flying altitude; then to make
+such evolutions as will demonstrate his command over the control
+surfaces of the machine; and finally to show that he can, with his
+motor switched off, descend accurately in a vol-plane, and bring his
+machine to a halt within a specified distance of a mark. The tests are
+set forth, officially, as follows:--
+
+  _A and B._ Two distance flights, consisting of at least 5 kilometres
+  (3 miles 185 yards) each in a closed circuit, without touching the
+  ground; the distance to be measured as described below.
+
+  _C._ One altitude flight, during which a height of at least 100 metres
+  (328 feet) above the point of departure must be attained; the descent
+  to be made from that height with the motor cut off. The landing must
+  be made in view of the observers, without re-starting the motor.
+
+The rules drafted by the Club to govern these flights
+are set forth herewith:--
+
+  The candidate must be alone in the aircraft during the tests.
+
+  The course on which the aviator accomplishes tests A and B must be
+  marked out by two posts situated not more than 500 metres (547 yards)
+  apart.
+
+  The turns round the posts must be made alternately to the right and to
+  the left, so that the flights will consist of an uninterrupted series
+  of figures of eight.
+
+  The distance flown will be reckoned as if in a straight line between
+  the two posts.
+
+  The alighting after the two distance flights in tests A and B shall be
+  made:--
+
+  (_a_) By stopping the motor at or before the moment of touching the
+  ground.
+
+  (_b_) By bringing the aircraft to rest not more than 50 metres
+  (164 feet) from a point indicated previously to the candidate.
+
+  All alightings must be made in a normal manner, and the observers must
+  report any irregularity.
+
+These flights as specified to-day, though they present no difficulty
+to the pupil who has been well trained, are more stringent than they
+were in the first scheme of tests as prescribed by the Club, and as
+enforced for several years. In those early rules the distances were
+the same as they are to-day, but in the altitude flight the height
+required was only 50 metres (164 feet)--just half the height specified
+to-day. It was not laid down, either, in the first rules, that the
+engine should be stopped in this altitude flight when at the maximum
+height, and that the descent should be made in a complete vol-plane,
+without once re-starting the motor. As originally framed, indeed, the
+rule as to the control of the engine in this altitude test was the
+same as in regard to the distance flights--_i.e._, that it should be
+stopped "at or before the moment of touching the ground." What the
+present rule means, in this respect, is that the pupil must be really
+proficient at making a vol-plane, without any aid at all from his
+engine, before he can hope to pass the test; and such a proved
+skill--say in the making of his first cross-country flight, should his
+engine fail suddenly--may spell the difference between a safe or a
+dangerous landing.
+
+The test flights for the certificate, undertaken only in such weather
+conditions as the pupil's instructor may think suitable, are watched
+by official observers appointed by the Royal Aero Club. It is the
+business of these observers, when the prescribed flights have been
+made, to send in a written report concerning them to the Club; and
+acting on this report, after it has been considered and shown to be in
+order, the Club issues to the pupil his numbered certificate. With the
+successful passing of his tests the pupil's tuition is at an end. He
+is regarded no longer as a novice, but as a qualified pilot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+PERILS OF THE AIR
+
+
+There are people, very many people, who still regard flying as an
+undertaking of an unreasonable peril, essayed mainly by those who are
+in quest of money, notoriety, or sensation at any price. Such
+people--still to be met with--have one mental picture, and one only,
+of the flight of an aeroplane. They imagine a man in the air--and this
+mere idea of altitude makes them shudder; and they picture this man in
+a frail apparatus of wood and wire, capable of breaking to pieces at
+any moment; or even if it does not break, needing an incessant
+movement of levers to maintain it in a safe equilibrium; while they
+reckon also that, should the engine of the machine suffer any
+breakdown, the craft will drop to earth like a stone. Prejudice dies
+hard; harder no doubt in England than in other countries. There are
+still people, not few of them but many, who would be ready to declare,
+offhand, that one aeroplane flight in six ends in a disaster.
+
+It is a truism, but one that has a peculiar truth in aviation, to say
+that history repeats itself. To-day we find large numbers of people
+who still cherish the opinion that--save perhaps when on service in
+war--it is nothing less than criminal foolishness for men to ascend in
+aeroplanes. That attitude of mind persists; the growing safety of
+flight has not affected it to any appreciable degree. But those eager
+for the progress of aviation need not despair, or imagine that their
+particular industry is being treated with any exceptional
+disapprobation. They have only to look back a little in our history,
+no great distance, and read of the receptions that were accorded the
+first pioneers of our railways. Public meetings of protest have not
+been held to condemn aviation; yet they were frequent in the days when
+the first railways were projected. Vast indignation was indeed aroused;
+it was declared to be against all reason, and a matter of appalling
+risk, that people should be asked to travel from place to place in
+such "engines of destruction." But the railways managed to survive
+this storm. They were placed here and there about the country; they
+were improved rapidly; and it would be hard, to-day, to find a safer
+place than the compartment of a railway train.
+
+Motor-cars, when their turn came, had to go through a similar ordeal.
+There was the same indignation, the same chorus of protest; and when
+the first of the pioneers, greatly daring, began actually to drive
+their cars on the public highway, there were people who believed, and
+who declared forcibly, that to permit such machines on our roads was
+the crime of the century. Had not these pioneers struggled valiantly,
+sparing neither time nor money, it is possible that the motor-car
+might have been driven from the highway. But here again progress,
+though it was retarded, could not be checked. The motor-car triumphed.
+It grew rapidly more reliable, more silent, more pleasing to the eye;
+and to-day it glides in thousands along our roads, a pleasure to those
+who occupy it, a nuisance neither to pedestrians nor to other wheeled
+traffic; more under control when it is well driven, and more ready to
+stop quickly when required, than any horsed vehicle which it may have
+replaced. At one time the papers were full of such headlines as:
+"Another Motor-car Accident." Each small mishap received prominent
+attention: and to the majority of people it seemed the wildest folly
+to travel in such vehicles. Yet to-day--such is progress--these same
+people ride in a motor-car, or a motor-cab, quite as a matter of
+course and without a thought of risk.
+
+When one discusses flying and its dangers, it is essential to maintain
+an accurate sense of proportion. In the very earliest days, for
+instance, it must be realised that the few men who then flew--they
+could be numbered on the fingers of one hand--exercised the greatest
+caution. They did not fly in high winds; they treated the air,
+realising its unknown perils, with a very great and a very commendable
+respect. Thus it was that thousands of miles were flown, even with the
+crudest of these early machines, and with motors that were constantly
+giving trouble, without serious accident. But after this, and very
+quickly, the number of airmen grew. New aviators appeared every day;
+contests were organised extensively; there were large sums of money to
+be won, provided that one pilot could excel another. And the spirit of
+caution was abandoned. Even while they were still using purely
+experimental machines--craft of which neither the stability nor the
+structural strength had been tested adequately--there grew a tendency
+among airmen to fly in higher winds, to subject their machines to
+greater strains, and to attempt dangerous manoeuvres so as to please
+the crowds who paid to see them fly.
+
+It was not surprising, therefore, that flying entered upon an era of
+accidents. Such disasters were inevitable--inevitable, that is to say,
+in view of the tendencies that then prevailed; though it is a
+melancholy reflection that, had men been content to go ahead with the
+same slow sureness of the pioneers, many of those lives which were
+lost could have been saved.
+
+To the public, not aware exactly of all that was going on, it appeared
+as though the navigation of the air, instead of growing safer, was
+becoming more dangerous. There were suggestions, indeed, made quite
+seriously and in good faith, that these endeavours to fly should cease;
+that the law should step in, and prevent any more men from risking
+their lives. What people failed to realise, when they adopted this
+view, was that instead of one or two men flying there were now
+hundreds who navigated the air; that flights in large numbers were
+being made daily; that thousands of miles instead of hundreds were
+being traversed by air--and often under conditions the pioneers would
+have considered far too dangerous. These facts, had they been realised,
+would have shown people what was actually the true state of affairs;
+that, though accidents seemed numerous, and were indeed more frequent
+than they had been in the earliest days of flying, they were as a
+matter of proportion, reckoning the greater number of men who were
+flying, and the thousands of miles which were flown, growing steadily
+less frequent.
+
+There was this important fact to be reckoned with also. Each accident
+that happened taught its lesson, and so made for future safety. A
+considerable number of those early accidents can, for instance, be
+traced to some structural weakness in a machine. The need in an
+aircraft then, as now, was lightness; and in those days designers and
+builders, owing purely to their inexperience, had not learned the art,
+as they have to-day, of combining lightness with strength. So it was
+that, as more powerful motors began to be fitted to aeroplanes, and
+greater speeds were attained, it happened sometimes, when a machine
+was being driven fast through a wind, that a plane would collapse, and
+send the machine crashing to the ground; or in making a dive, perhaps,
+either of necessity or to show his skill, a pilot would subject his
+machine to such a strain that some part of it would break.
+
+From such disasters as a rule, greatly to be regretted though they
+were, the industry emerged so much the wiser. The strength of machines
+was increased; the engines which drove them were rendered more
+reliable; and gradually too, though none too rapidly, the airmen who
+piloted them grew in knowledge and skill. But all this time, while
+flying was being made more safe, there were accidents frequently for
+the papers to report; and this was due entirely to the fact that there
+were now thousands of men flying, where previously there had been
+fifties and hundreds. The public could not realise how rapidly the
+number of airmen had grown; that practically every day, at aerodromes
+scattered over Europe, flights were so frequent that they were
+becoming a commonplace. It was in 1912, as one of its many services to
+aviation that the Aero Club of France was able to show, by means of
+statistics which could not be questioned, that for every fatality
+which had occurred in France, during that particular year, a distance
+of nearly 100,000 miles had been flown in safety.
+
+The cause of many of the early accidents was, as we have suggested,
+the breakage of some part of a machine while in flight. In an analysis
+for instance of thirty-two such disasters, it was shown that fourteen
+were due to the collapse of sustaining planes, control-surfaces, or
+some other vital part of a machine. And this risk of breakage in the
+air was increased, in many cases, by the building of experimental
+machines by men who had no qualifications for their task, and who
+erred only too frequently, in their desire to attain lightness, on the
+side of a lack, rather than an excess, of structural strength.
+
+There are many cases, unfortunately, that might be cited; but one may
+be sufficient here. A man with an idea for a light type of biplane, a
+machine designed mainly for speed, had an experimental craft
+built--this was in the pioneer days of 1909--and insisted on fitting
+to it a motor of considerable power. It was pointed out to him that
+his construction was not sufficiently strong, in view of the speed at
+which his machine would pass through the air. But he was of the quiet,
+determined, self-opinionated type, who pursued his own way and said
+little. He did not strengthen his constructional, and he began a
+series of flying tests. In the first of these, which were short, the
+planes stood up to their work, and the fears of the critics seemed
+groundless. But a day came when, venturing to some height, the aviator
+encountered a strong and gusty wind; whereupon one of his main-planes
+broke, and he fell to his death.
+
+As a contrast to this tragedy, and a welcome one, there is a humorous
+story, that is true, told of one experimenter. His knowledge of
+construction was small, but what he lacked in this respect he made up
+for in confidence; and he built a monoplane. This was in the days just
+after the cross-Channel flight, and experimenters all over the world
+were building monoplanes, some of them machines of the weirdest
+description. The craft built by this enthusiast seemed all right in
+its appearance; nothing had been spared, for instance, in the way of
+varnish. When wheeled into the sun, for its first rolling test under
+power, it looked an imposing piece of work. Friends were in attendance,
+photographers also; and the would-be aviator was in faultless flying
+gear. Mounting a ladder, which had been placed beside the machine, he
+allowed his weight to bear upon the fusilage, and proceeded to settle
+himself in his seat. But he, and the onlookers, were startled as he
+did so by an ominous cracking of wood. It grew louder; something
+serious and very unexpected was happening to the machine. As a matter
+of fact, and just as it stood there without having moved a yard, the
+whole of the flimsy structure parted in the middle, and the machine
+settled down ignominiously upon the ground, its back broken, and with
+the discomfited inventor struggling in the _debris_.
+
+It was far from easy, in the early days, for even an expert
+constructor to calculate the strains encountered under various
+conditions of flight. In wind pressure, under certain states of the
+air, there are dangerous fluctuations--fluctuations which, even with
+the knowledge we possess to-day, and this is far from meagre, exhibit
+phenomena concerning which much more information is required. Machines
+have collapsed suddenly, while flying on a day when the wind has been
+uncertain, and have done so in a way which has suggested that they had
+encountered, suddenly, a gust of an altogether abnormal strength.
+Occasionally, though research work in this field is extremely
+difficult, it has been possible to gain data as to the existence of
+conditions, prevalent as a rule over a small area, which would spell
+grave risk for any aeroplane which encountered them. There is a
+strange case, verified beyond question, which occurred during some
+tests with man-lifting kites at Farnborough. These kites are strongly
+built, and withstand as a rule extremely high winds. On this
+particular day a kite, when it had reached a certain altitude, was
+seen to crumple up suddenly. The wind did not seem specially
+strong--not at any rate on the ground; and there appeared no reason
+for the breakage of the kite. Another was sent up; but the same thing
+happened, and at the same altitude. Then the officer who was in charge
+of the kites sent for a superior. A third kite was flown to see what
+would happen. This one broke exactly as the others had done, and at
+just the same height--about five hundred feet. Precise data could not
+be gained as to this phenomenon; but the breaking of these
+kites--which had withstood extremely high pressure in previous
+tests--was reckoned to be due to the fact that, when they reached a
+certain point in the air, they were subjected to the violent strain of
+a sudden and complete change in the direction of the wind. To the
+pilot of an aeroplane, entering without warning some such area of
+danger, the result might naturally be serious in the extreme.
+
+The air has been, and is still, an uncharted sea. It does not flow
+with uniformity over the surface of the earth. It is a constantly
+disturbed element, and one that has the disadvantage of being
+invisible. An aviator cannot see the dangerous currents and eddies
+into which he may be steering his craft; and so it was not surprising,
+in those days when aircraft were frailer than they should have been,
+and cross-country flights were first being made, that machines broke
+often while in flight and that the airman's enemy, the wind, claimed
+many victims.
+
+Wind fluctuations that are dangerous, those which possess for one
+reason or another an abnormal strength, are encountered frequently
+when a pilot is fairly near the earth; and his peril is all the
+greater in consequence. On a windy day, one on which there are heavy
+gusts followed by comparative lulls, it is when he is close to the
+ground, either in ascending or before alighting, that a pilot has most
+to fear. If he is well aloft, with plenty of air space beneath him,
+and particularly if he has a machine that is inherently stable, he has
+little to fear from the wind; save, perhaps, should his engine fail
+him, or should he find--as has been the case in war flying--that the
+force of the wind, blowing heavily against him, and reducing the speed
+of his machine, has prevented him from regaining his own lines before
+his petrol has become exhausted. The modern aeroplane, when its
+engine-power is ample, and it is at a suitable altitude, can wage
+battle successfully even with a gale. But it must rise from the earth
+when it begins a flight, and return to earth again when its journey is
+done; and here, in the areas of wind that are disturbed by hills,
+woods, and contours of the land, there are often grave dangers. The
+wind at these low altitudes blows flukily. Its direction may be
+affected, for instance, owing to the influence of a hill or ridge. A
+side gust, blowing powerfully and unexpectedly against a machine, just
+as it is nearing the ground before alighting, may cause it to tilt to
+such an angle that it begins a side-slip. If the craft was
+sufficiently high in the air, when this happened, the pilot would be
+able, probably, to convert the side-slip into a dive, and the dive
+into a renewal of his normal flight. But if such a side-slip begins
+near the ground, and there is an insufficient amount of clear space
+below the machine, it may strike the ground in its fall, and become a
+wreck, before there is time for the pilot, or for the machine itself,
+to exercise a righting influence. The fact that a craft may be forced
+temporarily from its equilibrium, say by a side-slip, is known now to
+represent no great risk for the airman, granted always that he has the
+advantage of altitude. The machine, in such circumstances, falls a
+certain distance. This is inevitable, and for the reason that it must
+regain forward speed--which it has lost temporarily in its
+side-slip--before its own inherent stability can become effective, or
+its pilot regain influence over his controls. And it is this
+unavoidable descent, this short period during which the machine is
+recovering its momentum, and during which the pilot has no power of
+control, that represents in a heavy wind the moments of peril, should
+a pilot enter an area of disturbance just as he nears the ground.
+
+An aeroplane, when it sets out to fly in bad weather, may be likened
+to a boat that is being launched from a beach upon a rough and stormy
+sea. It is the waves close inshore, which may raise his craft only to
+dash it to destruction, that the boatman has chiefly to fear; and for
+the aviator, when he leaves the land and embarks upon the aerial sea,
+or when he returns again from this element and must make his contact
+with the earth, there lurks a risk that, caught suddenly by an air
+wave, and with insufficient space beneath his machine, he may be
+forced into a damaging impact with the ground. But the skill of
+designers and constructors, to say nothing of the growing experience
+of aviators, is working constantly towards a greater safety.
+
+Of the risk attached to engine failure, when he is piloting a craft
+fitted with only one motor, an airman is reminded frequently, not only
+from his own experience, but from that of other flyers. With the
+aeroplane engine, even with types that have gained a high average of
+reliability, there are many possibilities of a slight mishap--each of
+them sufficient, for the moment, to put an engine out of action--that
+the pilot who is flying across country must, all the time he is in the
+air, have at the back of his mind the thought that at any moment, and
+perhaps without any warning, he may find that his motive power has
+gone. A magneto may fail temporarily; an ignition wire or a valve
+spring break. The aeroplane engine of to-day is, of course, an
+infinitely more reliable piece of apparatus than it was in those early
+days when Henry Farman, working with extraordinary patience at
+Issy-les-Moulineaux, was endeavouring--and for a long time without
+success--to make the motor in his Voisin biplane run for five
+consecutive minutes without breakdown. The war has shown us, and under
+working conditions which have been exceptionally trying, how reliable
+the aero-motor has become. But until duplicate plants have been
+perfected, and more than one motor is fitted to aircraft as a matter
+of course, there must always be this risk of failure.
+
+In the mere stoppage of a motor no great danger is implied. The pilot
+must descend; that is all. His power gone, he must glide earthward.
+But where the risk does lie, in engine failure, is that it may occur
+at a moment when the airman is in such a position, either above
+dangerous country or while over the sea, that he cannot during his
+glide reach a place of safety. A study of flying will show how awkward,
+and how perilous on many occasions, has been the stoppage of a motor
+while a machine is in the air. Two historic instances, though they did
+not, fortunately, end in a loss of the pilot's life, were the
+compulsory descents into the Channel made by the late Mr. Hubert
+Latham, during his attempts, in 1909, to fly from Calais to Dover. In
+both these cases--once when only a few miles from the French shore,
+and on the second occasion when the aeroplane was quite near its
+destination--the motor of the Antoinette monoplane failed suddenly,
+and the aviator could do nothing but plane down into the water. On the
+first occasion he alighted neatly, suffering no injury, and being
+rescued by a torpedo boat; but in the second descent, striking the
+water hard, he was thrown forward in his seat and his head injured by
+a strut.
+
+Less fortunate, in a case of presumed engine failure that will become
+historic, was Mr. Gustave Hamel. Eager to reach Hendon, so as to take
+part in the Aerial Derby on May 23rd, 1914, his great experience of
+Channel flying induced him to risk the crossing with a motor which, on
+his flight from Paris to the coast, had not been running well. His
+monoplane was a fast machine, and the flight across Channel would have
+taken him less than half an hour. But at some point during the
+crossing, it seems obvious, his engine failed him, and he was unable
+to prolong his glide either to gain the shore, or the vicinity of a
+passing ship. His monoplane was never recovered; but the body of the
+aviator--whose loss was mourned throughout the flying world and by the
+general public as well--was discovered by some fishermen while
+cruising off the French coast, and identified by means of a map,
+clothing, and an inflated motor-cycle tyre; the last-named being
+carried by the airman round his body to act as an improvised life-belt.
+
+Engine failure, though a fruitful cause of minor accidents, and of the
+breakage of machines, has led to few fatalities; and this has been due
+very largely to the fact that, though machines have descended under
+dangerous circumstances, and have been wrecked in a manner that would
+appear almost certain to kill their occupants, the pilots and
+passengers have, as a matter of fact, escaped often with no more than
+a shock or bruises. An aeroplane does not strike the ground with the
+impact of a hard, unyielding structure. It is essentially frail in its
+construction; and this frailness, though it spells destruction for the
+machine in a bad descent, provides at the same time an element of
+safety for its crew. Take the case for instance of a machine falling
+sideways, and striking the ground with one plane or planes. These
+planes, built of nothing stronger as a rule than wood, crumple under
+the impact. But in their collapse, which is telescopic and to a
+certain extent gradual, a large part of the shock is absorbed. By the
+time the fusilage which contains the pilot touches ground, the full
+force of the impact is gone. And it is the same, often, if a machine
+makes a bad landing, say on awkward ground, and strikes heavily
+bow-first. Granted that the occupants of the machine are well-placed,
+and prevented by retaining belts from being flung from the machine,
+they should escape injury from the fact that there is so much to be
+broken, in the way of landing-gear and other parts, before the shock
+of the impact can reach them in their seats.
+
+Had it not been for the capacity of the aeroplane to alight in awkward
+places without injury to its pilot, many lives might have been lost
+through descents in which motors have failed. Aviators have been
+obliged to land in most unsuitable places: on the roofs of houses, for
+instance, in small gardens, and frequently on the tops of trees. If he
+finds his engine fail him when he is over a wood or forest, and there
+is no chance save to descend upon the trees, a skilled pilot may save
+himself as a rule from injury. Planing down, till he is just above the
+tree-tops, he will then check suddenly, by a movement of his elevator,
+the forward speed of his machine. The craft will come to a standstill
+in the air; then, the support gone from its planes owing to the loss
+of forward speed, it will sink down almost vertically, and with very
+little violence, on to the tops of the trees. The machine itself will
+naturally be damaged, seeing that boughs will pierce its wings in many
+places, and that one or more of its planes may possibly collapse. But
+the net result of such a landing--and this is the point which is
+important for the pilot--is that the machine will be caught up and
+suspended on the trees, making a comparatively light and gradual
+contact, instead of there being any risk of its driving through the
+trees and making a heavy impact with the ground.
+
+Humour, sometimes, may be extracted from such a predicament as engine
+failure, though it needs an aviator with a very deeply ingrained sense
+of humour to do so. The story is told, however, of a pilot who, flying
+across difficult country with a passenger, found that his motor
+failed--as they often will--just at a moment when there seemed no
+possible landing-point below. Looking over the side of his machine,
+and glancing quickly here and there, the aviator saw no alternative
+but to bring his craft down in an orchard that lay below. Pointing
+downward, to acquaint his passenger with their unpleasant situation,
+and to call his attention also to the orchard, the pilot said with a
+smile:
+
+  "I hope you're fond of apples!"
+
+There is a risk in engine failure which has been emphasised more than
+once; and it is that which may attend the pilot who, while prolonging
+a glide in order to reach some landing-point, may be struck by a gust,
+or enter some area of disturbed wind, just before he reaches the
+ground and while his machine, moving slowly, is not in a position to
+respond effectually to its controls. In one case an aviator,
+struggling back towards the aerodrome with a motor which was not
+giving its power, found that it stopped suddenly when he was not far
+from a wood. Beyond the wood, which stood on a ridge, there was a
+stretch of grassland. Endeavouring to reach this promised
+landing-point, and holding his machine on a long glide, the airman
+came across above the trees. He had almost reached his goal when his
+machine entered a sudden down-current of wind--occasioned, no doubt,
+by the proximity of the trees and ridge. Caught by this eddy, with no
+motive power to help him and very little speed on his machine, the
+pilot could not check its sudden dive; and the craft struck ground so
+heavily that both he and his passenger were killed.
+
+We have mentioned previously, as a fruitful cause of accident, that
+structural weakness of machines which has led, when conditions have
+been unfavourable, to a sudden collapse in the air. But apart from
+weakness in construction, and notably in accidents with early-type
+machines, there was the risk attached to mistakes in design, which
+produced machines which were unstable under certain conditions--and
+the dangers also which were due to inefficient controlling surfaces.
+It was no uncommon thing, in pioneer days, for a machine to be built
+which would not respond adequately to its elevator or rudder; though
+this unpleasant fact might not be discovered by the pilot until he was
+actually in flight, and perhaps at some distance from the earth. In
+one case, which is authenticated, a two-seated monoplane of a new type
+was tested at first in a series of straight flights, and found to be
+promising in its behaviour. A skilled pilot then took charge of it,
+and, carrying a passenger, proceeded to some more ambitious flights.
+Steering the machine away across the aerodrome, and flying at a low
+elevation, he approached a belt of woods. The machine was too near the
+ground to pass over the tops of the trees; so the aviator decided to
+make a turn, and fly parallel with the wood. But when he put his
+rudder over, so as to bring the machine round in a half-circle, he
+found to his dismay that there was no response. In the design of the
+machine, as it was found afterwards, the rudder had been made too
+small: it would not steer the machine at all. In the little space that
+was left him, and to avoid crashing into the trees, the pilot had to
+bring his craft to earth in such an abrupt dive that it was wrecked
+completely. He and the passenger, though, escaped unhurt.
+
+Carelessness has, fairly frequently, played its part in aeroplane
+disasters. Sometimes a pilot has been careless, or perhaps in a hurry,
+and has failed to locate some defect which, had it been seen and
+attended to, would have saved a disaster when a machine was in flight.
+Such inattention, which is sufficiently dangerous in the handling of
+any piece of mechanism, is deadly in its peril when those who are
+guilty of it navigate the air. A man who brings out a machine time
+after time, and ascends without examining it carefully, is adding
+vastly to the risks that may attend his flight; and the same remark
+will apply to the carelessness of mechanics; though as a class, in
+view of the arduous nature of their work, and of the long hours they
+have frequently to be on duty, with no more than hasty intervals for
+rest, their average of care and accuracy is very high. But there have
+been cases--mostly in the past though--in which a machine has
+developed a structural defect, or some defect say in its control gear,
+which ought to have been observed by its mechanics, but which has not
+been so detected, and has led to a catastrophe in flight. With
+machines built lightly, and subjected to heavy strains when at high
+speeds, it is vital that the inspection of such craft, that the
+examination of every detail of them, should be carried out in a spirit
+of the greatest care. The fraying through of a control wire, unnoticed
+by those in charge of a machine, has been sufficient to cause a
+disaster; while carelessness in overhauling a motor, a task of supreme
+importance, seeing that its engine is the heart of an aeroplane, has
+been another cause of accident. It is vital that, when an airman
+ascends, both his machine and his motor should be in perfect working
+trim. He himself, before he flies, and after his aeroplane has been
+wheeled from its shed, should make it a habit to look over the machine,
+so as to impose his own personal check upon the work his mechanics
+have done.
+
+Even when every care has been taken, and a machine ascends in perfect
+trim, there is the human factor, represented by the pilot, which must
+be considered always in a study of aeroplane accidents. There is often,
+when a catastrophe seems imminent, a choice of things that may be
+done. If an engine fails, for instance, under awkward circumstances,
+the pilot may have, say, three courses open to him in regard to his
+descent. Two may spell disaster and the third safety. It is here that
+the innate judgment of a pilot, combined with his experience, will
+tell its tale. But this personal element in flying, and particularly
+in regard to an accident, is often a very difficult one for which to
+make allowances.
+
+The whole problem of aeroplane disasters is, to the analyst, one of
+unusual complexity. Take for example the case of a pilot who is flying
+alone in his machine, and at an altitude of several thousand feet.
+Suddenly something happens; the machine is seen to fall and the pilot
+is killed. Experts come to examine the aircraft, but it is wrecked so
+completely that little which is reliable can be gathered from any
+inspection; while the man who could explain what has happened--the
+pilot of the machine--is dead. The statements of eyewitnesses, when
+taken on such occasions, are often misleading. One person heard a
+crash, and saw something fall away from the machine. Another declares
+the engine stopped suddenly and that the machine "fell like a stone."
+Another says he is sure he saw one of the wings fold upwards and the
+machine swing and fall. And so on. It is extremely difficult, even for
+a technical eye-witness, to be sure of what he sees when things happen
+quickly and at a distance from him; while the statements of
+non-technical people, who are not trained in observation, are
+generally so unreliable as to be useless.
+
+It has happened often therefore, far too often, in aeroplane
+fatalities that have happened from time to time, that the cause of
+such accidents has, even after the most careful investigation, had to
+be written down a mystery. But in more than a few cases, though the
+evidence has been far from conclusive, it has been considered that a
+pilot has been guilty of some error of judgment. There were puzzling
+instances, notably in the early days of flying, when airmen began
+first to make cross-country flights, of engines being heard to fail
+suddenly, and machines seen to fall to destruction. That engines
+should break down was not surprising; they were doing so constantly;
+but there was no reason why, even if they did fail, a machine should
+fall helplessly instead of gliding. But what was thought to have
+happened, in more than one of these cases, was that the pilot, through
+an error of judgment, had failed to get down the bow of his machine
+when his motor gave signs of stopping. The craft concerned were, it
+should be mentioned, "pusher" biplanes; and the same rule applied to
+them, in cases of engine failure, as has been explained in a previous
+chapter, and as is emphasised nowadays in the instruction of the
+novice. But in those days the beginner had frequently to learn, not
+from wise tuition, but from bitter experience; and he was lucky, often,
+if he learned his lesson and still retained his life. On certain
+early-type biplanes, for instance, machines with large tail-planes,
+and engined as a rule by a motor which was giving less than its proper
+amount of power, it was most dangerous for a pilot if, on observing
+any signs of failing in his engine, he sought to fly on in the hope
+that the motor would "pick up" again, and continue its work. Directly
+there was a tendency of the motor to miss-fire, or lessen in the
+number of its revolutions per minute, the consequent reduction of the
+propeller draught, as it acted on the tail of the machine, would cause
+this tail to droop, and the machine to assume very quickly a dangerous
+position. And when once it began to get tail-down, as pilots found to
+their cost, there was nothing to be done. The machine lost what little
+forward speed it had, and either fell tail-first, or slipped down
+sideways. Such risks as these, which were very real, were rendered
+worse owing to the fact that, in much of the cross country flying of
+the early days, pilots flew too low. They lacked the confidence of
+those who followed them, and were too prone to hug the earth, instead
+of attaining altitude. It was not realised clearly then, as it is now,
+that in height lies safety. And so when a machine lost headway through
+engine failure, and was not put quickly enough into a glide, it
+happened often that it had come in contact with the earth, and had
+been wrecked, before there was any chance for the pilot to regain
+control, or for the machine itself to exhaust its side-slip, and come
+back to anything like a normal position.
+
+But the failure of the human factor in flying, the lack of skill of a
+pilot that may lead to disaster, is shown by statistics to play no
+more than a small part, when accidents are studied in numbers and in
+detail. Some time before the war, in an analysis of the accidents that
+had befallen aviators in France--accidents concerning which there was
+adequate data--it was shown that only 15 per cent. of them could be
+attributed to a failure in judgment or skill on the part of the pilot.
+
+Apart from errors, however, in what may be called legitimate piloting,
+there have been regrettable accidents due to trick or fancy flying.
+Putting a machine through a series of evolutions, to interest and
+amuse spectators, is not of course in itself to be condemned. In such
+flying, and notably for instance in "looping the loop," facts were
+learnt concerning the navigation of the air, and as to the apparently
+hopeless positions from which an aeroplane would extricate itself,
+which were of very high value, from both a scientific and practical
+standpoint. Public interest in aviation was increased also by such
+displays; and it is very necessary that there should be public
+interest in flying, seeing that it is the public which is asked to pay
+for the development of our air-fleets. But the man who undertakes
+exhibition flying needs not only to be a highly-skilled pilot, but a
+man also of an exceptional temperament--a man whose familiarity with
+the air never leads him into a contempt for its hidden dangers; a man
+who will not, even though he is called on to repeat a feat time after
+time, abate in any way the precautions which may be necessary for his
+safety. In looping the loop, for instance, or in upside-down flying,
+it is necessary always that the aeroplane should be at a certain
+minimum height above the ground. Then, should anything unexpected
+happen, and the pilot lose command temporarily over his machine, he
+knows he has a certain distance which he may fall, before striking the
+ground; and during this fall the natural stability of his machine,
+aided by his own operation of the guiding surfaces, may bring it back
+again within control. But if he has been tempted to fly too near the
+ground, and has ignored for the moment this vital precaution, and if
+something happens for which he is not prepared, then the impact may
+come before he can do anything to save himself.
+
+In the early days of flying, when aviators attempted an acrobatic feat,
+they ran a far heavier risk than would be the case to-day; and for
+the simple reason that their machines, not having a strength
+sufficient to withstand any abnormal stresses, were likely to collapse
+in the air if they were made to dive too rapidly, or placed suddenly
+at any angle which threw a heavy strain on their planes. A machine for
+exhibition flying needs to be constructed specially; but this was not
+realised till accidents had taught their lesson.
+
+It is a regrettable fact, one which emerges directly from a study of
+aeroplane accidents, that many of them might have been avoided had men
+been content to follow warily in the footsteps of the pioneers, and
+not run heavy risks till they themselves, and the machines they
+controlled, had been prepared, by a long period of steady flying, to
+meet such greater dangers. The first men who flew realised fully the
+risks they ran. But when flying became more general, and men found
+machines ready to their hands, machines which it was a simple matter
+to learn to fly, this early spirit of caution was forsaken, and feats
+were attempted which brought fatalities in their train, and which
+seemed to emphasise the risks of aviation, and did it the very bad
+service that they fixed in the public mind a notion of its dangers,
+and prevented men from coming forward to take up flying as a sport.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY
+
+
+It has been calculated that nearly half the aeroplane disasters of the
+early days were due to a structural weakness in machines, or to
+mistakes either in their design, or in such details as the position,
+shape, and size of their surfaces. To-day, thanks to science, and to
+the growing skill and experience of aeroplane designers and
+constructors, this risk of the collapse of a machine in the air, or of
+its failure to respond to its controls at some critical moment through
+an error in design, has been to a large extent eliminated. That such
+risks should be eliminated wholly is, as yet, too much to expect.
+
+One of the factors making for safety has been the steady growth in the
+general efficiency of aircraft: in the curve of their wings which, as
+a result largely of scientific research, has been made to yield a
+greater lift for a given surface and to offer a minimum of resistance
+to their passage through the air; in the power and reliability of
+their engines; in the efficiency of their propellers; and in the
+shaping of the fusilage of a machine, and in the placing and
+"stream-lining" of such parts as meet the air, so as to reduce the
+head resistance which is encountered at high speeds. Such gains in
+efficiency, which give constructors more latitude in the placing of
+weight and strength where experience show they are needed, have gone
+far to produce an airworthy machine. In the old days, when machines
+were inefficient, a few revolutions more or less per minute in the
+running of an engine meant all the difference between an ascent and
+merely passing along the ground. But nowadays, through the all-round
+increase in efficiency that has been obtained, a machine will still
+fly upon its course without losing altitude, and respond to its
+controls, even should the number of revolutions per minute of its
+engine be reduced considerably.
+
+When given a greater efficiency in lifting surfaces and
+power-plants--and profiting also from the lessons that had been learnt
+in the piloting of machines--constructors were able to devote their
+attention, and to do so with certainty instead of in a haphazard way,
+to the provision of factors of safety when a craft was in flight. With
+a machine of any given type, if driven through the air at a certain
+speed, it is possible to estimate with accuracy what the normal
+strains will be to which it is subjected. But even if such data are
+obtained, and the machine given the strength indicated, this factor of
+safety is insufficient. It is not so much the normal strains, as those
+which are abnormal, that must be guarded against in flight. A
+high-speed machine, if piloted on a day when the air is turbulent, may
+be subjected to extraordinarily heavy strains; rising many feet in the
+air one moment, falling again the next, and being met suddenly by
+vicious gusts of wind--in much the same way that a fast-moving ship,
+when fighting its way through a rough sea, is beaten and buffeted by
+the waves. Air waves have not of course the weight, when they deliver
+a blow, that lies behind a mass of water; but that these wind-waves
+attain sometimes an abnormal speed, and have a tremendous power of
+destruction, is shown in the havoc that is caused by hurricanes.
+
+It seems astonishing to many people that such a frail machine as the
+aeroplane, with its outspread wings containing nothing stronger often
+than wooden spars and ribs, covered by a cotton fabric, should be
+capable of being driven through the air at such a speed, say, as 100
+miles an hour, encountering not only the pressure of the air, but
+resisting also the fluctuations to which it may be subjected. But,
+underlying the lightness and apparent frailty of such a wing, when one
+sees it in the workshop in its skeleton form, before it has been
+clothed in fabric, there is a skill in construction, and an experience
+in the choice, selection, and working of woods, that produces a
+structure which, for all its fragile appearance, is amazingly strong.
+And the same applies, nowadays, to all the other parts of an
+aeroplane. That it should have taken years to gain such strength, and
+to reduce so largely the risk of breakage, is not in itself
+surprising. Men had to devise new methods in construction--always with
+the knowledge that weight must be saved--and to create new factors of
+safety, before they could build an airworthy craft.
+
+To-day, when a man flies, he need have no lurking fear, as had the
+pioneers, that his craft may break in the air. Even when it is driven
+through a gale, plunging in the rushes of the wind, yet held straining
+to its task by the power of its motor, the modern aeroplane can be
+relied upon; and not in one detail of its construction, but in every
+part. Experience, the researches of science, and the growing skill
+with which aircraft are built, stand between the airman and many of
+his previous dangers. The aeroplane to-day, one of the structural
+triumphs of the world in its lightness and its strength, has a factor
+of safety which is sufficient to meet, and to withstand, not merely
+ordinary strains, but any such abnormal stresses as it may
+encounter--and which may be many times greater than the strains of
+normal flight.
+
+The aviator knows also that his engine, as it gives him power to
+combat successfully his treacherous enemy, the wind, represents the
+fruit of many tests and of many failures, and of the spending of
+hundreds of thousands of pounds. Many of its defects have revealed
+themselves, and been rectified; it is no longer light where it should
+have weight of metal, nor weak where it should be strong. So far as
+any piece of mechanism can be made reliable, consisting as it does of
+a large number of delicate parts, operating at high speed, the
+aeroplane motor has been made reliable. But, so long as one motor is
+used, there must always, as we have said, remain a risk of breakdown.
+It is for this reason that, thanks largely to the stimulus of the
+war--which has created a practical demand for such machines--aeroplanes
+are now being built, and flown with success, which are fitted with
+duplicate motors. With such machines, which give us a first insight as
+to the aircraft of the future, engine failure begins to lose its
+perils--particularly in regard to war. More than once during the great
+campaign, when flying a single-engine machine, an aviator has found
+his motor fail him, and has been obliged to land on hostile soil; with
+the result that he has been made prisoner. But with dual-engine
+machines it has been found that, when one motor has failed
+mechanically, or has been put out of action by shrapnel, the remaining
+unit has been sufficient--though the machine has flown naturally at a
+reduced rate--to enable the pilot to regain his own lines.
+
+In peace flying, too, as well as in war, the multiple-engined
+aeroplane brings a new factor of safety. If one of his motors fails,
+and he is over country which offers no suitable landing-place, the
+pilot with a duplicate power-plant need not be concerned. His
+remaining unit or units will carry him on. There are problems with
+duplicate engines which remain to be solved--problems of a technical
+nature--which involve general efficiency, transmission gear, and the
+number and the placing of propellers; but already, though this new
+stride in aviation is in its earliest infancy, results that are most
+promising have been obtained.
+
+To those who study aviation, and have done so constantly, say from the
+year 1909, one of the most striking signs of progress lies in the fact
+that, though unable at first to fly even in the lightest winds, the
+aviator of to-day will fight successfully against a 60 miles-an-hour
+wind, and will do battle if need be, once he is well aloft, with a
+gale which has a velocity of 90 miles an hour. He will ascend indeed,
+and fly, in any wind that permits him to take his machine from the
+ground into the air, or which the motor of his craft will allow it to
+make headway against. And here, though machines are still experimental,
+there is removed at one stroke the earliest and the most positive
+objection of those who criticised a man's power to fly. When the first
+aeroplanes flew the sceptics said: "You have still to conquer the wind,
+and that you will never do. Aeroplanes will be built to fly only in
+favourable weather, and this will limit their use so greatly that they
+will have no significance." But to-day the aviator has ceased, one
+might almost say, to be checked or hampered by the wind. If the need
+is urgent, as it often is in war, then it will be nothing less than a
+gale that will keep a pilot to the ground, provided he has a
+sufficiently powerful machine, and a suitable ground from which to
+rise--and granted also that he has no long distance to fly.
+Wind-flying resolves itself into a question of having ample
+engine-power, of being able to launch a machine without accident, and
+get it to earth again without mishap; and of being able to make a
+reasonable headway against the wind when once aloft; and these
+difficulties should solve themselves, as larger and heavier machines
+are built.
+
+Apart from the growing skill of the aviator, which has been bought
+dearly, science can now give him a machine, when he is in a wind, that
+needs no exhausting effort to hold it in flight. Craft are built, as a
+matter of certainty and routine, which have an automatic stability.
+Science has made it possible indeed, by a mere shaping and placing of
+surfaces, and without the aid of mechanical devices, to give an
+aeroplane such a natural and inherent stability that, when it is
+assailed by wind gusts in flight, it will exercise itself an adequate
+correcting influence. To understand what this means it should be
+realised that, when such a machine is in flight say in war on a
+strategical reconnaissance, and carries pilot and passenger, the
+former can take it to a suitable altitude and then set and lock his
+controls, and afterwards devote his time, in common with that of his
+passenger, to the making of observations or the writing of notes. The
+machine meanwhile flies itself, adapting itself automatically to all
+the differences of wind pressure which, if it had not this natural
+stability, would need a constant action of the pilot to overcome. All
+he need do is to maintain it on its course by an occasional movement
+of the rudder. With such a machine, even on a day when there is a
+rough and gusty wind, it is possible for an airman to fly for hours
+without fatigue; whereas with a machine which is not automatically
+stable, and needs a ceaseless operation of its controls, the physical
+exhaustion of a pilot, after hours of flight, is very severe.
+
+So, already, one sees these factors of safety emerge and take their
+place. There is no longer a grave peril of machines breaking in the
+air; there need be no longer, with duplicate power-plants, the
+constant risk of engine failing; while that implacable and treacherous
+foe, the wind, is being robbed daily of its perils.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS
+
+
+The masters of flying, and this is a fact the novice should ponder
+well, have been conspicuous almost invariably for their prudence. No
+matter how great has been their personal skill, they have never lost
+their respect for the air; and this is why so many of the great flyers,
+after running the heaviest of risks in their pioneer work, have
+managed to escape with their lives. What patience and sound judgment
+can accomplish, when pitted even against such dangers as must be faced
+by an experimenter when he seeks to fly, is shown by an incident from
+the early career of the Wright brothers. With one of their gliders, a
+necessarily frail machine, and in tests made when they were both
+complete novices, they managed to make nearly 1000 glides; and not
+once in all those flights, during which they were learning the
+rudiments of balance and control, did they have a mishap which damaged
+at all seriously their machine.
+
+These two brothers, Wilbur and Orville, offer to the student of flying,
+apart from the historical interest which is attached to their work, a
+temperamental study of the greatest interest. Wilbur, who was grave,
+judicial--a man of infinite patience and with an exceptional power of
+lucid thinking--found in his brother and co-worker, Orville, a
+disposition just such as was necessary to strengthen and support him
+in his great research; a disposition more vivacious and more
+enthusiastic than his, and one which acted as a balance to his own
+gravity. The method of these brothers in first attacking a mass of
+data, most of it contradictory--and a large amount of it of little
+intrinsic value--and then framing their own research on lines which
+they discussed and studied with methodical care, forms a model of
+sound judgment for workers in any complex field. Their kite
+experiments, their gliders, their refusal to hasten their steps unduly
+in the fitting of an engine to their machine, reveal again their
+discretion, and that judgment which never failed them. Perseveringly
+and unswervingly, exhibiting doggedness without obstinacy, and with
+their work illuminated always by the highest intelligence, they moved
+surely from stage to stage; and at last, when they fitted a motor to
+their machine, such was their knowledge of the air, and of the control
+of their craft when in flight, that they were able to make this
+crucial step, from a glider to a machine driven by power, without any
+breakage of their apparatus or injury to themselves.
+
+The same self-control marked them when, having demonstrated that men
+can ascend in a power-driven machine, and steer such a craft at will,
+they dismantled their apparatus and commenced their negotiations with
+foreign Governments. Wilbur Wright, too, when he came to France to
+give his first public demonstrations, provided by his methods a model
+for aviators, either present or future. He resisted all temptations to
+make injudicious flights. If he considered the weather conditions at
+all unsuitable he said that he would not ascend, no matter who might
+have come to see him fly, and that settled the question once and for
+all. He was deaf to all pleadings, to all proffered advice. When
+conditions were perfectly suitable, and then only, would he have his
+craft brought from its shed.
+
+The same meticulous care, in every flight he made, marked his
+preparation of his machine. Motor, controls, propeller-gearing, every
+vital part, received its due attention; and this attention was never
+relaxed, no matter how frequently he flew, nor how great was his
+success. An observer of one of his early flights at Le Mans has given
+us an impression that is typical of this unremitting care. There was a
+question of some small adjustment that Wilbur had instructed should be
+made to the machine. When the time came to fly, and he was in the
+driving-seat waiting for the motor to be started, he called a question
+as to whether this detail had been attended to. He was assured it had.
+But this was not enough for Wilbur Wright. Climbing from his seat and
+walking round the biplane, he made a careful examination for himself,
+and then returned quietly to the front of the machine. People who came
+to see him fly, and expected some picturesque hero, leaping lightly
+into his machine and sweeping through the air, found that reality
+disappointed them. This quiet, unassuming man, who slept in his shed
+near his aeroplane, and took his meals there also, refused to be feted
+or made a fuss of; while his deliberation in regard to every flight,
+and his indifference to the wishes or convenience of those who were
+watching him, drove nearly frantic some of those influential people
+who, coming in motor-cars and with a patronising spirit, thought the
+aviator might be treated rather as a superior mountebank, who would be
+only too glad to come out and fly when a distinguished guest arrived.
+
+M. Louis Bleriot, whose name was next to become world-famous, after
+that of the Wrights, and who owed his distinction to his crossing of
+the English Channel by air, revealed in his character determination
+and courage, and imagination as well. And yet allied to these
+qualities--and here lay his temperamental strength--he had a spirit of
+quiet calculation and an eery considerable shrewdness. He knew, and was
+not afraid of showing that he knew, the full value of caution. And yet
+on occasion also--as in the cross-Channel flight--he was ready to put
+everything to the test, and to take promptly and with full knowledge
+the heaviest of risks. The motor in his cross-Channel monoplane was an
+experimental one of low power, air-cooled, and prone to over-heat and
+lose power after only a short period of running. To cross the Channel,
+even under the most favourable circumstances, he knew this engine must
+run without breakdown for thirty-five or forty minutes. This it had
+not done--at any rate in the air--before. There was a strong
+probability--and Bleriot knew this better than anyone else--that the
+motor would fail before he reached the English shore, and that he
+would have to glide down into the sea. It was arranged that a
+torpedo-boat-destroyer should follow him, and this afforded an element
+of safety. But Bleriot guessed--as was actually the case--that he
+would outdistance this vessel in his flight, and soon be lost to the
+view of those upon it. And he did not deceive himself as to what might
+happen, if his engine stopped and he fell into the water. His
+monoplane, as it lay on the surface of the water, would, he knew,
+prove a very difficult object to locate by any vessel searching for it;
+while it was so frail that it would not withstand for long the
+buffeting of the waves. He carried an air-bag fixed inside the
+fusilage, it is true; but, in spite of this precaution, Bleriot knew
+he ran a very grave peril of being drowned. There was, on the morning
+of his flight, another disturbing factor to be reckoned with. The wind,
+calm enough when he first determined to start, began very quickly to
+rise; and by the time he had motored from Calais to the spot where his
+aeroplane lay, and the machine itself was ready for flight, the wind
+out to sea was so strong that the waves had become white-capped. But
+Bleriot, aware of the value at such moments of decision, had made up
+his mind. He knew that, if his engine only served him, his flight
+would be quickly made. And so he reckoned that, even though the wind
+was rising, he would be able to complete his journey before it had
+become high enough seriously to inconvenience him; and in this
+calculation, as events proved, he was right. His motor did its work;
+and, though the wind tossed his machine dangerously when he came near
+the cliffs of the English coast, he succeeded in making a landing and
+in winning the L1000 prize.
+
+M. Hubert Latham, Bleriot's competitor in the cross-Channel flight,
+had that peculiar outlook on life, with its blend of positive and
+negative--puzzling often to its owner as well as to the onlooker--that
+is called, for the sake of calling it something, the artistic
+temperament. He was impulsive, yet impassive often to a disconcerting
+extent: extremely sensitive and reserved as a rule, yet on occasion
+almost boyishly frank and communicative. He lacked entirely ordinary
+shrewdness, or everyday commonsense. He was a man of a deeply romantic
+temperament, and this inclined him towards aviation and the conquest
+of the air; while in actual piloting he had such a quickness and
+delicacy of touch, and such a sure and instinctive judgment of
+distance and of speed, that he was undoubtedly a born aviator--one of,
+if not the, finest the world has seen. That he did not attain greater
+success, from a practical point of view, was due to the fact that he
+was without the level-headedness and the business ability which
+characterised others of the pioneers. When he was in flight in his
+Antoinette--Latham flew that machine and no other--he was a supreme
+artist. His machine was beautiful, and his handling of it was
+beautiful.
+
+M. Henri Farman, beyond question, of course, another of the great
+pioneers, is a man of imagination and of a highly nervous temperament,
+yet possessing at the same time a very pronounced vein of caution. No
+success has for an instant caused him to lose his head. At Rheims, in
+1909, when he had created a world's record by flying for more than
+three hours without alighting, those who hastened to congratulate him,
+after his descent, found him absolutely normal and unmoved. Washing
+his hands at a little basin in the corner of the shed, he discussed
+very quietly and yet interestedly, and entirely without any
+affectation of nonchalance, the details of his flight and the
+behaviour of his motor. His attitude was that the flight was something,
+yet not a great deal, and that very much more remained to be done; a
+perfectly right and proper attitude, one which was just as it should
+be, yet one encountered very rarely under such circumstances--human
+nature being what it is.
+
+Farman's patience, his perseverance, were in the very early days what
+gave him his first success. With the biplane the Voisins built him,
+for example, nothing but his own determination, and his ceaseless work
+upon his engine, enabled him to do more with this type of machine than
+others had done.
+
+As the aeroplane increased in efficiency, and in the reliability of
+its engine, and was used in cross-country journeys, there came an era
+of flying contests, in which large prizes were offered, and in which
+airmen passed between cities and across frontiers, and traversed in
+their voyages the greater part of Europe. In the making of these
+flights, which needed an exceptional determination and skill, allied
+also to a perfect bodily fitness, there came into prominence certain
+aviators whose precision in their daily flights, passing across
+country with the speed and regularity of express trains, won
+admiration throughout the world. Prominent among these champions was
+the French naval officer, Lieut. J. Conneau, who adopted in his
+contests the flying name of "Beaumont." His success and his exactitude,
+when piloting a Bleriot monoplane for long distances above unknown
+country, guiding himself by map and compass, gave the public an
+indication, for the first time, of what might be accomplished by an
+expert airman when flying a reliable machine. Lieut. Conneau's success,
+winning as he did several of the great contests one after another,
+and the absence of error in his flying from stage to stage, and his
+accurate landings upon strange and often badly-surfaced aerodromes,
+should provide for the novice in aviation--when the secret of this
+success is understood--an object-lesson that is of value.
+
+This quiet, efficient airman, and his methods in making himself so
+competent, afford indeed an interesting study. Here was one who,
+suited already by temperament for the tasks he undertook, trained
+himself with such care, with such patience, that he attained as nearly
+to the ideal as is possible for living man. When he had asked for, and
+obtained, permission from the Minister of Marine to study aviation in
+all its aspects, he began his task in a spirit that was admirable. "I
+was convinced," he wrote afterwards, "that a perfect knowledge of
+machines and motors was necessary before one could use them." For
+nearly a year, on leaving the sea, he worked to obtain a certificate
+as a practical engineer. This gained, he went through a period of
+motor-cycling and motor-car driving, varied by flights in captive
+balloons and free balloons, and afterwards in airships. Following this
+he obtained leave to stay for a time at Argenteuil, and enter the
+works of the builders of the Gnome motor. Here he lived the life of a
+mechanic, and learned to understand completely the operation of this
+famous engine, which he was destined to drive afterwards in his great
+flights.
+
+Presently he went to Pau, in order to obtain his certificate as an
+aeroplane pilot. At first, taking his turn with a number of other
+pupils, he could only get a few minutes at a time in a machine. But
+being a keen observer he found that, by listening to the instructors,
+and watching the flights made, he could pick up useful information
+without being in the air; and this led him to the observation that "to
+learn to fly quickly, one must begin by staying on the ground."
+
+He secured in due course his certificate of proficiency, astonishing
+the instructors by his skill and sureness in the handling of his
+machine. Then followed what might be called an apprenticeship to
+cross-country flying. He made constant flights in all weathers, flying
+for instance from Pau to Paris, and studying closely not only the
+piloting of his machine and the aerial conditions he encountered, but
+also the art of using a map and compass, and in finding a path without
+deviation from point to point. Improving daily in confidence and skill,
+and learning practically all there was to be learned as to the
+handling of a Gnome-engined Bleriot, he was able soon to fly under
+weather conditions which would have seemed hopeless to a pilot of less
+experience; while engine failure and other troubles, which overtook
+him frequently on these long flights, taught him to alight without
+damaging his machine on the most unpromising ground.
+
+Now, feeling himself at last competent, he obtained permission to
+figure on the retired list, so that he might take part in the aviation
+races which were then being organised. Of these great contests Lieut.
+Conneau won three in succession--the Paris-Rome Race, in which he flew
+928 miles in 21 hours 10 minutes; the European Circuit, in which he
+flew 1,060 miles in a total flying time of 24 hours 18 minutes; and
+the Circuit of Britain, in which he flew 1,006 miles in 22 hours 26
+minutes. Lieut. Conneau's success, which appeared extraordinary, and
+his skill in finding his way across country, which seemed abnormal,
+were due as a matter of fact to his assiduous preparation, and to a
+temperament which, even under the heavy strains of constant flying,
+saved him from errors of judgment or ill-advised decisions. His
+temperament was, indeed, ideal for a racing airman. He was quiet and
+collected, with a natural tendency to resist excitement or confusion.
+His physique was admirable, and he had that elasticity of strength,
+both in body and nerve, which are invaluable to a pilot when on long
+flights. Also, and this was of importance, Lieut. Conneau had a
+natural cheerfulness of disposition which carried him without
+irritation or despondency through those ordeals of weather, and of
+mechanical breakdowns and delays, which are inseparable from such
+contests as those in which he was engaged.
+
+A contrast to Lieut. Conneau, both in temperament and method, was his
+rival Jules Vedrines--the aviator who, notably in the Circuit of
+Britain, flew doggedly against Lieut. Conneau from stage to stage.
+Vedrines, who had not had the advantages in tuition that had been
+enjoyed by Lieut. Conneau, nor his grounding in technique, was
+nevertheless a born aviator; a man of a natural and exceptional skill.
+In energy, courage, and determination he was unexcelled; but such
+qualities, though of extreme value in a long and trying contest, were
+marred by an impetuosity and an excitability which Vedrines could not
+master, and which more than once cost him dear. He had not, besides,
+as was shown in the Circuit of Britain, that skill in steering by map
+and compass which aided Lieut. Conneau so greatly in all his flying.
+
+A personality of unusual interest was that of the late Mr. S. F.
+Cody--a man of a great though untutored imagination, and of an
+extraordinary and ceaseless energy. A big man, and one whom it might
+be thought would have been clumsy in the handling of an aeroplane, he
+piloted the biplanes of his own construction with a remarkable skill.
+He flew no other, of course, and this was greatly to his advantage in
+actual manipulation. The great pilots who have excelled--one may
+instance again Lieut. Conneau--have concentrated their attention as a
+rule on one type of machine, learning all there is to be learned about
+this particular craft, and being prepared in consequence, through
+their knowledge both of its capacities and weaknesses, for any
+contingency that may arise in flight. Another instance of such
+specialisation was provided by Mr. Gustave Hamel. M. Bleriot--an
+admirable judge in this respect--singled out Mr. Hamel, while this
+young man was learning to fly in France, as an aviator of quite
+unusual promise; and his prediction was, of course, more than
+fulfilled. Devoting himself exclusively to the monoplane, Mr. Hamel
+became a pilot whose perfection of control, very wonderful to witness,
+was marked strongly by his own individuality. He had beautiful
+"hands"--a precision and delicacy on the controls which marked his
+flying from that of all others; while his judgment of speed and
+distance, which was remarkable, represented natural abilities which
+had been improved and strengthened by his constant flying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING
+
+
+When a pupil has finished his flying school tests, and has received
+his certificate from the Royal Aero Club, he is in a stage of
+proficiency which means that he has learned to control an aeroplane
+when above an aerodrome and in conditions that are favourable, and
+that he may be relied on to make no elementary mistakes. But as to
+cross-country flying, with its greater hazards, he is still a novice,
+with everything to learn. And so it is to flights from point to point,
+generally between neighbouring aerodromes, that he next devotes
+himself.
+
+Aviators have been commiserated with, often, on what is thought to be
+the monotony of a cross-country flight. The pilot, raised to a lonely
+height above the earth, is pictured sitting more or less inertly in
+his seat, with nothing to do but retain his control on the levers, and
+look out occasionally so as to keep upon his course. But the beginner,
+when he first attempts cross-country flying, will have an impression
+not of inactivity, but of the necessity to be constantly on the alert.
+He will be engrossed completely by the manipulation of his machine,
+with no time to sit in idle speculation, or to analyse his feelings as
+the country passes away below.
+
+When preliminaries on the ground have been gone through, and the pilot
+is in the air, there will first be a need to gain a height of several
+thousand feet. Altitude is essential in cross-country flying. The
+higher a pilot flies, within reason and having regard to the state of
+the atmosphere, the better chance will he have of making a safe
+landing, should his motor fail suddenly and force him to descend. So
+the first concern is climbing--and in doing so the pilot must remember
+the teachings of his instructor, and not force his craft on too steep
+or rapid an ascent. He may prefer, in his early flights, to remain
+above the aerodrome while he is gaining altitude, watching his height
+recorder from moment to moment so as to note his progress upward. He
+will be occupied also with his engine, listening to its rhythm of
+sound, and keeping an eye on the indicator that tells him how many
+revolutions per minute the motor is actually making, and which will
+warn him at once should it begin to fail.
+
+Granted his motor is running well, a pilot should soon gain altitude.
+Then, assuming the air is clear--as it should be on his early
+flights--he will note some landmark, away on the line of his flight,
+and set off across country towards it. Fixed conveniently in front of
+him will be a map, of a kind devised specially for the use of
+aviators. A pilot's view, as he flies high above the ground, is
+bird-like. Landmarks fail to attract his attention, at this altitude,
+which would be clearly seen if he were on the ground. Hills, for
+example, unless they are high, are so dwarfed as he looks down on them
+that they scarcely catch his eye. What is done, by the designer of air
+maps, is to accentuate such details of a landscape as will prove
+conspicuous when seen from above. A river, or an expanse of water, is
+clearly seen; so also are railways and main roads; while factory
+chimneys, and large buildings which stand alone, may be identified
+from a distance when a pilot is in flight. So on an airman's map, made
+to stand out by various colourings in a way that catches the eye, are
+railways, roads, rivers, lakes and woods, with here and there a
+factory chimney or a church, should these be in a position rendering
+them visible easily from the air. That such maps should be bold in
+their design, and free from a mass of small details, is very necessary
+when it is remembered that the aviator, passing through the air at
+high speeds, has no time for a leisurely inspection of his map.
+
+With a good map, and aided when necessary by the compass that is
+placed in a position so that he can see it readily, a pilot has no
+difficulty as a rule, once he has acquired the facility that comes
+with practice, in steering accurately from point to point, even when
+on a long flight. On a favourable day, when the land below is clearly
+visible, he will glance ahead, or to one side, and after observing
+some landmark, look on his map to identify the position he has just
+seen. Under such conditions steering is easy, and the compass plays a
+subsidiary part. But it may happen that, while he is on a long flight
+and at a considerable altitude, the earth below may be obscured by
+clouds, or a low-lying mist, and all landmarks vanish from his view.
+Sometimes too, he may find himself flying through mist and cloud, with
+all signs of the earth gone from below. Whereupon, robbed for awhile
+of any direct guidance, he must fly by aid of his map and compass,
+holding his machine on its compass course, and noting carefully the
+needle of his height-recorder, so that he is sure of maintaining
+altitude. A risk exists under such conditions, when there is no
+visible object by which to judge a course, that an airman may make
+leeway, unconsciously, under the pressure of a side-wind; and so he
+must be ready to note carefully, immediately that a view of the earth
+is vouchsafed him, whether he has actually been making leeway, either
+to one hand or the other, even while the bow of his machine has been
+held on its compass course. There is a risk also, when a pilot is
+flying in fog or at night, that, having no visible horizon from which
+to gauge the inclination of his craft, it may assume gradually some
+abnormal angle, without his own sensations telling him what is taking
+place. The craft may, for the sake of illustration, incline sideways,
+imperceptibly to the pilot, till it begins to side-slip. But science
+can meet this danger by providing inclinometers, fitted within the
+hull so that the aviator can see them easily; and by means of these
+instruments, which are illuminated at night, it is possible for a
+pilot to tell, merely by a glance, at what angle his machine is moving
+forward through the air--whether it is up or down at the bow, or
+whether its position laterally is normal.
+
+The beginner, on his first cross-country flight, need not be troubled
+by such intricacies. He is flying, one assumes, on a fine day, with
+the land spread clearly below him. So as he moves through the air,
+listening always to the hum of his motor, he need have no fear,
+granted that his observation is ordinarily keen, of losing his way.
+
+Naturally, being a novice, he will feel the responsibility of his
+position. His eyes will rove constantly from one instrument to another;
+as indeed, from habit, do those of a practised flyer. He will glance
+at the height recorder; then at the engine revolution indicator; then
+at the dial which tells him what his speed is relative to the air.
+There is a dial, also, showing the pressure in his petrol-tank; while
+there will be a clock on his dashboard at which he will glance
+occasionally, after he has marked some position away on the land below,
+so as to determine what progress he is making from the point of view
+of time.
+
+Besides these preoccupations, and the ceaseless even if almost
+unconscious attention that he must pay to his engine, there is the
+need to bear constantly in his mind's eye the lie of the land. Should
+his motor fail suddenly, or something happen which necessitates an
+immediate descent, it is imperative that he should be able, without
+delay, to choose from the ground that is visible below him some field
+or open space that will provide a safe landing-point. And this is
+easier said than done. The earth, when viewed by a airman who looks
+down almost directly upon it, is apt to be deceptive as to its
+contour. A field that is selected say, from a height of several
+thousand feet, may not prove--as the aviator nears it in his glide--to
+be at all the haven he imagined it. More than once, seeking to alight
+on a field which appeared to him, as he was high above it, to be level
+as a billiard table, a pilot has found, when it is too late, that the
+ground has sloped so steeply that his machine, after landing, has run
+on downhill and ended by crashing into a fence or ditch.
+
+It is very necessary for an airman to learn to judge, by its
+appearance, the difference between an expanse, say, of pasture land,
+or a field which is in green corn or standing hay. It has happened
+often that a pilot, descending after engine failure towards what he
+has reckoned a grass field, has discovered--when too low to change his
+landing-point--that his pasture land is actually a field of green corn;
+and a landing under such conditions, with the corn binding on the
+running-gear of the machine, may end in the aircraft coming to an
+abrupt halt, and then pitching forward on its nose; with a broken
+propeller and perhaps other damages in consequence.
+
+In choosing a landing ground, as in other problems that face the
+novice in cross-country flying, experience will prove his safeguard.
+He will learn for instance that cattle or sheep, if they can be
+discerned below in a field, go to show that this field is one of
+pasture and not of crops. If no cattle are to be seen in a field, and
+the aviator is doubtful about it, and yet if it happens to be the only
+suitable one he can locate, then he may look closely at the gateway
+which leads into the field. If, in this gateway, he can detect such
+scars or markings on the ground as are caused by the feet of cattle as
+they walk daily in and out, he may feel satisfied the field is one of
+pasture.
+
+When cattle or sheep are seen standing in a field so that they face in
+the same direction, this may suggest either the existence of a slope,
+or the presence of a strong ground wind; while a stream or brook at
+the edge of a stretch of open land, or a belt of woods, may suggest a
+sloping of the ground.
+
+It is amusing for a pilot--or it was so, rather, in the days when few
+aeroplanes were in existence--to note the astonishment which his
+descent, made quite unexpectedly perhaps in some quiet and rural
+country, will occasion amongst the inhabitants. Sometimes, under the
+stress of such an excitement, people appear to lose for the time being
+their power of coherent speech. A pilot in a cross-country contest,
+not being sure whether he was on his right course, decided to make a
+landing and ask his way. He noticed, after a while, the figure of a
+man in a field below. Planing down, and alighting in the field, he
+shouted questions to this man, switching his engine off and on, while
+he did so, in order that his words, and those of the other, might be
+audible. But the man in the field, demoralised by the advent of this
+being from the air, and gazing at him and his machine with an
+expression of blank amazement, was unequal to the task of giving even
+the simplest directions. He waved his arms, it is true, but no words
+that could be understood issued from his lips. The pilot repeated his
+questions, but it was no good. The man waved and mouthed, and rolled
+his eyes, but when he tried to speak intelligibly he could not. So the
+aviator, loath to waste further time, accelerated his engine again and
+continued his flight.
+
+As a contrast to this, there was the experience of a pilot who, after
+a long flight from England to the Continent, landed at length near a
+small village. In the next field to that in which he alighted there
+was a labourer, digging patiently. The aviator expected that this man
+would fling down his spade in excitement, and run wildly towards the
+aeroplane. But such was not the case. This labourer, a marvel of
+placidity and unconcern, merely raised his head slowly and looked
+across at the aircraft, and then went on with his digging.
+
+In his first cross-country flights, being concerned chiefly as to the
+manipulation of his machine, and having so many things to think of,
+the novice may feel tired after even a short journey by air. His chief
+sensation, as he switches off his engine to descend towards the
+aerodrome he sees below him, will be one of relief that he has escaped
+engine failure, and that he has been able to find his way from point
+to point. The joy of flight, of passing swiftly thousands of feet
+above the earth, will have made but a small impression upon him--at
+any rate consciously. It will not be until the handling of his machine
+becomes less laborious, and he has time to accustom himself to his
+unique view-point, and the strangeness and beauty of the scene below
+him, that the novice will realise some of the fascinations of aerial
+travel; fascinations that it is difficult to describe. The sensation
+of having thrown off the bonds of earth-bound folk; of soaring above
+the noise and dust of highways; of being free from the obstructions of
+traffic; of sweeping forward smoothly, swiftly, and serenely--the land
+stretching below in an ever-changing panorama, with the drone of the
+motor in one's ears, and a wine-like exhilaration in the rush of the
+air: these, and others more obscure, are among the sensations of
+cross-country flying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+AVIATION AS A PROFESSION
+
+
+Young men, and parents on their behalf, are seeking always some
+profession which will yield an adequate return for the enthusiasm
+which youth lavishes upon it. Too often, though, at any rate in the
+past, this search for a man's work in life has been narrowed into ruts;
+conducted on certain set lines which, though they have found
+employment for the beginner, have given him no scope for that
+enthusiasm with which he will attack the first tasks presented him.
+Aviation, till the coming of the war, was looked at askance by parents
+who had sons on their hands. Apart from the risks of flying, which
+appeared to them ceaseless and terrible, the actual industry of
+building aeroplanes, regarded as an industry, seemed so haphazard and
+objectless an affair--so much like playing at work--that they
+discouraged any wish that a youth might show to enter it. Many people,
+these people of intelligence, regarded the building and flying of
+aeroplanes as being no more than a passing phase, and a regrettable
+one, which it was hoped men would soon abandon, and turn their
+attention to tasks more serious and profitable. But that was before
+aircraft had proved their value as instruments of war. Now it is known
+that aeroplanes have the power, granted they are supplied in
+sufficient numbers, of altering the tenor of a great campaign, both by
+land and sea; and that in any future war of nations, should one come,
+a battle between the hostile flying fleets, fought to determine the
+command of the air, will determine also, to a very large extent, the
+fortunes of armies on the land and navies on the sea. It is clear
+indeed that, for any great nation that strives to maintain its place,
+a powerful air fleet has become a necessity; while for Britain, an
+island no longer from the military point of view, seeing that we must
+face seriously the question of invasions by air, there is a vital need
+to strive for command of the air, as we now hold command of the sea.
+
+The building up of our air fleet will be an arduous task, needing men,
+money, and time; but without it we cannot be secure. Therefore the
+work must be faced, the men and the money forthcoming. Aviation, as an
+industry, must prepare for years of strenuous work. A great air
+service must be created. Machines must be designed and built in
+thousands instead of hundreds, and men trained to fly them. Nor is
+this all. The aeroplane, though it has such significance as a weapon
+of war, is destined primarily and eventually to be an instrument of
+peace; a machine for the transport by air of passengers, mails, and
+goods, at speeds greater than will be feasible by land or water; and a
+craft also for the use of travellers and tourists, enabling them to
+make such journeys, with ease and pleasure, as will again prove
+impossible by land or sea. So aviation has two immense tasks ahead of
+it, instead of one. Not only must it create, by years of patient and
+determined effort, a flying service which will command the air, but
+craft must be designed and built also for the mail, goods, and
+passenger-carrying services, and to meet the needs of the aerial
+tourist.
+
+This new task that has been given to men, that of designing, building,
+and piloting aircraft, is still on the eve of its expansion. The
+opportunities it offers to young men--to men whose minds are quick to
+grasp a new idea and who have the powers of initiative and
+decision--are almost boundless. Flying will, as it develops,
+revolutionise the world's system of transport; while the developments
+even of the immediate future promise to be so great, and so important,
+that it is not easy to visualise them. But this at least is clear: now
+is the time for newcomers to enter the world of flight. Aviation needs
+men, is calling aloud for men; and they are needed for many kinds of
+work. First, of course, should be placed the flying services, naval
+and military, to join which during the war men have come forward so
+admirably. But it will need, in the expansion that must follow this
+campaign, a steady and a ceaseless growth in numbers, not only of the
+men who handle machines in flight, but of those who serve the
+squadrons by their work on land, and who build up the organisation
+which is vital to success.
+
+For skilled aviators, other than those who join the services, there is
+scope for remunerative work. A constant demand exists for men who will
+test and fly in their trials the new machines that are built by
+manufacturers; for men who will fly, in public exhibitions, the craft
+that are used at the various aerodromes; and for men who will qualify
+as instructors, and join the flying schools which are already in
+existence, or in process of formation. In countries oversea, too,
+there is the definite promise that aircraft will be needed, not only
+for survey work over wide tracts of land, and for maintaining
+communication and bearing mails over districts where land travel is
+difficult, but also for exploration; and this again means that pilots
+will be required. New aerodromes must come into existence also; not
+only to act as alighting points for touring craft, but to provide
+grounds for the training of pupils; and at these aerodromes pilots
+will be needed.
+
+Of other opportunities, apart from the piloting of aircraft, there are
+many--though it is desirable for a man to learn to fly, and obtain his
+certificate of proficiency, even if afterwards he does not intend
+continuing as a pilot. The practical experience he gains, while
+learning actually to handle an aircraft in flight, will prove
+extremely useful to him subsequently, even though the task he
+undertakes is one that keeps him on the ground. He may qualify, for
+instance, for a post in a aeroplane factory as a designer or
+draughtsman; or he may specialise in aero-motors, and seek a post in
+the engine-shops. At the aerodromes, too, there are openings which
+present themselves; as, for example, in the management of a flying
+school.
+
+It has been shown that the public will go in thousands to see sporting
+contests with aeroplanes, and here is another field for organisation
+and effort; while there is a constant demand for men of ability in the
+executive departments of firms which are established already in the
+industry, and are expanding steadily, or in those which are now being
+formed, or are joining aviation from day to day.
+
+The industry is at last on a footing that is practical and sound. It
+presents a new field for effort, and one that is unexploited; while
+for the man who enters it--and this should be the attraction for
+youth--there are occupations as fascinating as one's imagination could
+depict. But one thing must be understood clearly. Flying is, of exact
+sciences, surely the most exact. The man who is only half-trained, who
+is more or less slovenly in his work, who will not bend his whole
+energies to his task, will find no place in this new industry. A young
+man is wasting his time, if, after deciding to enter aviation, he
+acquires knowledge that is no more than haphazard. He who contemplates
+aviation as a profession must set himself the task of learning all
+there is to be learned, and in the right way.
+
+Individual opportunities and circumstances will, necessarily, play so
+large a part in the steps taken by a young man--or by his parents on
+his behalf--to launch him on a career in aviation that it is
+impossible, here, to do more than generalise. Certainly, as we have
+said, it is an excellent preliminary to learn to fly; and it may be
+stated also that it is now possible to place, with aviation companies
+of repute, premium pupils who will undergo instruction extending over
+a period of three years. A youth may, also, gain his knowledge of the
+industry by becoming an indentured apprentice.
+
+One may say, as a conclusion to this chapter, that a great, new, and
+potential industry is springing up in our midst, one which will prove
+to be equally if not more important and far-reaching than the British
+shipbuilding industry, and one which will employ thousands of skilled
+engineers and artisans. Ships are limited to one element, the water,
+which has very definite boundaries. Aircraft, too, are limited to one
+element, the air; but this element has no boundaries so far as the
+earth is concerned, and aircraft will be navigable to any and every
+part of the globe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT
+
+
+It is a hopeful augury, to those concerned with aviation, that public
+interest in flying should not only be keen, but should be growing. In
+the early days, even when aeroplanes were so great a novelty, it was
+difficult to induce people in any numbers to witness a flying display.
+The first meetings, though they were organised with enthusiasm, ended
+as a rule with a heavy financial loss; and this fact of course, when
+it became known, had a discouraging influence on those who might, had
+these early meetings proved a success, have been willing to finance
+aerodromes and the building of machines. But as it was, business men,
+who are quick to form conclusions, said that people would never be
+induced to pay to see aeroplanes fly. But here they failed to reckon
+with the fact that, though public interest in flying has been of very
+slow growth, yet at the same time it has been a steady and continuous
+growth. From month to month, and from year to year, as aeroplane
+constructors and pilots have continued at their tasks, overcoming
+technical difficulties and personal risks, the interest of ordinary
+people has grown perceptibly. Even before the war--which has done so
+much to focus attention on flying--the attitude of scepticism and
+apathy had been greatly changed. When the London Aerodrome at Hendon
+was established, there were shrewd men in the city, men who are
+ordinarily very sound in their conclusions, who declared the public
+would never go there in appreciable numbers. How wrong they were, how
+little they gauged the change that was taking place in the public mind,
+is shown by the fact that, on a popular day at this aerodrome, as
+many as 60,000 people have paid for admission.
+
+In the immediate future, as in the immediate past, aviation will be
+concerned largely with the building of naval and military craft. This
+will, so to say, be the foundation of its development in other
+directions. War for instance, notably in the fitting of craft with
+duplicate power-plants, will provide data that is invaluable in the
+building of commercial craft, and in machines also for the use of the
+tourist. In aerial touring there lies an important field for the
+development of aircraft--one which may serve to bridge the gap between
+a relatively small, purely pleasure-type machine, and a craft which
+has utility in the fields of commerce. The motor-car provides an
+enjoyable means of travelling from place to place; but in the
+aeroplane, once it is airworthy, reliable, and comfortable, the
+tourist has a vehicle which is distinctly more pleasurable and
+exhilarating. The day was dawning before the war, and will now be
+hastened, when, garaging his aircraft at the London Aerodrome as a
+convenient starting-point, an aerial traveller will tour regularly by
+air, using his flying machine as he would a motor. Already, dotted
+about England, are aerodromes he may use as halting-points on his
+flight, and at which he can house his machine and secure the attention
+of mechanics; and the number of these grounds should grow rapidly in
+the future.
+
+In the aeroplane for the tourist, for the man who buys a machine and
+flies for his own pleasure, it is necessary to combine comfort and
+safety. As regards comfort, though much remains to be done in the
+perfection of detail, the occupants of a machine are now more studied
+than they were in the pioneer days. Then a pilot sat out on a crude
+seat, exposed fully to the rush of wind as a machine moved through the
+air. Now he is placed within a covered-in hull, a screen to protect
+him from the wind. From this stage, as was the case with the motor-car,
+rapid progress should be made in a provision of comfort.
+
+When touring by air under favourable conditions, there should be no
+more risk with an aircraft than with a motor-car. One of the most
+frequent causes of accident, as we have shown, has been the structural
+weakness of a machine. Now, with the experience of the war on which to
+draw, and with many clever brains focussed on the development of the
+industry, this risk may be regarded as almost non-existent; as
+negligible a factor as it is possible to make it, remembering that
+aircraft, like other mechanism, have to be built by human hands.
+
+Another risk, that of engine failure, may, as we have explained, be
+eliminated by the use of more than one motor. In the application of
+such systems there is still much to be learned; but the obstacles are
+not insuperable. One advantage that can be offered the aerial tourist,
+reckoning him as a pilot of no more than average skill, who needs all
+the aid that science can give him, is that he can obtain a machine
+which, owing to its automatic stability, requires merely to be taken
+into the air and brought to earth again, and which will practically
+fly itself, once it is aloft.
+
+One of the needs with a touring machine, to which makers must devote
+their attention, is that it should be able to leave the ground quickly
+in its ascent, and so permit its pilot to rise even from a small
+starting ground. And it is equally necessary that, on occasion, a
+machine should be able to alight safely, and at a slow speed, in quite
+a small field. An aviator who had given up aviation temporarily, after
+a long spell of cross-country flying, was asked one day when he was
+going to fly again. "I shan't do so," he said, "till I can buy a
+machine with which I can alight in my own garden."
+
+Already there are craft which, provided high speeds are not expected
+of them, and they are given ample plane-surface, will alight at quite
+a moderate pace; but in the future, by the use of machines which have
+the power of increasing or reducing their wing-surfaces while in
+flight, it should be possible to descend in a space no larger, say,
+than a garden. In the construction of variable-surface machines,
+technical problems need to be faced which are unusually difficult. The
+theory with such craft is that their sustaining planes, either by a
+telescopic system, or by some process of reefing, are built so that
+they can be expanded or contracted at the will of the pilot. Thus in
+rising, when a machine is required to ascend with a minimum run
+forward across the ground, a large area of lifting surface would be
+exposed; and at the moment of alighting, also, when it was desired
+that a machine should make its contact with the ground at the slowest
+possible speed, a maximum of plane surface would be employed. But when
+aloft, and in full flight, the pilot would be able if he so desired to
+reduce the area of his lifting surface, and so increase materially his
+speed. With a machine of this type, when perfected, it should be
+possible to rise quickly, and descend slowly, and yet at the same time,
+when well aloft, attain a high speed with moderate engine-power.
+
+The commercial possibilities of aviation are vast and far-reaching:
+not for nothing, after centuries of striving, have men conquered the
+air. The aeroplane is destined, by the facilities it offers for
+communication between nations, to play a vital part in the growth of
+civilisation. The construction and perfection of a commercial
+aeroplane, a machine which can be used for the transport of passengers,
+mails, and goods, represents largely a question of time and of money.
+Technical problems still need to be solved. But none of them are
+insurmountable. All should be overcome by an expenditure of money and
+in the process of time--granted of course that research is directed
+upon the right lines. A sufficient amount of money for experimental
+work, which in aviation is very costly, was one of the prime
+difficulties before the war. Capitalists were chary of aviation; they
+had no faith in it. Now, after the work aircraft have done in war, and
+with the need to provide the world with air fleets, the industry need
+live no longer from hand to mouth. There should be funds available for
+experiments with commercial-type aeroplanes.
+
+As to the factor of time, this depends largely on the facilities that
+are obtained by the industry--apart from its work on naval and
+military craft--for test work with other machines. But in five years' time,
+granted progress continues on the lines now promised, we should
+have a service of passenger aeroplanes, each carrying fifty or more
+people, flying daily between London, the Midlands, and the North;
+while in ten years' time it should be possible to cross the Atlantic,
+from London to New York, by means of a regular service of aerial craft.
+
+The commercial aeroplane, even when perfected, would not be likely to
+compete successfully with other means of transit unless it could offer
+the advantages of a greater speed. Here, indeed, in the speeds they
+will attain, lies the future of aircraft. The air will be our highway
+because, in the air, speeds will be reached that are impossible on
+land or sea. As civilisation extends--this is of course a
+truism--there grows with it a need for speedier travel; and we have
+seen land and sea transit striving to meet this demand. But both have
+reached, or are rapidly reaching, a limit of speed--a limit imposed by
+the need to carry their passengers and goods on a remunerative basis.
+On the sea, by burning excessive quantities of coal, it is possible to
+add a few knots to the speed of a great liner. But then the problem
+becomes one of profit and loss; while with trains--so nearly under
+existing conditions have they reached a limit of speed--that a
+difficulty is experienced, even on long runs, and under favourable
+circumstances, in saving a minute here and there. It is not of course
+to be assumed, when the spur of a greater necessity comes, that land
+and sea transit will fail altogether to increase their existing
+speeds. There is the mono-rail system of land traction, electrically
+propelled, which has yet to be tested in a practical way; while on the
+sea, perhaps, under pressure of competition, and with an increasing
+demand for greater speeds, it may be possible to adapt with advantage,
+even on large craft, some principle of the hydroplane.
+
+But by way of the air, granted even a speeding-up on land and sea,
+should go the high-speed traffic of the future. By a greater
+efficiency in lifting surfaces and by reductions in the resistance a
+craft offers to its own passage through the air; by the provision of
+systems which will permit a pilot to reduce plane-area when his
+machine has gained altitude and he desires a maximum speed; by the
+equipping of craft with motors developing thousands of horse-power for
+a very low weight--by such means, and by a general improvement in
+design, it should be possible, eventually, to attain flying speeds of
+150, 200, and even 250 miles an hour. From London to New York by air
+liner, in less than twenty hours; such, for instance, should be an
+attainment of the future.
+
+It seems probable, in the development of the commercial aeroplane, we
+shall have machines for touring and for pleasure flights--craft not of
+large size but in which efforts are made to obtain a greater
+reliability and comfort. Then it appears likely that aircraft may
+reach a practical use as carriers of mails and of light express goods;
+first of all in localities, and under conditions, which favour
+specially an aerial transit. And from this phase we should move to the
+passenger-carrying craft; to the days when we shall be able to spend a
+week-end in New York, as readily as it has been the habit to do in
+Paris; when we shall be able to reach any part of the world in a
+journey by air lasting, say, a week or ten days. Then, as a recompense
+for the lives that have been lost, and for a conquest that has been so
+dearly won, the world will enter upon an age of aerial transit--the
+age when frontiers and seas will act as barriers no longer, when
+journeys that now last weeks will be reduced to days, and those of
+days to hours; when first of all Europe, and then the world, will be
+linked by airway.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+    AERODROMES, their evolution, 14
+
+    Age, its relation to flying, 11
+
+    Alighting, operation of, 51
+
+
+    BIPLANES and tuition, the "pusher" type, 16
+
+    Bleriot, Louis, study of his methods as a pilot, 84
+
+
+    CERTIFICATE of proficiency, tests for, 54
+
+    Cody, S. F., 90
+
+    Commercial possibilities of aviation, 107
+
+    Conneau, Lieut. J. ("Beaumont"), 87
+
+    Constructional weakness in aeroplanes, risks of, 60
+
+    Controllability of aeroplanes, problems of, 33
+
+    Cross-country flying, pupils' first experiences, 92
+
+
+    DUAL-ENGINE machines, 79
+
+
+    ENGINE failure, risks of, 65
+
+    Enjoyment of learning to fly, 12
+
+
+    FARMAN, Henri, pioneer work as an aviator, 86
+
+    Fees for tuition, 13
+
+    First flights, pupil as passenger, 39
+
+
+    HEALTH and flying, 10
+
+    Human factor in relation to accidents, 71
+
+
+    IMPROVEMENTS in aircraft which spell safety, 76
+
+    Industry of aviation, its expansion, 100
+
+    Instructors, qualifications necessary, 15
+
+
+    LATHAM, HUBERT, temperamental study, 86
+
+    Learning to fly not dangerous, 11
+
+
+    MANUAL dexterity, need of, 12
+
+
+    OPPORTUNITIES for the newcomer in aviation, 101
+
+
+    "ROLLING" (handling a machine on the ground), 43
+
+
+    SCHOOL aeroplanes, types of, 16
+    ---- aeroplanes, need for ample supply, 15
+    ---- biplane, its controls, 34
+
+    Schools, modern, their conveniences, 18
+
+    Sensations of flight, 41
+
+    Speed in its relation to flying, 31
+
+    Speed, promise of the future, 109
+
+    Straight flights, 44
+
+    Sustaining planes, their operation, 32
+
+
+    TEMPERAMENT, the ideal for flying, 22
+
+    Time required in learning to fly, 19
+
+    Touring by air, 105
+
+    Turning in the air, 46
+
+
+    VEDRINES, Jules, his piloting, 90
+
+    Vol-plane, the, 48
+
+
+    WEATHER, its effect on tuition, 38
+
+    Wind fluctuation, dangers of, 62
+    ---- flying, 80
+
+    Wrights, Wilbur and Orville, 82
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+_Some books selected as being likely to appeal to a man, without
+technical knowledge, who contemplates learning to fly._
+
+"THE AIRMAN," by CAPTAIN C. MELLOR, R.E. Published by Mr. John Lane,
+the Bodley Head, London. (3s. 6d.)
+
+Describes the author's experiences, in France, while obtaining a
+brevet on a Maurice Farman biplane.
+
+"THE ESSAYS OF AN AVIATOR." Obtainable from "Aeronautics," 170, Fleet
+Street, London, E.C. (2s. 6d.)
+
+A series of admirable papers, written by a pilot and from a pilot's
+point of view.
+
+"THE AERONAUTICAL CLASSICS." A series of booklets issued at 1s. each
+by the Aeronautical Society, 11, Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.
+
+Describe authoritatively, and very interestingly, the work of great
+pioneers.
+
+"FLIGHT WITHOUT FORMULAE," by COMMANDANT DUCHENE, of the French Genie
+(translated from the French by John H. Ledeboer). Published by
+Longmans, Green & Co., 39, Paternoster Row, E.C. (7s. 6d.)
+
+Instructive discussions, clearly expressed, on the mechanics of the
+aeroplane.
+
+"PRINCIPLES OF FLIGHT," by A. E. BERRIMAN. Obtainable from "Flight"
+Offices, St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. (2s.)
+
+"AERO ENGINES," by G. A. BURLS. Published by Charles Griffen & Co., 12,
+Exeter Street, Strand, London, W.C. (8s. 6d.).
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+AUTHORS' NOTE.--The above list does not, of course, pretend to
+be in any way complete. It is designed merely to act as a
+suggestion for the novice.--C. G.-W., H. H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE LONDON AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Learning to Fly, by
+Claude Grahame-White and Harry Harper
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