Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-19

expression, and they have been surprised
when have asserted that these holes"
really do exist. and that they are a con-
slant menace to the aviator.
/ met them first very early in my ex
peTience. when ! began practicing alti-
tude flying at my private grounds at
Beaulieu, in England. My first experience
with them was a complete surprise to me.
l was flying comfortably and easily at a
height OF about 5000 feet 1t was toward
sunset. on a perfectly calm summer
afternoon, and not breath had disturbed
me from the time I had left the earth
I had relaxed my vigilance and was sit
ting back comfortably. really enjoying
the flight. when suddenly the Bleriot
seemed to drop from under me and / felt
myself falling straight for the earth. For
a hundred feet Or more, l should say. we
fell. and then the Bieriot landed on a
cushion OF air and I landed on the seat
OF the Bleriot with bump that Jared
me.
Fortunately. l was headed slightly
downward at the time, and was able to
recover my equilibrium. but the shock of
the surprise was SUFFICIENT for one day Of
flying for such a novice as ! was at that
time, and l came to earth at once.
-.
For days afterward puzzled my brain
to know what II was that had caused this
sudden and most unpleasant drop, but
could not solve the problem. although
met several other aviators who told me
that they had frequently had the same
experience. After that ] kept on the
alert when 1 tried altitude practice, and IL
was well that did so. for this same eN-
perience came to me again and again
When Glenn Curtiss made his famous
flight from Albany to New York ne was
several times almost thrown from ms
seat by these sudden drops through
.'holes' in the air. 80 serious an I'M
preston did 1t make upon his nina tna'
/ am told, he has since had the PACK OF
his seat made with little curved Hie. ss
braces that 20 over his shoulders ana
hold him firmly down upon his chair
The philosophy Of the hole in the
air. 1t seems that many conditions ot
sun. clouds and earth Will bring ABOUT
different conditions of air over prAc-
tically the same locality; in one place
there will be a rising warm current,
and next to 1T a cold current tina! falls
toward the ground. An aviator IN ny
ing through the warm currents I,o
iusts his machine and his mind to- the
conditions met with in that partcu-
lar phase OF atmosphere. Suddenly. ne
passes from this rising current 70 the
falling, cold air. Instantly the sus-
tanning power of the atmosphere Is de-
creased; the machine plunges down,
ward and continues to plunge unth
the aviator RECEIVERS himself sumclent-
" to adjust his machine 70 tne
changed conditions met with in the at
mosphere of lower temperature 30,
too. there are whirlwinds and vortlces
formed, and sometimes. between the
warm and cold currents, pockets or ex =
tremely rarefied air that ofYer practl-
cally no support for flying machine.
y Sc
have had this same experience OF
plunging downward on several occa-
sions when ] have flown over large
bodies Of water-quite a common eN-
perience with ball3onists. The atmos-
phere over a large body OF water Is
usually eight or ten degrees cooler
than that over the land. and as warm
air rises and cool air descends. or is
stationary. it can easily be seen what
erect the change in the temperature
in the atmosphere will have upon a
machine flying through 1t.
These things are, as have said. US
ually met only by the men who ny
very high above the earth. They are
some Of the unpleasant experiences Of
altitude climbing and will in some