Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-07-08

A great many people have flown,
and yet very few of them have given
anything like a good explanation OF
what the Sensations of flying really
amount to. The explanation of this
is fairly simple. 1t is extremely diff
cult for anybody to say exactly what
he felt like when in the air.
The sensations are complex. The
speed is great. Impressions come into
ones mind at very great rate. The
result is that, when man is back on
the ground again. he is generally only
able to gasp, and to wonder himself
really what it all was like.
At one aviation meeting, a rather
celebrated person was taken up for a
flight. After making two or three cir
cults of the aerodrome, he was brought
safely back to earth again. Immedi.
ately, half dozen reporters, seeming
a good "story," thronged round him,
and began to question him closely as
to his impressions.
He gasped little, tried to straighten
himself out and exclaimed. 1T was
great" This observation, although
very expressive, was scarcely ample
enough to suit the men who had hoped
to write half a column at least as to
the views of this particular individual.
So they waited little, patiently, and
then tried again. Evidently they hoped
that the confusion of his rush through
the air would pass away, and that the
famous peponage would, after all, say
few things that would be really note
worthy.
But his second declaration was
scarcely more informing than his first.
1t was: tits absolutely ripping" And
although the newspaper men, true to
their reputation for painstaking, did
not desert him for some time, they
practically failed altogether to get any.
thing of descriptive nature from the
famous parsonage as to the sensations
of flight.
The whole business amused me
more than little. The person in
question was very we'll known, and
particularly well known for his fluency
of speech. It was. therefore, a strik.
ing illustration to me of a fact that l
had realized before.
The first time a man flies the sensa.
ton is almost more than he can realize
or express. The sensation, so to speak.
sweeps his mind clear. He comes back
to earth with nothing more than a
sense Of largeness and a good deal of
awe. mean, in the explanation given
below, to convey in quite matter-of-
fact way really what happens when
you start out on flight in an aero
plane.
The first thing that one does is to
take ones seat in the drivers posi-.
ton. In biplane, the type of ma.
chine which l shall describe, ones &C.
commodation is a small wooden seat.
Some pilots, with a view to comfort,
place a cushion ON it. Others whom
I have known, when undertaking a
long cross-country flight, have re-
moved the small wooden seat fitted
by the makers, and have substituted
comfortable wicker-work armscair.
But such luxuries are only thought of,
as a rule. by the very old hands.
In biplane the pilots seat Is To-
Gated in the center of the front of the
lower main plane. To your right hand,
as you sit, there is lever. It is in
the form of an upright metal rod,
which moves on a universal joint.
Wires lead away from it, by which
you control the various planes of the
machine. For instance, fixed out in
front of you, on long wooden rods, is
the elevating plane.
This Is so made that it will tilt up
and down, acting in unison with
small plane. having a similar motion,
which is attached to the tail of the
machine. This tail. in the form of two
small planes. fixed one above another.
is thrown out on wooden outriggers
at the back of the main planes.
The rod, by simple movement for
ward and backwards, actuates these
elevating planes, as they are called.
The rod has another function also.
1t moves from side to side, and in so
doing operates what are known as the
"ailerons." These are small planes
hinged to the rear edges Of the main
planes.
Their work is very interesting. AS
the aerOplane passes along through
the air it is being struck all the time
bv wind gusts. Some of them hit the
planes more on one side than another.
The result is that the machine heels
over a little sideways.
This is where the ailerons come into
action. What the pilot does when ne
sees his machine beginning to drop on
one side is to move his controlling
lever slightly in the opposite direction
to that upon which the aeroplane is
falling. This action draws a wire, and
lowers the ailerons-there are two of
them-on the edges of the plane which
is depressed. These ailerons, when
tilted down, have the effect of raising
the side of the machine which is heel
ing ovr.
With this simple control. the lateral
stability of the machine is effected.
There is one other controlling function
which the pilot has to remember. AS
he sits in his driving seat he places
his feet on cross-bar, which is so
made that it will move to and fro on