Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-03-30
MY AEROPLANE ADVENTURES
DUMPING THE BUMPS OF THE AIR.
BY ARMSTRONG pRExEL
From the Sioux city Tribune.

From the Sioux Cit: Tribune.
TO the man on the ground flying in
an aeroplane looks like the slnoothest
sailing in the world. Under ordinarily
favorable weather conditions the air.
craft Seems to skim along on a per-
iectly even keel and without the slight
est deviation from a straight line, n
that is possibly one reason why the av-
efage MAJ. thinks that the life of the
aviator must be one constant success
sion of pleasant and cxhilarating expe-
rienceS.
smooth sailing is. indeed. the usual
lot OF the aviator whose speciality is
work at no Very great height from the
ground. Here the air is fairly constant
in it's volume and density. and. with
good weather, there is little or nothing
OF the plunging and shooting downward
and upward that are the constant ter
70: OF those Of us who make Il speciality
OF climbing for altitude.
Air conditions 500 feet from the earth
are vastly different from those 5000
feet up. The lower layers of tho atmoS-
phere are cnticingly smooth and easy
TO sail upon and offer none of the un-
pleasant surprises which we get as we
80 higher and higher. There is nothing
in the first 500 or 1000 feet to look out
Tor except the vagarics OF the wind,
nnd these can usually be pretty we'll
sorecastcd from the indications ON the
ground before starting and from the
conditions met in the first few minutes
Of flight.
But above that. In the realm of the
scudding mists and tho drifting fringes
IT clouds, where one dashes out of a
warm air current into the GOODNESS of
suspended moisture, n meets surprise
after surprise and is forced to be AL
ways on the alert. with brain calm and
hands and body ready for instant ac-
ton al the first sign of an aerial hillock
or rayinc.
N ~ La 1rsat 1yf,i,G r.yny nv, n vxNt sv,, c,,v ~ ,rsp
evening. gone to Il pleasure resort. paid
Jour nickel or 10 cents through a little
soX Office window. got into Il little car
with six or seven other persons. and for
scvcral minutes thereafter coasted up
and down a series of artificial hills and
valleys ut i thrilling speed: In other
words. have YOU ever tasted of the
citenelts of dumping the Bumps?"
We'll, "bl mring the bumps" is just what
we do when we climb for height; we
engage IN aerial rough riding. Some
times we do it voluntarily. but most of
tie time the bump" comes with the
Nc,npieta and sudden surprise that
Hrc!.s disaster for us unless we are on
the alert To cope with its difficulties.
think ! may claim without boast-
iNg that 1 have dom more altitude work
than any man now living. Twice l
have set the worlds height mark. but
in my practice worl: ! have made sew
cial climbs which to rna We're even more
~ ~ - ~ lItts4l tiNJn " illNil NSIIc NAllCltyI-
~ recorded, ;.nd on at least two of these
my b1roaraDh registered higher than
the tEcn worlds record figures. l was
preparing myself for work that should
be Officially recorded in open COMPETE
aticn. ard in Ibis preparation / have had
experiences with the dumps of the
whseh ! shall rot soon forget and
w.icil Nava taught me always to expect
tag unexpected in the upper strata of
t:ie atmosphere. AS 7 write I have be-
ff1rN ~ 1fts f. Sas.-rrl1 H. J,e nv. ~ ~. N,,<1o ~
my various flights and the tl,isl tracing
of the pen points on one or two of them
iescaits TO MY mind the experiences
through which / passed while making
them. ana n in particular I pick out
rs heinG y souvenir of as strenuous a
Z wo.'y as I fave ever done.
AsSuat Into The Heart ct tho Heavens.
II was q lit lie jau,at, into the neart of
the heavens. a because of my long
cherished desire tn go up to the 10000
!cot marx. and 1T gave me my hardest
fight with the bumps. in the air. The
weather was ideal for climbing. 1t was
cold, but tho air was fairly still and the
first few thousand feet OF my ascent,
with ore exception. which I will speak
OF late.. we've made smoothly n with
out lnucn difficulty In a steady rise
that@was almost mechanical in It's ex-
ectness.
The harcgranh record is interesting
IN showing the progress of this flight.
For these who do net know 1t NAV be
we'll to explain that the Paragraph is
an iEstruir cnt which registers altitude.
M and. by means OF a pen point filled
With indelbie ink. 1t records the varia-
tipll IN o. constant line OH a piece of
paper which Is moved around by clock
work. y
This Paragraph record shows that In
the first IL minutes I rose to a height
pf 4.sCO feet. The increasing Difficult
Is tieA ct the climb are Indicated by the