The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-09-09
BY LIEUTENANT de coNNEAU
(Andre Beaumont.l


ain endeacor to set down the bird
mans sensations during the great
cross-country flying race. 1t is difficult
in all conscience to discern and to
analyze ones own emotions, and espe-
cally to define them with the requisite
correctness, even when these are
emotions which other men have al
ready known and experienced But
here, in a domain which is totally new
to humanity, both for the spectators
who observe the fight of man from
below, as for the air man who today Is
beginning to try his wings, there is
something almost audacious in seeking
to lay bare state of mind which Is
still unprecise, a mentality not yet con-
scious of itself. But since l must be
thus daring will try to penetrate, for
the first time, the mysterious grotto
where the bird men jealousy hide
their emotions, their anguish and their
Joy.
| gather up all my courage, then
spring into my monoplane, l switch on
the contact, the propeller flies round
dizzily, l give the signal, metaphoric-
ally, to let go, and with the map Of
Europe before my eyes l rise into the
air in search Of my impressions, scat
ha
Paris, Utrecht, Brussels and London.
For our impressions have wings, too,
and ! shall need all the speed and
suppleness of my machine to grasp
them in their flight
Here are three of them, already on
my road through the air, always the
same, familiar to all air men, varying
in intensity according to the day, the
weather or ones state Of mind-they
are the anxiety at the start, the en-
thusiasm and the ardor of the contest,
the manifold emotions of full fight,
and finally the immense Joy, the in
voluntary cry of victory at the finish.
Just look at the air men when they
are about to go up. They do not speak,
or hardly at all; their attention is alb
sorbed by the minute examination Of
the machine in which they are about to
intrust their lives; they 90 over every
thing in silence-the state of the
wings, the levers controlling the rud-
der, the elevating plane, and the warp
ing; the condition of the motor, above
all things-this metal heart which
gives lift to the frail framework of
wood, canvas and steel This is not
the moment, my dear young ladies in
search of autographs, to ask the air
man to sign picture postcards.
Then there is the scrupulous toilette
while the air man dons the ungraceful
panoply of the most graceful of sports
the paper gloves and socks to ward
of the cold, the overalls, the Balaklava
helmet, the goggles, the wooden com
forter-in short the bizarre get-uI
which gives one the appearance Of be
ing from another world-a Marian, OIL
a man in the moon, as they are describ
ed in books. Next the compass anC
the map have to be attentively eXamin
E ed. Does the map run all right on it
rollers? And so on-a host of othe
little technical details.
At last the hour has arrived. Every
thing is ready. 1t is time to start
Amid the deafening roar of the motor
the aeroplane snatches itself out Of the
e hands of the men holding 1t back anC
= turtles along the ground. Then i
hops and suddenly rises with a slide
into the air, describing a graceful as
cending curve as it leaves the ground
Arrow-like it darts straight toward al
unknown point on the horizon.
The irregular jolting and shaking
caused by the unevenness Of the GROUND
as the aeroplane dashes to its ascen
from the earth are succeeded by
a soft, gliding sensation, which defei
definition; the anxiety and anguish o
the start have vanished, to make room
for a feeling or repose, of absolute
solitude. The man has disappeared; he
is now a bird!
He rises, but he has not the impress
. sion of rising. AS in balloon ascents
one has the impression that the eartl
is sinking beneath che, People seei
far below look like very mobile littl
black points, then only groups can b.