Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-12
MY AEROPLANE ADVENTURES Il y
IV=EGHIING FEAR IN CLQUDLAND BY J. ARMSTRONG DRExEL

with my eyes still glued. fascinated, to
the spot where ! had seen the Mapping
cloth I waited for them. The shred had
dropped forward and underneath the
plane. now that the pressure OF the wind
had ceased. and when one OF my men
came near 4 shouted to him TO go over
there and see what was hanging to the
plane. He walked over and looked up
and said:
Il do not see anything
Isn't there shred OF the cloth hang
ing there?" I asked.
He ducked under the plane and soon
came up holding In his hand a little
piece Of string four or FIVE inches long.
1T wasn't a piece OF CLOTH" he said.
it was just bit OF string that got
caught in a bolt here
Do not get the idea from what I have
said that an aviator is more or less con-
stantly engaged in fighting fear when
he is in flight AS a rule a man in an
aeropiane is far too busy to think much
of fear, especially when he is taking
part in some meet; his mind is too fully
occupied to allow room for any sensa-
ton except the exhilaration that comes
with any form OF sharp competition.
IN almost all public exhibitions. there
IS q regular program to be followed out
This requires certain events each day.
and these events are governed by certain
rules. There are pylons. or turning posts,
to be rounded, grandstands and Enclosures
to be avoided, outlines of ships to drop
bombs upon, circles and squares to land
in for accuracy and all such details that
keep a mans mind fully occupied. The
earth is near and flashes by at the rate
of mile minute. and. more than likely.
there are other machines in the air at the
10, lima ha road
must be followed or there will be dis
qualification, IL not total smash up. So
the aviator is too fully occupied in guild
ing his machine according to the rules to
think much about the danger he is in;
yet, oddly enough, it is in this very
competitive form of flying that he Is in
most peril In working by himself he Is
least in danger, yet he is likely to be
more in fear. for he has more time to
think of his peril and not so much TO
occupy his mind and so quiet his nerves
Thus it is that in altitude flying, as
have said. there is altogether too much
time for silly fears to rise up and tor
ment the lone figure fighting up-up-up-
thousands of feet above his fellow-crea-
tures-after a bubble that we call a
record.
Before I had gone very far into aero
planning I had an experience in the air
which illustrates the point that the many
changes a man has to do while flying
and think about for safety's sake. as a
rule operate to keep his mind away from
fear.
I had been we'll up in my Bleriot sew
eral times and had felt very little ner-
vousness, when a friend in England in
vited me to accompany him and a party
of guests on a balloon trip. / gladly as
scented, because I wanted to experience
some of the calm joys that had heard
made the use Of the aerostat SO de-
lightful.
we started on an ideal day. The bal
loon was inflated, the basket attached,
we mounted, balanced and were cast Off
all without the slightest hitch. AS the
ground sank away beneath me, L tried
TO feel some of the thrills that 1 had
felt in my good Bleriot. But they did
not come There was no merry humming
of the motor, no singing rush Of the
wind, no sense of great power overcom-
ing nature, nothing to do to bring the
personal equation into play and to give
me the idea that I was doing some Of the
work and that skill and courage were
necessary to success.
l looked over the side of the basket
at the little earth away below. / looked
at my friends, but they were paying no
attention to me. There was not a breath
of air. not the slightest hint of motion
or power; we were merely drifting. and to
me, used to the defiant bark of my mo-
tor and the shrek of the futile wind, it