The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-14
Written for The sunday .se-l.srala By walter Henry

l Will it be safe to leave terra flrma
 eommencing tomorrow out at the grounds of the Alabama State Fair as sociation. at the great aviation meet automobile show and races, under the patronage of the Business Mems league, directed by J. S. Berger and his staff of noted aerial experts?
 The old earth, with all it's troubles, is pretty good to most of us. At least, however sad or low spirited at times, We always hesitate about leaving it for that great beyond. which is the infinite mystery to all Only those who have lost hope, the suicide. takes the leap. And, fortunately, these unfortunates are
 in the minority.
 The history of aviation has many somber chapters, and pray do not imag- inc 1 am trying to Tighten you by re- ferring to them. They are important be- cause showing how they can be avoided, and thus deserve consideration from the intelligent A strong emphasis should be placed on the fact that aviation Is etilI in the experimental stage.
 J. s. Berger, however, who opens the great meet, has been careful about hls Arrangements for passenger earrylns' land only the safest machines and the best aviators will carry Alabama folks |up into the clouds. The monoplanes and |types designed for speed Will not De used for this purpose.
 There has been a great many acci- dents in aviation During the early part of 1910 many of them were due to de- fects in the machines themselves,
 Early Machines Were Unsafe tfR f,tf hot 1- dents were due to a failing motor in the Farman type lifting tail biplane. The reason for such accidents apparent ly is that the engine is so situated that the blast from the propeller blows on the lifting tail. On account of the rel
 atively great speed of the slip stream from the propeller, 1t constitutes quite q large proportion of the tail lift, which lift depends on the motor speed. Conse- quently when driving biplane of this type with a failing motor, as the motor turns slower and slc~er, the lift ot the tail decreases, and iinally when the engine stops the aviator finds the tail lower than the main planes, the eleVa- tor up and probably not enough head way to get the elevator down and the tail up for a head first glide. As the tail drops still further the machine comes down backward and all hope or recovery is gone. The aviator plunges
 
 to his death.
 Tail First Dive Accident
 This type of accident is known amongst aviators as the "tail first dive accident" and is usually the result Of a motor stop when the aviator Is least expecting il. It is curious to note that as the older types of machines become obsolete in the foremost aviation coun- tries. like in France, for instance, their migration to newer fields can be traced by the accidents that follow their in- troduction. This type of the dangerous design has all but been abandoned by the best constructors of today, the daa- gerous lifting tall being replaced by the lpurely stabilizing and directive surfaces now found in the rear of both mono planes and biplanes. Accidents caused 1 by defects in material and insufficient strength are happily growing less ana l less. those that do occur. being usual- Nv confined to new designs made py l those who have no experience In sueu matters and who apparently believe that l the strength of materials is matter of intuition and the art of flying some thing that can be acquired In shofl | time.