The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1912-04-08
ARMY AY|ATORS Of WAR DEPARTMENT
REMARKABLE PROGRESS At SCHOOL

! ton. If they do something out OF the
ordinary, or if they meet with acct
dent. the news is flashed over the
wires. Otherwise they work and eX-
| pertinent without attracting notice.
/ Occasionally one OF the aViators
breaks some record in height or
speed and is given big headlines in
the metropolitan dailies.
/ The intrepid army aeronauts think
little OF making a fifteen or twenty
mile trip before breakfast.
/ Every morning, Captain Chandler,
who is the commanding officer OF
the squad, with Lieut.. Arnold, Lieut..
Milling, Lieut.. Kirkland, Capt. Beck
and Lieut.. Kennedy assemble to stu
dy the aeroplanes and the air. They
look into conditions before deciding
their davs work If the wind is slow
the sky clear, and the weather re-
port is good. each man tells the 9th
er what he intends to do, and then
proceeds to do it, One runs" over
to Annapolis and back. Another sails
over the pines and hills of Prince
Georges county. races with express
trains. and usually reports when he
gets back that he out-distanced the
train.
"One thing I have discovered,
said Capt Beck, lis the absolute ina
bilitv OF an aviator when in the air
at any great distance to discern hills
and valleys. The earth below him
looks flat all the time and We can
only tell the difference between mea-
dow and corn field by the shades of
color of each, and often that is diff
ped, and | had to find place to
alight | thought / saw a level place
i believed | had mastered an art,
So ] glided to earth and landed-not
on a level spot, but on a sharp knoll,
surrounded by deep gulche5. 1t was
dangerous position in which |
found myself. and my mind was fair
ly spinning with ideas as to how to
save my life. | could not avoid land
ing, because | was too near the top
of the knoll, so went down with
what | thought would be a crash and
at least a few broken limbs. | land
ed on the knoll gracefully enough,
and then happy thought came to
me. threw my entire weight on
one side of the machine, which tip
ped the aeropane and caused one
end to dig into the earth. You ought
to have seen what happened then.
That aeroplane spun around like a
top for a few seconds, and then
came TO a stop.
/ Another fact disclosed as a result
of the tests OF aeroplanes by the ar
my men has to do with the dangers
and safety of flights at high and low
d dllllNlutS. II MOuAu dppVul " thN
mind of the amateur in aviation that
there is a greater degree of safety
when an aeroplane is near the earth
than when at a height OF 1900 or
2OO0 feet
This contention is a well proven
/ fallacy. There would be greater dan
ger in the high altitude if the airshlp
were to drop direct to the earth.
With an aeroplane well under con
troll, it is not regarded even as Sc
rious mishap when the motor stops.
! In fact all the aviator has to do IS
to find a place to alight. and he has
! plenty of time to accomplish the
task successfully, provided he is hish
enough in the air. BY the proper ma
nipulation of wings" of his machine
he scars much after the style of an
eagle or buzzard. His airship slowly
approaches the earth. but in the
| meantime the aviator is turning his