The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-01-26
HOW A MICHIGAN MILITIA
CAPTAIN LEARNED TO FLY

n
80 miles an hour
MacKay was ordered To impress up
ON Genevieve that the lodging run OF
a chicken Is not graceful. Take her
down In a straight line" said the
head pilot. But II sounded easier than
1t was. The wheels and the skid, on
striking distractions. threw the ma
chine sidewise and the rider was fore
ed to warp his wings precisely as
though he were being buffeted b.
breezes In the air. After four trips
over the turf the pilot commented
That's pretty straight" Some of the
bird men manage n reasonably straight
line I'm two trips; others can't learn "a
handle Genevieve In two weeks.
Next was the crow with her wings
cut off, Geraldine" Geraldine was a
real flyer. but the planes have been
carefully clipped so that she will not
navigate the upper air again. She is
a little lighter than 'Genevieve," and
considerable faster. She can make 40
AhiNo al nun anu van jump Citai VI
the ground. She can get five feet high
and hop so feet.
Geraldine proved reasonable and the
militiaman was then promoted toa real
flyer. capable of going up in the air
That was mo. 49," which tombstone
smashed at Detroit in July. and which
had been repaired for school purposes
But old Thirteen stayed close To the
ground. The student was warned "a
keep her tail up and cut grass"
Raising the rear plane keeps the
nose of the machine down; she cannot
rise. and skins along at a good speed
Now, this Is very deceiving TO the in
experienced driver He finds that he
can not judge distance. When he Is
FIVE feet up. II seems as though he Is
at least 25 feet high.
MacKay scooted down the field al
the rate of AZ miles an hour, and des-
pite little nervousness over the null
tipllcity of moves necessary Ia keer
her on an even keel. was feeling pref
~ good. Nothing to IT," he thought
when
Bang! Zip!
Thirteen struck the same rise OF
and went up like a sky-head and easet
her down. He was over the grave.
yard" at the lower end OF the field, 81
he made a turn to the left-the first
and something of a feat-and landed
in the graveyard without doing an
damage.
Perhaps a DEPRESSION to explain the
| graveyard" is permissible. II is brok.
en- ground. cut up with little knoll!
and hollows A pedestrian would con.
slider II good footing and horse coult
go over II without difficulty. Bur
4 broken ground means broken air cur
rents and consequent bucklng of tbs
machine. IL had been dubbed tbs
graveyard because the hopes of sc
many ambitious young aviators had
been buried there. The balance of ths
field is smooth greensward. the finest
surface 10 fly over because II sends
back steady air currents. Plowed
ground. or, as explained. broken OF
uneven ground radiates irregularly and
breezes toss the machine about.
A mechanician hurried down "a
crank up. and MacKay was soon in the
air again. He handled the plane well
picked out his landing place. some dis
lance in front of board fence. which
was the boundary of the field, shut of
the engine and was again feeling com
placent. when he had cause TO remem-
Der the adage about pride preceding a
fall He had entirely forgotten a wire
fence which slanted across the field
and the big bird dived into IL, breaking
the propeller and strewing the ground
with broken wire.
This first flight was September IL.
Just a week later he made several
straight flights, the first lessons teach
ing the aviator how to get off the
ground, STAY in the air and land with
out turning. The next day he made
several poor lights. "They were UNI
satisfactory because l could not con-
troll the machine" he explained. The
air was full OF flaws and rockets. I'd
be sailing along all right. the motor
buzzing in good shape, all of sudden
she'd settle down almost TO the
ground
Next they began teaching him the
turns. The left turn is easier because,
IN dancing, skating and running. most
people turn more easily and naturally
10 the left. In making left turn IN
the plane, the tendency of the machine
* inward, and this must be guarded
against II the aviator desires to remain
ut the same altitude.
The right turn Is harder because, say
ayiators. Il doesn't come natural
The tendency OF the machine Is TO
slant downward in a right turn. ana
tlis must be watched. as the gyros-
cone action Of the engine and propeller
is liable to pull him plunging to the
Garth. IL was right turn that out
tucked DIR. Clark, the amateur. who
was killed al Nassau during the inter-
national meet. The nose of the ma
chine pointed downward and he lost
control.
MacKav was getting the feel OF the
mir" that mysterious facility that en-
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