The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-06-06

Is Considered More honorable Than
Even Crack Regiment-SeIdom Fail
to Pass Hard Test Because of Inter
est Taken.
Geneva, Switzerland. - When the
English took a Zeppelin crew recently
the two officers included among the
prisoners were referred to I'm London
dispatches as Germans "of quite "a SUI
perior type
They ought TO have been IL social anu
educational superiority" was meant.
The kaiser has chosen his Zeppelin
commanders as far rs possible from
the eldest sons of the noblcst familiez
In Germany.
That the pair on the airship which
fell In the Thames estuary were of this
class Is not necessarily Indicated by
the I'M they gave-Captain-Lieuten
ant Breithaupt and ODER Lieutenant
kuhne. IL is surmlsed here. however.
that they did not give their real names.
Selections are usually made Of men
between the ages OF eighteen and TWEEN
ty-one, and from the fact that Brett
huupt Is described as thirty-three
years old IL Is guessed that he has
been In the German aerial service for
n long time, his earlier experience prob
ably antedating the war and reaching
back To the time when the Zeppelin
was I'm only Its experimental stage.
This is thought to accord with the
story that he was decorated with the
insignia OF the iron cross and the pour
le merite. implying that he has had n
brilliant career and much experience
as an airship commander.
Kuhne. his subordinate, is supposed
to be a younger and less thoroughly
tried man.
A commission In the air service Is
considered In Germany more honorable
than ever one In the crack regiments.
Training for the service begins on
one OF the huge RATS. each surmount-
ed by a Zeppelin shed. on the GERMAN
side of Lake Constance.
The course begins with a detailed
mechanical course. Meteorological and
navigation studies follow.
After three or four months of this
a party Of five candidates Is allowed to
make n flight under an experienced
pilot, who explains the use of rudder.
nropellers, elevators and the best meth
ods of rising and descending.
Several such trips take place, and
then the most promising cadet IN given
command for Il trial voyage under
strict orders not 20 venture ont OF sight
OF his home shed.
Little by little these trips are ex-
tended to Berlin, Leipzig. Brussels and
finally Helgoland.
BY this time the student Ia supposed
to have gained q full knowledge of
handling n Zeppelin. working its en-.
gines and of the principles of aerostat-
les, wireless telegraphy. gunnery and
the theory of flight.
In the meantime instruction in bomb
dropping has not beer forgotten.
The young pilot Is trained always to
have the wind astern, with his air
ships bow pointing at his target.
Formulas have been worked out mi
nutely. allowing both for the Zeppe.
Inns speed aud the strength OF the
wind.
Altitude also figures Importantly In
the calculations.
Practice Is obtained by bomb drop
ping upon miniature dummy warships
on Lake Constance.
At length the student Is allowed to
make q trial flight or two across the
fighting lines and. If he acquits him
self creditably. is considered readr to
take part In a real raid as second In
command.
A little later. IL he acqults himself
creditably. he Is given a Zeppelin OF
his own.
Examinations during the period of
instruction are monthly and OF great
severity.
In the final examination a percent
age of 70 Il be reached. If he fails
he Is dropped from the service.
So carefully are selections originally
made, however; SO stringent is the sub
sequent wedding out process and so
anxious is the average young German
to succeed as an airship skipper that
there are said to be few failures.