Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-12-11

'1S FASCINATION AND rs xrALrrrs
FULLY SET FORTH.

'1' FASCINATION AND rs mALru
FULLY SET FORTH.
49, -. ~ nsymond 7. Atwood Of Paria. vho !
~ psnss eosas 9 the Naval Aeronsutic 5000,
inere 10 something romantic abon
lying which catches the imasinatio,
ana nrss the blood OF al Of On I eusss
II really doesn't seem . thing OF thiI
es.sn exactly. / know my idea Of N
AVIATOR was 2 sort OF . bird man vht
oio nothing but soar aloft TO the delIeh
OF AL spectators. Most Of them yonp,
,soiess euppose). ] have An idea tina
=, so09t the way most Of you think O
". well, let me say very emphaticall,
tnat lying % not that 1t all. Flvinr i,
ABOUT ninety per cent dirt and ereas,
ana the other ten per cant commor
horse sense.
Years ago We watched the flrss anto
mobiles 60 past and envied their speed
ana comfort Later when We had oul
own nivvers and learned 10 tinker with
the carburetor ourselves, We realized
tnat those early tourists didn't have
snch cinch after all. That's about thu
way with the flying game. The man or
the outside sees the fun without resliz
Ing the difficulties.
Now don't get the idea that flying I,
not fun. 1t 10 fun. 1t il more than
mere fun. II has thrill to It that once
experienced will never let You rest
am going to prophesy that far more
than bali OF the young fellows who have
gone into aviation on account Of the
war will stick to it after the war. It ID
the greatest game ever invented and
not nearly a. dangerous a Is generally
supposed. At the Naval Aeronautic
Station here at Pensacola, are the largest
number OF sea planes ever assembled by
this or any other government. Since
the founding of the station In 1918 there
have been four deaths from accidents.
Very few automobile speedways can
boast ~ good record az that.
The training Of an aviator is . longer
job than one might suppose. All men
are sent to ground schools" first.
went to the Massachusetts, Institute OF
Technology for eight weeks. The pr a.
cipal things taught at the ground school
are the various theories connected with
flying, photographs, the study of the
weather, machine gunnery, sirplsne
engines and military drill. At the end
of the eight weeks, had not come in
contact with single man who had
flown, nor seen sea plane in the air.
However, was, a. / now know, over
the hardest part of the flying.
As my instructor told me once, "Fly-
ing Is no harder than riding q bicycle.
The penalty of mistake 10 greater, that
is ALL" There IL much truth in what
be said. The controls are instructive
and simple. About all . man needs
to be successful flyer is q
'feel" for the air, the aviators' sixth
sense. Some of the biggest fools have
it born in them, and many bright men
never can acquire IL. Some men will
BY machine almost the first time they
II. Others will persistently fly
with one wing away up and the other
away down and not know 1t. It Is Q
matter of instinct more than practice.
The first shop" a the students here
call 1t, il thing never to be forgotten.
[ will try to describe mine. / waited
about week on the beach expecting to
20 mp before I actually got my shop"
had almost given up hope when the in
structor called my name and told me to
put on Q leather helmet, goggles and q
life preserver. (Thsy are always w0rD).
climbed into the machine. The pas
,enger sits In the front seat on the
Curtiss machine used here. There are
duplicate controls SO that either the
pilot or the student can drive the ma
shine. The sailors who are assigned to
the machine I've call them "beach
mules'') turned as around and cranked
M the motor. The instructor shouted
''Clesr Away" and with roar We were
of down the bay.
I don't know the exact moment We
left the water. There was no jar or
vibration. Apparently without effort
We climbed to 1000 feet. watched the
needle of the altimeter creep slowly up
without really thinking what 1t meant.
when 1t touched 1000 feet thought I
would look down and see II / was going
to get dizzy. Everything looked very
small, but 1t really didn't seem at oil the
vsy had expected. cannot explain
Il. You will have to 60 up yourself to
know what 1t Is like. The machine and
You are thing apart from the world,
and there 10 no more thought OF danger
or dizziness than there 10 sitting on your
own back steps looking at the moon.
We circled Pensacola bay and went
over the batteries of Forts Pickens and
Barrsncas. They didn't look at all
though I could realize at
once the value of the sirplane a. mill
tary scout. I had gotten very much at
home In the machine when suddenly the
aest dropped out from under me. II
Won have ever jumped of 1000 foot
precipice, you know what the sensation
is. otherwise you have DO idea. we
had "gone over the hump" that 10,
started down. After the first few
seconds was happy again. ! could see
the water almost straightin front OF my
nose it seemed, but 1t didn't seem to get
anv nearer, and got quite accustomed
10 the falling sensation. Suddenly the
water seemed to Jump at rs, the machine
ont and felt the seat press
hard. We we're about 30 feet above the
water. The last 80 feet We came down
much more slowly, and with q shgnt
bump we hit the water and made LOT sne
beach. A..
rjl confess that I rather dreaded that
"bnmpn the next time I went up, but 10
n a peculiar fact that that sensation
comes only once to man. Never since
80. felt anv ouslms about the
ubnmp.n In fact only few days after
,his- I nut her "over the hump" myself
so sharply that both the instructor ana
we're thrown of the seats completely:
OF course We were strapped IN, wnion
imagine was fortunate circumstance.
Because We cannot see the ar, We are
ant not TO think much about ite move,
msnts. The air has waves and eddies and
cross en- rrents just exactly the same as
-atsr has. The waves In the air VIII
.omst;m mes be so or 100 feet high. 1t 10 .
wonderful sensation to be up In "Dil-
1917 air. The machine will rise slowly
and maiestically nearly hundred feet,
than m slovly sink. Air eddies are
That We call sibumps." Bunny air 10
,.thsr dangerous. Often one wing will
strike Q bump and throw inc macn'ns
out of level. -..,
vhioh controls It's movements. D'o you
svsr atop to think how many controis an
s,rnlane must have? 1t can turn from
la 70 AIDE Ike An automobile. This 10
Controlled by foot rudder bar. Then
~hsn won strike q sbump" which throws
.on ont of level, you require another
Control. This 10 on . wheel just IKE
The automobile steering wheel; Ano