The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1917-12-29
TRAINING FOR
AVIATION CORPS
MOST THOROUGH
Drilling and Study Occupy About
is Hours of Every
Day.
GET ESSENTIALS IN 8 WEEKS
Eight "Ground" Schools Located at
LEADING Universities Where Candl-
dates Are Given Intensive Course
of Traininq-More Men Are
Needed In the Service.

|
Of Training-More Men Are
Needed in the Service.
BY a Lieutenant of the Aviation Sec
ton.
Washington.-A group of 80 well-set-
up young Americans, the summers
tan justsfading from their faces, are
closely studying battlefield. Within
six feet of them is the rapid flash Of
shells bursting in quick succession
not real shells, but as close an imita-
ton as desirable in a lecture hall
and the men are behaving with the
sureness and precision which, as fu-
ture officers and pilots of Americas
great aerial battle fleet, they are ex-
pected to display.
After each explosion, or, rather,
flash, is heard the buzz of the wireless
as the men take or send a message
from "somewhere"-in California, or
Massachusetts, or Illinois, as the case
may be.
A second group of pilots, looking
down upon the others, are seated in
cockpits high above the miniature bat
tie field. They hear the imaginary
roar of Pershing's guns, and there is
another succession of lightning flashes
on various squares of the military map
below them.
Directs Artillery.
"Buzz-z-z, Buzz-z-z-z!" goes the
wireless, as in actual warfare, where
artillery fire is directed by the "eyes
of the army" the pilots from the top
of the scaffo1d observe the location of
"hits" by the artillery and signal the
range to the gunners-in this case
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
W-29D-7-9' is the message to the
illeryman-cryptic, of course, to
those who do not understand the
squared map and pin-point system in
use by aerial observers on the western
front. Perhaps it is a prearranged
shoot, in which case rne clock code Is
handy for signaling how close the
"hits" come to the d1gouts of Kaiser
Wilhelm's privates, or trench crossings
filled with huddled groups of the same,
or whatever else the target may be.
"W-4, b." sings the buzzer. And
the United States artillery officer cor
reefs the range of his big gun. to suit
at least, he will do so short time
hence, when our young pilots now in
training get the first real opportunity
Of showing their mettle to the enemy
across the Rhine.
At the Ground Schools.
The foregoing is few minutes
work in what is a part-a very small
)art-of the program of one of the
United States schools of military |
leronautics, more commonly known as
ground" schools. The man in the
street has a fair knowledge Of what
,ur flyers are doing. BY sight and
learsay he is beginning to know Of the
york at our many flying fields. As
or war, conditions, the average citi-
en- carries a vague picture of swoop-
ng bird men, loops and spiral dives,
apid-f1re duels high above the clouds,
tc. But the man in the street knows
othing Of the eight weeks milling
hat these lads go through before even
topping into a fusilage and proudly
alIing "contact'-to set the motor re-
diving for their first ascent. In 9th
r words he knows nothing Of our
round SCHOOLS for the fundamental
aiming of avlators-
The American schools are located at
re following colleges: University OF
alifornia, Cornell, Georgia School Of
technology, Princeton university, Uni
ersity of Illinois, Massachusetts In
;itute Of Technology, Ohio State uni
ersity, and University Of Texas. Al
rough they have taken over large !
art of the technical apparatus and ,
,me of the instructors Of the univer-
ties on whose grounds they are situ-' r
ed, it is to be noted that they are in !
, sense q part of the university or Of
e ordinary university course. They
e army posts administered and sup
led by the schools section, air di-
sion Of the United States Signal :
rps. :
No Time Is Wasted !,
The course of training Is necessarily q
tensfve. Within the comparatively
ort space of eight weeks there Is q
ahmed into the ground-schoof cadet q
e heaviest diet of military funda- .
entails, scientific and technical essen n
ls of flying that he can possibly Il
yest-and a little more. Colonel q
ngham's theory Ga successful one,. II
lging BY the quality of fyers) is that RI
, man who can assimilate within a n,
zen time an overdose of the above In
Id of work is also the man who can
ap his mental and physical poise I'M