The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-14
and the future success of aviation had
 been proved a fixed fact.

and the future success of aviation had
 been proved a fixed fact.
 The machine I saw on the Potomac compares to those which are now fight ing over the battlefields of Europe as fly to an eagle. It weighed less than 50 pounds and 1t flew three-quarters of q mile in one and three-fourth minutes. The machine In which rode through the skies today weighs almost ton, and it flies through the air at 70 miles an hour. As 1t rested upon the ground it looked like some gigantic live thing from another planet. Using a Gulliver comparison, it made me think of a Brobdignagian bug, ready to attack my Lilliputian self, and when in action this impression became more vivid than ever As it rested upon the ground it made me think of a fish with wings and when half mile in the air, with the sun shining upon 1t, 1t i looked like a dragon fly which turned to silver as the rays flashed upon it's sur face. I despair of making you see the aerial monster and of giving you live conception of how one feels while Il carries you about through the clouds with the earth spread out like map far be- | low.
 1 The best idea of 1t, perhaps, Is as a gigantic flying fish. The fish upon the 1 ground rests upon two wheels with l cushioned rubber tires. They are not as large as the front wheels of the smaller of our automobiles and they raise the body and the head of the 1 fish so that it seems to be supported upon them and on the tail. The head of the fish contains the engine hidden | inside the shell, and in front if this, nt- l tached to the nose, as 1t were, Is the propeller This is 8 long blade that extends out like two horns. which. when the machine Is in action, fly | L,o ta af ms a mil or 23 times a second They make noise 1 like the buzzing of all the locusts cf Egypt joined into one; and they turn the air in front of them into whirlwind ] which flies back in a great current to- i ward the tail.
 l The seats of the airplane are in two great holes cut out of the back of the l fish. You sit down, as it were, in it's | belly; not like Jonah inside the whale for he had no view, but so low that
 your head only extends above the top. Right in front of you is the guide and the rest of the steering gear by which the plane is controlled This 1 control includes the tail, and aillerons ] or fins of the fish, The tail is so made that it can be twisted this way or that much like the tail of fish or bird l It steers the machine Just as the rud- 1 der steers the ship.
 l I nut on a leather coat and a helmet which covered my ears; and was given l a pair of great goggles to protect my eyes I then climbed into the hole ! with my head just above the body oi l the fish Behind me, in the. second 1 hole, sat Pilot Instructor Spratt, ar 1 aviator of the flying corps of the Brlt- l ish army, man who has seen serVlce in the war in Europe and has prougn' a number of German planes to me ground. At one time he had sky bat tle with Immelmann, the famous Ger man aeronaut in which both sent many 1 shots at each other The battle was no' l decisive although the British machine l was severely damaged in the action
 Our machine was started by men cranking it on much the same principle as an automobile. They did this by giving the propeller a whirl. The en- l zine began to work. The noise grew louder and louder; great wind arose and we glided over the ground, the tal' l dragging in the dust which rolled up ward like a cloud into the air. In the meantime the whirlwind increased. The
 engine went faster and faster and had the feeling of climbing up hill in an automobile. This increased mo ment later when the machine left tne ] ground and glided up. an inclined plane into the skies. The ascent was gradua
 and we seemed to be forging aheae
 still upon our two wheels.
 As we rose higher and higher there was no feeling of the great void be
 meath us. The way into the sky ap
 peared to be as solid as the ground VI
 had left, and we were forcing our
 selves, it appeared, through a soli' medium rather than the treacherou circumambient air. This feeling pre-
 vailed throughout the whole trip. hal
 none of the dizzy sensations whicl
 some people experience when the
 look at the ground from the top of
 high building. My stomach staye i where it was and my heart did no
 crawl into my throat As we rose high , CT and higher my confidence increased
 and I felt that I was in less and les
 danger. My greatest regret was that
 was strapped to my seat in my tight
 ly buttoned leather coat so that
 could no get at my note book to mak
 detailed description of the scener k as we flew over the country. Had had my typewriter with me. coul have clicked it off as we flew.
 ] As we rose I was able to look abou