The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-07-03
WAR DEVELOPED
AIRPLANE WORK
But Some Instrument is Needed to Show
Aviator Whether He is Flying
Horizontally Or Not, Says Capt.
B. c. Hucks of British Flying

London, July g. Correspondence -
Dangers of flying in heavy clouds when
it is impossible to keep the airplane
on even keel and the aviator has only
his compass to depend upon were de-
scribed by Captain B. c. Hucks, of the
Royal Flying corps, in an address on
Modern Airmanship" which he recent
ly delivered before the Aeronautical
society. Describing an experience of
his own he said his airplane 'tumbled
about" in the cloud and that he emerged
from it flying nearly upside down. Cap.
tain Hucks was emphasizing the need
of an instrument that would show an
airman in the clouds whether he was
flying horizontally. He said:
Il set out on very cloudy, windy
day to do test climb to 10000 feet on
late type two-seater. On reaching
] 200 feet we got into dense rain cloud,
but carried on beyond 5000 feet, still
in the cloud, when the compass appar-
emily began to swing although actually
1T is the machine that begins to swing,
not the compass. Efforts to check the
compass had the effect of causing it
to swing more violently in the other
direction. The air speed then rushed
up far beyond normal flying speed. All
efforts to pull her up checked her only
slightly. Then the rudder was tried.
Back went the air speed 60 zero. There
was an unusual uncanny feeling of be-
ing detached from the machine and |
Knew her to be literally tumbling about
,p he
again to straight flying seemed to be
unavailing, until we emerged from the
cloud nearly upside down.
"a few days ago a squadron COM
mander told me that on one occasion
when in France everything loose in his
machine fell out while in cloud A
week or so ago, on the south coast,
machine disintegrated itself in cloud
and the main planes landed half a mile
from the fuselage. In cloud you can
see nothing whatever but your machine.
There is no fixed point visible.
The only means by which you can tell |
n you are flying in straight course
is by your compass and your air speed. |
The compass should give you your di- |
rection horizontally, your air speed your
direction vertically.
Before your compass starts to move |
your machine has already started to
turn. You rudder the opposite way to
check it, over-correct it, and turn sharp
er the other way on bank turn; then
the nose drops and speed goes up. Pull
ing back your elevator lever has little
or no effect, for if you are banked above
an angle of As degrees the elevator be-
comes the rldder. All this occurs with
out the pilot being in the least aware
Of the position his machine is taking
relative to the ground"
Captain Hucks said the rate of i'm
provement in aircraft was so alarming
~ rapid that manufacturers could
scarcely keep pace. Comparing the av-
erage of machines used at the beginning of
the war with others of late patterns
he said that maximum speed for level
hying had nearly doubled. Horse power
vas more than doubled
Airmanship had advanced more than
Il would have done in eight or ten
years of peace conditions and the adj
vance seems to have been along what
might be called conventional lines-that
IS, improvement on standard designs, and
no good results had been obtained from
any departure from that standard. To
bis mind Improvements in engines were
responsible for present day perform
lnees to far greater extent than i'm
Drovement in machines.
He said the most marked develop
nent in the modern machine is its
'apacity for climbing At the begin
ling Of the war. he said. the average
leight flown on active service was 1000 f
o 5000 feet. To-day height Of 10000
Get is reached and If progress continues
ieiEhts a great deal beyond this figure s
Till be reached as a usual thing.