Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1917-07-03
IN CLOUDS
MOST DANGEROUS
FEAT OF AV|ATORS.

LONDON, July 3.-Dangers of flying
in heavy clouds when it is impossible
tC keep the airplane on even keel and
the aviator has only his compass to
depend upon were described by Captain
B. C. Hucks, of the Royal Flying
Corps, in an address on Modern Air
which he recently delivered
before the Aeronautical Society De-
scribing an experience of his own he
said his airplane "tumbled about" in,
the clouds and that he emerged from
it flying nearly upside down. Captain
Hucks was emphasizing the need of
an instrument that would show an
airman in the clouds whether he was
flying horizontally. He said:
q set out on a very cloudy, winds
day to do a test climb to 10000 feet on
a late type two-seater. On reaching
1900 feet we got into dense rain
clouds, but carried on beyond 5000 fest.
still in the cloud, when the compass
began to swing, although
actually it 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 fly
ing speed All efforts to pull her up
checked her only slightly. Then the
rudder was tried Back went the aid
speed to zero. There was an unusual
uncanny feeling of being detached from
the machine, and knew her to be lit
orally tumbling about in the clouds. All
efforts to settle down again to straight
flying seemed to be unavailing, until
we emerged from the cloud very 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,
a machine disintegrated itself in
cloud and the main planes landed hale
mile from the fuselage In cloud
you can see nothing whatever but your
machine There is no fixed point WIS.,
ible.
THE only means by which you can
tell if you're 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, cver-correct it, and turn
sharper the other way on bank turn;
then the nose drops and speed goes up.
Pulling back your elevator lever has
little or no effect, for if you are bank
ed above an angle of As degrees the
elevator becomes the rudder. All this
occurs without the pilot being in the
least aware of the position his machine
is taking relative to the ground"
Captain Hucks said the rate of inn
provement in aircraft was so alarming
ly rapid that manufacturers could
scarcely keep pace. Comparing the
average performances of five different
types of machines used at the begin
ming of the war with others of late pat
terms, he said that maximum speed for,
level flying had nearly doubled. Horse
power was more than doubled.
Airmanship had advanced more
than it would have done in eight or
ten years of peace conditions and the
advance seemed to have been along
what might be called conventional
lines-that is, improvement on stand
ard designs, and no good results had
been obtained from any departure from
that standard. To his mind improve
rents in engines were responsible for
present-day performances to far
greater extent than improvement in
machines
He said the most marked develop
ment in the modern machine is its ca
pacity for climbing. At the beginning
OF the war. he said the average hight
flown on active service was 1000 to
5000 feet. Today height of 10000
feet is reached. and if progress con-
tinues heights great deal beyond this
figure will be reached as a usual thing.