American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-12-14
An AYIATOR'S IMPRESSIONS
ON HIS FIRST TRIP
ABOVE THE CLOUDS

This week. a y the Pend d'Oreille
Review, J.. W. Stewart Of BOnners Fer
rs received the Brandon Daily Sun,
OF Brandon. Ontario. In which his
nephew, Lieutenant X. G.. Stewart. de-
scribed In a letter TO his parents some
OF his experiences In the Canadian
army aviation corps. Extracts OF the
letters published follow and are ex-
cellent descriptions Of the ayiator's
hrst experiences IN the air flights:
Il had my first trip this morning
and enjoyed Il immensely. Never a
bit frightened or queer-seemed as
N had been used to IL all my life.
n Is really the first test OF nerve
I've ever had excepting swinging that
engine on To the separator tongue at
home. The majority Of fellows get
into the deuce Of a funk and get yell
low as a ducks foot. and hang on
for lear life; but had a jolly good
look around and glOried in the oppor-
tunity given me.
zone gets rather a queer feeling
when she hits an air pocket and drops
thirty feet or so; but the most pecul-
lar feeling / had this morning was
when we cut the figure eight and
banked the machine we'll over on each
turn. The machine seems to stand
on her wing tips, and centrifugal force
drives you hard down on to your
seat. All the fields take on a more
regular outline; trees look like grass,
and buildings somewhat like tops;
the wind drumming through the rig
ging sounds like heavens music. and
the clouds are like blank walls Of
mist. To sum up. II is gloriousl
Taking off and landing is very
dangerous to beginners. but l hope to
succeed. and II | am spared, it will
be a great blessing morally, physical
ly and intellectually"
Meets a Canadian Instructor.
London. England. July q, 1917.
Dear Mother: Since | wrote you
last another move has taken place.
You will remember me telling that
/ would finish my solo that evening.
Well, | did. | did nineteen landings
all told and never strained a wire,
with the result that | got sent to the
finest aviation school in England, on
to the fast scout machines, to be a
lighting pilot. Rather hard on me,
but It will be great II | pull through
Took my first flight in n fast machine
last night. We climbed up 10 sever
thousand feet in four minutes. The
= instructor was a Canadian named
Rowe. a civil engineer on the G.. T. p
He thought II great to get a Canadian
pupil for once. so he e~ndeavored tc
find out what l was made of, and WI
d,d everything but loop.
we went sailing up, nearly verti-
cal sometimes. Eight through a banl
OF clouds. into them and through
them. and up and up until even they
looked small. We were connected NJ
by a speaking tube( so after we go
up over six thOusatd feet, he gave ms
control. and henTbawled me out fol
holding the con<rol lever too tightly
Imagine getting a dressing down tina
far above the EARTH Then he told IN,
to let 20 the control lever and Fly (
with my feet. So for ten minutes
flew with hands off. guiding only will
my feet. when turning left withou
the control lever. the propeller tongue
would almost make her loop.
Then he said. Give her to me. an
I will show you some difficult stunts
In flying. First he said. wen d,
a flat spin, say for about a minute.
| could have sworn that the earth ha,
cut loose. II seemed to be one grea
revolving saucer under us. over us
and all around us at the same time
STRENGTHENING out. he shut the en-
|. gine off and then said. Now we viii
do a stall; so Off We went again a
about 10 per. Then the floor SCENE,
10 meet me with a bang. He shut OF
the engine and then she kept OF
climbing until she lost flying speed
Then for a second We seemed TO han
poised In the air, then she fell owe
on her side. put her nose down ant
went for a partial nose drive. Fo
those ten seconds or so. Il seemed Z
mo that my entire stomach was strug
Cling with the muscles OF my throa
20 get through. / a tell YOU 1t /
mighty hard to resist the temptation
OF hanging on TO something. But
thought that possibly he would thin.
was scared. so | just sat still an
1 grinned He seemed to think | need
ed more; so he brings her out an
says: Now We will do what Is CON
monty called Split arcing.
"On he goes again. puts her RICH
over on her side. and We cut a spira
circle like that, going around IN on
wing up and falling at the same timl
w AANNENA wv Nh0AHsAAAA -
in twelve seconds. The sudden chanR
of altitude gave me a terrible pain |
my ears. but. geel didn't We con
down bang through the clouds With
sight OF the ground. Then he flatter
out and did what is called 'zoomine
Now. he says. I'll show you how she
come down herself, and switches o
the engine. The machine Of her ow
accord put her nose down. assume
her gliding angle. and away we WEI
at a merry pace Of about 65 or Z
for the aerodrome. Just before Ian,
ing, he did a vertical bank. and the
we landed.
The Lieutenant Makes Coed.
When we were getting out the il
structor said. How was that?' / r.
piled. That was the best ride | ha,
had yet and / enjoyed it immensel,
Though didn't feel all happy. l ju
/ ] tho d NAAN ss a