La Junta tribune., 1917-12-27

- vsssesy ~ ~ ~ sesss -
1b,s. asl WINS theso ase aaay
thinss os iatsssse that cas - related
I tel thst tins vtll Aot permit ~
Ill bsias eoanittsd - vSittAA ]
have Dssviossly nsatioas1 ~ srsas
number Of ssro sausdruas that have
besa recruited. Nsa b thsos organ
isatioss comprise that part Of he
svtation ssFvtee that attsads TO the
airplanes, such - mechanics. electric
ians and other experts. The flysss.
after they are trained and pass what
Il called the r. A. n. tests. in other
words qualified ~ reserve military
aviator. are given . commission ~
First Lieutenant in the United States
Army, and while they are In the
training camps - students they have
the status Of Cadets. Because Of the
fact that the emergency necessitates
the training Of many sviators, and NO
time 10 to be lost. II can be UNDER
stood that cadet IL required to de-
vote most all Of his time to acquir-
ing . technical knowledge necessary
in aviation. First they have to 20
through what is called . Ground
School" course Of eight weeks. at the
end Of which time they are sent to
camps such As this to be trained in
actual flying. Tho time spent before
one becomes An efficient aviator
varies. depending upon the adapta-
bility Of the studest. The airplanes
used In the instruction OF students
are Of the type called Tractors. /"
They are . slow machine and espe-
cially designed for use IN training.
One cannot realize the immensity Of
the program that 10 being carried
out unless they have the opportunity
to Be near ~ have been during the
rsst seven months. ,..
During the summer months when
training Was At Its height. II was
not unusual for forty or fifty planes
to be In the air At one time. Taking
off and landing during the entire
day-many Of them At sucsh an alti-
tude that they could hardly be seen.
While the flying IL going on all
pilots are under the observation OF
experienced and competent officers.
and In this way 4 record OF the In
dividual student and his progress IL
kept. One OF the remarkable things
regarding the flying that has been
conducted here Is the lack Of acci-
dents that have occurred In proper
tioa TO the amount of flying that has
been conducted. This Ia an indica-
tioh Of the extreme precsution that
our government Is taking In the pro-
lection Of the lives OF student avia-
tors.
Nearly exery one can imagine the
experience OF actually ascending In
an airpiane. and prior to the time
that I made my first trip into the
air had many ideas as TO what the
experience might be. Many Of them
were true and many others were at
once destroyed. II Is difficult 20 ef-
feet good description OF the feeling
that ! had In going up the first time.
I was all dolled up In = leather coat
and helmet and goggles. just like the
real thing. and will have to admit
that was a trifie nervous. When
the machine took off began 10 real
ize that ground Was fast becoming
farther away. and there was q feel
Ing OF uneasiness that requires sew
eraly minutes 60 relieve. After we
had been going for several minutes
] ventured to look over the side OF
the machine. BY this time we were
qsite . height and stili "gcins up"
As DosniaR was bright and the at.
mosphere clear enough 70 make ev.
erythiag on the earth TO stand out ia
vivid detail. Higher and higher We
ascended IN great circular flights and
40 time passed ! became more com.
Portable IN ny feeling Of security
but vhea he would yank the machine
70 turn. II made II entirely too easy
for ne 70 go the earth---weli ! ean't
expPcss IN words that particular feel.
Ing. Thines on the earth below BE-.
cane vague II their outline. we were
f1ytag over . river and Il looked like
. silver thread windiag its way
thsossh the country. We were pass.
ins along The llae Of . PAilroad and
. fast moving train eonid b seen
The train sesmed like miaiature ai
the height that we had STAINED. and
h re0inled ~ vaey nSeh Of . TOY
trails that ons sess n he stores q