The Meeker herald., 1917-09-22
THE ART OF FLYING
Eas, to Master II Patience and
Common Sense Are Used.
THREE METHODS OF TEACHING

THREE METHODS OF TEACHING
One 10 the Pioneer Frsneh System. An
other the Dual Control System All.
. Combination Of the Two Which Is
ussd For Training War Pilots.
Almost every one has seen au aero
plane in flight. but with the present
day layman the interest IL ccntered
more on the airman than OH the ma
chine with which he does the flying.
Naturally. writes J. G. Gilpatric In
Popular Mechanics. the nrst question
Il, How did be learn to fyY'
Flying 10 not hard to. learn. The es-
sential assets are common sense and
patience. Nothing else 10 required. II
q man has common sense he will real
lie how safe flying has become and he
will enjoy reasonable self confidence
II he 10 patient he will not hurry
through his course. A slipshod knowl-
edge of flying IL more dangerous than
none at all. By taking things easy a
month or six weeks spent at 4 good
aviation school will make q raw lay
man into 4 fairly well trained 1ier
and 1t will give him the best sport of
bis entire lifetime.
or necessity the pioneers Of aviation
taught Themselves the then difficult
and dangerous art. and all airmen In
the world today owe theo flying abil-
tk~, tn <h~ Ur4Uhts IlIarins ans oAho,n
Of the men who went before. There
are Tying today number OF airmen
who entered the game in the early
stages and who by luck and persever-
ance mastered the art with very little
outside assistance. These men were
without more than a r,ldimentary idea
Of the very principles Of flight and
later realized the dangers they had un-
dergone. They knew that the average
person could scarcely survive a self
administered course in airmanship.
Aviation had come to stay. and mum.
Der Of firms started regular schools in
which the knowledge Of the earlier ex.
periments could b disseminated among
the ever growing numbers Of enthusi-
asts.
There are three basic methods Of
teaching nying-the 80 called French
system, the dual control system and
combination of the two largely used to-
day for training war pilots.
The French system was the nrst in
general use and consisted in teaching
oneself to ny by the constant criticism,
advice and demonstration Of q compe-
tent pilot Instructor The pupil was
given heavy. low powered and worn.
out machine incapable Of hying-usual.
y called falkland was given prac-
tee In running the machine on the
ground. In this way he accustomed
himself to the speed Of an aeroplane
the incessant roaf Of the motor and the
use Of the controls. When the pupil
could run down the neld In perfectly
straight line and do It consistently he
was given 'hops."
Hops" were made on q machine but
slightly better than the taxi and con-
sisted In making short Jumps across
the field At q height Of four to Ave feet.
This was the most trying part of the
entire course, MS at this point smashes
were most likely to happen. II the
pupil misjudged his height from the
ground or In his enthusiasm tried to
stretch his hop into sustained flight
the ending was usually disastrous. Hut
II he went about matters sensibly he
would soon be promoted to ''straights,"
or flights In . straight line. about half
mile long. The usual height In this
work was twenty-five or thirty feet
from the ground.
The dual control system teaches
wholly by demonstration and practice
In actual air work. A high powered
machine fitted with duplicate controls
Ii used. and the pupil starts by riding
with the instructor and watching him
work. By simply resting his hands and
feet on the controls the novice can feel
the amount Of motion necessary to
handle the machine. Gradually the ma.
chine 10 given over to the pupil. the
pilot being ever on the alert to correct
his mistakes and to demonstrate new
points. As the pupil becomes more and
more skillful the pilot requires harder
evolutions.
The dual control system OF teaching
10 somewhat hard on the instructor. as
It often necessitates i've and six hours
In the air every day for weeks at q
time. The average time in the air re-
quired to train pupil by this method
Il 400 minutes. which IL divided into
flights Of twenty minutes each. 1t Is
now used in this country by all the
government schools and the private
drms.
The combination or English system
consists Of equal parts Of ground work
alone and air work with the instructor.
As the pupil becomes more advanced
the ground work ID gradually dispensed
with and air work-still with the In
Observation-Disclosures. Finally the pupil
dies alone and after some practice II
sent for his license.