The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-01-24
14O MILES AN HOUR,
WAR FLIERS' SPEED
Modern Scouts Look With Dis
dain on Machines Which
Do Less Than That.

WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
FRANCE, Jan. PITTS exciting at
times. but generally speaking it's
says a wing" subaltern of the Brit
ish flying corps He chatted while
tinkerinE with his machine-one Of
latest types In q war that Is changing
and developing the aeroplane almost
from hour to hour.
There were marvels OF the air two
years AFRO that have no more relation
to the machines of today than the
clumsy attempts iof a barnyard fowl
to the flight OF a Fwallow.
An aerial scout that cannot make
40 miles an hour cannot be classed
as truly modern. This speed Is called
for in "leveI air." not in running
down hill' or In diving out of loop.
You may attain $50 miles an hour
doing that.
"Oh, yes. the fighting's fun" resum
ed the. subaltern, but you can't al
ways induce the Germans to come up
and have a 60. They prefer most of
the time to stop on the ground and
set Arches on you with their noisy
shrapnel shells. It's when you go
padding through the air on patrol
duty for four or five hours and moth
ing happens that flying becomes mo
notonous. In spite OF the almost I'M
believable speed at which you go
you have no sense of speed whatever.
nothing like the thrill OF forty or
fifty miles an hour in a motor with
the trees whizzng by and a bunny
road beneath you.
Bqmpy Air Good Sport.
Sometimes the air Is bur1py too,
and that's good sport. To collide
with an air bump is almost like hit
ting a big rock in the road. They
generally Turk near q cloud bank
and give you an awful jolt when you
least expect IL. On dull days when
the air is smooth you can get a little
practice and excitement by throwing
her about a bit, for when you get to
close quarters in a fight you need
all the stunts she'll do. In the air
one doesn't even get the sensation
of the wind that you get on the
ground. When you are running
ninety or a hundred miles an hour a
little wind more or less makes no
impression upon you" p.
This fact may account for the abso
lutte contempt in which the modern
army filters look upon the mightiest
blasts old Boreas can blow. II was
not so long ago that ten mile breeze
would upset all flying plans for
day: now nothing short of a hurri-
cane can deter the aviators. They
laugh at a gale and can almost take
nap while comfortably riding a
thirty mile wind. The dangerous
elements are low clouds and ground
mists. They have little relation to
personal safety, but they interfere
very seriously with a wide range of
useful work.
A waspIike Creature.
After a few more earnest remarks
on the monotony Of patrol work in
smooth air-which he likened TO driy-
Ing q motor truck along a cement road
in q desert-the subaltern climbed
into the cabin" OF his machine. 1t
was a wasplike creature. with the i'm
prisoned power of a hundred horses
throbbing in its wonderful engine.
Its guns were attached unObtru-
siVeIy to the framework, and syn
chroniZed where necessary TO shoot
through the blades or the fast whir-
ring propeller in front.
The cabin" OF a modern aeroplane
suggests the pilot house Of a palatial
yacht in miniature. Everything is An
ished in hardwood, and there are pol
isbed nickel instruments to indicate
speed. height, angle, and everything
an airman ought to know. There are
ingenious sights for the guns and
range finders for bomb dropping, and
a little device to tell that the bombs
have been properly released in turn
and are hurtling on their way to the
objective selected for attack.
Only Pilots Head Visible.
When he is tucked away only the
pilots head is visible above the free
board Directly in front of him is
a tiny little half moon of a wind
shield.
you can lower that in summer
time and get more air." grinned the
subaltern.
But what about freezing in the
winter timer" was suggested.
oh" he replied, that all depends |
upon the machine. This little scout, |
for instance, with the engine in front |
of you is as warm as toast even |
when you are $4,000 feet up and the |
mercury has long dropped below zero. |
You get all the warmth of the ex-
haust and can stay up indefinitely. |
The aeroplane with the propeller and |
engine in front is q tractor. The |
pusher' has engine and propeller in |
the rear. In one OF those you get |
the full effect OF the cold and you |
just naturally freeze, that's ALL"
The control of the fighting aero |
plane has been reduced to the sim
plicity OF a single lever. known in the |
profession as the "joysticK." BY |
moving this stick a few inches one |
way or another and with occasional |
foot pressure on the rudders one can |
climb, dive. loop, side slip, fall
couple OF thousand feet, and fiatten |
out ''as right as rain.P
Both Hands Free For Fight.
You always have one hand free for the
machine gun and II necessary you can |
let the "joystick" look out for itself for
minutes at a time and use both hands |
for fighting Or II the trip Is a long
luncheon. An air menu generally con-
sists Of an apple Of banana. milk ehoco-
late and biscuits, with hot tea or coffee |
from q vacuum bottle