The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-01-22
zing by and bumpy road beneath

|
and that's good sport. To collide
With an air bump is almost like hit
ting a big rock in the road. They
generally lurk near cloud bank and
| give YOU an awful jolt when You least
! expect H. On duh days when the
air Is smooth You can get a little
practice and excitement by throwing
her about bit, for when you get TO
close quarters In fght you need all
the stunts Shell 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
hundred miles an hour a little wind
more or less makes no impression
upon you"
Which latter fact may account for
the absolute contempt in which the
modern army fllers look upon the
mightiest blasts old Borcas can blow.
1t was not so long ago that a ten-mile
breeze would upset all flying plans
for a day; now nothing short Of
hurricane can deter the interpid avia-
tors of the allies. They laugh at
gale, and can almost take a nap while
comfortably riding a thirty-mie wind.
The real enemy 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.
After a few more earnest remarks
on the monotony of patrol work in
smooth air-which he likened TO driv-
ing motor truck along a cement road
in desert-the subaltern climbed
into the cabin" Of his machine. 1t
was a wasp-like creature, with the i'm
prisoned power Of hundred horses
throbbing in its wonderful engine.
It's guns were attached unobtrusive.
ly to the framework, and synchro-
nized where necessary to shoot
through the blades of the fast whir.
ring propeller in front
The cabin" of a modern aeroplane
Suggests the pilot house of a paatiaN
yacht in miniature. Everything is
finished in hardwood and there are
polished nickel instruments to indi-
cate speed, height, angle, and every
thing an airman ought to know. There
are ingenious sights for the guns and
range finders for bomb dropping, and
a little device tostcll that the bombs
have been properly released in turn
and are hurtling on their way to the
objective selected for attack.
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 windshield
you can lower that in summer
time and get more air. grinned the
| subalten.
"But what about freezing in the
winter time?" was suggested.
"Oh," he replied, that all depends
on the machine, This little scout, foI
instance, with the engine in front OF
you, is as warm as toast even when
you are fifteen thousand feet up and
the mercury has long dropped below
zero. You get all the warmth of the
exhaust and can stay up indefinitely
The plane with the propeller and
engine in front Is a tractor The
'pusher' has engine and propeller in
the rear In one Of those YOU gel
the full en'cct 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 single lever known to tn,
profession as the 10Y stick" by
moving this stick a few inches on,
way or another and with an occasiona
foot pressure on the ruddcrs one car
climb, dive, loop. side.slip fall {
| couple of thousand feet and latten out
as right as rain" You always have
one hand free for the machine gur
and ii necessary you can let the joy
| stick look out for itself for minutes at
a time and use both hands for fighting
Or If the trip is a long one you car
let her float While you eat luncheon
An air menu generally consists O
an apple or banana, milk chocolat,
and biscuits, with hot tea or colGe,
from a vacuum bottle.
Nirmcn have a queer sense Of tn,
appropriate in insignia For instanc,
the squadron to which this wasp.lik,
scout belonged has adopted an cle