Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-06-07
SENSATIONS IN THE AIR
Sense of Altitude Does Not Count.

Sense of Altitude Does Not Count.
Ask any airman what il feels like
up at 10000 or 10000 feet for that
matter. His reply will invariably bt
the same, Sensation of height? There
isn't any"
The average individual who has moi
yet experienced flight is sure he
would hc giddy faint or scasick. III
Judges by his feelings when looking
down over the edge Of a cliff, tn,
t.lTcl Tower or some such structure
II the airmcn could view his height
by looking down a trailing rope or O
sheer wall stretching from his ma
chine TO the ground II might he tho
same for him. From 10000 feet the
ground lnuks much the same as from
q. .0Gn or 1000. Minus n height indi-
Gator an inexperienced airman could
not judge his height when within Sc
per cent.
Air sickness among pilots occurs
very rarely. II is sometimes brought
about 10y the rolling and pitching OF
the machine in "bumpy" weather
" hen the air is full Of pockets. Then
tn" airman who is bilious or other
wise out of trim may experience air
sickness. which is much the same
thing as scasickncss.
Different altogether. however, arc
nf nj,
at extreme heights. \ British aero
naut. Glaishcr. of the Greenwich Oh
scrvatory. halloonng as long ago rs
1862. stated that at 10000 feet hc lost
the use of his arms and legs. later
tn" muscles OF his back and neck, and
power OF speech and vision. Fin
ally hc became unconscious until the
balloon descended to lower attitudes.
40 airplanc as yet. has reached the
height attained on this balloon trip.
Special oxygen apparatus would he
necessary for great attitudes to bring
the supply to the airmans lungs up
Ia the normal.
When Contact patrolling" over the
trenches or low flying. strafing ground
targets. The sense of speed Is present:
INT nj normal heights (normal for
the arman means about 5000 fccD
the relative speed Of the machine
over the ground is small. The earth
seems 10 crawl away behind.
Advantage Of Height.
Airmcn who are learning to fly do
pot realize the advantage Of AaightI
The passcnser213 IFS gsSns not
'hiicd With lnllsator. The
first question put to the instructor
after a flight Is How high did we
:;o?" And the answer is probably
The first rough guess that comes into
tn" pilots head. He very likely never
looked at the ancroid during the flight
until he was heading into the wind
for the last bit of straight glide down
20 the a"rodromc. To tho pupil the
thought of climbing higher than he
fore seems to carry a sense of greater
danger
40 ono hut the experienced airman
realizes the full truth Of the maxim.
safety in height" and nothing hut
"conking" engines will bring home
this truth. The homing instinct comes
out directly the engine is at fault The
pilot Immediately looks round and
tries to make for his acrodrOmc. Woe
hetidc tn" pilot who turns down.
wind near tho ground in IN effort to
get back without sufficient height in
which to head into the wind again.
This homing instinct is Il very natural
one. Everything else Is strange
ground. Although it all looks fiat
from above. the airman knows how
extremely varied It can br. This is
whcrc the scaplanc pilot has an ad-
vantage; tho sea will never bc so de-
ccptivc rs the sides of the hills or he
hCdgcd in like fields or dotted with
houses and trecs.-Ncw York World