Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1918-03-29

in the fusilage, or body, so just your
head and shoulders are out when you
are sitting down. You can raise up
and lean over the edge to rubber
around and it makes no difference
to the plane.
was up over an hour each time
and can say certainly enjoyed every
minute. My pilot sent the plane
through a few stunts each time,
thinking he would scare me, guess,
or make me sick, but there was moth
ing doing.
The nose dive is quite a thrill.
That is when they point the plane
straight down and let her go. 1t
doesn't take as long as it does to
write 1t till your barometer shows
you that you have fallen a thousand
feet. But when he Strengthens up
again is the funny part. The machine
lifting up under you and stopping
your fall makes you feel so heavy
that you can't possibly hold your
head up and you feel like your whole
body is going to squeeze down into
lump in the bottom of the cock
pit.
Another funny one is the spiral
dive. That is, point the nose down,
set the rudder so you spin around
and around as you fall. We made
one spiral the last time that brought
us down 1000 feet-from 5000 to
5000. He shut the motor off, of
course, before the spiral and after
coming out of the spiral glided down
on to the aviation field.
The highest we were up was $500
feet; that is, above the earth. We
are 1900 feet above sea level here
The sudden change of density of
air doesn't affect me- at all, but some
of the boys were daef for the rest of
the day after coming down. OF
course coming down you can just feel
the air. change, as you take but a
very short time to come from $500
feet to the ground. The nose dive, of
course, gives one the sensation Of fall
ing, but nothing like in an elevator.
In the glide, though, If one doesn' t
look at the ground and, of course,
thereby know he was coming, you
wouldn't know you were going down
except by watching the hand on your
barometer.
The day we glided in from $500
feet. we started the glide from point
that on the ground under US would
be about three miles from the field,
and / don't believe we were much
over minute In landing. l looked
fdown at the camp we were headed
for, and the buildings just seemed
to be swelling or growing and kept
swelling until, in few seconds, we
skinned over the smokestack of the
power plant and then the top Of the
hangar and lit on the field.
i That was the first day, and that
day our first nose dive was compul.
sorry, as the engine stopped when we
4 were up about 5000 feet and miles
away from the field, and the starter
wouldn't start II, 80 the dive was to
let the air, rushing through the pro.
peller blades. turn the propeller and
Of course the engine, so we sot our
motive power going again. II II
hadn't started we would have had to
find landing place somewhere.
/ There are some hills west Of US
that are 1900 feet higher than the
rest OF. the country and when you fly
over them at 5000 feet you don't
know they are there except from the
way the watersheds come up to q
point at the top of the hill. AS to
the hill itself, 1t looks just as fiat az
the rest of the country. Everything
looks fiat.
/ We few over couple of batteries
Of six-inch guns that were firing at a
target, and It seemed funny to see
the guns Are but could hear nothing.
The roar Of our motor and the pecu-
liar whistling Of the wind through
the staywires browns out all noise
except that.
Wear q leather coat and leather,
fur-lined helmet, too. Oftentimes 1t
IL very cold ON the ground and after
you get up ways you hit warm air.
It was that way when was up.
Above 1000 feet the air was very
comfortable. Coming down was the
time when It was noticeable. You 80
from the warm to the cold and OF
course denser air. too. on account OF
being cold. that 1t ID like someone
opening a window In warm room on
a cold day and letting the wind
blow in.
Since this much of our course IL
over now and guess there, is to be
no photo school open here. we are
just waiting for further orders. so l
am back helping out occasionally in
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