Evening star., 1918-10-27

: tn0To Sre StMt ne" go w.
the time this 10 read the station Will
). be exclusively American. although op-
1 viously 1t will continue as q INK ln, q
ohain Of British bases. subject to BTU
1sh high command.
. r}. s2s. .,,5 A*g 7-t t'i :.
i This does not at all mark the entry
: Of the naval air service into the war.
The Navy had its planes operating on
:. this side in October, 1917-long before
: the Army did. II you had overlooked
that truism, It is because the Army
, srects It's hangers just back Of tho
front. where the correspondents clut-
.. ter and whence the cables hum. But
: all the Navy requires for its air sta
without much tide and. If possible, a
. railroad. And the fewer nosey civil
iens messing about the better. For
> land warfare. requires trafho police
men, but sea warfare is q lonely bus
= The new American seaplane station
: looks very much like any other sea-
plane station, except that the Stars
: and Stripes whip from the truck OF q
dagstan In front Of its ofiicers' mess.
j.. It .is q place OF gray sky. gusty
winds and the sawmill buzs Of many
GATED ON q bleak beach. miles away
from . one-horse town Of fish and fog.
Back Of the. executive offices. known
+, ~ the quarter deck (for the seaplanS
service u essentially Of the Navy), 70
1nglish goods vans. And beyond the
siding 10 vast green. used by land:
planes when there are any about. And
!. boy0nd the green are rows OF huge
haneers tlled with seapiansss sound
and below with the new American
oircle (the old American star was too
easily mistaken at a distance for the
German black cross) and a-crawl with
the tiny forms Of the tinkering beach
On the concrete outside the
hsngars you may get a daylight view
Of 8 seapiane or two (such daylight
q this corner Of the globe affords).
eSsnt oyaindsioa spysniS pysiow az and Saok Mnk
each In the midst Of the minutiae Of
I its releasing gear. High in each wing
ss esossr Ssr Ssss ssS Sss Sssh sslass wsn s' s ns
great graceful body. housing crew
81 four; nrst and second officer pilots
and engineer and wireless ratings.
ID the bow is small cockpit WITH.
Hne s. the apparatus Of chron-
omstsr. Asaft this cockpit is the
:, b0Wi, whcih shields the two pilots, and
to slG On cabin asssl you wi saH 1a nd
. al tire controls and indicators clus-
1ored conveniently with scores Of 'flne
WirSS running AFT inside the fuselage.
II you stand, there looking at It
leG6 enough you will likely come to
tlty yourself for . poor crawling
skulk VINO hasn't the slightest notion
Of what 10000 feet feels like. Prob
Ahly you win remember that the last
{ims you fell downstairs you sprained
your Ankle,
= .AS for the rest, the station consists
OF Ah oficers' mesa a. noisy A. q
. Greek letter frat house in the even-
tngs, oficers' huts, mems barracks,
: bsthhouse, MACHINE shop. guard
which vary from six-ton lorries down
to side cars; q theater bearing the
sign Of the red triangle Query: How
dtd they ever manage to conduct, "a q
ventsIf); and probably a good many
pthsr things that neglected to take
. Probably 3 number Of points in
WntQ0 0o2 uyluB UlUcT0 V0Ty WlQ0ly
from land flying should be set down
=. here. They may or may not have been
= mentioned before.
= In the flrst place. these ordinary sea-
/. planes ere as large as the big bomb
3ng planes the Army uses. The Navy
. has Few little one-seaterS with which
TO turn double back somersaults all
the way up to 10000 feet. Spins, side
clips and nose dives are a closed book
TO the Navy Before one Of the Army's
nimbls little chasers q Navy seaplane
u. would be as certainly doomed to de-
etrUotion a. q Zeppelin before q seat-
blame. For the first requisite Of b
1esDlane 10 seaworthiness. Hence 4
sSaplane 10 . sort Of boat with q
great dunnage and . small displAce-
SnAnk
D SO big and clumsy is O seaplane on
patrol that IL is work-sheer. hard.
physical work--for the pilot to hold
his machine to Its course on = bumpy
day. Il 10 work as hard as a, trick ct
o hand wheel In q heavy sea.
> VurtAsrmore. patrol, az the Army
praoti0es 1t, is o matter Of two hourS
duty, with plenty Of landmarks and
plenty Of thrills. But patrol, as the
Navy practices 1t. ID q matter Of ak,
seven. eight. sometimes nine hours
duty, navigating by dead reckoning
ever an empty sea (fpr you can't