The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-06-06

gets Into tall spin accidentally Or he may
Intentionally take his machine into one. before
he has had the usual instruction, out Of the spirit
of adventure, or even the kiddsh desire to con-
vince himself of his daring or exhibit 1t to his
fellow students But whatever the cause 1t is
the opinion Of flying field aviators that getting
into tall spn purpOsely or accidentally, without
being able to manage II properly. Is the cause Of
large proportion of fatal accidents at the fly
Ing fields.
The same perverse, unconscious influence of
the mind over the muscles which forces the
bicycle learner straight toward the object he Is
trying to avoid Ia responsible for many of the
fatal accidents due to collisions. Even the most
expert of flyers may be unable to avert a serious
accident when he sees approaching him a plane
driven BY cadet who Is doing his level best to
keep his machine out Of the others way. How
serious and present Is this danger in flying
fields Is proved by Capt. Vernon Castles death.
In flying there are certain blind angles" in
which collisions possible through no fault Of
the driver of either plane The sections Of space
covered by the wings Of his ship invisible to
the pilot, and If such section comedies with
the spnce concealed from the eyes of another
pilot approaching from below at side, q
sudden crash is likely to be the first that either
knows Of the other plane. This ''blind angle"
may be the cause Of an occasional serious acci-
dent, but aviators do not think that such collisions
are Of frequent occurrence.
Engine trouble causes many unimportant acci-
dents. but. aviators say, should never offer any
serious difficulty to a man who has learned how
to manage his plane. II he is in n region where
1t Is possible for him to come down safely. And
for engine trouble there are as many possible and
legitimate causes as there are reasons for an
automobile to balk.
In few cnses a broken propeller has caused
pilot to make q forced landing, with injury to
his plane. but up to the present time. never with
serious result to himself The accompanying pic
ture shows what happened to a pilot when his
propeller weakened, cracked and broke over the
grounds Of a high school in the environs Of HOus-
ton. Tex He brought his ship down with some
damage to 1t, but none to himself and greatly to
the delight of the Inhabitants of the region.
Various causes may result in the breaking of
the propeller. 1t may have been injured in some
previous nose dive to the ground; or bird may
have got entangled In Its blades. Cadets are for
bidden to chase birds because of the possibility
of such a result and the smashing of the
propeller. Nevertheless they do it sometimes,
when the instinct of the chase is strong In their
blood. And 1t would be quite possible for bird
fly against his propeller. to the undoing of both
bird and propeller. and the pilot to be ignorant
Of what had happened.
The men who by hard work and steady prac-
tice have earned the right to the title of bird
men" believe that with both students and skilled
aviators one cnuse of fatal accidents Is the fall
ure of the nervous system to respond Immediately
and accurately to the command of the brain.
Anything which causes nervous fatigue may bring
about that physical state-dissipation. nerve
Strhln, physical WEAKNESS, lack OF sleep. The
flyer must be so alert. his grasp upon every stu
alton which may confront him instant and his
action to meet and control 1t prompt that the
fraction of n second in the movement Of his hand
upon the controls Of his machine may mean the
difference between life and death.
And anything which slows by ever 50 little the
action Of the brain in an emergency, the fash
ing of its commands along the nerves. the in
stant obedience Of the motor nerves may send
him crashing to the earth. The cadets before
they have become what they call 'instinctve
Ayers" especially liable to this danger al
though even those who skilled In the air are
not free from Its menace. Birdmen who are
skilled In one. another. several forms of
athletics say that in nothing else have they felt
much the necessity of this instant and COM
plete response of the nerves to the demand upon
them.
The cadets quickly discover. they say, that
lack Of plenty of sleep soon results in a physical