Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-02-01
SAFE IN THE AIR,
DANGER ON GROUND
Continued from page onel

and bob around like cork ON the
ocean
81 climbed up 10 1000 feet where the
wind was fast and strong bat without
the bumps In going wit hlhc wind
III bet ! Travelled $50 miles per hour,
but when ! turned around 1t was
another thing was mp over The
ocean, headed into the wind 10 re-
turn and 1t seemed as though | wasn't
moving At all y one time ! wondered
II would get back before by gasoline
gave out II was pretty cold up there
IN that wind, too. Still | didn't get
very cold except my feet Take It all
around It IS great sport The more
fly the better like IT, Suppose when |
get to lodging those devils over there
| won't like it so well But even 50, II
is far better than sleeping in a trench,
and having a mine so of under you u
1T was rough yesterday. was
in the air about Is minutes. | believe
II was the busiest quarter Of an hour
| ever had, I'd get the plane going
straight, then the wind would hit me
and the machine would nose down or
up, or tip up side ways made three
landings, and only one out Of the three
were good, The other two were rather
bunny, My instructor says that
can handle machine all right, that
my biggest trouble seems to get back 10
the ground By talking with the other
fellows find that | am no exception in
this line. They all have trouble with
their landings,
Il belong to what is known as the
A, 5, $, f. X, G. Detachment The
meaning Of these letters is Aviation
Section, Signal Enlisted Reserve Corps.
All men in this detachment are in train
ing for commission Men who enter
this line OF service take very severe
physical examination and must have
the equivalent Of at least two years in
college, They are first sent to ground
school where they are taught the
theory OF flight, wireless operation and
machine gun practice, II they pass
their ground school exams they are then
sent to flying school In my case
was sent to the flying school first, and
| suppose will be sent to the ground
school when | finish here.
This is regular army post and is
ruled by army discipline However,
we receive much better treatment than
ordinary army men, We are carried on
the rolls as cadets We arise at } a. III.
have breakfast at 6, and field call is at
6:20 at which time we are To report to
the flying field unless we are not on
the flying list, in which case we report
TO the hangers and 60 and work on
the machines AT 1890 we answer
school call, when we listen to talk on
the machines by one OF the instructors.
We have dinner at noon; at 1850 we
have drill for about an hour, then we
so back to the flying field. We stand
retreat at ) o'clock, then have supper,
and the days work is over unless we
happen to be on special duty
when men are first put on the fly
ing list they go up with an instructor
who stays with them until they learn
TO control the machine All our ma
chimes with few exceptions have double
controls so that either the instructor
or the pupil can handle the machine
They usually fly about one-half hour
each day After a man has had six or
seven hours, he is turned loose and
flies alone usually for half an hour twice
a day. If man can't learn to handle
machine inside of ten or twelve hours,
he will get taken of the list and con-
not fly In some cases the instructor
can tell the second or third time up
whether it is advisable to go on with
the man or not.
We use mostly the Curtis J. n. 4
tractor plane These machines are not
very fast probably will not travel over
50 miles per hour and speed of ~ miles
per hour is necessary to keep the ma
chine i'll the air The fight of an aero
plane depends upon the speed it will
travel A man once said, you could
fly a barn door if you had power
enough
For ordinary work we fly at a
height of 500 feet to 1900 feet. This,
of course, applies only to straight away
flying. When it comes to figure Fights,
spiral loops, etc, it is necessary to have
altitude. A spiral or loop should not
be undertaken under 5000 feet and a
loop would be much safer at 5000 feet.
Then if anything happens you have a
chance to save yourself If the ma
chine is too close to the ground it
cannot be put into position for good
landing
I'm going around a corner the ma
chine is turned by the rudder the
same as a boat, and at the same time
is banked or tipped to help get around
the corner, If the machine is banked
too much it will side slip If a plane
side slips badly near the ground you
would be all done flying
In taking off, care must be taken
not to climb too steady or the motor
will stall, and you will fall on your
tail, which would smash the machine
and probably your own neck.
"To sum it all up, the higher up
one is the safer, for if anything happens
it can be corrected unless something
breaks. Most of the fighting in Eu-
rope is being done at from 5000 to
10000 feet.
Landing should always be made into
the wind, not with it or sidewise. 1t is
likely to sweep off the landing gear and
tip the plane over. In case it is neces-
sary to land across the wind, the plane
has to be Unanswered very quickly