The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-03-07

"Rey her up that is, you throw the
throttle on-clear on, gradually. If II
turns about 1900 times a minute, you
null back the throttle and wave your
hand side wise. The mechanics holding
the wings grab the ropes fastened to
the blocks in front of the wheels and
nuu the blocks away. Then they pick
Inn the tail and turn the machine
around. Then you throw on the
throttle as far as YOU need in order to
.tayi" out. When YOU want to
move quick. you pull it fun on for an
instant. but for ordinary "taxying"
yop have it about half On. You don't
need to keep the "joy stick" back
now. because the wind holds the eleva-
tors up. But You have to keep the
stick in the center or the wings will
tin from side to side and bump as you
90 The skid- prevent their touching
the ground. but il is nicer to run even
on the ground. To turn right, you put
on all the rudder and SHOVE your stick
left. This puts down the right aileron
and increases the friction on that side
and you turn quick. When you get
where there's a nice flat stretch you
head into the wind and stop and look
around front, for machines taXying
and behind for machines corning down.
When everything is clear you nut the
throttle clear on and the machine starts
to roll. Then you shove the stick clear
front and the elevators go down into
the wind and shoot the tail off from
the ground.
As the speed increases, to prevent the
tail from coming still higher you bring
the stick slowly back and keep the RI
diator cap right on the horizon. When
the air is going under the wings at
about IS miles per hour, you give the
ground a few farewell pats with the
wheels. and then it is like going up a
hill with a nice running auto. The
ground drops away and soOn you're
about even with the tops Of the hangers
(sheds) then a hundred feet and across
the road, If a red flag is flying You
turn right; if it is blue you turn left.
When you turn you push the stick and
The rudder the way you want to turn.
The machine tips anywhere from ten
degrees to ninety degrees. according to
turn; only, if you 90 beyond As degrees
you have to remeHber that the eleva-
tor become tbr Iudder, and vice versa,
and also that in case you have to change
the rudder to the exact opposite of the
way you have it before you are bank
ing so steep. In vertical banks
you turn very sharp corners and if you
turn far you commence to slip down
side ways. Banks" are in the nature
of a stunt. The steepest I've made so
far We're about sixty degrees. You go
around the "Airdome.' Usually you
turn the stick left handed. Whenever.
you want to land, you first pick out a
good place. If the wind is strong, You
simply nose the machine down by push
ing the stick front, and when you are
pretty near the ground you shut off the
five feet above the ground. AS it loses
speed you sink and finally roll on the
ground. If the wind is light, you shut
off your engine as you start to glide
down, and when you are nearly down
you level off and nose it up a bit, and
finally pancake" That's a delightful
feeling, just as if you were a butterfly
setting.
One day | had lost so much speed
that | hardly rolled ten feet. Up in
the air the ground looks a good deal
like a map. The other day | got into a
cloud and the ground just faded from
sight. and | was alone in the mist. |
stayed just a minute to see if | had the
feeling of uprightness. Blu l was afraid
| might meet another plane and so
dived down.
p. S. Next day. Wish | could describe
my climb above the clouds today
1000 feet. Engine went bad just as
| had got nearly down and | had to land
across the road. Didn't bust anything.
This p. m. l flew across country and
brought back a ten pound mai parcel
to one of the boys. So o see I've
carried mail through the air.
Chas.