Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-09-12

| over tho ground ana occasionally fso
ten feet, The nen call them taxis and
| roulcrs. They were skipping about
singly and IN squads, Two were hav-
| ins race across the plain, and one
! taking dive buried its nose In the
| ground This was the circus part OF
| flying. at the start, but there was
! plenty OF very practical work beside.
with motor instruction. gunnery, trap
/ shooting, rife range and machine gun
firing. Small dummy enemy airplanes
dotted the field as targets. and tho
bounding grasshopper took their shots
ana were rated by the Watching in
structors.
On the second field the aviators had
left their grasshoppers and were In a
double-control machine accompanied
by an Instructor. They we're getting
| the feel OF tho machine in actual
| fight and II the ruddar was not ma
nipulated deity the Instructor was
tlcre 10 make the correction. And II
was necessary here to learn how to
come down as well as to go up. and
to come down at definite point.
Small numbered flags marked the
landing point of each machine and the
descent must be made close up to this
flag.
The captain of field No. : was about
to step into the Flying Dragon, one
of the most curious machines OF the
fleet. for besides being a very feet 15-
meter car, it was famous for its drag
on body, with flaming scales and
tentacles and great red eyes. Here on
this field the aviators entered SINGLE
control machines. without an in!struc-
tor and for the first time took their
own risks.
On field it began to develop wheth-
or the aviators could qualify as a COM
bat airman or for bombardrn or
scout observation. He was now In a
fast machine with a wing surface OF
eighteen meters and was beginning to
make dips and high air maneuvering.
He was being accustomed to all types
OF machines. There was a feet Of one
Ct these strange types drawn across
the plain. There chief novelty was
in having all-bearings on all their
mechanism, giving a haIr-trigser re-
sponse to the slightest touch.
If you sneeze you loop the loop,
was the way the officer explained the
dclicacy OF This mechanism.
Progress is rapid now that 1t is evil
dent what q flyer can do He enters
n very fast machine at No. ), with
fifteen meter wings capable of making
12O miles an hour. Some of the men
drop out Of the training at this point,
as it has become evident that they
lack the deftness or get faint at the
height or heat Of the motor. The rest
go on to field No. 6 where they begin
pursuit work and some Of the early
stages Of acrobatic nose dives AMI
slips.
There is nothing freakish' about
these acrobatics." said the officer, for
they were one of the most essential
parts of comoat aviation. To be a
chase and pursuit pilot one must be
able 10 out-maneuver the enemy avi-
atOr; to make quick turns under fire
and get above your adversary or on
his tail One or the other Will be
out maneuvered. and tn. fastest man
wins the game. The enemy is very
skillful at acrobatics. and he must be
beaten at his own game"
Lieut.. Quentin Roosevelt was in
command Of field No. while he was
here and the car of the late officer
stood in the hangar with a group Of
flyers about it paying tribute to the
splendid qualities and daring of their
late leader. His good hunpor was re-
called by the name he had given his
car, Doc Yak and the doctor with
his flowing whiskers was painted in
| flaning colors on the side Of the car.
This is the field on which formation
Il, t>oox -, % 1;<vLx
| machines, but usually with Ave. The
| squadron nys in V-shape, with the
commander at the apex OF the V,
carrying a streamer wf1ic, signals the
commands. A feet Of fifteen machines
was starting as we passed and another
had just come after two hours in the
| air ending with a figure eight, diff
fcult evolution executed by crossing
the controls so that the rudder serves
as elevator and the elevator serves as
rudder. At night this field is lighted
by powerful searchHghts and night fly
ing goes on from 10 o'clock until day.
| light
On the combat and acrobatic fields,
Nos. 8 and 9, scores Of machines were
in the air going thru their fighting
| evolution or dipping and looping. The
| combat airplanes carried camera guns,
a novel device combining q dummy
machine gun and Photographic
camera 1t looks like a gun but as
the trigger is pulled the camera takes
a picture Of the target, showing just
what would have been hit If shot in
stead Of lens had b!azed ahead.
1t wa sover the acrobatic field that
in
the vertical virage, spirals and wing
slips. Spectacular as these seemed to
be each had lis use in the fighting
game. The ''vrille" is that dizzy head
first tumble and the chief thing is not
to do it but to undo it and come out
of it. 1t has is uses too in deceiving
an enemy into the belief that the avn
ator has been hit and is tumbling,
then as the enemy is off guard, at
lacking him suddenly as the aviator
comes out of bis headlong dive. One
of the flyers made four vrilles as we
watched.
1T is dangerous only when near the
ground" said the escort. High in the
air there is comparatively no danger
for there is plenty Of time to set your
levers SO that you're sure to come out
of the vrille.'
Others were doing the spiral, an
other form of head-first dive except
that the car is always under control,
whereas in the vrille the control is
lost until the aviator succeeds in
emrging from his fall. Often the
machines seemed to stop suddenly.
turn over and then glide away in the
opposite direction right side up.
Of ho hnr a 70 = oS