The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1918-10-18

dent what flyer can do. he enters
a very fast machine at No. 8, with Is
meter wings capable of making 100
miles an hour. Some of the men drop
out of the training at this point, as Il
has become evident that they lack the
dizziness or get faint at the height or
the heat Of the motor. The rest go
on to field No. 9, where they begin
pursuit work and some of the early
stages Of acrObatic nose dives and
slips.
"ThAre is nothing freakish about
these acrobatics," said the officer, "for
they are one of the most essential
parts of combat aviation. To be a
chase and pursuit pilot one must be
able to out-maneuver the enemy avia-
tor; to make quick turns under fire
and get above your adversary or on
his tail. One of the other will be out
Unanswered, and the enemy Is very
skillful at acrobatics, and he must be
beaten at his own game"
Lieut.. Quentin Roosevelt was in
vi iOiu NV. . WniIt nc WdO
here, and his machine stood in the
hangar with group Of fliers about 1t,
paying tribute to the splendid quail
ties and daring Of their late leader.
This is the field on which formation
flying is begun, in squadrons up to IS
machines, but usually with five. The
squadron flies in V-shape, with the
commander at the apex of the V, car
rying streamer which signals the
commands. A fleet Of IS machines
was started as we passed, and an
other had just come in after two hours
in the air, ending with figure eight
difficult evolution executed by "cross-
ing the controls" so that the rudder
serves as elevator and the elevator
serves as rudder.
Camera Like a Gun.
On the combat and acrobatic fields,
Nos. 8 and 8, scores of machines were
in the air going through their fighting
evolutiOns or dipping and looping. The
combat airplanes carried camera guns,
a novel device combining dummy ma
chine 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 instead of a
lens had blazed ahead.
1t was over the acrobatic field that
the real wonders were going on, in
the vertical virage spirals and wing
slips. Spectacular as these seemed
to be, each had its use in the fighting
game. The "vrille" is that dizzy head
first tumble, and the chief thing is
not to do 1t but to undo 1t and come
out of 1t. 1t has its uses, too, In de-
ceiving the enemy into the belief that
the aviator has been hit and Is tum-
bling, then as the enemy is off guard,
attacking him suddenly as the aviator
comes out of his headlong dive. One
of the flyers made four vrilles as we
watched.
"It 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
from his fall. Often the
seemed to stop suddenly, turn
over, and then glide away In the Oppo-
site direction right side up.
One of the best maneuvers for es-
cape from a dangerous fight is the
vertical wing-slip, as 1t Is the fastest
means Of losing altitude and getting
below an unequal combat. When an
acrobatic maneuver misses or is badly
done 1t is pancake" or "barrel."
There Is as much lingo to the aviation
field as there Is to the baseball dia-
mOnd.
Leaving the field we passed a Grip
pied aviator limping on crutches.
"He has had Fl crashes" said the
officer, switch Is about the record.
But he goes back every time and he's
eager now to get in his machine again.
And that Is the spirit Of every man
here, to be ready for combat and to
beat the Boche."