The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-06-08

-rnn,np nm automobile is for the skilled motorlst,
so far ms the machine and his control Oh II anu
the medium through when OF upon Mnen ne
moves are concerned. But the unreliaoiiity OF
the human mechanism must still be reckoneu
with, and that unreliability seems to De greater
in the air than it is upon the ground. IL SOME
times results in strange and unexpected happen
ings.
Once in a while a man In the best OF health
and the pink of condition, who has passed with
hipb success every one of the severe tests to
which aviation candidates are subjected, who mas
never tainted before in his life, will faint whlle
he is in the air. One recent fatal accident at a
Texas field is supposed to have been due to that
cause.
One pilot tainted and the plane fell to the
earth. but neither he nor the student with him
was hurt except for q few scratches and cuts.
He said that he did not know why he tainted
All that he knew was that he suddenly lost con-
seriousness, and did not regain 1t until he was
being hauled out Of the wrecked airplane. He
had never tainted before in his life.
Neither had another young fellow, to whom
everything suddenly became a blank as his ma
chine was sailing away through the blue. 1t was
still sailing along easily when presently he came
to himself again with the feeling that something
had happened to him. Looking down, he could
see that he had covered a considerable distance
since the moment when he had lost consciousness.
He does not know why he tainted any more than
he knows why he did not spin downward to prob
able death during those blank moments.
A British surgeon attached to the relay naval
air service, DR.. H. Graeme Anderson, who has had
extensive experience at British flying stations,
has recently written some interesting conclusions
concerning these somewhat obscure causes of
airplane accidents at training schools.
In the opinion of Doctor Anderson, based upon
study and comparison of the statements made to
him in such cases by a hundred student flyers,
there is a brain fatigue not due to previous men,
tai or physical strain that may yet cause serious
accidents. He thinks it is induced by the impact
Of overwhelming sensations upon the mind Of
the pupil after he is in the air. The flying pupil
who is overcome by this form of fatigue, says
Doctor Anderson, REACHES the stage where he
has the power neither to reason, decide, nor act.
A state Of mental inertia supervenes. This is due
to repeated stimuli received by his brain III rapid
succession in his flight. He feels alone; a sue
cession of errors occurs in the air; he feels he
cannot manage to control the a%irplane; fear does
not seize him, but the enormity of the whole
thing appalls him he feels helpless, and a state
of brain fatigue occurs in which he. in a stupor,
awaits events and takes little part in the air.
planes CONTROL
This form of brain fatigue would seem to be
largely a result of personal temperament. Doctor
Anderson thinks 1t responsible for "a fair pro
portion of accidents" among students in the early
stages of flying, and he adds that student avia.
tors who have suffered from it, If they escape
injury, are likely to give up flying.
There are many, many of the unimportant &C
cidents. of which nobody takes heed. But OF
fatal accidents, Notwithstanding the, concern over
them manifest in some parts of the country, the
percentage is no greater than should be expected
is less than in the flying schools of some other
countries, and is not higher than 1t is in almost
any extra-hazardous occupation. And when II is
remembered that this latter comparison brings
together figures representing menfin the training
stage with those of skilled workers. 1t is evident
both that flying is a safer game than it has the
credit of being, and that it will be a good plan
for the country to guard against hysteria over
the fatalities that do occur.
RUSINEse OppopTuN1rN