The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-02-07
LETTER F ROM A
REAL BIRD MAN.
REMARKABLE STORY OF HOW 1T
FEELS TO HAVE WINGS.
AIR WAVES LIKE THE OCEAN
Francis MeFerran Tells of Learning
To FIy-He Has Been Making
Progress and Will Soon Do
Solo Work.

| Jack" Milligan looks after his
boys" former employees who went
from Green's" into the service. He
has had some good letters from one
and all, but none of more absorb
ing interest than the following from
Francis A. McFerran, son Of Rev. and
Mrs. A. McFerran of this city, who is
with the bird men" navigating the
air.
Some Great Experiences.
Lake Charles, La, Jan. "a, 1918.
j. L. Milligan, Oskaloosa, Ia.
Dear Jack:-Your letter was the
best thing that has happened me since
came to this camp. had not
heard the news regarding these
friends of mine, and it certainly was
welcome. certainty had no idea
that the aviation corps was so popu-
the boys have enlisted. The man
who does not see and take part in
this war misses one of the. best OPP
portunities ever placed in his path to
get experience and to broaden him
self. The best way | can give you
an idea of what aviation is like is to
tell you what has been happening to
me during the past three or four
months. Before | start, however,
this little tip may help the boys some.
Read carefully any enlistment papers
you sign. See that you apply for
commission, for no man flies for the
U. S. Army until he is commissioned
and has passed through a ground
school. Many men think they are
cnlisting to fly when in reality they
are sent to some flying school direct
and placed in service squadron.
Went to School Awhile.
On November 3rd we started ground
school with a class of 116 men. They
were busy every minute of the day
and for two hours at night. We stud
led all of our spare time and attend
ed nine full hour classes a day be-
sides drill, guard and fatigue; so you
see we were pretty busy. Final ex-
Examinations were given each week and
a failure set you back a week. More
than one setback and you were let
out of school. We studied every con-
ceivable subject regarding planes,
methods of fighting, signals, wireless,
engines, military law and many 9th
er things. At the end of eight weeks
we graduated fifty-eight men. After
passing ground school you are practi.
cally safe as not more than 20 per
cent fail to fly. Any one who is men.
tally normal can pass ground school
1t is simply a matter of whether you
are willing to apply yourself and
spend the time in hard work.
It's Fine To Fly.
After passing ground school you are
sent to a flying school and this is the
place to really enjoy yourself. Per
haps many fellows would not call be-
ing seventeen miles from town with
a pass for six hours each twenty
days pleasant, but it certainly suits
me. Here we fly, shoot traps, ma
chine guns, rifle, bomb, attend lee
lures, practice wireless and do shop
work of all kinds. Every minute of
the time spent is pleasure. You
would be surprised at how simple and
natural flying is. You either are or
are not a flyer and if you are it comes
to you very quickly. 1t is the great
est sport in the world. Every min
ute is a PLEASURE. You are first Civ
en- several hours in a dual control
machine.
| Air Is Like the Sea.
On your first trip you are taken up
a thousand feet or so and the con-
trolls are turned over to you The
'ir is like the sea and very "bumpy."
1t losses your ship up and down, you
pitch and roll. You must learn to
ride these bumps in order to be
good straight flyer
My first few trips were very rough
and my instructor aged every time
made turn. Turns are very dan
gerous for if not made correctly you
side slip and crash to earth. l have
finally mastered straight flying and can
take fairly smooth trip. The hard
est thing of all is landing. Our
training planes are slow and do not
| MANI oNSi oCNChLy pei nun
But we must have an excess speed
to land safely.
Recipe For Landing.
| You nose the ship down to a speed
of eighty or ninety miles per hour and
start for earth. To make good
landing you level off about ten feet
from ground and settle on the
ground. AS it is hard to judge at
this speed a beginner will level off IF
ty feet from earth, lose speed and
drop, which is not so pleasant both
from the standpoint of your personal
safety and the cussing you get. 9th
ers do not level off soon enough and
hit the ground with considerable
force. This also is very unpleasant.
You never can tell what will happen.
Each trip you have new experiences
and it is only by these that you learn
how to keep out OF trouble. We have
fine barracks. the best food and are
very wall. looked after Raot, af all