The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-15

been Hfted.
BY AGNES c. LAUT.
lust as the war was in its last
stages the whole nation was
electrified and proud to read q
war despatch that ran something to
this effect: German troop concentra-
tons were bombed yesterday after
noon by about sixty American bomb
ing alrplanes with about eighty pur-
suit planes protecting them" Do peo-
pie outside aviation realize what that
meant?
Less than two years ago outside the
famous escadrille of France there were
not six American airmcn who had ever
seen a pursuit plane. Outside army
and navy experimental circles there
was not one American airman who had
ever laid hands on big bomber. In
fact the big bombers now used had
hardly come into being
The terse despatch gave only the
ialntest glimpse Of what 1t meant TO
have trained thousands OF aviators
from the first clumsy scoot across the
ground like featherless robin at
tempting its first flop or wabbly
penguin NNIlltil ITlaCnlDeS
are often dubbed) TO the unconscious
manipulation in hldair of the most
terrible engine Of destruction ever de-
vlsed by scientific nvcntion-an en-
CINE that can he compared only to the
winged monsters of prophecy. 1t
meant in the warfare OF the air what
the swift promotion OF a MILDLY in the
navy TO be commander of a dread
nought or fleet OF dreadnoughts would
mean We trained raw greenhorns in
less than two years to the point where
we were entrusting them with the
command of superdreadnoughts OF the
aerial navy.
Impossible of Prediction.
No, this isn't fiction. 1t isn't the
Wild invention of some sensational
writer striving for effect. Look at
the daily dispatches. No sensational
writer ever hadSeither the Imagination
or the mendacity TO predict such i'm
possibles. Why. all through 1915 and
well into 1916 we were straining our
selves TO prove that heroIsm and per-
sonal daring had been rendered nil
in modern warfare. And here were
armies OF youths not twenty-five
years OF age less than two years after
on superdreadnoughts OF the air
blasting enemy resistance into moth
tngness.
There probably never was any other
vocation that drew to it such 2yariety
Of youths. In the same aviation
training camps were found profess
sional acrobats, millionaires' sons, de-
scendants OF nobility un,ier assumed
names. prizefghters. Jockeys auto
mobile racers. professional dancers.
college men Western COW punchers,
clerks. chauffeurs, bankers. There
was only one class of youths you
wouldn't find in the aviation training
camps-sissies who were born tmid
or towards.
What the lure Is aIrmen can't them
selves explain. Two OF the best
American aces declared that what
drove them to the air was soul sick
ness of slogging in the mud; but there
must have been n deeper subconscious
lure, for both took TO air like birds.
They We're born with n natural feel OF
the air"-were the kind OF boys who
make ideal hurdle jumpers, polo
players, mountain climbers, born with
q sense Of physical balance or poise
In fact one Of the great destinations
Of flying is that it is mountain climb
Ing on wings. The danger now Is that
the glamor OF the airman's life will
draw to aviation myriads not born
with that natural aptitude and who
Will break their own necks, or other
peoples, II they go on.
What are the natural born aptitudes
Of Il good aviator? There isn't an ace
who does not confess to having had a
IA tural born blue funk the first time
lie was sent up on his solo flight. Rich
hofen, the little fiier of Germany who
knew nothing of mechanics but was a
good hOrseman, was so scared on his
frst ascent that he let his safety he'll
met slide off. Then his muffier flew
70 the winds. Then his tunic unbut'
toned and tapped behind in rips and
rents. He chung to the side OF the cal
frantically. and twenty-five days later
when he went up alone he ditched and
ruined his bug by coming down or
Ids head. Yet this man became one oil
the greatest aces.
Flew Solo After II Lessons.
A'cTt II ItCOTu VI an Ish6IlS W.
barely eighteen who could fly his craft
alone on his eleventh lesson. Your
turn 10 try and break your neck" his
Instructor told him, and though he
s1estepped and bumped and chucket
about like leaf as he got under way
To 90 up he landed so well-gracefu
~ teather-that almost forthwith he
was sent to the front, where he lost
his lie.
One of the best army instructors In
The United States, an engineer whose
works are used as text books and who
has Just devised ono OF the swifteS
nonoplanes ever tried, OF which tho
details may soon be given to the pub
he, gives a few simple rules for those
tft..ng the lure Of aviation. One is
Don't fly against your subconsciOu.
VIII which is a good rule for the
ground as we'll as the air. II the still
email voice which we usually smother
with the noisy riot of mixed desires
says 'Don't!" see that you don't; fol
gov Will only lose your life II you do.
Next the man must realize he Ii 60
ing 70 handle an instrument as sensi'
1--WE as the touch Of a musician. Don't
90 On tho "ay or bust" idea II you d.
'ouIl surely bust"
mere must be quick reflection o.
acton 10 will. That must be your
w" N nature. You must handle thu
a." "lLe Ike q feather. and the spari
ar f'Ithor are ho.low honed. Dom