The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1918-06-06

gets into tail spin accidentally. Or he may
Intentionally take his machine into one before
he has had the usual instruction, out of the spirit
of adventure, the kddish desire TO
vince himself of his daring or exhibit 1t to his
fellow students. But, whatever the cause, it is
the opinion of flying field aviators that getting
into tail spin, purpOsely accidentally, without
being able to manage 1t properly, is the cause OF
q large proportion of fatal accidents at the fly
ing fields
The same perverse, unconscious influence of
the mind over the muscles which forces the
bicycle learner straight toward the object he is
trying to avoid is responsible for many of the
fatal accidents due to collisions. Even the most
expert of flyers may be unable TO avert serious
accident when he approaching him plane
driven by cadet who is doing his level best to
keep his machine out Of the others way. How
serious and ever present is this danger in flying
fields is proved by Capt. Vernon Castles death.
In flying there certain blind angles in
which collisions possible through no fault Of
the driver of either plane The sections of space
covered by the wings of his ship invisible to
the pilot, and If such section comedies with
the space concealed from the eyes of another
pilot approaching from below at side. a
sudden crash is likely to be the first that either
knows of the other plane. This billed angle"
may be the cause of an occasional serious acct
dent but aviators do not think that such collisions
of frequent occurrence.
dents, but, aviators say should offer any
serious difficulty to man who has learned how
to manage his plane, If he is in region where
1t Is possible for him to come down safely. And
for engine trouble there many possible and
legitimate as there are reasons for
automobile to balk
In few cases a broken propeller has caused
n pilot to make forced landing, with injury to
his plane, but, up to the present time, never with
serious result to himself. The accompanying pic
ture shows what happened to pilot when his
propeller weakened, cracked and broke over the
grounds of a high school in the environs of Hous-
ton, Tex. He brought his ship down with some
damage TO it, but none to himself and greatly to
the delight of the inhabitants of the region
Various may result in the breaking of
the propeller. 1t may have been injured in some
previous nose dive to the ground; bird may
have got entangled in its blades. Cadets are for
hidden to chase birds because of the possibility
of such result and the smashing of the
propeller. Nevertheless, they do it sometimes,
when the instinct of the chase is strong in their
blood. And it would be quite possible for a bird
to fly against his propeller to the undoing of both
bird and propeller, and the pilot to be ignorant
of what had happened
The men who by hard work and steady prac-
tice have earned the right to the title of 'bird-
men" believe that with both students and skilled
aviators one cause of fatal accidents is the fail
ure of the nervous system to respond Immediately
and accurately to the command of the brain.
Anything which causes nervous fatigue may bring
about that physical state-dissipation, nerve
strain, physical WEAKNESS, lack of sleep. The
flyer must be alert, his grasp upon every stu
alton which may confront him instant. and his
action to meet and control 1t so prompt that the
fraction Of second In the movement Of his hand
upon the controls of his machine may mean the
difference between life and death.
And anything which slows by ever so little the
action of the brain in an emergency, or the flash
ing of its commands along the nerves. the In
slant obedience of the motor may send
him crashing to the earth The cadets before
they have become what they call "instnctive
flyers" especially liable to this danger al
though even those who are skilled in the air are
not free from its Birdmen who
skilled in one, another or several forms of
athletics say that in nothing else have they felt
so much the necessity of this instant and com
plete response of the nerves to the demand upon
them.
The cadets quickly discover so they say, that
lack of plenty of sleep soon results in a physical