Evening star., 1918-05-20
D. c. FL|ER DESCRIBES
FIRST FLIGHTS ABROAD
Ray W. Purdy Says One Never
Gets Hurt in Landing-First
Visit to Thick Clouds.

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Purdy, a young Washington aviator
in France, writes his father, ]. w.
Purdy, in series of letters describ-
ing the first flights of the embryo
airman in training across the sea.
1T is funny how hard you can crash
and not get hurt" writes young
Purdy. you never get hurt landing.
I have seen machines washed out.
turn turtle and the undercarriage
driven clear through the wings in
landing, but beyond a superficial cut
or bitten lip, and usually not that, no
one has been hurt.
II saw man fall 1900 feet with the
machine upside down; the machine
was completely washed out: and the
pilot got simple fracture of the leg
and one or two cuts"
The young aviator. in sentences full
of lingo" Of the flying field. describes
his first spinning nose dive. that
bugbear of aviation" He says:
Thrilling Experience.
II fell into it on gusty day, at about
800 feet. / happened to have cadet
instructor with me, who had come up on
joy ride. He told me afterward that
he had come because it was too bad
day for a three-hour solo man to go
up alone. Anyway, having lots Of con-
fdence in old X, who was lying off In
the front seat, l was trying stuff that
wouldn't have tried without his being
there. I was making high banks and
figure eights. when a gust hit me and
blew me into vertical bank. Now past
forty-f1ve degrees your controls change.
your rudder becomes your elevator and
e1avaf becomes T1ldder- L
knew this, but as l was Just coming out
I kicked on my left rudder q was in a
right hand bank) little too hard. and
soon her nose came up, and as we were
coming into the wind she lost flying
speed. Result. down she dropped: swirl
controls go lax.
II remember saying to myself In a
calm, matter-o f-fact, rather hurt
tone: Why, I am in a spin" x, who had
been doing in his seat with his head
against a strut, came to life with a
admission to see 1t. already had the
motor off and the stick slightly for
ward and was kicking on the rudder
Ut works hard then) when 1 felt his
foot come bang on the rudder bar
We came out on the first turn and
been higher so I could have brought
her out myself. To get square with
him I landed with my motor on, and
scared him green because he was in
the front seat"
First Experience.
His first experience in the clouds is
described as follows:
II had my first experience in the
clouds this morning. They were low.
1 ran into them first at about 1900
feet. when could only see the ground.
Finally / ran into a big buster. 1 was
absolutely lost. 1 couldn't tell II
were upside down or anything else.
So cut off the motor and went into a
straight nose dive. After I had
dropped about 800 feet it began to
thin out, and I could see the ground
coming up to meet me. So I 1eveled
off and gave her the gun. and went
on.
ut got SO thick I was afraid of
being cut off by fog. and / dropped
to 500 feet only to find that I was
absolutely lost When I finally found
the airdrome I could not tell which
end I was over until I had circled it
once. Then, when I went to land I
found the fast drop had made me lose
my Sense of proportion, and I had to
go up and circle again before I could
land"