The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-01-09
Largest Flying School in the
World is No.D Being Con-
Quoted in France WIth
San,naies as Pupils

A story Of the worlds largest avia-
ton school in France, in which AM
erican flyers are being nodded into
faces" as the French dub their dal ng
air fighters, has been sent to d keo-
kuk man by his brother who is flying
'sover there The story taken from
French paper is the following:
AT THE LARGEST FLYING
SCHOOL IN THE WORLD, FRANCE,
DEC. 16.-A little group of French Of
ficers stand watching a lone aviator
climbing higher and higher in the
sky Their gaze is intent. They do
not talk, but glance occasionally at o
weather vane whipping in the early
morning breeze, atop a nearby han
gar.
The aviator. banking easily, is fly
ing with a precision that marks him
as an expert. The little air2lane re-
spends to his touch like high-strung
thoroughbred, as he goes into one
evolution after another and finally
comes out" gliding serenity earth
ward.
He is trying out the air" a rou-
tine morning task for him at the
largest flying school in the world,
(somewhere in France, Of course).
Largest because nearly all American
youths are training theme for the
American flying corps. On the field
aeropIanes are parked in rows as far
as the eye can see.
The school, once a French army
flying school, has succumbed before
the American invasion, and now few
Frenchmen are in evidence, save the
instructors, that little group of
French officers. An American major
L.. .ohr A y,oa rfn 90 n
mechanics care for the airplanes
American marines guard the camp
and police the city some miles away,
and except for a mere handful Of
Frenchmen, Russian or two, a Jap
anese and a Cuban, the students are
all Americans.
The "air tester" is descending, and
the French officers make their way
towards him to hear his verdict. They
are mildly interested. But a second
group. much larger and detached
from the Frenchmen, also presses
forward. These men are eager to
know the aviator's decision. There
are at least hundred of them, leath-
er-clad American students, all itching
to get their hands on the stick and
take her off" the ground. If the
aviator pronounces the weather safe,
UP they go. If his decision is
thumbs down." they spend a fretful
day on the ground.
The verdict is handed down; it
gladdens the Americans hearts. They
are to fly. The air is "bumpy'' but
fit for flying, he decides, and the in
structors shrug their shoulders and
assemble their classes. To them
flying weather" means only work, d
different point of view Each in
structor, or moniteur as he is called
in France, leads his class to a desig-
mated spot on the huge field, and the
mechanics taxi" an aeroplane over
for their use. Six men compose a
class, and various classes assemble
at all hours throughout the day.
Each student goes up for a flight.
The time he is in the air varies ac-
cordingly as the moniteur thinks he
needs instruction. The flying at
first is done in dual control ma
chimes. The moniteur sits in front,
and for the first few weeks always
takes the airplane off the ground,
and then turns the machine over to
his pupil They circle the field,
climb, peek" turn and bank and
last but most important of all, land.
Each student gets about a quarter of
an hour in the air, and if the good
weather maintains, the class flies
again in the afternoon.
At this stage of the flying game
the students thoughts and aims are
usually centered on his first "hop."
When he reaches that stage he has
advanced to the second rung on the
ladder and he feels that he may real
ly become an aviator after all. The
hop" Is his first trip alone in an
airplane. It is the beginning of what
is known as the solo" course, and
simple as it Is, it contains more ter
rors for the budding aviator than all