The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-06-08

which 1t is subjected be-
fore 1t is sent from the factory. Still, they admit
that a machine so damaged might possibly slip
through without discovery. But they do not be-
heve that, up TO the present time, any such
damaged machine has been sent to an American
flying field.
And as for the possibility Of a German agent
doing any monkey business with an ~alrplane
after 1t is received by q flying field, they scott
without mercy at the mere suggestion. They do
not deny the possibility of spies being present on
any or all the flying fields but they do not be-
lieve that the most astute and malignant German
agent could put anything over" in the hangers
which house their steeds of the air.
In charge of each hangar is an officer whose
duty it is to know all about each machine in it,
what happens to each one, where it is at any mo-
ment, and what Its condition is whenever 1t is
In the hangar. Three mechanics are detailed to
each machine to keep 1t in order and groomed
for use whenever 1t may be needed. The flying
men are confident that no sabotage could be sue
c~essfully %ttempte under these conditions except
by means OF an organization so large and so
unlikely in flying field forces that its possibility
Is not worth considering. In addition, no man
ever takes a plane up from a flying field without
himself first carefully inspecting its machinery.
The ~aviators are so confident that the fault does
not lie in the planes that when they are discuss
ing the cause of accidents they do not even men,
ton the planes or their machinery, unless they
are questioned by an outsider. They confne
tnelr DISCUSSIONS TO lHe nundu ldClOT luNOlNeu
and speculate upon why his nerves or his muscle,
his heart or his brain, failed him at some crucial
moment.
The percentage of losses among student avia-
tors is much larger at Canadian than at the
American training schools, while the number OF
fatal accidents at the Canadian field at Fort
Worth, Tex. is appalling. That field has suf-
fered more casualties than all the other fields to-
gether In Texas. The aviators of the American
fields are all of the opinion that the fatalities
there are mainly due to haste and carelessness in
training.
At the American fields a man must have had
from four to nine hours of training in the air
with an instructor, the time depending on his
q~uickness in learning control, before he is allowed
TO take up a machine by himself.
A "tail spin," one of the causes of accidents
most commonly cited, is an acrobatic stunt which
an aviator must know how to execute with skill
and ease. In 1t he noses his machine downward
with its tail whirling in a circle above him, while
its nose whirls in a similar but smaller circle
beneath him, and he, in the pilots seat, is the
pivot Of the two g%yrations. To the landsman 1t
sounds a heady sort of a combination, and 1t Is
likely to prove so to the airman unless he has the
knowledge and the skill with which to manage 1t.
To throw his machine in and out of tail spins is
a part of his daily practice after he begins the
acrobatic training, and in a very little while he
ACQUIRES sufficient knowledge of what to do and
instructive control of the machinery to execute
tail spins as easily and safely as he could twirl
on his toes or turn on his heel If his feet were on
solid ground.
But he may get into a tail spin accidentally In
his early flights alone and, although he may
know what is the right thing to do to take the
machine out of it, he may lose his head at the
crucial moment and fail to do what he ought.
Every man, woman, or child who has learned to
ride a bicycle or drive an automobile Is familiar
with that unconscious influence of the mind over
the muscles which causes one who has not yet
- o,oplato commend of u machine to
drive straight at the object which he wishes and
is doing his best to avoid. The aviator has a brief
time In his training when he suffers from that
same difficulty and at important moments Is
prone 10 give the wrong pressure upon his con-
troll stick or his elevator. If he does this when
his machine goes into a tail spin and his mind
does not work quickly enough to recognize his
difficulty and 40 the right thing, a fatal accident
is very likely to result.
Dizziness, sudden panic, failure to think quick
w.. unconscious movement, ignorance Of what to
do, may cause a fatal accident when a learner