Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-07-31
FLYING UPSIDE
j Down THRILLING
Becomes Dangerous Only Wien
Caught in Bank Close
J to Earth.
SENSATION IS DESCRIBED
Pull Of Motor Is so Strong Aviator
Never Knows He Is Out of Normal
Position Until He Is Able
to See the Ground.

New fork.--Flying upside down in a
bank Of clouds or fog, as Captan A.
cock and Lieutenant Brown found
themselves doing on their tourney
across the ocean, Is not mt all uncom-
mon or particularly dangerous. Hun
',rcds OF aviatOrS who were serving on
the western front in the allied armies
experienced this sensation time and
again in both their scouting and bomb
ing work.
Acrobatic flyers think nothing of It,
1t becomes dangerous only when they
are caught in bank close to earth.
As an American acrobatic flyer who
was serving In the British army on the
Flanders front explained to a New
York Herald man NJ the beginning Of
the last Belgian-'ritlsh drive:
ITS as easy as falling off log"
He was dwelling romantlcally on the
beauties Of flying around in a cloud
bank.
Every once in n WHILE" lie cx-
planned, "when You are $1,000 or $4,000
feet up you viii run into great pile
of fleecy clouds that turn the whole
world into fairyland. 1t Hes be-
fore you. n great ball Of doWny, spark
Ing mist. II looks almost real enough
for YOU To step right out of your ma
chine and walk around. Some of these
cloud banks stretch for miles, like a
great white world There are noun
tains, chaSms, rivers, lakes ana can
yons running all through them.
Zoom Over the Top
Just as you come to the great
cloud You suddenly pull back the old
JOY stick and zspm down the other
size, perhaps into a lakc--that Is, II
looks like II lake Then you come to
n succession Of hills or mountains and
you 90 looming up and then down
like a big roller coaster.
"Then you will run into n great
break in the clouds just like a can
yon. The white, tlcecy banks rise to
The right and left of you for hundreds
OF feet, with the pure blue sky over
ysu and more white, glistcning
clouds under you. For mile after mile
you Will follow around in these high
walls, just as clearly defined as the
walls of the Grant canyon. Some
times you travel straight away for
niles; then sou vii come TO a sharp
angular turn and shoot around it in
r vertical turn. 1t Is all like dream
and no artist ever painted a more al
Turing fantasy in white and blue.
Sometimes tie canyon will close in
front Of you and you dive straight into
the clouds or You may be going
around. Often you will follow around
until you lose all sense of direction or
balance. You think you will dive down
toward earth and see whore you are. (
You push over the Joy stick. but the .
old bus docs not ansWCr--iust keeps
an going and becoming more cranky
every moment. Then you know You
IRE flying upside down or perhaps with
your body almost horizontal. There IS
Just one thing to do--let go of the
Joy stick and the old bus will tumble
out of the clouds, You may come out
finding your head straight down to-
ward the earth, or horizontal with it,
Then 1t Is an easy matter to tattcn
out and travel on.
Travelling Upside Down.
"You do not realize you are upside
down because you are fast in the ma
chine and the motor is roaring ire
mendously ana pulling hard right I'M
DER YOU. There Is no danger when fall
ing out of the clouds--aftcr your first
tumble, 1t is the first that always
makes Il man wonder what has hap
rencd to his machine, but as soon as
he is out in the clear he realizes what
has occurred and he never forgets il,
with the result that he is prepared
for the situation again at any time.
"All danger in this situation has
been practically eliminated now, for
they are making machines stronger and
every day, and they seem to
be able to stand almost any shock or
test to which YOU can subject them"