The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-04-22

J
a signalling pistol which loohs very
! much like the kind that is used in the
! trenches. It's ammunition, however.
consists of shells of red, green or
/ white discharges. just like the, old
fashioned Roman candles BY off
. fcrent combinations of those coicrs
almost any message may be flashed
through the night.
Imagine black night at the front.
! scarlet, emerald. yellow stars shot
from invisible planes, fiarng across
! the dark velvet OF the sky. II might
mean nothing more to you than n
very beautiful exhibition OF nrc
works. But perhaps these same beau
tiful stars are signalling the presence
OF hostile aircraft, or the position OF
i the enemy's guns. 1t may he that
I they are calling for assistance from
other planes--~or inouiring whether or
not the landing field is free from OBJ
structions and other machines.
! Night flying is one Of the most haz-
ardous OF the aviator's duties, the
greatest danger being in the diff
! Guilty of making a safe landing. Since
II was too dangerous to illuminate the
( landing fields near the front accidents
were not unfrequent owing TO the diff
! hculty in Judging the distance OF The
ma chine above the ground. To over
F
| was developed. This consists OF
small cylinder of magnesium ma
terial in metallic holder. One Of
/ these is fitted under each lower wing
! OF the plane They are ignited by
means OF an electric current con-
trolled by push buttons in the pilot's
cock pit When ignited these wing tip
! fares burn for about fifty seconds
with a light of approximately 10000
candle power.
The underside Of the wings Of the
plane acts as a reflector for this light
and makes landing comparatively
safe.
/ Another Interesting invention re
sulting from the needs OF aerial war
| fare has been the "air fare de-
veloped 10 aid in the work of night
bombing The fare. which weights
thirty-fiSe pounds is contained in
cylindrical case of sheet iron about
four feet long and FIVE inches in d.
ameter. The cylinder ts attached to
/ the air plane by a light release me-
chanism similar TO those used for
holding bombs. On the end OF the
| cylinder is a small ptn-wheel which,
| revolved by the rush Of a tr as the re-
leased cylinder hurtles downward,
ignites the illuminating charge and
| at the same time detonates small
| black powder charge sufficient 10
eject the fare and its tightly dolled
parachute from the case.
The parachute Immediately opens
and the burning fare descends very
! slowly. illuminating a large area OF
territory underneath almost as bright
" Az If II were day, In this way the
pilots are able TO illuminate their oh
1ectves SO that they can drop their
bombs accurately. On several &C.
castons when raiding air planes wnre
met by heavy fire from the enemy's
anti aircraft guns, ii was found that
the light from these fares was Sc
dazzling as to make it impossible for
the gunnerS TO take accurate aim.
SO wide Is the radius illuminated by
these fares, and so intense their light,
that 1t has been found possible nv
their aid to obtain aero photographs
of excellent detail even on the dark
est nights
WHO'S who in Flying.
Being an aviator doesn't necessarily
moan simply wearing a leather coat
ard doing nose spins over the grand
stand Unfortunately the general as
sumption at the beginning of the
game was Just that--that any man
who went up in an airplsue could fly
After many unnecessary deaths and
much waste of material II was finally
realized that there were various
Legitimate types of avfators. For ex-
ample a man might train to maneu-
YER tricky little fighting plane at ar
altitude OF twenty thousand feet, but
his lungs or heart might permit his
doing observation work at only com
parattveiv low levels
when a man enlists tn the aviation
he ia first put through severe exam
nations to determine his general men
tai and physical fitness for that branch
OF the service. After he ts examined
{ h. 10 ia he Grhnn1
the first step in his training as a
b. fyer There he learns to control AT
! the mechanical part 81 the machine
he learns. too, just how II is con
troi,ed
After the ground school he is sem
, to the flying school and the real fur
, begins. AT hrst the young aviator goes
, MP in a dual control machine; that is
machine with two sets of controls
! one of which the Instructor uses fol
corrections. n the cadet has been look
ing for thrills he is greatly disap'
pointed for ne finds the sensation no.
unlike that of a racing motor car Wher
I he is able TO land without help from
the instructor he makes his first sole
: flight, in which he tries landing for {
= mark. and he gets the real thrill thi:
time.
. II he lfv~s--and he usually does--th'
= second solo follows, aud in this h,
. must do spirals and Fights. After THU
he is almost aviator, and tho mex
= step is acrobatics. The plane Ia pu
. into all sorts of unnatural positions
the tail spin. the side slip. the nos'
! dive, looping the Hoop and the Immel
r man turn are only few OF tho hair
raising stunts that must be mastered
= When it is proved that the plane viii
always come out Of every position pro
vided the aviator keeps his head ant
the controls are not damned. HI
energies with more couhdence--and i
is just for this result that acrobatic
. are included in the training.
! 1t Ia the young man from nineteer
: to twenty three who is most successful
, in this--the man without fear--or a
2 the boys put II, without any sense
, The man who liz best fitted for thii
type OF flying is chosen for the nghtinf
plane or pursuit work.
. After this comes the cross -coun tn
flying Tn this his ability at map read
ing. etc, In tested. He must locat'
certain points from tho use of may
and draw sketches of the surrounding
country. The birdman who can d,
this well is marked for an army corp:
man or bombing pilot
There is no hit or miss. but the spe
ciaI type OF aviation each man In f1ttet
for IL definitely determined. After h.
= HI A~h@ =.