The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-02-15

psychological tests were introduced as
part of the training system for avia-
tors, and in this way instructors and
medical examiners could determine
how quickly the candidate responded
to need for action under both normal
and extraordinary conditions.
Give Physical Tests.
But mental requirements for aerial
pilots are not enough, there should be,
as in the army and navy, physical
tests given. No insurance company
ever demanded the strict physical
sisted upon for his aviators. Nor did
any branch of the army put candidate
officers thru the rigorous tests which
were designed for pilots to-be. From
the moment a boy satisfied the mental
examining board that he was possessed
of an active enough brain. the govern
ment kept that candidate-pilot under
continuous physical scrutiny.
The demands were many. His eyes
had to be at least normal; his hearing
perfect; every muscle free and per-
fectly CO. ordinated with the nerve CEN
tiers: his lungs had to be 100 8. and
his heart action steady under all
strains. If these requirements were
satisfied, the candidate was led to the
revolving chair-an apparatus de-
signed to determine a mans sense of
balance, his ability to determine his
position while in the air in relation
to the ground.
Aerial Police, Also.
The need for aerial police has be-
come apparent to New York City au-
thorities, even before the commercial
airplane has been put into extensive
operation. But how many traffic po-
licemen will be needed in the air when
space is filled with passenger, express
and mail-carrying airplanes.
A color scheme might be devised
whereby all pilots who could not quail
i fly for 10000 feet attitudes had to fly
a green ship; all those who could not
pass the Is, 600 feet tests had to fly a
| red plane, and so on. Then the aerial
police, seeing a red ship flying at
! 5000 feet could take its number, re-
port it to the station and have the
| pilot arrested and barred from future
! operation.
Then. too, there is the question of
| how long shall a license be valid
Army tests have shown that the men
qualified for flying one year is not
necessarily fit for air work the next
year Army limits barred, as a rule,
/ men more than 80 years old from all
kinds of flying. Will the state take
| some such precaution as this, and
! continue the flying game as one for
young men only?
ments?
Before the army permitted cadet
to fly, he was sent thru a severe
! course of ground instruction at one
| of the school of military aeronautics
Here scores of men were dropped from
! the list of possible ayiators, because
| of failure to absorb the instructions
| in various subjects pertaining to fly
ing. The theory of flight, gas engines,
! airp1ane construction, navigation, etc.
was drilled into cadets before they
| had an oOn0rtJ1nifv TO flV
| Will the state insist that licensed
pilots be graduates of some school as
| the government operated during the
war? Will knowledge of astronomy
| (for night f1ying) and map reading
| (for cross-country work) be insisted
| upon?
The problems are complicated and
| far-reaching. but all are pertinent
| With the fast advance which airplane
work along commercial lines is max
i ing, one wonders, what will the state
I,demand before licensing aviation
| pilots