New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-03-09
N Captain Edward Rickenbackers
interesting contribution to ~. S.
n Air Service" entitled "Aces' Luck"

w
interesting contribution to ~. S.
n Air Service" entitled "Aces' Luck"
brief outline is sketched of the
progress of an aviator-from the initial
stage of "dreaming of flying" up to the
time when the glorious altitude of an
"ace of aces" is finally reached.
How Americas greatest "ace" started
is thus descrbed:
I'll went over to France as a chauffeur.
after trying to get up a flying unit which
the government refused to be interested in
for reasons that now see were entirely
good, though l did not see it so clearly
then Cnce over there, I would not let them
rest until they gave me lieutenant's com
mission and sent me to Tours to see if
could learn to fly.
81 learned pretty fast Long practice
in driving racing car at hundred miles
an hour or so gives first class training in
control and in judging distances at high
speed and helps tremendously in getting
motor sense, which is rather the feel of
your engine than the sound Of it, thing
you get through your bones and nerves
rather than simply your ears All this is
y
ling an airpane, and it makes lot of diff
ference if the fellow with the stick knows
how to make a turn at one hundred miles
an hour or to allow for passing another
fellow at twice that. The proof of this is
that after five and half hours dual with
an instructor they let me solo, But be-
cause | was good mechanic and knew
about motors they sent me to Issoudun to
be engineer officer. Being engineer officer
| never had any regular advanced fyinr
training according to rule. But | took I'D
a ship whenever could and learned that
wav"
The famous fer describes a particu-
larry trying half hour:
81 remember when I thought it was time
to try vrille or tail spin. ! knew what
| was supposed to do. l knew you put the
stick over and crossed the controls, but I'd
never seen anybody do it. went up
about 1900 feet, got off some distance
from the field and flew around there for
every bit OF thirty minutes trying to get
up my nerve to try the trick, but too
scared to begin. At last said to myself.
What's the matter with you? You've got
to do this and threw the stick She went
into the spin all right but | had her back
to neutral after just one whrl and tell
you | was glad when she righted Next
day | went out, and it took twenty minutes
to make up my mind to try again. II was
only on the third day that went at the
job with any confidence and let her do q
real SPIN
There have been stories about the
recNessness Of the American hiers, saws
Rickenbacker-
and no doubt they went for the Hun
wherever they could get at him. and some
took very long chances, but on the front
as saw it the American aviators in this
regard came between the French and the
British The French were inclined TO he
cautious as settled military policy of
getting the best results with the least
expenditure of valuable lives and costly
planes. The British were foolhardv as q
matter of principle and morale, because
they found that they got the best results
with their people in that way. Compared
with the French, playing their own game
in the way they had settled down to if
toward the end Of the war our men seemed