The Washington herald., 1919-03-23
America S Premier Auiator
Declares Fighting in Air
Merely Scientific Murder
Y periences Says Novice Filler May Outwit
Most Experienced Airman.
y CAPT. EDWARD VICTOR RICK
ENBACkER-

~ CAPT. EDWARD VICTOR RICK
ENBACKER-
,. 5. C., Legion of Honor, Croix de
Guerr~.
<Courtesy of u. $. Air Service, on
cinI Publication of Army and
Navy Air Service Associntion.D
An officer who had the job of Civ
ing preliminary examinations to the
Young men who wanted to fly once
8omplained to me that two answers
&p,his well-meant questions got to
be exasperatingly common. The
lrst was to the effect that the can
didate didn't know anything about
avsstion. but had always dreamed OF
doing II. The second came when he
vas asked IL he knew the names of
any OF the men who were plotting
lighting aeroplanes over in France.
Usually, according o-this officer, ne
said Eddie Rickenbacker," and
zopped there.
Fame Through Sports.
THE examiner was sure It proved
that the average American youth read
The sporting page of the newspaper
rnsxe carefully than the front page.
A racing automobile drivers name
caught his attention even in the war
news and stuck-and l got the beneht.
IL il had been a baseball player II
would have been the same way.
IEmention the matter here because,
asit happens. wsen I started In l
was lEse those boys. knew nothing
about aviation and had only dreamed
about il. l went over to France az a
.-Aa win
flying unit which the government re-
fused to be interested in for reasons
thar / now see were entirely good
though I did not see it so clearly
then. Once over there, l would not
let them rest until they gave me a
lieutenants commission and sent me
TO Tours to see il could learn TO iiy.
Daredevil Learned Fast.
I learned pretty fast. Long prac-
tee in driving a racing car at leo
miles an hour or so gives first-class
training in control and judging dis
tsnees at high speed and helps tre-
mendously in getting motor sense.
which is rather the feel of your en-
gine than the sound of it. a thing you
get through your bones and nerves
rather than simply your ears.
All this Is part Of the physical
equipment of handling an aeroplane,
and itf makes a lot Of difference II
the fellow with the stick below knows
how to make a turn at 100 miles an
hour or to allow for passing another
fellow at twice that. The proof OF
this Is that after a five and a half
hours duel with an instructor they
let me solo. But because l was a
good mechanic and knew about mo-
tors they sent me to Issoudun to be
engineer officer. Being engineer Off
cer, never had any regular advanc-
ed flying training according to rule.
But l took up a ship whenever l
could and learned that way.
remember when l thought it was
time to try to vrille. or tail spin.
knew what I was supposed to do. I
knew you put the stick over and
crossed the controls. but I'd never
seen anybody do it. went up about
ia.eoo feet got of some distance from
the field and flew around there for
every bit Of 50 minutes trying to get
up my nerve to try the trick, but too
scared to begin
One WhirT Was Enough.
At last I said to myself What's
the Jnatter with you? You've got to
do this" and threw the stick. She
went into the spin all right. but I
had her back to neutral after just
one whirl. and 7 tell you I was glad
when she righted. Next day I went
out and it took 20 minutes to make
up my mind to try again. 1t was only
on the third day that 1 went at the
Job with any confidence and let her
do a real spin.
vss not an instructor over there
at Issoudun. But even an engineer
officer in France could not AFFORD to
be too good. do not think 1 was.
still. when asked to go to the front
the C o. said I could not be spared.
Sol conspired with the medical off,
GER He does not know it yet, but l
did. 1 got myself sent to the hospital
for two weeks and at the end of that
time I went to the c.. o. and told him
that It had been proved that l wasn't
indispensable-becaus the other fellow
had done the job better than I had.
He could not deny it and let me go.
That gave me my chance to try my
luck as a fighting pilot. I have had
extraordinary good luck Every man
who has been flying for any length
of i6me at the front and is still alive
has had good luck
bat fighting ia the air is not a
sport. 1t is scientific murder. The
me,i who have learned their trade go
at ii that way. and as long as they
dc. go at il that way they have an
excellent chance to accumulate vic
tories and survive, nevertheless.
Doesn't Take Risks.
The experienced fighting pilot does
nos take unnecessary risks. His husi-
ness Is to shoot down enemy planes.
mot ito get shot down. His trained
eyo and hand and Judgment are as
MUCH n part OF his armament as his
macAine gun. and ffty-fifty chance
Is the worst he will take or should
talos except where the show Is Of the
kind that either for offense or de-
fense justifies the sacrifice of plane
ard pilot.
Il is not the old hand and the ex-
pert flyer and air fighter who gets
another Of the same sort. Both are
wise and shy birds. You will see q
couple Of that kind meet now End
then over the line and watch them
cricling experimentaIIy around each
other. The next thing you know.
each has sized IN his antagonist as
just as good or better than himself,
ard both have sheered of and are
flying away to look for a more prom
isinZ victim. What each is hunting
for Is an enemy who can be pounced
on suddenly unaware and a getaway
made before his comrades are on the
victor's tail.
The obviously inexperienced pilot is