The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-13
AN AEROPLAN IS CONTROLLED AS
 EASY AS AUTO c. F. Willard, Pioneer Pilot
 Tells How Ships
 Are Handled. NOTHING MYSTERIOUS ABOUT ART OF FLYING. Man Who Gan Operate An Automobile Can Learn To Run Plane.
(Char1es F. Willard, Pioneer Pilot and Engineer Tells How Ships Are Handled in Air.)

(Charles F. Willard, Pioneer Pilot
 and Engineer Tells How Ships
 Are Handled in Air.)
 The sight of an a1rpiane flying straight ahead or wheeling grace fully about is now common, but nevertheless there still fingers in the lay mind a suspicion of magic, of something unearthIy in the ease with which it maneuvers. As a matter of fact the control of an airplane not only has nothing of 1egerdemain about it, but is an operation which anyone capable of driving an auto mobile may easily learn.
 An automobile turns only to the right or left while an airplane not only does but also ascends or de- scends at the will of it's pilot. In other words the motor car is guided through only two dimensions while the air plane is controlled in three. It would seem, therefore, that the control of the latter would be much more difficult, but as a matter of fact its guidance is easier than that of an automobile.
 MT. Willard may say without con- tradiction that a pilot does not have to be a superman, as he himself is one of the pioneer fliers of this country and knows all about flying ships as well as building them. He first made exhibition flights in 1909, when piIoting a plane was not the easy matter it is today. Natural methods of controls have now sup planted the first groping efforts of man to guide himself in the air, and airplanes have been made safe by years of experimenting.
 Concerning present day methods Of control MT. Willard said recently:
 '"The main control in a plane is either stick or a wheel. In lighter land machines the joystick is gener- ally used, while in heavier and larger planes and in flying boats the wheel is substituted as 8 matter of com fort The wheel is mounted on a control column which moves forward and backward like the emergency brake or gear lever of an automobile. It is the most important control member, for not only does it control ascent and descent but it also takes care of banking, for elevating one wing and depressing the other in making turns, and conversely, of | keeping the plane on an even keel in guSty weather
 Right here want to correct an 1 impression most people have that guiding a, plane is a nerve-racking affair, requiring constant attention. An airp1ane is not poised in the sky | as if balancing on a pin-point. It is 1 swimming through an ocean of air | an ocean that buoys it up in its | rapid progress just as boat is i buoyed up on the surface of the sea The airplane, like the ship, requires
 a man at the controls, but after a very l short time the steering becomes auto 1 matic; the motions are gone
 through without conscious thought As a matter of fact the well con l structed plane of today largely keep. | itself on a straight and level courst | and pilots frequently take their hand l from the controls"
 | When the pilot wishes to go dow1 l toward land he gently pushes tn 1 wheel forward as if he were press
 ing the nose of the machine down
 ward. The plane responds precisely
 a slight movement of the whee
 causing the ship to incline gentt
 toward earth and a greater a sharpe
 inclination. When the flier desire
 to ascend he pulls the wheel towar
 him and the plane begins to clim upward The two movements are in l point in the direction in which tn pilot wants the machine to go. H cannot forget
 'HThe matter of banking a plane , that is, causing it to incline with on
 wing higher than the other, is some 7 times regarded as something whic no other vehicle ever does, but as
 matter of fact every turn of a raj
 road track is banked to tilt the tra1
 for precisely the same reason that
 pilot banks his plane. It prevent | slipping sideways. The faster the trai
 is expected to make a. curve and tL : sharper the curve the greater tt
 banking of the track In the san
 1 way a plane at high speed is banke c ] according to the sharpness of tt Q turn. A well-built plane making = gradual turn will bank itself whi e for sharper turns the assistance
 the wheel is needed to prevent u e plane from side slipping or skiddir s just as an automobile skids on IS turn
 y '"The banking is accomplished l l, turning the wheel to the right wht 9- it is desired to get the ship in pos = ton for a right turn. The actu t turning is accomplished by the ru n l der bar operated by the feet, for t
 | u chine. The rudder bar is shaped Ii l. that of a steering sled. Pressure -s the right foot brings about a rig . turn. The plane goes round in t :" beautiful easy sweep of the bi
 after which it is designed.''
 - Thus the whole control of t plane or boat is in the wheel stick, footbar, and throttle, while ss the automobile there are to worry [ III driver, the steering wheel, hand
 foot acce1erator, clutch, change spe ar lever, foot and emergency brakes T rt | pilot also has the advantage of an driver in that he need not keep ly sharp lookout ahead for bumps a r. Instructions in the road, and | K only turns he makes are those of as own free will.'
 e. ''The manner in which the airpla at controls actually change the cou1 or or position of the plane is ve sd simple. When the wheel is push
 forward wires running back to tic tail tilt a horizontal plane or II e. der an elevator, technically, so u
 the air rushing past at from sixty
 o4o fxuantu 111i1aS I