Arizona republican., 1922-05-16
Rx EREnERIc ]. HAsKIN

WASHINGTON, May 1.-THE day
will come when flying will be made
so safe that it will be a general
method of transportation. This is the
unanimous opinion of those best ac-
quainted with the progress of flying
and with the problems to be met.
Always there will be accidents-but
there are accidents on railroads and
on the highways travelled by autonlo-
biles. Nevertheless those means of
transportation are generally ac-
counted safe.
The problem of moving from this
place to that, no matter how it is
done always will contain elements of
danger. So long as there are OBJ
stacleS they must be surmounted,
avoided, or passed directly through.
On the high road, obstacles cannot be
passed through On the high seas,
waves and bad weather cannot be
avoided easily, but must be COM
batted. Once air travel is made as
safe, comparatively, as land and sea
travel, flying ships will possess the
quality of being able TO dive through
some troubles, and by their great
speed, avoid others.
Our leading military aviators are of
the opinion that several great factors
make flight so safe that it will be uni
versally employed. First and fore
most they usually name the pilot. IL
is accepted that first class birdman
must be an exceptional man physi-
cally, and must have thorough train
ing of the proper sort. The army and
navy physical requirements for off,
GERS and men are rather high, as was
shown by the enormous number oil
young men rejected when they were
drafted in the World war or at
tempted to enlist. Yet only about one
in seven OF the men acceptable for
other duty in the army and navy are
regarded as physically fit to fly.
Once the physical qualification Is
met, there lies ahead years of training
before the accepted man can be
classed as q first class flyer, as they
are now rated Brig. Gen. Mitchell OF
the air service of the army has
pointed out that the present flyers OF
the army are enormously ahead oil
the flyers of war times. In many
cases, of course. they are the same
men, but in most cases their training
had been hurried by the war emer-
gency, and today they know great
deal more about their vocation OF
flying than they did when. they were
flying and fighting in France and al
home during the war. Gen. Mitchell
thinks that a year of flying, after
thorough knowledge Of the machines
is attained. is necessary in order to
make a. man a real pilot.
Trained Pilots Needed
It would seem that a sufficiency OF
good pilots, as has been pointed OUT
in a former Haskin letter. is prime
need of the nation, and one that can
not be quickly supplied. The war de-
partment and the navy department
are anxious to keep up this supply. as
aside from the postoffice department
there is little or no training of flyers
in America, while abroad commercial
aviation is encouraged by government
subsidies TO keep up the quota OF
avators for prospective war duty
If green flyers were permitted to
handle machines in the air, except
with an instructor in machines with
dual control, doubtless there would be
many more accidents. Because of the
care exercised in the training of pilots
and in keeping the physical require
ments high, the weather is first as
the cause of flying accidents. There
are elements of the weather situation
which have not yet been conquered
and some of them have no solution IN
sight. 1t is estimated that three
quarters Of the flying accidents are
caused by weather conditions.
Winds blow in all directions-up
and down as well as parallel to the
earth. This is caused by the con-
tour OF the ground, by the fact that
there is a wide difference In the
temperatures of patches of h
earth's surface. Over an area which
will be heated because of the color
ing the air will be ascending. Patches
of the ground where it is cooler than
elsewhere nearby cause the air TO
descend. These movements of the ali
are a menace to flying, particularly
when the machine is flying low.
Storms are q more important
menace to safety in flight, however
Electrical storms encountered over
forests or mountains, where landing
is impossible. are responsible for many
fatalities. Not only may the aviator
become lost in the clouds, unable to
Judge whether his machine is on an
even keel, if that expression may be
used, but the eddies and whirls OF
wind tend to whip his ship around SC
that 1t sideslips toward the ground
noses down, or noses up into a stall
so that flying speed is lost. Any OF
these things happening is more than
likely to bring a crash in a storm be-
fore the flyer can extricate his ma
chine from its predicament.
A highly organized service to keeT
flyers constantly advised of storm
and wind conditions in all localities IL
put forward as the best means oi
combating this obstacle to safe flS :