Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-27
MAKING AVIATION SAFER
DESCRIBED BY HASKIN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. 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
acquainted with the progress of n.y.
ing and with the problems to be met.
Always there will be accidents-out
there are accidents on railroads ana
on the highways Travelled by auto
mobiles. Nevertheless, those means
of transportation are generally ac-
counted safe.
The problem of moving from TINS
place to that, no matter how 1t 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 can
not 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 sate
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 hat several great
factors must be taken into consldera-
ton to make fight so safe that II
will be universally employed. First
and foremost they usually name the
pilot. 1t is accepted that a first class
birdman must be an exceptional
man physically, and must have
thorough training of the proper sort.
the army and navy physical require
ments for officers and men are
rather high. as was shown by the
enormous number of young men re-
jected when they were drafted in
the world war or attempted to en-
list. Yet only about one in seven
Of the men acceptable for other
duty in the army and navy are mt
to fly.
once the physical qualification is
met. there lies ahead years of train
ing before the accepted man can
| be classed as a first class flyer. as
| they are now rated. Brig. Gen.
| Mitchell, of the Air Service of the
! Army. has pointed out that the pres
ent flyers of the army are enormous
ly ahead of 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 emergency, and today they
know a great deal more about their
vocation of fying than they did
when they were flying and fighting
in france and at home during the
war. Gen. Mitchell thinks that a
! year of fiving. after thorough knowl-
edge of the machines is attained, is
necessary in order to make a man a
real pilot.
Trained Pilots Needed
It would seem hat a sutticiency
Of good pilots, as has been pointed
out in a former Haskin Letter. Is
a prime need of the nation, and one
that cannot be quickly supplied.
The war department and the navy
department are anxious to Keep up
this supply. as aside from the post
office department, there is little or no
training of flyers in America, while
abroad commercial aviation IS en-
couraged by government subsidies to
keep up the quota OF aviators Tor
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
more accidents. Because Of the care
exercised in the training OF pilots
4 anu III hCCPAhe tx
ments high. the weather Is first as
the cause flying accidents. There
are elements of the weather situa-
ton which have not yet been con-
quered, and some of them have no
solution in sight. 1t Is estimated
that three-quarters of the flying &C
cidents are caused by weather con-
ditions.
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 the
earth's surface. over an aera 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 move
ments OF the air are a menace 10
laying, particularly when the ma
chine is flying low.
Storms are a more important
menace to safety in flight. however.
| Electrical storms encountered over
! forests or mountains, where a land
ing is impossible. are responsible fol-
many fatalities. Not only may ms
aviator become lost in the clouds
unable to Judge whether his machine