Evening star., 1923-09-02
Siluer Wings Patrick Won
First to Go to Major General
Air Service Leader
Receives Praise
of Instructor.
AcrOb0tic Work Is
Feature of Skill
as Flying Pilot.

Maj. Gen. Mason NJ. Patrick, chief
Of the Army air service, the only
major general ever to wear the covet-
ed silver wings of a pilot, "loves to
fly like the youngest of US: he Is fear
less. yet conservative: his judgment
in flying is of the best"
This high compliment is paid Gen.
Patrick by Maj II. A. Dargue, flying
instructor. who taught the general
how to fly. as set forth in an article
in the September number of THE
United States Air Service
Not only did 81 Gen. Patrick learn
straight flying, but also went through
the entire course of instruction in
acrobatic flying. in which. Maj. OAR
que explains. he general learned
some thrilling lessons at first hand.
more valuable than could have been
communicated in hours OF talk"
"Tosk sfcIIy Fall"
IT shall never forget his first loop"
says Maj Dargue. After looping a
couple OF times for him. during which
the machine over to him. He made
the first part of the loop little too
large with the result that We lost
flying speed when upside down, hung
by our belts head down and took a
sickly fall for a few hundred feet
before righting the ship.
This was a wonderful experience,
for II taught the general In a few
moments more than hours of talking
could possibly accomplish. and 1 was
satisfied that he would never lose
his head. no matter what was happen
ing In the air. We did a couple more
loops and they were perfect. The
days instruction then ended with two
wing-overs.
Gen. Patrick made it clear to me
that II he were to qualify for a rating
he did not want to slight any part
of the regular curriculum through
which he required others to pass. SO
each day saw the addition of new
maneuvers. sideslips. forward slips.
stalls. immelman turns, steep spirals
steep eights. tail spins and all the
various other requirements. 1t was
indeed interesting to watch his
progress. He meant to learn thorough
ly and every miDute was filled with
sixty seconds worth of distance run
He was setting a brilliant example as
chief of the air service.
Another Lesson Taught.
But it was not All smooth sailing.
Overconrol in beginners is very
common fault and the general was
no exception. especially with the rud-
der. Experience Is the best teacher
and so / let the machine go couple
Of times until too>Uuch rudder caus-
ed a stall and resultant tail spin.
Also. about this time in the instruc-
ton, an officer beloved by all of us
was killed probably by a rudder stall
and resultant tail spin when there
was not sufficient altitude to recover
normal flight. This made a profound
impression and again taught a lesson
where words are comparatively i'm
potent
"One day the clouds were so low as
to make acrobatic flying below them
so I had the general go
through and above them. At 5000
feet the air was beautifully clear,
but the ground could only occasion
ally be seen through holes In the
clouds. Right and left wing-overs
and inmelman turns were scheduled
as part of the instruction for that
day We made couple of wing
overs with the ship recovering from
a partially upside down position. but
they were not nearly so smooth as
when the ground was plainly visible.
The irregular tops of the clouds
formed only a misty reference plane
for determining the altitude of the