Evening star., 1923-05-13
BY JAMES A. BUCHANAN.


A GREAT problem that confronts
| ~ the United States is how to
| ~ keep a sufficient number of
flyers trained to the minute.
| To those who have never had any ex-
perience in the air game, this does not
appear to be great task, but to
! those who have been in the service
or who have followed the course of
air work since the early days of this
form Of navigation, the problem Is
one OF gigantic proportions. Flyers
| that is, the great majority Of them
are born not made. and, while it Is
true that one can turn out reason
ably good flyer by a thorough course
of instruction, the larger part of the
service is composed of men who had
latent flying qualities and needed hut
! The lessons to perfect them III this
apparently easy, but really difficult art
! To the man on the ground who sees
! the pilot of Il graceful airplane doing
all sorts of stunts with apparent
! ease. flying is a thing which can be
learned in a few lessons. but when
| the man on the ground is taken in
! hand by a corps of good instructors
| and shown the many ramifications of
| the art Of flying, he begins to realize
| that it is not the easy matter that he
supposed it was.
There are many who have the idea
! that when a man once nies his trou-
! bles are over; that he need not spend
any more hours in the air than he
| wants to; that his lessons are fin
| ished. that he can go his way with
| all the confidence in the world, and
| that there Is TO be nothing more to
learn. A talk with an experienced
! airman. however, will reveal that he
| is never satisfied with his flying abil-
| ity and is ever striving to master
! some Of the many fine points of the
game. He does not rest content when
. he has secured the coveted wings that
/ he fastens on his blouse. but must
! ever be studying.
4 MAN appeared at Issoudun,
"A France. where was located the
manded by Col. W. G. Kilner and as
| sisted by Maj. Carl Spatts. The man
| finally went to field No. 8. the point
where the pursuit pilots received
! their last training. The lieutenant
! had received his primary training in
| this country and he was the greatest
| flyer the world had ever known. ac-
| cording to his judgment. but the. Off
! Ger who happened to be III charge of
| that particular field was one Of those
cold -blooded persons who had played
! around in the air game with Ely.
! Beachey and few other old-timers.
and who have all paid the penalty
with their lives. The officer men
! toned. after listening TO long re-
cital Of the students prowess. sug-
! sested that the coming champion of
; the air take a fight that afternoon
| in one of the steady ships" old 244.
a sort of a bus that did not seem to
! mind being set on her nose or pan
! caked: just one of the machines that
appear to get out of every mess
without much damage. The student
! joyfully agreed. and that afternoon
; was sent up to engage in mimic
! warfare with one of the instructors
!, at the field. Washington man named
Jim Osgood. who. 1t may be remarked
/ in passing. was one of the best that
! this country ever produced
They left the ground and in about
| ten minutes had landed with the con-
ceit knocked out of the man who
thought that he knew all about the
game.
While ii is true that there are some
men Of mature age in the Army that
are excellent airmen, the great ma
| jority of them are under thirty, and
| in time of war the age would be con-
! siderably less than that. for it is a
young mans game, and that is one
of the reasons why the course of
training should never be allowed to
| lag. The flyer Of today may be passe
/ tomorrow. One old-timer. who has
given many years Of his life to avia-
| ton. has always said that in order
) to make good flyers you have 10
catch them young" and this rule
holds good today,
THOSE taking instruction are called
cadets. They are just one grade
/ below the second 'looie." and they
| wear cute little white bands around
their hats. The War Department is,
! however. trying to find some suitable
| insignia. and every man who has been
/ bothered with the little white band
will greet with glee the finding of
something that will take the place Of
| the head circlet
! The Army. whenever it is possible
selects cadets from the ranks. as
many of the enlisted men are familiar
/ with the flying game and lots of
| them have made excellent flyers.
! About one-third of the cadets are
men that have been selected from the
ranks. The balance are from high
/ schools or other institutions Of learn
| ing. Examinations are held the Sec
ond Tuesdays in July and January.
and those who desire to take the
course can secure full Informal tion by
writing to the chief of the air serv-
| ice. A candidate must be an unmar-
ried male citizen Of the United States
between the ages of twenty and twenty
seven, inclusive, high school graduate
or possess the equivalent of a high
school education, of excellent charac-
ter, of sound physique and in excel
lent health. The base pay of the stu
dent is SIS per month, which includes
extra pay for flying risks. There is
| also a ration allowance. and other al
lowances are provided for clothing.
equipment. etc. The term of enlist
| ment is three years, but they are dis
charged upon completion Of or failure
| to complete the prescribed course and
are not required to serve the unex-