The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-18
Declare Brain Can Be Trained To Act More Swiftly With
 Increased Demands

NEW YORK, Nov. 17.-Future air men may sail over the earth at a speed of from 300 to 400 miles an hour Rear Admiral William A. Moi fett, chief of naval aviation, predicts
 Likewise. Lieuts. A. J. Williams and Harold Brow, who have broken all airplane speed records believe that the human body is quite capable ot withstanding the physical strain of flying at 300 miles an hour, or even more Thus far, they say, the only effects from fast flying appear to be cramped muscles and an all-round tired feeling, which they attribute to the constant work of handling the machines while in flight. Aside from the severe strain on their bodies while making short turns they have consider the risks to be of me chanical nature only.
 At the national air races in St Louis last month the two naval avi- ators sent their tiny planes whizzing over a triangual course at more than 24O miles an hour, breaking all worlds records. While the airplane designers said the limit to which planes could be made to fly had not been reached. they doubted if the pilots could stand much greater 5. W, that the human body could not sur vive much greater strains because or the stress placed upon the blood Ves- sells and the entire nervous system.
 And yet Williams and Brow a few days ago spent several hours racing each other across the three-kllo- meter course at Mitchell Field, l.. l.. one after the other, surpassing their former record, until they had added to it more than 20 miles an hour. Williams finally held the record with an average speed of 266.6S miles an hour. Brow was about mile behinf him, though at one time he was hurtling through space at 274.2 miles an hour. For many minutes, however. both pilots maintained the average of 266.6S. They travelled four and a half miles a minute. Only bullet or projectile from a big gun can bet ter that speed for any distance. Had they continued, they could have crossed this continent in l5 hours or less, or flown from New York to Washington in 30 minutes.
 A Matter of Training.
 Tt seems to be matter or traln- ing" Lieutenant Williams said. There is little difference between 150 and 250 miles an hour on the straight fly ing Your controls are set and you travel very smoothly. In making the turns at maximum speed IL IS vastly different. Everything seems to be leaving your head and rushing 10 vour feet. Sometimes 1t seems as though I would push the seat right through the bottom of the machine, In the races at St. Louis I went out cold on the turns, though l was able to recover almost immediately on each occasion"
 This Is explained by physicians, who say that it is the same sensa- tion as that dizzy feeling caused by being whirled around suddenly. The blood Is rushed away from the head and brain by the centrifugal mott oYi in turning a corner sharply. In tn fast planes this motion Is very sud- den, and the action is so swift that the pilot feels all his blood rushing toward the lower part of his body That feeling of semi consciousness lasts but moment, however. and then the circulation rapidly adjusts itself to it's new condition.
 A French surgeon recently expe- rim ented with dogs. rotating them on a wheel at speeds of from four 10 six turns a second It is said that some of the dogs showed injuries to the brain after it had been pressed against the skull by the centrifugal motion, others underwent an en- largement of the blood vessels in the stomach caused by the rush of blood.
 O O O
 Things the Flyer Must Watch.
 Both Williams and Brow corrobo- rated the. testimony. of other speed pilots who have held American rec ords, Bert Acosta. Lieut.. R. l.. Maughan. Lieut.. l.. J. Maitland and Brig. Gen. William Mitchell All these have flown at speeds which at the time were starting, because they were faster than any made be- fore. High speed flying. is Got com fined to half a dozen aviators. Every European nation has it's speed ex- perts. Here In the United States the air services have developed a policy of giving all their pilots a chance assigning number to the fast planes this year and another group next year. and so on. General Mitchell had never been in a fast plane before his flight in Detroit in October, 1922, when he made a worlds record of 233 miles an hour. He said he felt no strain whatever, though. of course, he was not com relied to maintain- his maximum