New Britain herald., 1927-11-03


 this country and familiar talks ox 1t from all angles.
 (By Frank J. CarmOdy
 To almost everyone, flying reach es its zenith in fascination during an exhibition Of aerial acrohatics, better known as 'stunting" At no other times does man seem so thor cughly to have overcome sll his ter restrial limitations as when he Zooms. dives, dips, loops, spins or rolls and still stays Up in the air. Overwhelming conviction that the airplane is a safe, sturdy mechanism invariably comes to those who have witnessed a well-planncd exhibition of airplane acrobatics.
 stunt Flying-E1,inc Stunts
 But not all airplanc acrobatic ex- hibitions are wcll-planned. That is just the point that Federal officials and private agencies concerned with the development Of aviation would like 10 get across to the public that just now is ava kcning 10 the poSSi- hilities of air transport. There is n great deal of difference. they point out, between stunt flying and fly ing stunts.
 For a welltrained pilot 10 take a carefully designed and splcndidly maintained ship into the air and put if through a series of hrcatn-taking tricks is stunt flying. When an un- skilled pilot goes aloft in plane that is in poor condition to seek an objective or a destination that is outside the range of his skill or the capacity Of the plane, that is a fly ing stunt stunt flying serves to get across the story of aerial safety. Flying stunts give the cause of air transportation Il black eye.
 Sponsors of aerial development in the United States would like to soc the public educated to the point where it could discriminate between the two. This thought is not based upon a desire to provide the air plane with an alib, The say The airplane does not no"d an alibi, but much that is called flying needs an explanation, if is insisted Advertising Purposes
 Apart from possible advertising and entertainment purposes, aero hatiC flying has no application in the commercial field. IL belongs, properly. in the military sphere, where it has reached high develop ment at the hands of the American Army and Navy services. Acrobatics have definite value from a mili- tary viewpoint. Their commercial value is rirtua fly negligible. and is so rccognizcd by operators of aerial passenger, mail and freight lines. When the individual civilian, with his often und"r-poWcrrd, poorly maintained craft comes to realize this fact, it will be q real boon 10 aerial development.
 Must Be Skilled Men
 Tn" practices ot the Army and Navy services "mphatiCally are mdi- cativc Of the fact that not every pi- lot can stunt every plane. In both branches Of the service this form of flying Is reserved for h" most highly skilled aviatorS and IS done in planes especially built for this type of service. The "pursuit' groups, equipped with fast. powerful and sturdy little craft, are the ones regarded as properly qualified for aCrobatic flying. Attack. lombard mont and observation groups are not trained with this type of work in mind.
 Dffercntiating between military and commercial flying. one of the best known pursuit pilots in the Army Air Service says, sUccinctly:
 You don't have 10 dive spin or loop a plane 10 get load of mail from New York 10 Chicago, but the situation is far different when the task is getting an enemy plane out Of commission. Safety is he objcc- tive of commercial flying and every energy should be concentrated on achieving if. Performance is what we want and we try to get it, with safety, of course"