Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-02
WOULD-BE AVIATORS WARNED
AGAINST FAKE FLYING SCHOOLS
Air Reporter Tells of One School Which
Feared Learners Might Smash Planes.
Other Things to Watch For.

winning eight victories against our late
enemies, the Germans. Once or twice
I have put him in great danger, ! think
by my ineptitudeS, but / have never
seen him act any way but with a sort
of terse courtesy and the voice which
tells me how to straighten the machine
out of a spin after / have fallen into
one is always of cool. professional
quality. / take off my hat to these
veteran pilots. The more I know of
them the more I admire them.
Landing is an extremely important
maneuver 1t means getting yourself
and your ship safely on the ground
after a. fight. This Importance is so
obvious even to the layman. and Is
stressed so much by writer's on aviation
that every one is aware Of 1t.
Landing Is Dangerous.
High In the air. you can make an
error which might let you drop sew
eral hundred feet and still catch your
self without any damage to your nerves
or the machine But flying at a steep
angle toward landing field which looks
about as big as dime and then skim
ming along at so miles an hour or SO a
few feet above the field, the slightest
error in Judgment is apt to prove costly.
I have just made my first landings,
the first one with the aid OF the In
structor, who throttled the engine down
at the right time, and the other four
without any help at all.
The first one was fairly smooth. al
though I didn't know exactly how did
1t. But the second one was supreme
test for the landing gear of the Waco
nine which / was flying. Swimming
along about six feet from the ground
I decided had better be settling down
before ! hit the other edge of the field
where there were telephone wires, trees
and a railroad track.
In the air, you steer plane down.
ward by pushing the control stick for
ward So instinctively pushed the
stick forward before ! had chance to
think about 1t. The next second the
plane had Owed at the ground and
bounced high into the air with a sharp
cracking noise as the shock absorbers
were taxed to the limit. ] did it so
quickly that the instructor didn't have
time to grab the controls and correct
my mistake With few more bounces
we settled and finally rolled TO a stop
The instructor got out and examined
the landing gear, BY miracle 1t was
still intact. Then he explained to me
carefully again that instead of pushing
the stick forward TO bring 1t down.
should have cut off the motor complete
ly, SKINNED along to within few feet
of the ground and, as we gradually lost
speed, pulled the stick back so that the
nose of the machine pointed upward
the tall settled to the ground and we
gently touched the field In a three
point landing, that is. with the tail
skid and two wheels all touching the
ground at the same time In this way
the shock Of landing Is evenly dis
tributed over the machine.
Corrected Mistake.
The third time corrected this mis-
take and pulled the stick back. but not
| quite far enough, so that we bounced
only a little. The fourth time l made
fairly good landing.
The instructor said Now, this time
am going to turn the machine entirely
over 10 you Take 1t off the field, fly
In a circle, find the field again and land
according to your own Judgment"
1t was the first time that ] had taken
q plane of but had watched the con-
trolls long enough 10 have fairly good
Idea Of what to do
AS / pushed the throttle forward and
shot the motor on full speed, ! pushed
the control stick forward so that the
tall lifted quickly and the machine ran
along with its nose level with the hori-
zon. Then as it began to lift little
/ slowly pulled the stick back into
| climbing position and we we're In the
| air before I realized IL. ] then climbed
at very gentle angle because steep
| climbing close TO the ground Is dan
gerous. You are apt to lose flying
| gpeed, or the motor may stop suddenly
| and YOU fall out Of control without
| enough space under YOU To right your"
| self
When got into the air few In a
/ large circle and came back to the field
| | began nosing down long before |
/ reached the field because know that
frequent error OF students is over
shooting" the field. When / got 10 the
| edge / had 10 skim over the tops OF
some trees and then drop into the
| field as quickly AZ possible. did TINS
| and as the plane got TO few feet from
| the ground ! pulled the stick BACK
| toward me until II seemed as though we
might climb into the air again. But l
| had cut the motor of and we didn't.
We simply settled on the ground so
smoothly that there was no feeling OF
| landing until we began To roll over the
slight bumps In the surface OF the held.
"That was better" the instructor
| said Another hour Of landings and
you1i be ready for solo flight"
Next Sunday Brown will tell about his
first cross country night and MS fifst
solo hop, the high point In the career
OF every airmari
| fCnpsnQht 1929 in al countries 7S the