The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1928-05-10
CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER ALI
Flor a moment after the pilot
turns over the contf6is the plane
keeps on straight course, theI
the nose begins to lose its normal
position on the horizon, a WING
dips down, and blast of air rush.
Aes in from one side of the cockpit
Carefully learned instructions are
forgotten and the controls serve
only to move the earth still far.
fher from it's proper position. All
this time the instructors hands are
gripping the top of the cowling.
The cadet realizes that it is up to
himself in some manner to lever
the plane out into a normal flying
position once more, not realizing
for an instant that his instructor
can operate the stick nearly as well
with his knee as with his hand and
that he has probably already saved
the plane from falling into spin
several times.
After splashing around the sky
in this manner for several minutes
the pilot brings his ship back into
position and pulling up into a stall
with throttled motor, roars back
his instructions at cadet who is
much more absorbed in watching
the approaching ground below
than in listening to his instructor.
When fort-five minutes have passed
the ship is flown back and landed
near the stage house where the next
cadet, with helmet and goggles adj
justed, is waiting for his turn in
the air. The first climbs out and
takes his place on the bench sur
rounding the base of the build
ing and the plane is off to repeat
the performance over again.
At the end of ten hours, if the
cadet is not capable of soloing he
is in grave danger of being washed
out as flyer. However, If the in
structor believes that a little more
time will be sufficient and that the
student has shown signs of even
finally becoming military pilot,
the dual instruction may be con-
tinued for three or four more
hours.
At Brooks when all instructors
came to the conclusion that one of
his students would never master
the art of flying quickly enough
to keep up with the standard of
the class, he turned the cadet over
for a check hop with the stage
commander who was always a
pilot of long experience. Few
cadets ever passed this check; if
the stage commander believed that
any cadet had been misjudged,
however, he had authority to place
him back on flying status for fur
ther instruction. If the command
er concurred with the decision of
the instructor, he recommended
the cadet for a final check on head
quarters stage with the chief check
pilot. The decision of this officer
was final and to be returned to
flying after a flight with him was
an occurrence seldom recorded in
cadet history. After failing his
final check flight a cadet was
ordered to appear before board
of officers known as the "Benzine
Board" If he was reporting for
misconduct or academic deficiency
there was still some slight hope of
beating the board, but if it was for
inability to fly, the decision of
washout" was a foregone conclu-
sion.
The washing out for our class
commenced in earnest with the
approach of solo flights and the re-
turns from our examinations.
was fortunate enough to have
passed them and my previous fly
ing experience kept me from wor-
rying on any account during the
first part of our training.
There was no disgrace in wash
ing out. 1t simply meant in the
majority of cases, that the cadet
was not especially adapted to fly
ing and he was sent back to his
point Of enlistment with an honor
able discharge and the advice to
take up some other form of oc-
cupation.
With the washing out process
our barracks became less longest
ed. 1t was not unusual to see the
fellows on both sides pack up
and cheerfully depart for destina-
tions in different corners of the
United States. After a few weeks
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