Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28

tain schools operating from extremely
small airports. At one such field the
left border was a river bank the right
one was a highway with 25,000-volt
transmission lines running along the
full length. One end was closed off by
high trees and the other by buildings.
In case of engine failure when taking
off a pilot simply had to pick the best
spot to crack up In one year of
operation seven students crashed in at
tempting to clear the hazards either in
landing or taking off.
Hangar Regulation.
The regulation requiring hangers for
all planes used in instruction may seem
a minor detail but it is quite impor-
tant At one school, typical Of dozen,
the planes were left out in storm. rain,
sun and snow until the fabric was so
rotten that a man could drive his fist
through it, The wood rotted and the
metal fittings were badly rusted. Yet
the reckless pilots of this organization
continued to take up these ships with
green" students until one day the
wings collapsed on a ship in a mod
crate turn. The fuselage roared into
the ground. killing student. OF course.
these planes were not licensed; they
were operated in State where such
licensing was not needed for interstate
flying Now. under the new rating reg
ulations, all approved schools must
have licensed planes. And the regular
Department of Commerce inspectors
will ground such rotten equipment in a
flash.
Insuring that instructors are compe-
tent is as important as requiring good
planes, and this is one of the most in
fN~ %i,,rr nh nf
Army. Navy and commercial flyers have
found that good pilots do not always
make good teachers. Some of the most
expert simply cannot pass their knowl-
edge on to a student and few even
become nervous with any one else at
the controls.
Determine Ability.
Inspector J. S. Merriot is in charge
of the school experts of the Department
of Commerce Aeronautics Branch. And
teresting system for determining the
teaching ability of the instructors.
Ordinary flying with an instructor
will not tell us about his teaching
ability" Merriott explained. "Of course,
he has to be good transport pilot but
we have had to work out a special Sys-
tenn to cover this group. 1t sounds
rather simple The department 1nSpec-
tor assumes the role of student for
the moment-not secretly, but with the
knowledge of the instructor. For in
stance, I go to Pilot Jones at A
Flying School, and say:
Jones, I'm here to rate your school
Consider me student for the next few
hours. Assume I've never been in the
air. Tell me what should know before
going up-exclusive Of ground school
material-and then take me up and
give me first lesson
Zones may think this is big joke at
first, but probably in few minutes he'll
change his mind. for few pilots are ac-
customed to telling about the job:
they're used to practical demonstrations.
First he has to explain the controls,
showing me how the stick sends the
ship up or down. and also banks for
turn; then the rudder, showing how 1t
co-ordinates with the stick
AFTER while we 60 up and then the
real work begins. wait until get the
controls and then do Just what most
students do at first skid or slip of
on turn. Hardly has Jones corrected
this when get the nose UP and almost
60 off into spin. ] keep this up. try
Ocontinued on Fifth Paee.)