Evening star., 1939-03-19

issued its first instructions on ply
sical examinations for candidates
for aviation duty in February, 1912,
but beyond setting a high standard,
no special requirements were pre-
scribed except a test for equilibrium.
Not until Great Britain made
an analysis of her air casualties In
the first year of the war, which
showed that 2 per cent met death
at the hands of the enemy, 8 per
cent from defective planes, and the
remaining 80 per cent were due to
the defects of the pilots themselves"
Col Beaven explained, was the
advantage of a special medical ex-
animation for flyers demonstrated.
"As a result of this startling dis
covery, the British established a
special Care of the Flyer Service
and afterward selected aviators with
due regard to their physical and
mental qualifications At the end of
the second year, fatalities due to
physical and mental defects were re-
duced to 20 per cent, and at the end
OF the third year to IL per cent"
Thousands Under Test.
Shortly after our entry into the
war, the experience of the allies was
placed at our disposal. Special ex-
amining boards were set up to han
die thousands of applicants clamor-
Ing to enter the air service. The ef-
fects OF high altitude on flyers was
just being understood, a problem our
aviation officials had not even sus-
pected. for the simple reason that
we had no planes capable of flying
above 10000 feet.
The six planes of the 1st Aero
Squadron on duty with the Mexican
expedition in 1916 were unable to
attain sufficient altitude to get above
the mountains to conduct observa-
ton missions. When laboratories
were set up in 1918, it was discovered
that 16 per cent Of normal persons
began to react to oxygen want and
lose efficiency at about 10000 feet.
Missions at much higher attitudes
were common along the Western
front at that time. In the closing
months of the war, a medical re-
search board was sent to France and
Is credited with saving many lives
by demonstrating the existence of
mental as well as physical limita-
tions in even the normal pilot. Fly-
ing Is not only hazardous, but calls
upon the pilot to meet stresses
hitherto foreign to him. The ex-
perlence OF Germans and allies alike
showed that during the war the ma
Jority of pilots rendered unfit for
service were relieved because of
some nervous complaint, and that no
disease was more frequent among
aviators than other branches of the
service, except nervous exhaustion
or nervous unfitness.
Many broke under the strain.
Others with tougher nerves or bet
ter physical stamina kept on, but
for them, medical officials believe. it
was only a matter of time. The large
number of aviation casualties the
wartime pilots attributed, with a
shrug OF their shoulders, to Fate, the
medical officer knew was the result
OF physical or mental fatigue, avoid
able to a large degree by a more
rigid selection of personnel and more
thorough regulation of their flight
duty.
Valued Investment,
Establishment Of the School of
Aviation Medicine in the years i'm
mediately after the war is likely to
prove one of the best investments
the War Department has made in
view of the growing importance Of
aviation in the scheme of national
defense. To it can be credited the
smooth-running machine which is
selecting the additional pilot ma