THE IDEAL AVIATOR.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 288, 9 June 1909, Page 8

THE IDEAL AVIATOR.

A distinguished acroplanist has said that learning to fly is no more difficult tli an learning to ride a bicycle. Certainly a Frenchman learned to drive, the AVright machine in seven lessons — approximately two and a -half hours of tuition — or less time than most people spend in learning to control a bicycle. "But 'the man who goes in for aeroplaning is a man of more than average nerve, and what seems easy and safe to him -would be difficult and dangerous to another. As aeroplanes may be on the market her fore long for all who desire to buy them, it is worth considering what arc the qualities and knowledge necessary' and desirable for the aviator. Nerve is the first requisite. According to a Paris correspondent who has calculated expert opinions on the subject, the aviator nrust be absolute, master of his mind and will. He ■should bo fairly strong, and not heavy. Extra weight in.- human flesh means carrying less petrol, and that means restricted flight. The ideal pupil of aviation is something of an ideal sportsman. The mofe games he has played, the more outdoor pursuits he, has followed, the better fitted is/he for flight in .the air. Mr Farmaii, who has practised more sports thai! most men, says that every sport contributes a quota of useful knowledgo to the equipment of the aviator. Climbing and cycle racing teach balancing; ballooning the judging of distance---a difficult matter at first, because of the new angle at which one looks at the landscape; sailing verses one in the tricks of the wind ; "motoring enables one to judge speed. The judging of distance is an important matter. All is strangely' fore-shortened from above and the untrained eye is at once con- j fused ; ten yards ahove ground may seem a •hundred, and, at. time, the opr posito may be the case. When flying above the tall poplars and elms that decorate the^ plains-- of France such mistakes are dangerous. While some experts think that an aviator need be nothing more than an average man, Mr Farman thinks he should bo something .of. an athlete, very "much of a sportsman, and an allround man.