AIR THRILLS FOR PEACE TIME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 88, 8 January 1919, Page 6

AIR THRILLS FOR PEACE TIME

—4 THE SPORTING TOUCH. "Flying is becoming far too safe for me. I shall give it up after the ■■war' and start a society for the promotion of dnngerous pastimes." .This was the verdict of one pilot at an R..A.F. mess the other day. Such a statement could not long go unchallenged, and much heated ■ argu-. ment followed. „' An instructor suggested to the speaker thot lie should go for a cross-country flight with a "dud"pupil to realise that even now "home (lying slill has its little adventures. Another pilot suggested that lie should try to loop a box-kite, a third advocated a revival of freak ma- , chines of the early days, and a fourth offered to arrange a quick rclensn of the propeller in mid-air! Then the mess voted on it, and by 4 to 1 it was decided that flying at. home is too safe. "It'.s like this," went on the danger: seeker, "If big-game shooting l or ovon onr modest little hunts nt home were perfectly safe, they would cease to attract sportsmen. Where' there is no risk there is no pleasure for many of us. That's why we are so far ahead of the Hun at the front. To us Hun-killiig i* a snort because it is risky. To the Hun. in most enses, enemy strafing is a cold-blooded.business. The enemy'rarely takes a risk in the air. so he can't appreciate the sport of it." . This argument seemed to convince many of the sceptics. They discoverpcl that it was the risk of war flying that really appealed tn t'>em. ■ What, then, would they do after the war? There was only, one conel"':!"'!. Aerial stpepleehasing would have to be invented v by somebody. A thirty-mile race over open enuntry nt not more than 15ft. from the <Frmind sounds very nttractive. The low-flving pilots nt the front and those nd'-entumns yoniiiT gontlpnien -who piny tip-and-run with our chimney-pots, nt home would certainly not be. among the "also rans." Such nirmen wmild be of exceptional value to anyone who bns the foresight tn keep a "stnMp" of flving machines and a number of aerial jockeys. Obstacles would be -"'ovided ovp" Hie course .it no cost. There nre-sufficient-trees and hills in the country to snti.cfv thp ninot pmbitioiis pilot if 'he is flving at 15ft. There would he enough risk tn ea'Gsfy even out niv pinne.ers who wt up vears ni»o wiHi "AnA" purines stuck to pieces of "-ood nnd 'canvas. Tbp mei" i>id tbornnuhly mnde'up its mind on "'I the?p nc'nts, when the tame ppwi.inist had nn idea: "Ym, hive sn»>o Trent fliniurMs/* Tip. s->id cvnif-l'v. "but vnu , ™ (Wnlton mp thill!!.' TMs cmi'irry ,ril] have some strom-rer nir'lnvs after flie i.-n-\ l>n(1 VOU '■■'" 111' We tn n-et SnT»e!>odv to run with n "e , ' fla» before pvpry '!!»«■ thnt !rop« onf if ">" inw-pi'R f nke a fancy to nvintioii!"—"Daily Mail."