COMING CHANGE

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 103, 28 October 1932, Page 7

COMING CHANGE

FUTURE OF FLYING

OWNER-PILOT'S ADVENT LANDING PROBLEMS' There is, I believe, a close affinity between the problems of motoring and flying-^perhaps I .should say between those of road and air motoring. The possibilities of both were- realised a great many years ago, and both had to await the coming of the petrol engine before any substantial progress could be made, writes the Earl of Cardigan in the "Daily Mail." The' early drivers, like ; the early pilots, were regarded either as criminals or imbeciles. In both cases public opinion gradually changed, and the new machines were accepted—with certain reservations. With a chauffeur at the wheel, with a professional pilot in the cockpit, with an expert mechanic hovering in the background—it was under these conditions that a place was found for them in the scheme of things. Then, in the case of motoring, came a tremendous change, marked by the advent of the owner-driver. It is not too much to say that the motor-car has been revolutionised since this individual made his appearance on a large scale some ten years ago. A PRACTICAL PERSON. Are we, I wonder, on the verge of just such a revolution in regard to flying? The owner-pilot, a new and still ( a rare species, is appearing here and there, and-we are beginning to receive him less as an enterprising lunatic and more as a practical, normal person. And why not?. Of what crime is the aeroplane ' guilty, apart,from its relative youthfulness, that we should look at it askance? Is it dangerous? Certainly not. The vast majority of civilian flying accidents are due, not to any failure on the part of the machine, but to some failure of the human element. Sometimes—not often —it is a failure of skill; far more commonly it in a failure of ordinary prudence. Given a skilful and prudent pilot, I seriously regard the aeroplane as a safer vehicle than most. It has the j immense advantage of being an entirely' independent »init. It is never at the mercy of "the fool around the corner." It has complete freedom of manoeuvre. A sudden emergency is rarely met with. Even a forced landing, the beginner's bugbear, occupies a period of roughly three minutes under normal circumstances, so that to be taken by surprise is a very unusual happening indeed. ' Is it unreliable? Far from it. In I the first place, an aeroplane, being an j essentially simple./ piece of mechanism, has very few components which are liable to failure. Secondly, the amount of care 'taken to see that nething ever does go wrong would astonish the j owner of any other vehicle. If any [part of the machine—as, for instance, I the magneto—is at all susceptible to trouble, it is duplicated. ' | Is it difficult to manage? I think not. | The art of flying has, of course, a techI nique of its own, but this can be readi ily mastered by anyone possessing good ."hands" and accurate judgment. The J purely _ mechanical mind, curiously enough, is sometimes at a disadvantage i —for mathematical precision cannot be brought to'bear upon a fluid element— and thus the average woman may easily prove a more apt pupil than, let us say, the racing motorist. EASIER THAN A CAR. Once in the air, the pilot actually | has a very much easier job than the ordinary motorist. When driving over crowded roads, I find that I have to exert a fairly high degree of intelligence more or less continuously if I am to keep up a reasonable average speed without getting into trouble. In the air, apart from the problems of navigation, I, have to exercise intelligence only twice in each flight—when taking off and when landing again. A large jjiroportioh of each journey is spent .in^leanjng' back and enjoying myself. .■: " ~. What, then, are the problems that confront the' owner-pilot? How is it that the species does not increase more rapidly? Apart from the obvious question of expense, the chief reason, as I see it, is that the aeroplane, so efficient and reliable in its own element, is by.no. means handy in relation to the earth from which it must start and to which it must return. It demands a very considerable amount of space both for taking-off and landing purposes, so that it can only operate between fields of more than ordinary si^e. This, of course, is a great nuisance, since large fields are not always available where and when they are needed, and we may reasonably ask what .the owner-pilot is going to do about it. LANDING; SPEEDS. So far, he has contented himself with stressing the'need for more aerodromes up -and down the country. I am aware that I am. in the minority, but I believe this to be a hopelessly wrongheaded solution of the basic with wheih civil i aviation is confronted. The crying need, as I see it, is not to make our fields, safe and suitable for aircraft, but to make our aircraft safe and suitable lor fields. The fields are there.- There is one, for instance, opposite to my front door,, and I have the owner's permission to make use of it. It is a good-sized field, but I, as an amateur, could not get. into it unless the wind happened to be blowing the right way. If I got into it, the wind might change, and I could not get out again. . ■ In my view, the owner-pilot ought to agitate for lower landing speeds. It would not make much difference to him if some of his top speed were sacrificed. The difference between 80 and 90 m.p.h. in the air is not perceptible except by studying the clock. The difference between landing in my field and going to the aerodrome six miles away is obvious and annoying. If the history of motoring is any guide, the really big advance in civil aviation will not come until the voice of the owner-pilot is heard in the land. Not merely the voice of the speedmerchant—still less the voice of the stunt-merchant—but the voice of the practical man asking for a strictly practical machine. _ A boring fellow, no doubt, this practical man-in-the-street; but ho sometimes pla3's a very useful part. It was He, and no other, who gave us the £100 motor-car. It is he, and no other,, who will bring the aeroplane within the reach of the owner-pilots of the future.