BEFORE A FLIGHT

Evening Star, Issue 21292, 22 December 1932, Page 7

BEFORE A FLIGHT

HIGH NERVGUS STRAIN MOLLISON'S CONFESSION MUST BE PREPARED Most people—even those one least suspects—have a skeleton in their cupbeard There is natural curiosity to discover just what that skeleton is. And so Maboth Mosley went off for the ‘ Sunday Graphic 1 on'the quest—to find the skeleton in the cupboards of some of the most notable people of today. In the minds of millions of people the .name of J. A. Mollison stands for courage, hardihood, and physical endurance, Miss Mosley writes. I suppose that no other man throughout history has .received more admiration or suffered more hero 1 worship. Apart from the splendour of his achievements a halo of romance enfolds him. He has married a woman as famous and intrepid as himself. He is young, goodlooking, and he has achieved what some of us had thought impossible in this age of the machine; he has removed the spirit of adventure from the premature grave in which it was interred immediately following the war. Small wonder that this weary, povertystricken world honours the name of J. A. Mollison!. In grasping fame he has given us back a little of the something we had lost; that idealistic, naive, sneaking ' admiration .for noble deeds and great adventures' which symbolise the Peter Pan in all of us. • 'When 1 went to call on Him- at his luxurious West End hotel, I expected to.find a typical man of action, tall, well-built, rather careless of his appearance, entirely .devoid of imagination. The moment he came into, the room 1 thought f should have recognised him anywhere from his photographs, yet .my expectations were rudely shattered. NO ILLUSIONS. He is of medium height, slim, and fair, of complexion. His appearance is elegant, and he has the eyes of the airman and the visionary, eyes which have looked into eternity, and have seen things of which most men have never dreamed. Sitting down opposite, he smoked a cigarette with quick, nervous movements. But for this, and his remarkable eyes, I should have described him as a typical young man about town. Actually he is • a combination 6f the worldling, the airman, and the visionary. .'“The skeleton in my cupboard,” he said, “is anxiety. Before making an important flight I invariably wonder if I shall arrive safely at my destination. I try not to think I shall crash or end in a watery , grave; • ’ ■ j “ It is often thought that,men who try to set up flying .records are either slightly mad or utterly lacking in imagination. That is wrong. If they were not completely sane, .responsible, and . sensitive individuals they'd be quite incapable of planning a.flight and carrying it out. They wou|d lack the delicacy, of touch , essential to the skilful handling of an aeroplane. A highly-efficient pilot is, in his way, an artist. Precisely because he is sensitive and imaginative ’ he realises quite well the difficulties of a flight, say, to the Cape, or to Australia; long before he actually embarks on the' adventure. He has’up illusions about the danger. He knows perfectly , well that if the slightest thing goes, wrong he may be doomed. So much, is dependent on luck, and this anxiety is always, at the back of his mind. ' : “ Naturally, one takes every possible precaution. The man who succeeds in breaking records is in direct antithesis to the reckless, foolhardy, dare-devil whb usually ends up by breaking his neck .after causing other people a vast amount of unnecessary trouble. PRECAUTIONS. “ The serious pilot takes every precaution before the flight. Precautions are made with scientific exactitude. So. far as human skill can avail him he leaves nothing to chance. “ Before setting out .on my recent Atlantic flight 1 did everything possible to ’ minimise the risk. This East to West flight is probably the most hazardous in the' world, and I knew it before leaving England. I knew, too, that in spite of almost superhuman precautions there. is always an element of doubt, and—l confess 1 was apprehensive.” • Mr Mollison broke off and smiled. Somehow, this smile was reassuring enough to convince the most hardened sceptic that whatever anxieties Mr Mollison may entertain he will always •manage to overcome them. Ho is the finest of all types, the type of man who, in wartime, would perform at great risk to himself a tremendous act of gallantry and confess,afterwards that he Was trembling with fright. This is real courage. The unimaginative person who boasts that ho knows no fear is not really brave—merely insensitive. He has nothing to conquer. “Of course,” Mr Mollison continued, “ nothing is to be gained in this wofTd without risk. The biggest prizes come to those who are willing to sacrifice everything. , But, as I have pointed out, - one must combine, this with common sense, otherwise one’s attempt tft gain „ success resolves itself into foolhardy recklessness. . NOTHING WITHOUT RISK. “Even so, I derive. great. comfort from the-belief that nothing is gained' without risk. .It is one of the few platitudes containing an element of truth. It there is the least possibility of succeeding in ‘ any undertaking J go nil out for it. The saying has helped and cheered me in many difficult situations. . The loneliness and .monotony of flying on and on, often through dense fog, over oceans and jungles, is incomprehensible to those, who nave never experienced it. It is then that I remember the rewards great enterprise brings in its train, and I feel heartened and encouraged. The skeleton is pushed back into its cupboard once again. “Although the physical strain of making a flight from east to west across the Atlantic is considerable it is not nearly so - groat as the nerve strain before, during, and after. Nerve strain is always there. I am keyed up _to the nth degree on the eve of an important flight. Waiting for good weather conditions is intolerable. But I won’t make this an excuse for the apprehension I experience. The truth is that T have too much imagination! Mr Mollison smiled again, but did not add that the very quality which has enabled him to dream great dreams and to plan and_ carry out great adventures is the quality which makes him face, and live, danger in advance. By overcoming apprehension he has nroved himself a worthy recipient of the honours already paid him and of others yet to come. This hero, who confesses to nervousness, should be proud, rather thnh ashamed, of the skeleton in his cupboard.