HOW TO BEHAVE IN AN AEROPLANE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14223, 20 November 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

HOW TO BEHAVE IN AN AEROPLANE.

WHAT THE SKY-SAILOR HAS TO ■ . KNOW. •■ Mr S. F. Cody, writing in the Daily Express, on the above subject, says: —

The first principle of the capable aviator is to be able to understand by sound when a petrol engine is labouring under difficulties.

Every part of an engine has its own particular noise, and these working in unison form the regular throb of its no/rmal running. ' ,

This will be subdued greatly as soon" as the machine leaves the ground: whether it is because the vibration ceases and modifies the harshness of the sound, or whether the engine receives a heavier load and gets more seriously to work, I do not venture to say. Only, one must have a keener ear for the sound of the engine in the air than one need have while it is working on the ground. ' The slightest false note in the orchestra of all the parts of the engine must be instantly taken as a warning and rectified. HIGHER JUMPS. Having once mastered the possibility of jumping ten to twenty yards with the aeroplane and making it land without striking the ground too hard, the natural inclination is to make the jumps greater until you can fly over, trees, people, hills, and other obstacles. This accomplished, the feeling is: "Why can't I go higher?" and you endeavour to make your aeroplane climb the heights of space. Here- danger begins. So far in those minor jumps the chief danger has been to the aeroplane. ■ You might land too suddenly and strike the ground with a jerk. You are like a liftman working a lift badly —and indeed, in an aeroplane which rises and falls badly the sensation is of being in a lift. •■■. .

But when you get over the trees, high up in the air, you take your life with you. There are many emergencies for which you must be prepared—emergencies which must' be met without a moment's hesitation, or else death claims you. . The machine suddenly endeavours to stand still in the air. Then, if you are not very quick in your decision to dip your head rudder and glide towards the ground, disaster is certain. ,„ i < : '■•■'. .-■■•-■ DANGER. " If the machine should once start down backwards from a considerable height, I cannot see how a total wreck and the death of the pilot could be avoided. I have on two occasions caused my machine to poise in the air. Once I was 40ft high, and I managed to dip my : head ; rudders quickly enough to regain her lift before reaching the ground. On. the other occasion I attempted to raise my. head rudders as a brake to check my momentum after landing, and the machine shot into the air again for 40 yards, coming to a dead standstill 10ft from the ground, and then dropped straight, like a stone, on its wheels. * ; ■

This was a valuable demonstration of the strength of my aeroplane: nothing was broken but one tail support.

Danger lurks behind a thick clump of trees if you are flying towards it in the teeth of the wind. The men who go up in the air in fliers must understand the air.

The wind will be found to blow over the top of the trees and down towards the ground. This has a tendency to drive the front part "of the machine down, with the result that if you are close to the trees a collision is almost unavoidable. , The same applies if you are approaching a steep bank or hill, but on the contrary if the wind is blowing with you, then & is a rising current over the hill. All this you must know and be prepared for. .- •" ~ . ■v.•': , , .. NO CHARTS. ... . > v ' ' " .'..-■ The air-sailor must know the uncharted currents and eddies in the atmosphere. I fancy the day of such air-charts will come, when by Jong study men will : gauge the pressure of wind over certain hills / and heights. ■ ; Even now I think I could make a chart for aeronauts to work from. The capable cross-country . aviator must carry at least a map of the district over which he is flying, a compass, an anemometer, and a watch. They should all bo visible to him during his journey, and not hidden away in. pockets. :- ,;- s His left hand should never leave the steering column, though the right hand may be removed for adjusting ignition, oil supply, petrol, signalling, or photographing. I consider that an. aeroplane which demaids the use of both, hands to keep it on a level keel is as far behind the single control lever as the old boneshaker is behind the bicycle of to-day. Last, the aviator must have no /nerves' to lose. > He must not dwell too much en: the point that he is in an aeroplane between the skies and the earth.

■ He must imagine that he is in a motorcar with the tree-tops for the sides of the roads— he must avoid the tree-tops accordingly. ■ . , ■ ■■■