A Woman's Slant on Aviation

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22991, 19 March 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

A Woman's Slant on Aviation

Visions Above the Clouds

By UNA AULD

(~)NE of the most valuable things a holiday can do, I think, is to show us something new, to stimulate us with something entirely different from j our normal routine. That holiday stimulation came for me recently through aviation something new enough to the average woman to be both absorbing and thrilling, especially when, as in my case, it was seen from two angles, the commercial and the military, thus illustrating to a great extent man's "slant" on aviation as compared with woman's. The; man's came first. Through the courtesy of a young pilot-officer, I was taken to see some night-flying at one of the Government aerodromes. On the landing-ground, against the black background of the night, carefully-placed Hares burned spectacularly. There was the vibrant hum of a powerful motor, and at the signal the first aeroplane > took off i into the darkness. Immediately, the aerodrome's truck, ambulance, and fire extinguisher were at hand in readiness for emergencies, for it is a rigid rule that the instant an aeroplane moves off on a flight, each of these threo safety measures must be ready for action. Near the starting point stood a signaller with whom the flier in the clouds communicated, and not till the signaller gave the word could the aeroplane land. Each machine up that night held both a qualified instructor, and a pupil. The Military Angle Inside the hangar was a never-to-be-forgotten sight—a row of great-winged, silver bombers, each worth roughly about twelve thousand pounds. Even "at rest" there was something terrifically significant and impressive about them. They had been designed for a purpose, and they looked like it. The young officer pointed to a chart showing their speed and petrol consumption per hour. He showed us the cover under which the pupil studies his instruments while ho is learning to "fly blind"; the "bead" by which the pilot gets his "sight" when an enemy aeroplane is being attacked; the position the bomber occupies while the bombing is in progress; the camera which takes the place of the bomb on instruction flights, taking photographs of what would nave been the bombs had they been used! We saw also the parachutes, on the cushion of which the airman sits. These embody the latest "quick-re-lease" device, which releases the whole apparatus in a split second from the parachutist's body and so saves him from being dragged down in a swamp or in water before he has a chance to get rid of the incubus. Nothing in modern warfare, in short, is left to chance. The most comprehensive of precautions and preparations are made to protect both the aeroplane and the airman. Man's brain has probed with infinite patience to perfect machines for man's self-defence —and destruction 1 Thrill of a First Flight It was a complete contrast after this to have my own first flight in a commercial machine over Cook Strait. Like hundreds of other women, 1 had never had the opportunity to "go up," and while theoretically keen, was secretly quavering at the thought. It did not Jielp, e|ther, to hear a bystander commenting on the apparent frailty of the wings; to be given an Airway's packet of chewing gum and cottonwool "for comfort and convenience," or to be strapped into my Beat —it was rather like being given a lifebelt in case the ship should sinkl But with a roar of the engine and propellers, we were "off," taxi-ine across the Blenheim airport toward the blueshadowed hills, then back and back, and up! I realised it only when I saw the cattle in the fields dwindling in size till they became like toys, and the sheep turning into mere dots on the green paddocks. 'How neat and fertile the country looked, with its glorious trees everywhere! And there was a river, and here the sea. The aeroplane lifted slightly—a strange but rather exciting sensation. Then it settled down again and we moved steadily on. I put my one-and-only straw hat firmly on my knees. No need to get worried just because we were passing over the sea. Why, we were above the clouds. It looked exactly as though we were travelling over gently undulating snowfields, as soft and white as cottonwool. Now the snowfields reared up into great peaks that shouldered their way jnto the blue, and there was a glacier, long, smooth, incredibly pure.. v Enchanted with a strange new world I peered to the other side. There the clouds had thinned, and I could see the waters of Cook Strait, falling away behind us like beaten pewter as the sun turned them to silver, but startlingly blue immediately below us. In the World, of Clouds Ah, there was a tremendous wall of white cloud beside us now, blotting out everything but the cloud-world. The pilot put his earphones on and we seemed to plunge straight into the dense white wall. As we plunged it changed to scudding blankets of cloud, flying by at a great rate, as though there were some aerial race in progress and every entrant was out to win. Now the Strait was clearly visible, and, yes, there was a tiny ship upon it, and on ; a hill in front of us a white cloud clutched coyly to the land's throat. Land? Oh, dear! It would be no time before we arrived in Wellington. There was the city shining in the distance. We passed over some sort of lighthouse that looked exactly like a freakish animal with a prehistorically long neck, and the wharves and houses of the city, came steadily nearer. Another "lift" and a little drop, the even roar of the engine, ships and beaches and houses falling away below us, a dipping down of one wing as we turned and banked to lose altitude, and before wo knew it we had touched the Kongo tai landing field. I took tho cottonwool out of my ears, and felt something beneath my feet. It was tho one-and-only straw hat, battered by tho trampling I had clone upon it in my excitement and exnilaration! It looked as though a thundering herd" had hoofed it in a wild stampede. But I regrotted nothing except tho fact that I could not "•V hack across the Strait again. Strange, with what ease wo humans can adapt ourselves to something entirely new. 1 had been intensely nervous about beginning that flight, and now was intensely reluctant to end it. lying high, with the clouds building new ami sweeping pictures before me every passing second, I had felt dimlv the all-powerful fascination that flvin'g must have for adventurous spirits , , a worl(1 a,) °ve, a world in the clouds. I hat commercial aviation should give it to us is good. That military aviation should use it for destructive ends seems, to the feminine mind, so ugly and insane. We must, of course, have self-defence. None but a fool would deny the necessity for that, but at least it is up to us as women to do everything we can to prevent self-de-from turning into destruction.