DEATH IN FLYING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 242, 18 February 1911, Page 9

DEATH IN FLYING

KILLING OV HOXKEY AND MOISSANT Ralph Johnstone dead, ,]oliu Moissant (lend, Arch. Ilox.sey dead, and nineteen other aviators killed in various parts of the world in 11)10. The time (says a contemporary) is appropriate for the plea for sane caution that conies from Cortland Field Bishop, president of the Aero Club of America. "The progress of aviation in 11)10 was phenomenal," said Mr. Bishop, in a New Year message, "but how many of those who contributed to it yielded their lives? The three Americans who excepted all others by their feats at Belmont Park have met violent doatns in the sixty days that have elapsed since the close of the international meeting. If aviation is going to be of any use, if it is to become si factor in civilisation, it must he made, safe. "Elated by his lirst success, man has grown over-confident and become emboldened to attempt tilings that are beyond his present ability. We don't understand perfectly yet the possibilities and the limitations of the frail craft we have built to navigate the air, and have presumed too much upon their strength. "in 1010 the world marvelled at what aviator.? did. In 1011 let it be shown what they can safely do. Let all the skill expended in 1010 in producing spectacular effects be expended this year for useful results." TWO KILLED TN ONE DAY. Americans have been roused by the killing in one day of two of the most famous birdmen their country has produced. On the last day of the old year Moissant and Hoxscy made their fatal Higlits, the former at New Orleans and the latter at Los Angeles. Like almost every other victim of the year, they had taken chances. Each chose to ignore the dangers of a high wind; Moissant tried to land in a way that lie knew to be risky, and Hoxsey ventured on a spectacular spiral glide —one of the most touchv tricks at the best of times.

A vivid description of Moissant's fall is given by G. F. Campbell-Wood, representative of the Aero Club of America, who was 'within a few feet of the spot where the aeronaut was dashed to earth. He said Moissant was flying with his back to the wind when he prepared to land. It is usual to land against the wind and is considered much safer, but Moissant had often before landed in this way in stronger winds. He seemed to delay coming down till he was within 200 or 300 feet by horizontal distance from the land place. He then made a very sharp dip. When lie was about a hundred feet from tlie ground he stopped his motor. At that moment a strong gust of wind struck the tail of the craft, lifting it up. The angle of descent was suddenly increased to an almost vertical drop, and the ground was too near for recovery. Before the machine reached the earth, Moissant was shot out of his seat as from a catapult. The machine fell so straight that it stuck exactly where it landed, but the aviator circled through the air and landed thirty-six feet away. Moissant had had an adventurous career. He had led a revolutionary expedition against President Figueroa, of San Salvador. He had been drawn into the whirlpool of Central American politics through his two brothers, who owned a coffee plantation in Salvador. Both the brothers were imprisoned by Figucroa on suspicion that tney were fostering a seditious plot. John appealed to Washington on their behalf, but gained no satisfaction. Then, with the aid of President Zclaya, of Nicaragua, Moissant himself organised a raid upon Salvador. With a hundred Xicavaguan .soldiers and 200 Indians pressed into service, he set out to conquer Salvador and rescue his orothcrs. He steameu into Acajutla, a fortified port, on June 12, 1907, bombarded the fortress until it was untenable, captured the garrison, and in five hours had the place in his possession. He liberated his brothers and contented himself with capturing another town near the city of San Salvador. Then he returned to the United States, and was little heard of until he appeared in France as an aviator. In a very short time he gained international fame by crossing the English Channel with a passenger. He won the famous race around the statute of Liberty in New York harbor at the recent international meet, defeating Claude Grahame-Whitc and Count de Lesseps.

HOXSEY'S LAST GLIDE. A few minutes after Moissant had been dashed to deatn at New Orleans, Arch. Iloxsey read of it at Los Angeles, lie remarked that Moissant had always been a man to take risks, and added: "He must have been weary from too mucb driving." Then Hoxsey went out and mounted his plane, assuring the crowd at the aviation field that he was going to beat his own record for altitude. Aftel the ascent he. was seen racing earthward! in a spiral glide, playing with a tricky wind. An unexpected current apparently caught him, tossed him about, and then dashed him to death from a height of over 500 feet. The horror of the sight struck the great crowu silent. For many minutes not a voice was heard. Then came the official announcer, shouting brutally through a megaphone, "Hoxsey has been killed.'• The spel! broke, and from every side women's sobs came whispering. The real cause of Hoxsey's fall has become a subject of controversy. Tt was remarked by fellow aviators that he appeared to make no effort at all to regain control, and it is held by many that his heart must have been stopped by the sudden descent. The changes of air pressure during a drop from a great altitude are a severe tax on a man's endurance.

THE BTRDMAN'S SENSATTONS. Tt is not given to many to know the feeling that "comes to a flying man when his control slips, the machine dips or heels over, and the wings lose their grip of the air. fiaping spectators that see a human being tossed about in the clouds and then a mangled corpse on the field, have the vaguest idea of the man's terror. And most of the aviators dislike to speak of the risks tney meet. Armstrong Drexel, however, is one who has known' all the dangers of aerial flight and is not bashful in talking ofthem. Tt is easv lor in to speak; there is no fear of his losing his name for courage after the deeds he has performed, for he is one of the most famous of altitude climbers. And he is rich enough to be independent of (he rebukes of his chief. In an interview in the New York World. Drexel tells of his sensations in operating his Bleriot. "The Bleriot," lie says, "is run by a wheel that acts almost like a pendulum. Pulling the wheel back makes the tail fall, and you go up in the air. Pashms the wheel makes you descend. And, mind, if you lose your control it is finished unless von are at a great height. Then von might possibly pick up your control again, but probably not. "Tn my Bleriot T went iip 7000 feet in thirly minutes. If the wrong thing had happened, T might have gone down tail first or head first. There is hardly any <way to jet back all right unless you are able to catch the planing angle. "At .such a height you lose contact ■with the earth. You can't see very much, hut you can feel you're all right. Yet I can't look over the side of a house •without feeling rather queer. I can't stand on the edge of a precipice, or look

out of the window of a sky-scraper. Hut up in an aeroplftiife I have none of those feelings. When 1 am. high up £ feel perreetly sale. Of course, it is awfully cold/and you get the propeller blast right iu the face, which is not at all inspiring. ''lf the motor stops at one of those lofty heights, you must plane down; and' then you take a chance with your car-drums; for, u you come down too rapidly they will break. The sudden change from high altitudes is apt to affect one in other ways, too. M.orane had to plane down from 7500 feet last year at Trouvilc, and he was out of his head for half an hour afterwards.

"I must admit," concluded the millionaire, "my people want me to chuck the game. But once a fellow gets into it he never stops unless he. loses his nerve."