LOST IN THE AIR

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18581, 30 May 1930, Page 7

LOST IN THE AIR

HOW PILOTS GO ASTRAY. * TOO OFTEN A TRAGIC ENDING. (By Major Arnold, former Assistant Chief U.S. Army Air Force.) Pilots of aircraft have compasses, clocks, maps; the sun may be shining; prominent landmarks such as rivers, mountains or an ocean may be visible; the airman may have received instruction in navigation and yet few pilots can truthfully say that at some time or another they have not been lost. What are the conditions and circumstances which cause airmen, even very experienced airmen to lose their way in the sky? Ten years ago practically all aeroplane pilots followed either railway tracks or water ways when they took extended cross country flights. One reason for this was unreliability of the engines and the aircraft. Forced landings were the rule rather than the exception, and it was far better to land near a railway station than to come down miles from anywhere with a long walk to the nearest means of transportation. Then again few pilots could fly a compass course across unknown country with the equipment then available. | In recent years, aeroplanes, engines 1 and navigating equipment have been

1 so greatly improved that they operate efficienWv under nracticallv anv conditions which may be encountered. Maps are now available for pilots, , which cover all parts of the civilised world. Compasses are correct within a very few degrees, and yet airmen still occasionally stray far from their i course, even though the flying conditions are ideal. Such flights are hard to understand in view of the recordbreaking long distance flights, which occur quite regularly, and of the daily trips made by commercial and passenger pilots through fog, rain and snow, but no matter how perfect mechanical devices may be, mankind still makes errors. j Practically every pilot who has been 1 lost during flight had considerable cross-country experience, was flying a ’plane with a compass, and was using maps covering his projected course. Experience in aviation is a bitter teacher, but airmen, as a rule, learn more from experience than any other way. Unfortunately, mistakes in the air too often have a tragic ending. Those who make the mistakes seldom have a chance to profit by their errors on subsequent flights, but other aviators take advantage of every opportunity to learn. Generally speaking, it is very seldom that a compass has an appreciable error. Once the drift of the ’plane is determined, the comj pass course will lead to the destination. It is rather difficult to determine exactly what occurs when airmen are lost. Alibis are so easily made, and then again, men lose all idea as to details after trying experiences while lost. Indications are that in every case of airmen lost, the pilots become convinced that their compasses were in error, or did not allow for a wind that drifted their ’planes far off their course. They mistrusted their compass when it probably would have carried them to their destination.