UP IN THE CLOUDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 146, 23 June 1931, Page 6

UP IN THE CLOUDS

PARACHUTES AND 'PLANES AN ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS. Learning to fly, and parachute jump lug, were the subjects of a very interesting address by Flying Officer Keith at tho weekly luncheon of the Rotary Club yesterday. In forming an aero club. Wanganui was but following the lead of many other towns in New Zealand, and the fact that the local club was now well established had much to do with the aid rendered by Mr J. 8. L. Deem, he said. Purpose of Clubs. Aero clubs were the nucleus of an air force in NvW Zealand, he continued. The Government could not afford to train all the pupils who wished to learn to fly, but the local clubs were all granted subsidies. Pupils were accepted between the ages of 18 and 34. between which ages they were neither too young nor too old to go to war. When the pupil had passed his flying lessons he was tested by a Government officer and if he was successful he was given his A certificate and the club given a subsidy of £25. Should a pupil possess a physical defect the subsidy was not paid to tho club though that did not prevent the pupil from flying. Most of the pupils were boys either from garages or from other engineering pursuits. They paid the club an entrance fee and commenced to take their lessons. The average time for a pupil to learn to fly was from five to seven hours, though it many cases it took much longer. Mr F. C. Chichester had taken 25 hours to learn to fly. On the first trial flight the pupils were taken up some 200 feet and were allowed to take over the controls of the machine to get the “feel” of it; the instructor also had his own controls so that there was nothing that could go amiss. At first they found it somewhat difficult to control the ’plane, but after an hour’s flying they could manage to get on much better. The speaker said that he never allowed pupils to remain in the air for longer than 15 minutes when learning to control the machine as they were apt to become very tired. Parachutes were worn by the pupils when learning to fly in England, but as the parachutes were expensive, costing about £BO each, they could not be acquired by the majeirity of local clubs in New Zealand. When the pupils had had forty hours’ flying they were al lowed to carry a passenger, and the speaker gave an instance of a pupil taking a passenger from Now Plymouth to Wellington and back again, some two hours’ flying each way.

Parachutes. Referring to the unfortunate accident which took place in the South Island recently when Lieutenant Haakon Qviller was killed on account of his parachute failing to open, Lieut. Keith said that a number of people appeared to think that parachutes were dangerous things. But that was not the case. On the occasion of his death Qviller had left a “bag.” in which he packed his parachute, in another part of tho country. He had gone aloft with the parachute under his arm instead of on the back as in the orthodox manner and, when he had dropped, ono of the ropes had not uncoiled correctly but had wrapped itself round the other ropes holding the umbrella. The result was that the parachute had failed to open with the disastrous result that the airman lost his life. Thrills in the Air. Qviller had nearly lost his life on more than one occasion, said Lieut. Keith. On one occasion he had wrapped his parachute up on the ground which was covered with snow. He jumped from a height of 10,000 feet and the parachute did not open. With presence of mind he discovered that on account of the parachute having been wrapped on the snow the ropes had become wot. On reaching the height of 10,000 feet the water on the ropes had consequently frozen with the result that all the ropes were bound together. Qviller pulled the ropes to him and by shaking them managed to break the ice which allowed the parachute to open and so land him safely.

Another curious experience that had befallen the unfortunate airman was when he jumped out of the ’plane and had the curious sensation that ho was not wearing his parachute. He remembered having strapped it on his back and also having slipped it off when he was watching a forest fire. He looked round for it and could not see it. But fortunately he had it on him and pulled the string which released the “umbrella.” Qviller had on one oc casion taken a “movie” as he de sccnded. Falling from a height was a wonder ful sensation, said Lieut. Keith, and gave one a drowsy sensation. Contrary to the theory taught in schools, when a man jumped from a height he did not accelerate at a uniform speed. Once he reached tho speed of 200 miles an hour or so he did not increase over that speed. No Giddiness. There was no feeling of giddiness when in an aeroplane, said tho speaker. Even when going into a spinning nose •live there wns no sensation of falling or, when looping the loop, there was no uncomfortable sensation. For a spin ning nose dive the pilot merely put his controls “central” and the ’plane righted itself while in the case of looping tho loop the ground merely seemed to be up in tho air instead of below. When in a spinning nose dive the machine was travelling towards the earth at something like 200 miles an hour—l9oo feet in three, seconds. Tlu* speaker said that ho had felt less giddy on the wing of a 'plane than when looking over tho side of a building. Asked whether two men dropping together on a parachute would make any difference to the speed of reaching the ground the sneaker replied that it would make a difference of four feet per second or three miles per hour, which was very slight. In answer to another question concerning a parachute, he said that it was expensive on account of it being made completely of silk. The diameter of a parachute was 20 feet and any pilot who used one had to wrap it up himself and sign for it. In the case of a beginner the instructor would ask whether the pupil was satisfied with his own wrapping and if it was correctly wrapped he would be allowed to strap it on. but if not the instructor would see that it was wrapped correctly. The parachute was attached to the body and the weight of the jerk as the parachute opened was distributed to four places. , Slots on aeroplanes were also mon-

tioned by Lieut. Keith, who said that there was an incorrect idea held by some people that they would hold the aeroplane up. The fact was that the slots, which were attached to the upper wing and looked something like gutter spouting, kept the nose of the 'plane up and did not allow it to go into a nose dive when the engine was stalled. The ’plane would naturally fall to the ground ano would drop at the rate 18 miles an hour which would not kily any of tho passengers. He added that? all the 'planes in Wanganui were fitted with slots, as indeed were most of the 'planes nowadays. On conclusion of his remark.’. Flying Officer Keith was accorded a vote of thanks for his address.