Glorified Chauffeurs.

Progress, Volume VII, Issue 2, 1 December 1911, Page 899

Glorified Chauffeurs.

A writer in a new work on aviation asserts that most of the present day flying men are only “glorified chauffeurs. ’’ The only pity, to my mind, is that they might faithfully answer to this description, for it is in ignorance of their engines and of speed matters generally that most aviators fail. Many of our flying men are recruited from the ranks of the sons of

wealthy men, and so the success of those who soar to the limelight is often due to naught else but the unseen preliminary work done on their machines by some, for the time being, unknown French mechanic. The great Yedrines was, eighteen months ago, the humble mechanic to the actor-airman, Lorraine. The latter made many good flights, but none can doubt that their successful issue was

due to Yedrines and Yedrines’ skill as a mechanic. ' A young man with an abundance of money and spare time can readily become an aviator nowadays. He will have the best machine; will have highly paid French mechanics to do all the delicate work of adjusting and overhauling engine and planes, so that his task is merely to pilot a super-excellent aeroplane. It will benefit the sport and business of aviation greatly if the majority, and not the small minority, of aviators were glorified chauffeurs, with a mechanical bent.