Show by GEORGE BECK young man with a strong urge to become an aviator and who has the time to learn the science of flying in a thorough manner can do no better than to apply to uncle sam who operates the finest aviation schools in the country at fifteen army fields throughout the united states uncle sam has enrolled at present over reserve fliers whose training expenses far exceed per man the cost in any other branch of service for the privileges extended the reserve flier the value of the training he fete the good times he has all that uncle sam in return Is an intelligent industrious young man between the ages of twenty and twenty seven who has had at least two years college education and who has the makings of a filer in him in an exclusive interview the writer had for this article with captain frank M hawks just returned from a spectacular tour of europe in his speedy lockheed vega the texaco 13 hawks declared there was an urgent need for more and better trained pilots in this country the finer designing of planes he said and the necessary continued study of aeronautical ciance generally particularly with respect to training of airmen holds the future of avia alon in this country hawks firmly believes in the coming of high speed planes for commercial use for passenger transportation over the airways in speed he bays Is the future of flying in fact he believes in it for all future transportation land water and air the day Is coming he said w hen w e shall ride in planes that travel miles an hour trains that move at m p h and we will drive our automobiles over express highways at 60 and 70 miles an leour does that sound impossible then excuse it as the idle dream of a speed demon who likes to sit back in an easy chair and visualize through the smoke rings of bis cigar new speed pictures of tomorrow the glider captain hawks recommends as oae of the best means of training for the broth of aeroplane pilots primarily says captain hawks the glider has sound fundamental values unquestionably it offers a very safe and inexpensive means to student aviators for instruction the novice in flying gets a keener technique and a better knowl edge of aerodynamics in the first few tender hours of flying he can learn a great deal mere with a glider than with a plane he Is not depending upon the motor but Is lean ing currents of air the action of the controls he Is depending snore upon real flying as it is taught to us than by cheer horsepower every landing that he makes Is a forced landing because be has no motor so his judgment in approaching pro aching fields and landing on marks Is keener the novice receives the thrill of his afe en his first glider flight though its duration may be only half a minute he gains a decided feeling of power later when aloft for fifteen minutes alone I 1 have observed many skeptics make their first glider flight and have seen them change in a snap of the fingers from doubting to boasters boosters bo I 1 have seen many contemporaries who thought they had enjoyed all the thrills and sport of aviation through power driven airplanes turn to gliders like children to a new toy there s just as much skill required and just as much thrill and fun enjoyed in gliding as in speeding through the air at double express train paces the object of the flight of the texaco eaglet in which captain diaks wag towed from san diego to new york last bear by J D duke jr who flew the waco texaco 7 was to stimulate interest in gliding which in brief Is a cheap and safe stepping stone to powered machines provided of course that proper la Is first given the student obviously no will move from completion of a course in gliding to flying a ship such as the hawks speed plane with its engine of anore than horsepower abid a demonstrated speed of miles an hour but here again captain hawks has ideas if a kicker motor of two cylinders Is developed to drive gliders efficiently and safely a new intermediate ter and valuable step in aviation will have been accomplished says hawks further 1 1 I have made a few observations which have convinced me that the so called primary glider with its skeleton fuselage inefficient wings and controls has no place in the picture of american gliding activities I 1 would rather see young men start their glider work with the secondary or utility type of glider 1 I am opposed to the automatic launching device which earing tension snaps the glider into the air with such violence that it Is not only unnatural but extremely dangerous to even in experienced pilot I 1 believe that gliders and sf 4 fy ftc isma lr wW ST SS dij lt l t it over after the flight must be taken seriously by either those experienced in flying or by students it Is a real art not as simple to accomplish as it seems and cannot be taken lightly gliding in my opinion Is safe if properly supervised and instruction Is thorough if gliders remain only gliders they will still impart the fundamentals of flying and from them the student may step to a fledgling air plane and meet the horses that drive it here again progress Is obviously gradual but sure out of such a mill it Is easy to visualize the emergence of a new crop of aviators who might well provide considerable slipstream to veteran fliers of today at matchell Ml field long island one of the army flying fields where reserve training Is carried en there are planes reserved every week end throughout the year tor the use of reserve corps officers this Is the case at nearly all the army flying fields it Is the privilege of the officer and at the same time an air reserve corps requirement to fly an army plane a certain number of hours every month once a year the reserve corp officers train two week periods at the army fields through out the country at new york the observation squadrons composed of officers of the second corps area camp at the long island field dor ing the summer at fields in the south and south reserve corps training Is carried on through ut the year lectures by regular army aviation officials caver such subjects as radio communication and equipment navigation cross country flying aad merkil photography then with parachutes strapped to their backs a strict army regula alon the fliers put these lecture subjects to ac teal practice in the air in addition to formation and observation flying there are two primary aviation schools in texas and california and one advanced school at kelly field san antonio texas the grid aate of the reserve school goes in the regular anny for two years as a commissioned officer aad licensed pilot out of some several thousand applicants to the army flying schools every year a few ann decd are enrolled for the primary training I 1 ess than half of these succeed in obtaining their diploma commission and licence as a reserve army flyer this june OS cabets cadets received their wings at kelly field and were assigned to army fields throughout the country A few days before applicants were selected to be gin training courses in both the primary and advanced schools give the cadet hours in the air with the iry auxiliary studies in meteorology airplane engines navigation radio aerial gun nery and other academic and field subjects for military pilots besides strict physical examinations to determine whether or not the cadet Is going to make a filer he Is put through tests which are described as psychological by the instructors lie needs they maintain a re education to give alm air confidence and air sense one of the cabets cadets first experiences which Is almost as frightening as his first solo flight Is a tryout in an a device which whirls and revolves him through every revolution and movement a plane will make in the air it resembles the cockpit of a plane and in that the cadet sits the mechanism Is dual controlled that Is the cadet operates controls similar to those of an airplane and the in sitting outside of the device operates a control which puts the cockpit through its motions the instructor who gets a certain enjoyment out of the business no doubt tries to upset the equilibrium of the cadet while the cadet tries to maintain it soon after he enrolls the cadet starts actual dual flying after a few days of infantry drill and other ordinary military duties to put in the the badet that he is one of uncle sams soldiers within the first week he finds himself with his instructor ready for his initial flight the cadet is getting his first lesson to have full confidence in his instructor in order to put this over the instructor goes through a few spins and rolls until in some cases a cadet Is about ready to crawl in his teachers pocket another purpose of this flight is to have the cadet feel out the situation of flying for he Is told nothing before he starts except to hop in the plane the flying is done in the morning and the ground schooling in the afternoon of a day that lasts from C 30 until 4 30 ills next venture aloft the cadet Is told Is for air work it consists of straight flying spins banks forced landings and the course lasts ten flying hours in the forced landing instruction the instructor kills the engine while the plane is in some precarious position or locality and the cadet must glide to the ground safely A careless accident on his part will promptly eliminate him from the cadet rinks IHs next trial is a solo hop around the field watched closely by his instructor on the ground and when the cadet returns safely to the field even though he has shown possible great skill in handling his first flight he is greeted with well did ja bring that plane back without smashing it up by his instructor the pur pose of this is to keep the embryo pilot from getting a swelled head for eight months the cadet continues his les sons in his own plane those lessons include night flying acrobatics cross country and formation flying navigation gunnery bombing radio aad military tactics of all sorts hie training in acrobatics begins after he his had about twenty hours in the air keeping always a level head and a keen eye he must put his plane through spins nose dives loops rolls slow rolls liala rolls and snip rolls fly lag over an course he must always come out of a roll aiming his plane at a certain designation there is no fluttering about in the air A unique feature of gunnery practice Is the use of a camera gun with which the cadet trains a lens on the target and shoots n picture instead of a bullet the instrument resembles a gun in every way and the of it Is almost exactly similar the films are developed at the end of the attack and if a photograph shows the target a hit Is scored navigation and cross country flying are two of the most important branches of the flying course it covers the study of compass and instrument reading the use of the sextant and spotting an interesting subject too Is the study of artificial horizons horizons are created in the sky for the guidance of the favl gator just as a ships captain uses the actual horizon of the sea to determine his position in the advanced school to which the cadet goes for about four months after he completes the primary school course he gets classification training in all types of planes there it Is determined ter mined just what kind of flyer he is in the army there are four kinds observation group attack bombardment and pursuit the 0 erly cautious and apprehensive flyers are quickly detected and eliminated it is the pilot who can smilingly pull himself out of a barrel roll drop to the ground on a neat three point landing hop out and nonchalantly light a cigar who Is given the coveted gold wings G by Nw paper union |