OCR Text |
Show HOW UNCLE SAM TRAINS MEN FOR THE AVIATION CORPS gine, detecting trouble, making such repairs as he might be called on to make If he had to descend for cause during a flight. We give him textbooks text-books on motors, too, and something about aero-dynamics, and teach him how to observe the earth as it flies under him. When the young aviator is competent com-petent to handle his machine he is introduced into more complicated work, scouting and maneuvering. For instance, on a recent day a motorcar was sent on a devious ten-mile ten-mile journey over little frequented Long Island roads. Its top was broadly broad-ly striped In black and white, but otherwise oth-erwise it could not be told from the tens of thousands of other cars which are constantly on the move over the island. "Twenty-four army airplanes went up to seek the car. Twenty-one left here and three came from the government gov-ernment school at Governors Island, New York city. "The car with the striped top repre sented the head of an enemy convoy. The airmen were to detect the head of the supposed column while the latter lat-ter was still far from its objective, the aviation field, for there must be time to make the imaginary artillery attack upon it effective. Problems Easily Solved. For the problem the map of Long Island near the flying field was divided di-vided into 24 sectors, one being given to each scout. The lucky man who found the car whirred back to the field 1 field explains the course of instruction instruc-tion : "After the student has passed his preliminary physical examination and has had the mechanism of the machine ma-chine drilled Into him, we turn him over to an instructor, who takes him up on a joy ride as a passenger. He goes up about 3,000 feet the first time. When he becomes, during successive suc-cessive flights, accustomer" to the Army Schools Are Speeding Up Work to Supply Fliers for New Army. SCHOOLING MOST THOROUGH Pick of the Land Intellectually and Physically Is the Raw Material of the Field First Taught Mechanics Mechan-ics and Work Gradually Up to Difficult Feats ' In Flying. New York. Undo Sum's new army must have the best aviators In the world. This Is the order that has come from Washington, and the army schools throughout the country are Ktrlving to carry It out. There are many obstacles and disco dis-co uragem en ts, fast scout planes are almost non-existent this side of the Atlantic,, but the standard already reached means as vast advance. A trip out to the big government flying school on Hempstead Plains, near Mineola, L. I., shows a scene of bustling activity, a beehive of industry, indus-try, which has speeded up even over its former strenuous pace In the last few days. At the entrance to the field a stalwart stal-wart private, an automatic on his hip, challenges the visitor and scrutinizes scru-tinizes closely the papers shown. A step through the gate discloses inside in-side the fence a scene to rejoice the heart of the small boy a vast expanse, ex-panse, on which great mechanical falcons fal-cons purr and skip, now rising into the clouds and now descending swiftly and gracefully to the level turf. Framing the jiicture are rows of airplane air-plane sheds, or hangars, barracks, machine ma-chine shops, offices and other rough buildings which have mostly been knocked Into shape In the last few weeks. Scores of students and mechanicians mecha-nicians hustle around and over the winged monsters, oiling, plying the wrench, making tests and seeking the slightest flaw, for every flying machine ma-chine must always be in the top notch of condition. Pick of the Land There. War will probably soon change the conditions here in many ways indeed, some differences are already noticeable from peace days. But most of the stu-dents stu-dents are still paying their way and not a small price either. After passing pass-ing his flying test a student muet turn over a $500 tuition fee and $300 more is due on final examination. The student stu-dent must weigh not more than 190 pounds stripped, and "must furnish evidence evi-dence of having a college education and be of good moral character." The pick of the land intellectually and physically is the raw material of the field. Out of such promising novices nov-ices Uncle Sam makes finished bird-men bird-men in three months and now even this brief training period may be cut 1 down. The captain iu command of the l(U)wtfi1vrjr''iiii i.i v ii''-.ni.i,i... i..i,ii....VM...,k., .u.u..,, j B Where Aviation Is Taught. i swift rush of the air aloft, so disconcerting dis-concerting to the novice, he is permitted per-mitted to handle the controls himself, but the Instructor is there to correct any errors very promptly. "In turn he is passed from one to another of the instructors until four have had him, and then they make four separate reports on him. After that we begin his training in real earnest, as we have learned then whether he is cut out to be an aviator. avi-ator. Training Is Thorough. "We have found that a student cannot can-not assimilate more than half an hour's lesson aloft in a day; that is, he does not profit by a longer lesson. So when he comes down he Is put to work at the mechanics of the job, dismantling and assembling his en- in short order and Mineola was "saved." In another problem three Fast L. W. F. tractors were sent to a far distant point, which was npt disclosed to the students, and there sent up as scouts of an enemy bent upon taking photographs photo-graphs of the Mineola field. The students stu-dents were to locate these machines and drive them back by heading them off. They did this with ease. Not all the feats attempted work out well, because real swift machines are lacking. The slower machines do not stand up so well in a gale, although al-though otherwise easier to manage. It is understood the fastest machines now at the field are the L. W. F. tractors, capable of 95 miles an hour. British and French scouts make 135 and 138 miles an hour. The new Mo-raineSaulnier, Mo-raineSaulnier, according to Miss Ruth Law, the flying woman, makes 150 miles an hour. Airplanes much slower slow-er are useless on the western European Euro-pean battle front. Students start learning to fly at Mineola on the poky J. N. 4 Curtiss biplanes, bi-planes, which go at the snail's pace of 75 miles an hour. However, it is taken for granted that the deficiency in fast machines will soon be remedied. All the art of airplane air-plane building the French and British have learned in nearly three years of warfare will be placed at the disposal of the new ally. Commissions of Anglo-French flying men and builders will assist the United States' army in manufacturing and teach the latest tricks of the trade to our aviators. What They Must Do. The Mineola school is officially an aviation section of the signal officers reserve corps. Civilian volunteers enter en-ter as sergeants and become lieutenants lieuten-ants in the reserve on passing their examinations. These "exams" are not to be sniffed at. Here are some of the tilings the young collegian must do: He must climb out of a field 2,000 feet square and attain an altitude of 500 feet while keeping all parts of his machine within the square; he must cut off his motor at a height of 1,000 feet and land within 200 feet of a designated point ; he must land over an assumed obstacle ton feet nigh and come to rest within 1,500 feet of it; he must fly for 45 minutes at an altitude of 4,000 feet. "The psychology of this flying busi-ness busi-ness so far as the students are concerned," con-cerned," says the commandant of the field, "is a singular thing. In considering con-sidering it you must put fear out of the reckoning. The students are never frightened. The fact of the matter Is that they go into it thinking think-ing that it's a daredevil job. Then they go up and they're disappointed it isn't the daredeviltry they thought at all. So what do they do? They tend to go to the other extreme ex-treme right away and we have to keep them from killing themselves with sheer recklessness. We have lo teach them with every ounce of abll-'ity abll-'ity we possess that if they make the one slip they seem determined to make it will be the very last slip they'll ever make." |