Show capt H acks 0 us az a k J aerian 7 7 Acrobat 69 M 3 7 1 31 V 4 aw arti 4 by GEORGE BECK HE young man with a strong urge to become an aviator and who has hag the time to learn the science of flying in a thorough manner can do no better than to apply to uncle sam who orre operates rates the finest aviation schools in the country at fifteen army fields throughout the united states uncle sam has baa enrolled at present over reserve fliers whose training expenses empens es far exceed per man the cost in any other branch of service for the privileges extended the reserve flier filer the value of the training lie he gets the good times lie he has all that uncle sam requires 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 flier in him in an exclusive interview the writer had for this article with captain frank M hawks just cretu returned r ned from a spectacular tour of europe I 1 in n I 1 his Is 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 science generally particular particularly I 1 y with respect to training of airmen holds the future of aviation 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 says 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 when we shall ride in planes that travel miles an hour trains that move at in p h and we will drive our automobiles over express highways at GO CO and 70 miles an hour 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 his cigar new speed pictures of tomorrow 11 the glider captain hawks recommends as one of the best means of training for the brotherhood 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 knowledge of aerodynamics in the first few tender hours of flying he can learn a great deal more with a glider than with a power driven plane he Is not depending upon the motor but Is learning currents of air the action of the controls he Is depending more upon real flying as it Is taught to us than by sheer horsepower every landing that he makes Is a forced landing because he has no motor so his judgment in approaching pro aching fields and landing on marks Is keener the novice receives the thrill of his life on 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 boosters boasters 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 theres just as much skill it required e 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 hawks hawk was towed from san diego to new york k last year by J D duke jernigin 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 instruction st Is first given the student obviously no student will move immediately from completion of a course in gliding to flying a ship such as the hawks speed plane with its engine ot of more than horsepower and a demonstrated speed of mile n au an hour bour 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 termed ter mediate late and valuable step in aviation n will have been accomplished says hawks furt further ber 1 I have made a few observations which have convinced me that the so called primary glider gilder with its skeleton fuselage inefficient wings and coAt controls rols has no place in the picture of american ic in gliding activities I 1 would rather see young men len start their glider gilder work with the secondary 0 or utility type of glider aji 1 I am opposed to the automatic launching evaie which spring tension snaps the glider anto ito the air with such violence that it Is not only unnatural but extremely dan gerces to even n experienced pilot I 1 believe that gliders gilders and X Y r a trai Turi v up grice ads Y t talking it over after the light 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 it 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 airplane 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 mitchell field long island one of the army flying fields where reserve training la Is carried on there are planes reserved every weekend week end throughout the year for the use of reserve corps officers this is the caso case at nearly all the army flying fields it is the privilege of the officer and at the same time an air Ite reserve serve corps requirement to fly an army plane piano a certain number of hours every month once a year the reserve corp officers train for two week periods at the army fields throughout the country at new york the observation squadrons composed of officers of the second corps area camp at the long island field during the summer at fields in the south and southwest reserve corps training Is carried on throughout the year lectures by regular army aviation officials is cover such subjects as radio communication and equipment navigation cross country flying and aerial photography then with parac parachutes hates strapped to their backs a strict army regulation the fliers put these lecture subjects to actual practice pretice 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 graduate of the reserve school goes in the regular army for two years as a commissioned officer and licensed pilot out of some several thousand applicants to the army flying schools every year a few hundred are enrolled for the primary training less than half of these succeed in obtaining their diploma commission and license as a reserve army flyer this past june 03 08 cadets cabets received their wings at kelly field and were assigned to army fields throughout the country A few days before applicants were selected to begin training courses in both the primary and advanced schools give the cadet hours in the air with the necessary auxiliary studies in meteorology airplane engines navigation radio aerial gunnery 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 flier filer he Is put through tests which are described as psychological by the instructors ile he needs they maintain a reeducation education re to give him air confidence and air sense one of the cadets cabets first which Is almost as frightening as his first solo flight Is a tryout in an orlen a mechanical 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 ls Is dual controlled that Is the cadet operates controls similar to those of an air airplane plaue and the instructor tor 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 is 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 mind of the cadet 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 ull confidence in his instructor in order to put this over the instructor goes through a few spins and rolls until in some boma cases a cadet Is about ready to crawl in his teachers pocket another purpose of this flight Is to have hare the cadet feel out the situation of flying for he be 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 until his next venture aloft the cadet Is told is for air work it consists of straight flying spins banks forced landings and the course lasts lasta ten tea 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 ranks his 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 possibly 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 purpose of this Is to keep the embryo pilot from getting a swelled head for eight months the cadet continues his lessons in his own plane those lessons include night flying acrobatics cross country and formation flying navigation gunnery bombing radio and military tactics of all sorts his training in acrobatics begins after he has 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 half rolls and snap rolls flying over an air 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 I 1 la S the use of a camera gun with which the cadet trains a lens on the target and shoots a picture instead of a bullet the instrument resembles a gun in every way and the operation of it Js 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 course spotting an interesting subject too Is the study of artificial horizons horizons are created in the sky for the guidance of the navigator just as aa a ships captain uses the actual horizon of the sea to determine his position in the adran advanced ced school to which the cadet goes for about four months after he completes the primary school course he gets classification atlon 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 overly cautious and apprehensive flyers are quickly detected and eliminated it li 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 0 by union |