"ZOOMING" IN THE AIR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3141, 20 July 1917, Page 6

"ZOOMING" IN THE AIR

6— WHAT ARMY AIRMEN MUST LEARN. An Australian officer who is in charge of a party of mechanics engaged in one of the great aviation schools in England gives some interesting particulars of the work of the schools. He says:—"The instructors can fly, and no mistake. All the tricks that C-iuillaux did in Melbourne, and lots of new ones besides; every pupil has to learn to loop the loop, iiose dive, do spinning nose, loop sideways, tail slip, recover and loop, side slip, and do a figure of eight at iOOflft. with his machine on its edge! All day long you see them at it when the weather is fine. I have been up 10,000 ft. in a fast scout type, which did 120 miles, an hour. I also had a flight with the air-fighting instructor in a 100 horsepower machine, which can climb almost perpendicularly, and does 90 miles an hour. We looped the loop twice, and did a "zoom," which is all the tricks rolled into one. It makes one wonder which day of the week Friday is. One second yon see the ground where the slcy ought to be, and—swish! Down you shoot to the earth, spinning round as you fall, and then a back -somersault and off up into the sky as though you were shot out of a loin. gun. Then, steady flying for five seconds. Down go the right-hand planes until it's a case of straight up and down, and'over you roll sideways—over and - over and over for 1500 ft. down. Then away up like a huge projectile to 4000 ft. again. Kow over on to the left planes until'she is nicely balanced on edge. Then you make a big figure of 8, each loop of the 8 being at least half a mile across, flying on edge all- the time. After this classical performance we fly level again, then—whoosh! up she goes again with her nose perpendicular until we again reach 4000 ft. Down goes her nose, the engine stops, and, my word! you do travel earthwards. This is very nice, but wlipn Captain starts to ppm her round I wonder—what next? Down she goes in a big screw, just spinning in her own plane width. The first half-dozen spins aro deadly, but after that you bocome used 'to it, and enjoy seeing all the camps spin round underneath you.' If you look over the nose {the' observer's seat on this kind of battle-plane is in front), the aeroplane seems stationary, and the world going round you at a terrific pace. It is much the same when your are 'zooming/ but it is a very weird sensation. Strangely i-nough, you don't feel a bit afraid, and if your stomach didn't seem as though it were rolling round and round inside of you it would be splendid. Looping the loop is the. nicest stunt of the lot, and is very easy to do. Of course, I was very securely strapped into a comfortable seat. One has to sit very still, so as not to make the plane wobble about and get out of hand. If a chap has a weakstomach this trick flying would mako him horribly sick. When they are training the pilots, if one becomes sick more than onec then transfer liira from the fighting squadrons. to a scout or a bombing squadron. All the. trick frying is vcrv necessarv in order to beat the Hun aviator. Captain has Tccently returned from the West front, where he flew daily at 16.000 ft. altitude for thirteen months. They can only stand an hour of it each day, as the breathing is so very difficult up thore, aud after they come down they aro done for the rest of the day. and have to lake oxygon. Captain 'has "downed" 13 Fritzies, and in .Tuly he goes hack to France. Ho is a past-master in the art of aviation, and can do anything he likes with an aeroplane."