"AEROBATICS"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 190, 7 May 1919, Page 2

"AEROBATICS"

OR THE GENTLE ART OF "STUNTING"

LEARNING BY TRICK-FLYING

"Aerobatics" is tho sciciice of. aerial stunting. Ono use 3 (lie word "science" advisedly, for in the hands of Captain Hai'ber and other earnest students of flight this amazing development of superucronnntics has become capable of being slated in exact terms* At the moment of crisis the human elements—the machine, or tlio nerve or knowledge of the pilot—rani' fail, and there may result a "crash 1 ; hut, given the man and (lie machine, flying, even in its most advanced form of "aerobatics," is "just as safe as driving a high-powered car 'at a smart pace along Edgware Bond." Under present conditions, Captain Barber asserts, the average young man can learn lo handle an aeroplane and put it through all the known tricks of looping, rolling, spinning, side-slipping, etc., after a period of instruction of ne more than about tweuty-to thirty hours' flying. And ip pre-war days Jt. .was generally accepted that a first-class pilot could not'be produced under a minimum of a year. Wonderful! And .this is the result of intensive training under war conditions, of heroism, skill, nud self-sacri-fice, of untiring study by the pioneers. There was timo when trick-flying was under a cloud. Captain Barber acknowledges that even now some evolutions, such, for example, ns the "falling "leaf" and the. "cart-wheel," while spectacular, .have no practical utility beyond accustoming the pilot to every possible position in the aii'; but the majority have proved their value in war flying and fighting. And so it is absurd of the man in the.street to complain that lives are so frequently lost by Uie desire of the flying boy to show off. It is not a question of showing off." To become a master of his machine the pilot must know how to get every ounce out of it; he must know that whatever mess hp gets info, provided ho has' sufficient height, he can recover from it; and in his aerodrome he practieo? r.ud works at these evolutions until they .have become second nature. Pupils frequently "roll" and "spin" ou their first solo flights, and this is made possible by .the new' system of training in the Air Force of which Captain Barber gives such a clear, such ] in interesting, and such a valuable exposition in his book, "Acrobatics." Tim sneaking-tube lias made all things passible in the air. Instructions are given while the evolutions 'arcs in progress. Captain Barber's method is a twentieth century reproduction of the. early Victorian Child's Guide to Knowledge. For examplo (.we quote at random from a dog-eared copy of the Child's Guide), take tho gamo of backgammon, which wns more familiar to the Victorians than flying: Q.—You have mentioned chess; pray, is backgammon a very old game? A.—Yes; it was played by the Saxons and Danes when in possession of England. Q— By whom.is it said to have been invented? A.—By the Welsh; and called by them, from two words-in their language, "back Ciiinmonr' or a little battle. Q.—ls it not also a genuine Saxon compound word? N A.—Yes; "bae" or "bacj" an.d."gamen," meaning'back game; so called because-* — And to on and so forth. Now take Captain Barber's conversation' in .on aeroplane with a twentieth century pupil: Instructor: "Getting used to.it now?" ■Pupil: "I couldn't tell whether I \>as inside out or upside down at first, but 1 could keep my eyes on, the horizon" the last four or five turns." Instructor: "Well, you ; had better have a shot at it now. Begin with a moderate turn and gradually increase it. . . . If she banks too much, take, it off by pressing tho stick sideways against the rising side.' 1 Pupil: "How about getting out of tho blessed turn when once I'm in it?" Instructor: "Sufficient for the day, my boy. I'll get you out of it, and you shall learn that after you can turn correctly. One 6tep at a timo is our system.'. Now take charge." ''That-wasn't'halfbad," 6ays'th.o instructor,- arid' : the pupil- feels V glow of confidence and gratification. • "It was ft . bit wobbly, but you'll find it easier next time."

This is no fancy picture. It is exactly how our pilots have been trained in the air. And .1 word should be said l'.crc of tho marvellous courage shown by Captain Barber and other instrue-, tors, a courage as remarkable as. that of the men in the fighting line. The' pilot takes his life in his.own hand; .the. instructor entrusts (subject, of course, td dual control) his to a novice, who, for oil ho knows, c.ay be a bungler and a nerveless incompetent, But the work has to be doiie, and while it has to be done there are the men who will volunteer to do it. No better 'guide than Captain Barber has yet put his views in book form, and his work is simply invaluable. One notes the date of the preface; the book was completed in June, 1018, War-time publishing difficulties may be responsible for its late appearance, but if ever a volume deserved tin A Priority Certificate-it was this. The illustrations are illuminating and exhilarating.

''Hovers of the Night Slcy" illustrates aerobatics in actual warfare. It is vividly written, sound, and a real record ol' work ovor tho lines in "one of the best nnd luckiest squadrons in France." A couple of amusing incidents are quite fresh. An experienced night-flying pilot got hopelessly lost in the mist, and landed, as lie imagined, near the coast in tho German lines between Nieuport and Ostend. "The Germans may take us, my boy," he said to his observer, "but they won't take our bus"; and, so saying, he set fire to the uiachino, which burned merrily? They walked along. the shore for about an hour, and came upon a little bathing resort, near Havre! Captain B. and his observer left, the aerodrome on . a bombing raid shortly after dusk, and at midnight were given up for lost. .Next morning (heir abandoned machine was found intact in a field-not six miles from the aerodrome. For three days they were mourned, and then they reappeared, wet, unkempt, ravenous. They i had landed, as they believed; in Hunlrind, and for three days had remained in hiding, sleeping by day in n wood and sallying forth' at night in search of food. Eventually they saw British soldiers, discovered their Thereabouts, and walked home, angry, nore, and crestfallen.