AIR PASSENGERS’ EMOTIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 December 1919, Page 4

AIR PASSENGERS’ EMOTIONS.

iiy Harry Harper,, icciiiucal secretary of tne Uivil Aerial transport committee . '.tne “joy-rider," going up a few dizzy minutes ana aescenuing wit a m=> main in a wnirl, is not a good subject nom wnom to ootain an impression 01 ivnat the sensations ol Hying realiy are. nut now we liave regular travellers upon tne aerial way.

itaen day, nom as long as August 20, mere nas been a iAdb. “air express rrom Pans to nouuon Hash into view and at more titan IUU miles an dour, wniri again mto tne immensity ol space.

And these “airway” travellers, describing more or less accurately tne sensations tney nave experienced, provide one at last with tne data from wined to answer the question: “Wdat are tde real sensations of aerial travel < ,Wdat do tliese people actually feel who are ‘ ‘ blazing tne trail” of commercial llying and paving tne way lor tdose travellers ol tde future wdo will step, quite as a matter of course, into too aerial mail from London to New iork '■ ' Though naturally there are exceptions, tney merely prove the rule.;-' and one may certainly say now that, when the passenger has taken liis seat and the cabin has been closed, the first sensation is ofie of some little mental disturbance —of just a tmge of appredension. There is a sort of “Now lam in for it” feeling; “no going back now.”

Then comes the immense and unfamiliar roar of the engine; the movement across the ground; the rise into the air. And then there is a very curious sensation which is quite general. The passenger has a feeling that he is in some peculiar - way responsible for the balance of the machine. Tie feels he must not move in Iris seat in case the whole thing might possibly upset, tie hardly hires to draw his breath. But his* sensation is only momentary. Reason soon suggests that the machine is flying upon a perfectly even keel. Then comes a great wave of interest

and surprise. The earth is seen from an entirely new view point. It gives an extraordinary sense of fascination to sit and look down upon the fringes of London as they pass away below, giving place to the beginnings of the open country. As one passenger scribbled on a pad and handed over to a fellow traveller, the roar of the 350 h.p. motor making conversation difficult: “To-day I am really seeing England.” ***** Next there is a feeling of exhilaration. Some passengers feel an irresist-

ible desire to break into song; to chant some lilting melody which will keep time with the drone of the mighty engine and the rush of the machine through the air. Incidentally, one may mention that it proves no inconvenience to the other travellers if ,the temptation is yielded to . There is too much noise for them to hear. And then, as the first hour goes by, and the aircraft sweeps its irresistible way above vast map-like expanses of land and sea, there steals over the aerial voyager a sense of immense security; a sense, as more than one traveller has put it, that absolutely uothing untoward could possibly happen, a feeling that there at last is the positively ideal way of travelling—high above the earth with its obstructions and possible dangers; up thousands of feet in the limitless blue. More than one experienced traveller haß said, indeed, that he has had less feeling of any possible risk when in a 100-miles-an-hour aeroplane than when in a 50-miles-an-hour train. The immense speed in the air gives no sensation at all of any danger. And then finally, just ag the journey ends, there is sometimes a feeling of drowsiness ■ of a complete relaxation of mind and muscle. One woman, in fact, on arrival at Le Bourgett from London, was found to be very soundly asleep indeed. The soporifio effect of flying is often spoken of by pilots. It is the same sort of feeling—only more so—which one encounters in a long distance run in a motor car.