SENSATION OF FLYING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1896, 29 October 1918, Page 1

SENSATION OF FLYING.

Describing the sensation ol.' Ilyin,!’', in Ihe course of a lecture at Cishorne recently, Colonel Sleeman said one stepped into the aeroplane feeling il was a very llinisy thin”'. It looked delieale and fragile, and fell unstable. One sits down in a <-oni fori a file chair, if he is just going as a passenger, expeeling (o feel seasick from uncomfortable swaying of: (he machine. One also expects to lie giddy, and that it is going (o he an extraordinary thrill. If th a t is so, however, one will bo disappointed. The levers are controlled by the “joy stick.” Accidents generally arise from a man being too rough, the control being very sensitive, and the lever may have been moved an inch where it should only have been moved an eighth of that distance. To safeguard against such accidents the control is in duplicate, which enables | lie pupil to feel his way, and at the same time allow the instructor to safeguard against mishap. The machine “taxis” along the ground, turning to the wind. Then perhaps one experiences the only sensation —(he rushing wind and difficulty of breathing, combined with the noise of the engine cylinders. The machine howls along the ground, when suddenly the passenger finds he is moving above (he ground, and in three or four minutes he has got used (o (he rushing along and the noise. The sensations of giddiness and seasickness are absent, there being no resiislanee In the air. Accidents used formerly to arise from I he. striking of air pockets. - These “humps” are unpleasant, and are caused by heated air rising in pockets from the ground to a height of as much as ‘2(H) feel. Coming through the heavy air the machine will strike a hot air pocket, and will immediately drop to the bottom of the pocket, and the machine will receive a “bump,” Another interesting point mentioned by the lecturer was that a machine had been known to rock and sway owing to a small piece flying out of the propeller. In fact, quite recently at one of the New Zealand schools a piece about as big as half an envelope came off a propeller as a machine was rising, causing the ’’plane to become so unsteady that the airman had to descend.