OBSTINATE AEROPLANES.

Shannon News, 5 August 1924, Page 1

OBSTINATE AEROPLANES.

AS DIFFICULT TO HANDLE AS HORSES. Aeroplanes are like horses to handle (Oliver Stewart asserts in an article in the Daily Mail). Some of them are obstinate and self-willed, and manou. evre in their own leisurely way, no matter how they may be urged to hurry; others are sensitive, and a touch of the pilot's finger on the control stick makes them Toll onto a wing tip or lurch into a vertical dive in a flash. With a pilot who possesses 'fine hands,' sensitiye aeroplanes are by far the safer in forced landings. The obstinate aeroplane is stable, and tries to think for itself instead of letting the pilot do all.the thinking; and though this is useful in clouds and fogs, in an emergency it is a serious drawback. Getting on a friendly footing (if it may be so put) with an areoplane is a peculiarly fascinating branch of the pilot's art. Quaint little tricks, such as a desire Vo point its nose up to heaven on a right hand turn, may be discovered in one aeroplane; another may refuse point blank to loop unless it is treated with the greatest gentleness; it sulks if any attempt is made *o force it round too suddenly. The wis e pilot finds out the fads and fancies of his aeroplanes, and then humours them. He has to be ready always to receive these indications of character, and instructors say you can tell if a man will make a good pilot the first time he puts his hand to a control stick. If he grips it like a "try your strength" machine he will never be brilliant, but if his grip has the light firmness of the expert batsman he is of the right stuff, and may in time become a star pilot. ■