The Airway

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 752, 27 August 1929, Page 14

The Airway

(By

THE ROC.)

Use Of the Parachute in New Zealand and, strange as it may seem, m spit, o extensive nse in other countries where flying lias reac l far more advanced stage than it has here, promment pilots in the Dominion view the parachute more m the Ug of something confined to spectacular exhibitions than as a life-saving device.

England, America and many other countries where has w inged its way to popularity and success, have not only found their wings, but have certainly learned how to use them. Abroad, the parachute is treated as one of the essentials to safe flying and army, commercial and private pilots seldom fail to have the neatlywrapped package, containing the parachute, strapped on their backs when taking the air.

Many years ago parachutes were used to make descents from balloons, and until shortly before the Great War their use had been confined to spectacular exhibitions. During the war the use of kite balloons and the liability of these to destruction by artillery fire led to the use of parachutes as life-saving devices for the crews, and more than 1,000 British airmen escaped in safety from burning observation balloons by the use of them. It is reported than in 600 descents from observation balloons only three failures to open occurred. Later, parachutes were developed for use from airplanes, and a large number of special types have been devised to meet the special conditions caused by aircraft getting out of control. IN TRAINING FOR R.A.F.

The use of the parachute forms an important and essential part in the training of Royal Air Force pilots, and at the various aero displays and pageants, so many of w'hich are held during the year in the Homeland,

exhibitions of descending from airplanes by means of parachute are given. They are not considered as dare-devil stunts, and the experiments which have taken place in recent years have made the parachute safe. It is seldom, indeed, that it fails to open. In commercial or private flying the advantages of the parachute are numerous, and it is possibly because, as yet, there is not a great deal of cross-country or night flying in the Dominion that those advantages have not been fully realised. Some may argue that a good pilot may make a forced landing almost anywhere without injury to the occupants of the plane. Owing to the remarkable manoeuvreability of the modern airplane, such admittedly is the case. But in the case of fire the parachute would possibly be the only means of escaping death. Then, flying through the night or through dense fog with the petrol running low and a pilot uncertain of his landing, the parachute would again prove itself a life-saver. The areo clubs throughout New Zealand are busy turning out young pilots and they are instructed in all branches of aeronautics, excepting parachuting, a thing which should indeed be taught as soon as the beginner has “felt the air” and is confident. It is not necessary to learn by hard experience. Pioneers in other countries have done that for us, and many accidents can be avoided by carrying the parachute. Just as vessels of various types are compelled to have their supply of lifebelts aboard, so should occupants of airplanes taking part in cross-country and night flying be compelled to wear a parachute. LINDBERGH'S EXPERIENCES Charles Lindbergh, the youthful American aviator, who achieved world-wide fame by his transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in May. 1927, had several perilous experiences while employed as a pilot in flying the night mail between St. Louis and Chicago. On two occasions he had to leave his airplane u flight and descend by parachute. Twice before in his career he had to trust himself to a parachute because his airplane was disabled, but these descents took place in daylight. He holds the remarkable record of having landed by parachute safely four times from disabled airplanes in flight. His first descent by parachute at night was made on September 16, 1925, when he was 23 years old. He left the St. Louis airdrome at 4.25 p.m. and descended at Springfield and Peoria to deliver mails and take on

fresh hags of mail. Soon after leaving Peoria at 6.10 p.m. darkness set in. He steered by compass for Maywood the air port of Chicago, and checked his course by the lights of the towns below, until a fog shut out all lights on the ground. Lindbergh flew on, hoping to find a break in the fog. “I continued on a compass course oi 50 degrees until 7.15 p.m., when I saw a dull glow on the top of a fog, eating a town below,” be stated in his account of the flight. “There were several of these light patches in the fog, visible only when looking away from the moon, and I knew them to be towns bordering Maywood. At no time, however, was I able to locate the exact position of the landing ground, although I understood searchlights were directed upward, and tuo barrels of gasoline burned in an endeavour to attract my attention. “Several times I descended to the top of the fog, which was 800 ft to 900 ft high, according to my altimeter. The sky above was clear, with the exception of scattered clouds, and the moon and stars were shining bright. After circling around 35 minutes, I headed west, clearing Lake Michigan, in an attempt to pick up one of the lights on the transcontinental air mail route from Chicago to the Pacific coast.” DECIDED TO JUMP While flying in search of the end of the fog the petrol in the main tank gave out. All that was left was the re-

serve tank, with sufficient fuel for 20 minutes’ flying. He decided to jump from the plane before this reserve supply became exhausted. He saw a light on the ground for a few seconds the first light he had seen in two hours of flying. But when he descended to 1,200 ft and released a flare, the flare functioned only long enough to illuminate the top of a solid bank of fog, and disappeared into it. He saw the glow of the lights of a town through the fog, and turned the plane toward open country, with seven minutes’ petrol in the tank. He wanted to get clear of the town, so that when the plane crashed it would not injure anyone. He nosed the plane up, and at 5,000 ft the engine gave out. He stepped over the side of the cockpit and the parachute functioned perfectly. While he was descending he heard the engine of his airplane pick up. The plane came into sight a quarter of a mile away. It began to descend in spirals, and he feared it would overtake him and entangle his parachute. Five times it came toward him in spirals, before both he and it descended into the fog. He made a safe landing in a cornfield, and the plane was -found a few hours later in another cornfield, about two miles away. Six weeks later he made another emergency descent by parachute from a plane at an altitude of 13,000 ft. Owing to a severe snow-storm he could not see the ground, and had to abandon liis plane when the fuel gave out. He descended safely, but the machine was wrecked. Pilotless Airplane From the motorless trailer to the pilotless airplane is a far cry. Steps tending toward the latter development have been taken, however, in recent successful tests by National Air Transport at the Chicago airport of the “automatic pilot.” The device, developed by Otto W. Green, is intended to keep the plane stable when fog or thick weather forces blind flying on the part of the human pilot. In the tests it operated the plane for 30 minutes without assistance from the pilot except slight occasional pressure on the* rudder bar. The automatic pilot controls the airplane by means of a vane supported on the upper wing, pointing forward into the wind. A pendulum extending from the interior of the fuselage and the vane are both connected to a device actuating two motors, one controlling the ailerons, the other the elevators. Lateral or longitudinal motion of the plane causes like motion in vane and pendulum which, acting upon the motors, restore stability. One may see in the new device another forward step toward faster and safer flying.