Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1917 — HOW UNCLE SAM TRAINS MEN FOR THE AVIATION CORPS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW UNCLE SAM TRAINS MEN FOR THE AVIATION CORPS

Army Schoofs Are Speeding Up Work to Supply Fliers for New ArmySCHOOLING MOST THOROUGH Pick of the Land Intellectually and Physically la the Raw Material of the Field—First Taught Mechanics and Work Gradually Up to Difficult Feats in Flying. New York. —Uncle Sam's new army must have the best aviators in the world. This is the order that has come from Washington, and the army schools throughout the country are striving to carry it out. There are many obstacles and discouragements. fast scout planes _ are almost non-existent this side of the Atlantic, but the standard already reached means as vast advance. A trip out to the big government flying school on Hempstead Plains, near Mineola, L. L, shows -a scene of bustling activity, a beehive of industry, which has speeded up even over Its former strenuous pace in the last few days. At the entrance to the field a stgl*wart private, an automatic on his hip, challenges the visitor and scrutinizes closely the papers shown. A step through the gate discloses inside the fence a scene to rejoice the hair ijf lire expanse, on which great mechanical falcong purr and skip, now rising itfto the clouds and now descending swiftly and gracefully to the level • turf. . ' ■ Framing the picture are rows of airplane sheds, or hangars, barracks, machine shops, offices and other rough buildings which have mostly been knocked into shape in the last few weeks.- • i Scores of students and mechanicians hustle around and over the winged monsters, oiling, plying the wrench, making tests and seeking the slightest flaw, for every flying machine must always be in the top notch of condition.

Pick of the Land There. War will probably soon change the conditions here in many ways—indeed, some? differences are already noticeable from peace days. But most of the Students are still paying their way-or-and not a small price either. After passing his flying test a student must turn over a SSOO tuition fee and S3OO more is due on final examination. The student must weigh hot more than 190 pounds stripped, and “must furnish evidence of having a college education and be of good moral character.” The pick of the land intellectually and physically is the raw material of the field. Out of such promising novices Uncle Sam makes finished birdmen in three months—and now even this brief training period may be cut down. The captain in command of the

field explains the course. of instr’uction; = — “After the student has passed his preliminary physical examination and has had the mechanism of the machine 'drilled into him, we turn him over to an instructor, who takes him up on a joy ride as a passenger. He goes up about 3.000 feet the first time. When he becomes, during successive flights, accustomed to the

-swift- -rush—of the -air aloft, so disconcerting to the novice, he is permitted to handle the controls himself, but the* instructor is there to correct any errors very promptly. “In tunr he is* passed from one to another of the instructors until four have had him," and then they make four separate reports iin him. After that we begin his training in real earnest, as we have learned then whether he is cut out to be an aviator. Training Is Thorough. “We have found that a student cannot assimilate more than half an hour’s lesson aloft in a day; that is, he does not profit by a longer lesson. So when he comes down he is put to work at the mechanics of the job, dismantling and assembling his en-

gine; detecting trouble, making such repairs as he might be called on to make if he had to dascend-fer cause during a flight.. We give him''textbooks on motors, too, and something about aerordynamlcs, and teach him how to observe the earth as It flies under him. When the young aviator is competent to handle his machine he Is introduced into more complicated work, scouting and maneuvering. For instance,’ on a recent day a motorcar was sent on a devious tenmlle journey over little frequented Long Island roads. Its top was broadlystriped in black and white, but otherwise it could not be told from the tens of thousands of other cars which are constantly on the move over the island. “Twenty-four- army airplanes went up to seek the car. Twenty-one left here and three came from the government school at Governors Island, New York city. “The car with the striped top represented the head of an enemy convoy. The airmen were to detect the head of the supposed column while the latter was still far from its objective, the aviation field, for there must be time to make the imaginary artillery attack upon it effective.- .■ Problems Easily 'Solved. For the problem the map of Long Island near the flying field was divided into 24 sectors, one being given to each scout. The lucky man who found the car whirred back to the field

in short order and Mineola was “saved.” In another problem thrtee Fast L. W. F. tractors were sent to a far distant point, which was not disclosed to the students, and there sent up as scouts of an enemy bent upon taking photographs of the Mineola field. The students were to- locate these machines and. drive them back by heading them off. They did this with ease. Not all the feats attempted work out well, because real swift machines are lacking. The slower machines do not stand up so well in a gale, although otherwise easier to manage. It is understood the fastest machines now at the field are the L. W. F. tractors, capable of 95 miles an hour. British and French scouts make 135 and-138 miles an hour. The new Mo-raine-Saulnier, according to Miss Ruth Law, the flying woman, makes 150 miles an hour. Airplanes tpuch slower are useless on the western European battle front. -< Students start learning to fly at Mineola on the poky .1. N. 4 Curtiss biplanes, which go at the snail’s pace of 75 miles an hour. ’ However, it is taken for granted that the deficiency in fast machines will soon be remedied. All the art of airplane building the French British have learned in nearly three yeqrs of warfare will be placed at the disposal of the new ally. Commisskjps' of Anglo-French flying men antKouilders will assist the United States army in manufacturing and teach the latest tricks of the trade to our aviators. What They Must Do.

The Mineola school is officially at! aviation section of the signal officers reserve corps. Civilian volunteers enter as sergeants and become lieutenants in the reserve on passing their examinations. These “exams” are not to be sniffed at. Here are some of the things the young collegian must do: He must climb out of a field 2,000 square and attain an altitude of SPO feet while keeping all parts of his machine within the square; he must cut off his motor at a height of 1,000 feet and land within 200 feet of a designated point; he must land over an assumed obstacle ten feet higli and come to rest within 1,500 feet ot it: lie must fly for 45 minutes at an altitude of 4,000 feet. “The psychology of this flying bush ness so far as the students are com cerned,” says the commandant of the field, “is a singular thing. In considering it you must put fear out of the reckoning. The students aro never frightened. The fact of thf matter is that they go Into it thinking that it’s a daredevil job. Then they go up and they’re disappointed —it isn’t the daredeviltry they thought at all. So what do they do? They tend to go to the other extreme right away and we have to keep them from killing themselves with sheer recklessness. We have to teach them with every ounce of ability we possess that if they .make the one slip they seem determine I to make it will be -the very I»SL ili> they’ll ever make.”

Where Aviation Is' Taught.