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HE ever-growing number of human
lives sacrificed to the advance
ment of aviation gives us ample
reason for pause and serious
thought. The toll so far paid is
M rapidly nearing a total of two
hundred since the death of Lieu
tenant Selfridge, of the United
States army, in September, 1908.
Naturally, some of these fatal ac
cidents were to be expected after
flying became a money-making
spectacle in some directions. The professional
aviator felt obliged to make his flights thrilling
in the eyes of the spectator, and to that end he
has done things of a venturesome nature for
which he has paid dearly more than once.
We are not concerned with this phase of the
art. Foolhardiness is no real part of the effort
to advance human flight, even though attendant
mishaps may teach useful lessons. What L- of
serious concern is the loss of life of those ear
aestly devoted to the furtherance of the science
Cn 5
and the adaptation of the flying machine to the
meeds of the army and the navy in time of war.
These olioer students have gone into the work
with that spirit of professional devotion which is
of the utmost value to the promotion of helpful
bmowledge, and they have generally avoided
those hair-rasiag performances which are val
amabie only as an asset for the showman.
These calm-minded devotees-the term en
_thusiasts might be misleading-have earnestly
striven to make the most tt of the instruments
placed in their hands, but in doing this they
have made more 'than one* atal stumble despite
their caution. The use of the aeroplane in re
aset military maneuvers has exacted its doleful
rice, and it is time that due thought was given
some of these many accidents. Strange as it
may seem, the recent mishaps which have been
umost suggestively illuminating have been those
that were genlrally not fatal in their- conse
quences, although some have exacted the lives
of the participants.
On March 13 at Johannisthal, just outside of
Berlin, a flying machine driven by Schade and
an aeroplane handled by Rettinger came to
_-ther while in the air a short distance above
the ground. The machines were instantly smash
ed and sent crashing to the earth. Neither of
the aviators was injured, but a passenger was
Uhrt. Unquestionably, this collision was brought
about by the mutual effect of the disturbed air
between the two machines. The next mishap cf
a kindred character occurred at Douni. France,
on June 19. but with disastrous results. Captain
Dubois and Lieutenant Meignan, both of the
army, were operating aeroplanes during a dense
og. aTd drove into each other while going at
high speed. Lieutenant Meignan was killed al
most instantly, and Captain Dubois died in the
hospital a few hours later. The machines were
splintered by the collision. Here we have a
-counterpart of conditions which have so often
caused trouble upon the water, but conditicns
which may be even more frequent aloft under
atmospheric circumstances of common occur
-ence. Of course, the gravity of a collision in
the air is unfortunately increased by the neces
sarily high speed at which the flying machine
mnst advance in order to sustain Itself in flight.
On June 20, at Alx-les-Baines, Mlle. Helene
Dutrieu, while aloft, fell upon two ascending
monoplanes. and all three machines dropped to
the ground in a heap The two nether aviators
were pretty seriously bruised, but Mile. Dutrieu
-was uninjured, fortunately falling upon the un
•derlying machines and thus having the force of
her drop greatly lessened. Undoubtedly, Mile
Datrieu hit a "hole in the air." and her mono
plane started earthward before s'e could check
or control its descent by a gliding volplane. The
question is. What caused that hole in the air?
Did the movement of the two ascending anero
planes create the disturbance which narrowly
*Escaped causing a serious catastrophe? This has
been ansered by ebeequent accidents.
Two Freanb arb1yoflcers. Lieutenants 'rlre,
and Buries, on ibly 6 started for Belfort. "n t'ie
eastern frontier, leaving the aeronautte st:tion
at Villa Coublay. Just outsi4e ot Paris. Lituten
nt Brtes had the start of his assudlate. and was
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already about six hundred feet up, when Lieu
tenant Buries overtook him. passing at greater
speed something like a hundred feet above.
Lieutenant Burlez's machine created, so it is said,
a downward moving "hole in the air," and this
struck Lieutenant Briez's monoplane in such a
manner as to destroy its equilibrium. Lieutenant
Briez. and his machine were dashed to the earth.
the aviator having both legs broken and being
otherwise seriously but not fatally injured. In
this case the innocent cause of the accident was
the movement of the aeroplane passing above
at a height of a hundred feet. while Mile. Du
trien's drop was probably brought about by the
maneuvering of the two monoplanes beneath
her. These accidents have brought us face to
face with new problems in the art of mechanical
flight-they show us that we have much to learn
about the air in which we are seeking to vie
with the bird.
The man in the street has a mistaken notion
of what these air holes really are; he imagines
that they are areas of partial vacuum which fail
to give the flying machine proper support. The
hazard they present is reasonably pictured all
the greater because there is no visible sign of
their presence-the aircraft just suddenly starts
to drop and may fall several hundred feet before
the movement can be corrected, if corrected at
all. If successful. the nicest judgment is required
on the part of he aviator lest he suddenly bring
pressure to bAr upon his planes in excess of
their reserve of strength. Collapse of this sort
has happened with dire results upon a number of
occasions. But, notwithstanding these physical
evidences of something wrong, still, in the strict
er sense of the word, the term air hole is a mis
nomer. and a cavity as such does not really exist.
Did you ever watch the surface agitation of a
boiling pot? Well, that is substantially a dupli
cation of just what is going on in the air about
us. The earth acts like a great reflector of the
sun's heat and starts the air boiling below here
where we are and sends it upward in great col
umns of rising atmosphere like the movement of
the boiling water in the pot. This is what the
meteorologist calls "convectional disturbances"
of the atmosphere, and he tells us that this state
of things would not annoy the aviator if the ven
turesome airman would only keep aloft at a
height of from four to five miles-a matter of
from 21,000 to 26,000 feet in round numbers!
Georges legagneux has recently reached the
amazing height of 18,766 feet.
We are all familiar with the old saying. '"What
goes up must come down" In the agitated belt
of air the upward rising column of warm air is
replaced by a descending column of cooler air.
The downward moving column is what really con
stitutes the so-called "holes" of the aeronaut's
parlance. The layman scarcely appreciates the
conditions that are bringing about this convec
tion or boiling motion. When the sun strikes the
earth the air is heated and rises: In the shadow
of a cloud the air is cooler and descending. This
see-sawing is of greater or lesser magnitude, de
pending upon the directness of the sun's rays
and the temperature of the air when shaded.
The evenness of the aviator's flight or the uni
formity of his line of advance-whichever you
choose to call it-is controlled by the constancy
of the pressure which the air pxerts on the
under or lifting side of the planes as his machine
is driven forward bv its motor. The net result
is a sustaining or lifting moment, as the engineer
expresses it. If the approaching air, instead of
moving horizontally or upward in opposition to
the surface of the planes, should be falling, then
the support of the flying machine is suddenly
diminished to that extent, and the aeroplane
drops. Again, if the aviator is traveling against
a stratum of wind of a defnite speed and then
purposely descends, reaching an air belt of lower
speed or altered direction, these chnges may rein opposition to
duce the surfaoce of the planesir striking the srffalling, thace
of his planes, and this drop in pressure may
cause his machine to fall speedily eartsuhward.
Thiminis another proof, of course, of the imagineroplanery
vacant places In the air.
We must bear in mind thate speed and theproblem of
the orflying machine is quite distinct from that rf C
the balloon. The balloon floats because it is
either lighter than the air t driking plces-when it
rises--or remains. at a fixed altituthis dropde because there
is a perfec balance between its weight and that
of the air which t thrusts aside. t remainary
alot mushether drifting with the wind or beinm of
driven by alloon. motor. The eaverthantsr because it is
machine, on the other hand, is sustained in fight
only so long as its movement forward arouses d
suffclent opposition on the part of the atr to lift t
or to srstain it When the propellers cease tohere
revolve the aeroplane starts earthwtd, and dithat y
aster can be avoided only by volpl. Itg or per
forming a sweeping spiral descent. A manenuVer
of this sort is nothing more winor lors tban
modrived drop. The sa heaviey of the an-airoplying
therefore, when in midair, depends apon the nicea
balancing of the machine and the proper hand, is sustained in fli-ht
ng of ressuricient op upon the planes. Eddof the air to lift t
air or sany other d.strbance which wll brtoing
the aeroplane into conicting atmospheric beldts
or zones will imperiral the stability of the uver
chinf and the life of the aviator anleos he be
ever watchful, and thee andre some of these ao
ditrons against whdisturbancche cannot swill bringtly
guard.
The flying machine, in going ahead, hits the
air a sudiession of rapid blows, and by this
causes an area of compression which is equal in
the force of its reaction to the weight of the I
flying machine. The fact of it t i this compres
sion -actually affects a volume of air equal in
weight to the air craft it sustains, and as a cabe
foot of atmospheric air weighs only .08 of a•
pound at the freezing point, a little fiuring will
show how wide is the area upon which the avia
tor must draw for his support.
What happens then when the wfying machine
has moved onward and the atmosphere tries to
resume its normal state? The reaction is lim e
the release of a spring, and the air acquires a
vibratory motion-greatest in a vertical direction
-akin to the prolonged bobbings of a partly I
water-soaked log after being hit a blow. But this
is not all.
We are living at the bottom of an ocean of
air, and we are living in that region of the at
mosphere where it is densest The natural ten
dency for the atmosphere is to fall when not
made lighter by heat and caused to'rlse. An
aeroplane shooting through this lower belt is
substantially knocking out the foundations from
beneath the atmospheric columns reaching many
thousands of feet heavenward, and we have in
the air a virtual duplication of our bobbing log
many, many times repeated at pvery stage of
the onward movement of the flying machine and
the successive reactions of the compressed air
which has momentarily sustained that mechan
ieal flight. Isn't it clear, then, that an aviator
when passting above or below another aviator
is either stumbling into air holes thus created
or producing a similar condition to menace his
nearby fellow? The airman advancing at the
greater speed will produce the wider area of dis
turbance and, within any prescribed limit, the
more dangerous reaction.
The flying machine when aloft is in a state of
decidedly delicate equilibrium, otherwise the
mere flexing of wing tips would be incapable of
correcting its horizontal position. Any change
of pressure at the extremity of its wings is equiva
lent to adding or reducing the weight at the one
or the other tip, and an upsetting movement is
started. It is quite probable that even though
one aeroplane may be a full hundred feet above
or below another, still the greater speed of the
overtaking machine may cause a sufficient down
ward movement on the part of the air to over
weight suddenly one wing of the other machine.
This is certainly what happened In the case of
Lieutenant Briez, hille. Dutries and a number of
others.
p The task set the investigators is that of fnd
ing how wide is the region of agitation created
Sby a flying machine in flight, and, with this
knowledge, to prescribe the proper distances
which aviators must observe when approaching
one another.
Fortunately, the flying machine is now etudied
a n the laboratory, and recent progress in exper
Smental aerodynamics is doing much toward
a clearing the way for seas adivane in the ar
a future, but the pubtle must be stieat sad It
t mst realise that yiang is ful oft hasards at
r best. and we are really arel muach mere tea
t poa the threshhold of this we d ke ,
A DRAPT.
Green--Is your son, who is stu·le
Ing art in Paris, learning to draw?
Wise-Well, he draws on me every
week or so.
England's Motto.
"Dieu et Mon Droit"-God and My
Right"-the royal motto of England,
was the parole of the day given by
Richard I. (he of the Lion Heart) to
his army at the ba.tle of Gisorn, in
France, on the 20th of September,
1198, when the French army was sig
nally defeated. Dieu et Mon Droit
appears to have been first assumed as
a motto by Henry VI., 1422-1462. Sem
per Iem-"Always the Same"-was
one of the mottoes of Queen Eliza
beth; also adopted by Queens Mary
and Anne.
Situation Vacant.
The rich bachelor sighed and look
ed fixedly at the beautiful girl.
"Things with me," he said, "are at
sixes and sevens. I feel the great
need of a woman in my home--one
who would straighten out my tangled
affairs and make life worth living
once again.
Her soft glance spoke her excite
ment and expectation.
"Yes?" she queried gently.
"Do you know," he continued, "of
any good, able-bodied woman whom I
could get to clean the houser'
One Woman's Faith.
The Int ~iewere-And you 'believe
your husb d innocent?
The Wile of the Accused Ofelal
Absolutely! 1 know he is Incapable
of duplicity.
Then she put on her hat and hurried
downtown and drew from the bank
the $17,000 her honest husband had
saved during the past six months out
of a salary of $150 a month.
COLD B OOD D AND
DIATH DALLING
AlHs: nw.r.aems ee.lMiltesIe !sL.,wrt,
"l hee a y at Csbaatlss Mll Ie tm Is
Aste reas er u Pne It . Io e o se e isn
WtLe quis a .met. Iw turM wlDm vaeIos
So Like Strang.
Nell-Bob Brown and Dolly Smith
are engaged.
She-Indeed! I thought they were
better acquainted.
As a summer teonic the is no medicine
that quite compares with OXIDINE. It rot
ni builds up the aotem. but taken reg
ularly. prevents Malaria. Regular er Taste
lI formula at Druiats. Adv.
Contrary Causes.
"Why did Jinks break up housekeep
"Because his wife broke down."
Dr. lerp's eolete, small, suarooatesd
eay to take as candy. regulate and invigoat
stomah, liverand bowels. Do not gripe. Adv.
NMe cabs.
Blushing Bride--What was that our
friends stuck all over our suit cases,
dearest?
The Groom--Honey, love, that was
a union labeL
-- CASTORIA
ft orwlanutaats Ma
The Kid You rn
ALCOHOL-3 PER CENT
A sgetablePepamdroifrAs
, t ,dw $kumd dan BoBe'Bs te
nessandmstContains na'r d
Opiwn.Morphine nor Mneral
NOT NARC OTIC
,--~t~*, Ins
-ion . ou0
nas and . or o ver
* ac si srOnatu Fr
,T.C.IW-. Thirty Years
NEW YORK.
*neTO l.t
BACIACUE"OETS
ON THE NERVES"
Iany stsafer from backache
and raik Uidateys are unnaturally
Irritable, frettl and nervous. Not
only does coastant backache "get
on the nerves", but bad kidneys tail
to eliminate all the uric acid from
the system, and uric acid irritates
the nerves, keeping you "on edge"
and causing rheumatic, neuralgic
pains. Doan's Kidey Pills cure
these Ills by curing the kidneys.
Here's proof:
A Ceifeasia
Casa
-Iu .i s. Waire,.2
i Avs ol I
s "bl ao. l a
n -idoo- al
C. Dens .R Ac Der !se~ rs* amew
DOAN' S t 1 ilt
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c-
sa w t e time# sd p w l .,
o w are snuetohe mOa . uesr ,-la .
READERS
ofAi i ltlh baormY
Wanted.Mes
i, Posit~io ,oEV W.i. .
W. N. U., UTIem ROCK, N.te, a-1.
STATE NATIONALEDkI
__ ..r.. aa, Os º
to IaL asber' s trade. i
qty to work out your tuItioaWe
Paiiiwý' Sy . U IS S. #M.
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