Diagram showing the stages of a “tail slide.”1. Normal flying position. 2. Preparing to “stall.” 3, 4, 5. The machine falling by the head after being “stalled.” 6. Straightening up. (Alternatively it could have continued its dive.)The evolution of a “spinning dive.”1. Stalling the machine. 2. The machine falling by the head. 3. Gyrations of a “spinning dive.”Diagram showing how an “aerial skid” is effected.
Diagram showing the stages of a “tail slide.”1. Normal flying position. 2. Preparing to “stall.” 3, 4, 5. The machine falling by the head after being “stalled.” 6. Straightening up. (Alternatively it could have continued its dive.)The evolution of a “spinning dive.”1. Stalling the machine. 2. The machine falling by the head. 3. Gyrations of a “spinning dive.”Diagram showing how an “aerial skid” is effected.
Diagram showing the stages of a “tail slide.”
1. Normal flying position. 2. Preparing to “stall.” 3, 4, 5. The machine falling by the head after being “stalled.” 6. Straightening up. (Alternatively it could have continued its dive.)
The evolution of a “spinning dive.”
1. Stalling the machine. 2. The machine falling by the head. 3. Gyrations of a “spinning dive.”
Diagram showing how an “aerial skid” is effected.
Moreover, every pilot ought to know how to performthese stunts even in peace-time flying, so that, if his engine stalls and he falls into a spinning nose dive, he will know just what to do in order to get out of it. The same is true of banking, side-slipping, etc.
Finally, since an aeroplane moves through the air as a submarine passes through water, it should be designed so as to be able to take stresses from every quarter, so that if the machine loops or flies upside down a vital part will not break because the pressure is reversed.
Stunting should never be performed less than 2,000 feet above the ground. It has been done by reckless pilots in exhibition flights countless times with impunity; nevertheless, many of the most daring and clever pilots have lost their lives just by taking such foolhardy chances. Altitude is absolutely essential to recover equipoise necessary to a safe landing, especially when a forced landing must be made. Eventually a law will be passed preventing, on pain of forfeiting of a license, looping, spinning, etc., below a certain altitude. The result will be a decrease in the number of flying casualties and a proportionate increase in the confidence of the public in the aeroplane as a safe and sane medium of aerial transportation.
A Vertical Bank
This term is applied to all turns or banks made at 45 degrees or over. With proper speed there is no particular danger in this manœuvre, and is performed by putting the rudder and control lever farther over than in an ordinary turn. To come out of a vertical bank is to give opposite rudder and to pull the control lever central again and slightly forward. When the machine continues around the circle it becomes a spiral.
Spiral
A spiral descent is made with the engine cut off, and the pilot should always keep his eyes on the centre of the circle. When the angle becomes too steep, he flattens her out a little so that he does not side-slip or skid, and if the descent is too rapid, he pulls the control lever back slightly. When the bank is too pronounced, the rudder and elevator change functions, and the pilot must bring them back to their proper positions at once.
Zooming
Zooming is really making an aeroplane suddenly jump several hundred feet into the air after flying near the ground. This is essential sometimes in order to clear a hangar or telegraph-pole near the ground. Fliers in the Great War did it when attacking aerodromes. No zoom, however, can be made unless the machine has got up full speed, for it is only this momentum that permits the aeroplane to climb so steeplyand suddenly. The stunt is done by jerking the control lever back suddenly, which causes the nose to climb steeply. The control is then pushed forward equally as suddenly, just as the machine has reached the stalling-point and is about to fall over on its side. To avoid that, the control lever must be pushed forward, forcing the nose down, and allowing the machine to gain its velocity, otherwise it will lose its flying speed and crash.