States of America
Published, January, 1920

To that great new gift which is so soon to come
to us, this little book is enthusiastically
dedicated by the authors.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTION i

I. WAR'S CONQUEST OF THE AIR 1

II. THE TRANSITION TO PEACE 11

III. TRAINING AN AIRPLANE PILOT 24

IV. SAFETY IN FLYING 39

V. QUALIFICATIONS OF AN AIRPLANE MECHANIC 52

VI. THE FIRST CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC 63

VII. LANDING-FIELDS--THE IMMEDIATE NEED 76

VIII. THE AIRPLANE'S BROTHER 85

IX. THE CALL OF THE SKIES 96

ADDENDUM 107

INTRODUCTION

Any ordinary, active man, provided he has reasonably good eyesight and
nerve, can fly, and fly well. If he has nerve enough to drive an
automobile through the streets of a large city, and perhaps argue with
a policeman on the question of speed limits, he can take himself off
the ground in an airplane, and also land--a thing vastly more
difficult and dangerous. We hear a great deal about special tests for
the flier--vacuum-chambers, spinning-chairs, co-ordination
tests--there need be none of these. The average man in the street, the
clerk, the laborer, the mechanic, the salesman, with proper training
and interest can be made good, if not highly proficient pilots. If
there may be one deduction drawn from the experience of instructors in
the Royal Air Force, it is that it is the training, not the
individual, that makes the pilot.

Education is not the prime requisite. Good common sense and judgment
are much more valuable. Above all, a sense of touch, such as a man
can acquire playing the piano, swinging a pick, riding a bicycle,
driving an automobile, or playing tennis, is important. A man should
not be too sensitive to loss of balance, nor should he be lacking in a
sense of balance. There are people who cannot sail a sail-boat or ride
a bicycle--these people have no place in the air. But ninety-nine out
of one hundred men, the ordinary normal men, can learn to fly. This
has bee