he knows that his condition is temporary
and that he must simply "carry on."

Army pilots who have had a good course in stunting would certainly
recommend the same for civilian pilots. That does not mean that it
would be necessary, or even advisable. There have been accidents due
to stunting by both inexperienced and experienced pilots. Generally it
is a matter of altitude, for with sufficient height the greenest pilot
can come out of anything, if he does not lose his head.

For the man who would be the pilot for a large commercial plane, such
as the Glenn Martin bomber, the Super Handley-Page in England, or the
Naval Curtiss flying-boats, no stunting is necessary. He may sit in
the cockpit of his machine, and ramble off mile after mile with little
motion, and with as little effort as the driver of a railroad
locomotive. He has a large, steady machine, and there will be no
obligation for him to spill his freight along the course by turning
over in midair.

Whatever opinions may be held regarding the advisability of teaching
stunting to a civilian pilot, there can be no question that a civilian
pilot must have a long and thorough course in the very gentle but
essential art of making forced landings. The problem is that of
controlling a machine with its engine cut off, to have complete
control of it within the radius of its gliding distance. Again, the
dart gliding to its uncertain landing. In the hands of an unskilled
pilot, an airplane gliding without power is a very dangerous thing. He
may pile up the machine against some farm-house, fence, haymow, or
clump of woods, smashing it badly and injuring himself. Or he may,
through inexperience, lose flying speed in the course of his descent
and topple over into a spin.

Even the best pilot may make a mess of his machine if his engine goes
"dud" over a forest, city, swamp, or other impossible landing-place.
It is his business more or less to keep clear of such tracts when
flying. But one of the tests of a good pilot is whether or not he can
shut off his engine in the air, pick out his particular field below,
taking into account that he must land against the wind, then by a
series of gliding turns find himself just coming out of the last turn
in front of the fence. He may make a gentle little "zoom" over the
fence, using every last bit of flying speed for the last kick, and
settle down gently on the other side. One test of instructors in
Canada, before they were allowed