as gone through a workshop must be inspected and checked over by a
skilled mechanic before a pilot is allowed to fly it. The ideal thing
would be to have legislation licensing the inspectors of aircraft and
requiring that repairs on all machines be examined by a licensed
inspector. The inspectors would be under civil service and would be
selected by competitive examination. It may sound fantastic, but such
precautions are as necessary for the preservation of life as
legislation on sanitary matters.

In the second place, there should be time limits placed by law
covering the period of usefulness of various parts of an airplane.
After fifty hours of flying there should be an inspection of certain
working parts of the engine, certain wires in the body which may be
strained by bad landings, and other wires in the rigging strained by
flying in bad weather. New wires are always sagging and stretching a
bit. Wings will "wash out," lose their usefulness by excessive flying,
and must be replaced. There is a great volume of data on these matters
which should be the basis for laws covering mechanical inspection of
airplanes, and with which the airplane mechanic must become familiar.

For the man who would like to work into the piloting of aircraft there
is a very good opportunity by starting with the mechanical side. Too
many pilots know next to nothing about the construction of their
machines. When an engine goes bad they know that it won't run--that is
all. The pilot who is a good mechanic is a gifted man in his
profession.

There are endless opportunities at flying-fields for mechanics who
want to learn to fly. During the war it became customary to take
mechanics up for flying at least once in two weeks on some fields. It
gave the mechanic an interest in his work and an interest in the life
of his pilot. Perhaps nothing stimulated accurate work by a mechanic
more than the knowledge that at any time he might be called upon to
ride in one of the planes he had helped make or repair.

Some were taught flying by their officers, and later qualified as
pilots. Others went through as cadets and became pilots after the
regular course. The pilot of the future must learn the mechanical
side, and the mechanic should be a good pilot. The two must go hand in
hand to make flying a success.

VI

THE FIRST CROSSING OF THE ATLANTIC

The story of the American triumph in being the first to fly from the
New World to the Old World i