Learning to Fly A Practical Manual for Beginners   By: Claude Grahame-White (1879-1959)

[Illustration: Photo by Topical Press Agency. A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT.]

LEARNING TO FLY

A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR BEGINNERS

BY

CLAUDE GRAHAME WHITE AND HARRY HARPER

FULLY ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN ENGLAND.

CONTENTS

I. THEORIES OF TUITION 9

II. TEMPERAMENT AND THE AIRMAN 20

III. FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH AN AEROPLANE 24 (AS DESCRIBED BY MR. GRAHAME WHITE)

IV. THE CONTROLLING OF LATEST TYPE CRAFT 31

V. THE STAGES OF TUITION 38

VI. THE TEST FLIGHTS 53

VII. PERILS OF THE AIR 56

VIII. FACTORS THAT MAKE FOR SAFETY 76

IX. A STUDY OF THE METHODS OF GREAT PILOTS 82

X. CROSS COUNTRY FLYING 92

XI. AVIATION AS A PROFESSION 99

XII. THE FUTURE OF FLIGHT 104

ILLUSTRATIONS

A SCHOOL MACHINE WELL ALOFT Frontispiece

FACE PAGE

GRAHAME WHITE SCHOOL BIPLANE 34

THE CONTROLS OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE 36

REAR VIEW OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE 38

POWER PLANT OF A SCHOOL BIPLANE 40

MOTOR AND OTHER GEAR ANOTHER VIEW 42

PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT 44

PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (1) 46

PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (2) 48

PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR IN FLIGHT (3) 50

Authors' Note. The photographs to illustrate this book, as set forth above, were taken at the Grahame White Flying School, the London Aerodrome, Hendon, by operators of the Topical Press Agency, 10 and 11, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.

AUTHORS' NOTE

This book is written for the novice and for the novice who is completely a novice. We have assumed, in writing it, that it will come into the hands of men who, having determined to enter this great and growing industry of aviation, and having decided wisely to learn to fly as their preliminary step, feel they would like to gain beforehand before, that is to say, they take the plunge of selecting and joining a flying school all that can be imparted non technically, and in such a brief manual as this, not only as to the stages of tuition and the tests to be undergone, but also in regard to such general questions as, having once turned their thoughts towards flying, they take a sudden and a very active interest.

It has been our aim, bearing in mind this first and somewhat restless interest, to cover a wide rather than a restricted field; and this being so, and remembering also the limitations of space, we cannot pretend and do not for a moment wish it to be assumed that we pretend to cover exhaustively the various topics we discuss. Our endeavour, in the pages at our disposal, has not been to satisfy completely this first curiosity of the novice, but rather to stimulate and strengthen it, and guide it, so to say, on lines which will lead to a fuller and more detailed research.

It is from this point of view, as a short yet comprehensive introduction, and particularly as an aid to the beginner in his choice of a school, and in what may be called his mental preparation for the stages of his tuition, that we desire our book to be regarded.

C. G. W. H. H.

April , 1916.

CHAPTER I

THEORIES OF TUITION