It is now possible to deal with one of the most important considerations
in connection with military aeroplaning. This concerns the training of
pilots and observers at the military flying schools.
France is devoting herself energetically to this work. Germany, now
equally "keen" upon military aviation, is establishing schools in all
suitable places. Russia is convinced that the right policy is to create
a large and efficient corps of airmen. So is Austria, Japan, as
representing earnest progress, is not only training men at home, but is
sending a large number of officers to the various schools in Europe.
As has been set forth before, in another connection, but should be
emphasised again here, the true policy as regards military flying, in
the present stage of development, should be: "Test all new machines that
are introduced; maintain a fleet sufficient to meet any emergency which
may arise; and, above all, train men with the object of acquiring a far
stronger corps of pilots and observers than any present situation
demands."
[Illustration: MAPS FOR MILITARY AIRMEN.
Photo, M. Roe.
The French authorities are busy with the preparation of a complete set
of "air maps" for the use of the military pilots, when flying from point
to point. A section of one of these maps—which are coloured—is
illustrated above.]
Here, at any rate, is the clear-cut policy both of France and Germany—a
policy which Russia is beginning to imitate, and a policy, also, that
Japan is following.
Having toured France quite recently, an expert thus describes the
activities at the French flying schools. "Those who are not directly in
touch with the various Government departments cannot estimate how many
airmen there are at work. Flying schools seem to be springing up
everywhere. Depots are being established all over the country. Officers
are flying from place to place every day. To see a military machine,
carrying a pilot and observer, passing swiftly overhead, is now quite a
common sight. Orders are being received almost daily at the military
camps, instructing a machine to set forth upon a reconnoitring flight,
or to carry a dispatch from one camp to another.
"It is the thoroughness, and the business-like way in which this work is
done, that are so impressive. An order for a reconnoitring flight is
received. Promptly the officer and his observer prepare themselves. The
aeroplane, properly tuned up, is all ready, and is quickly wheeled from
its shed. They mount to their places, and are away.
"Directly afterwards, perhaps, another machine is ordered out. In the
early days of flying, one was prepared for a delay of several hours when
an airman set out upon anything like a long flight. His engine had to be
tuned up with laborious care; there were a hundred and one details that
had been forgotten, and had to be put right after the machine had been
brought out of its shed. Now, contrast this wearisome delay with the
promptitude of the French officer-airmen. There is no feverish rush and
bustle at the commencement of a flight. The propeller is turned; the
motor fires at once; and the machine takes the air.
"This, of course, is the direct fruit of training. This familiarity with
machines, and with the routine of flying, is the reward which France is
already gaining for her devotion to military aviation, and her unsparing
efforts to make her service thoroughly efficient.
"The way in which the aeroplanes are kept in trim, and the cool, alert
manner in which they are handled, come as revelations to a man who has
only seen the machinery of flight as it is in operation at an ordinary
flying school. Particularly is one impressed by the skill, and good
organisation, among the engineer-mechanics at the military stations.
"The use of the aeroplane, for purposes of war, necessitates a vast
amount of training for every unit engaged in the aerial work, and,
without such training, nothing in the nature of real success can be
attained."
This tribute provides an indication of the practicability of the
military training now proceeding in France. Efficiency is, indeed, the
constant watchword. Operating with a war weapon that is new and strange,
the French military authorities have already worked wonders; and their
success is due to the organisation they have been able to introduce at
their flying schools.
Very carefully considered, in every way, is the course of instruction
through which an officer-airman is called upon to pass. The aim is to
make him proficient in every respect. For military purposes, it is not
sufficient for an officer to be, say, a fine "fancy" flyer, and ignorant
in regard to engines, or a skilled engineer and an indifferent pilot. He
must be a thoroughly all-round man.
II. How the military airman is "schooled"—His course of instruction
described.
The novice who comes to the French military schools is given a course of
general tuition. He is first brought to study flying in its broad
aspect, and not as regards detail. This period of general "schooling"
may last for two or three months, during which the beginner makes it his
business to study aeroplanes, and their motors, very carefully. He
acquaints himself, for example, with the method of control employed in
the various machines.
Then, as regards motors, he has much to occupy him. He will take an
interesting engine like the "Gnome," for instance, and make himself
thoroughly conversant with all its details. The value of such
preliminary work is often shown subsequently when, perhaps, an officer
may be stranded some distance from Headquarters with a jibbing engine.
Instead of being helpless in such circumstances, his previous period of
tuition stands him in good stead, and he is able to run over his motor
with an expert eye, and so discover the little defect which may be
causing all the trouble.
Apart from the "Gnome," there are other makes of engine in the aviation
school to which the pupil may direct his attention, with good results.
Thus the novice acquires a general knowledge regarding aeroplanes and
their motive power, and prepares himself for the second stage of his
tuition.
This resolves itself into a series of flights, which end in his taking
control of an aeroplane himself. But, first of all, he takes his place
in the passenger-seat of a military machine, and is piloted round the
aerodrome by an officer-instructor of proved skill. For his first few
flights, the beginner merely sits in the machine, and accustoms himself
to the novel experience of being in an aeroplane.
This first acquaintance with flight generally proves confusing. The
engine of an aeroplane makes a din which is trying to the novice. Then
the pace of the machine, when it moves across the ground, and the
rapidity with which it soars in flight, are confusing, also.
It is, therefore, a sound policy to allow a beginner to make several
trips with an experienced officer, before he attempts to control a
machine himself. By so doing, the pupil has an opportunity of getting
over his first bewilderment, and contrives to be in a fairly cool and
collected frame of mind when his turn comes to assume control of the
levers.
After several trial journeys have been made, and the novice is no longer
embarrassed by the strangeness of his position, he is allowed, by his
instructor, to exercise temporary command over the aeroplane while it is
in flight. This is accomplished by means of a dual control; a set of
levers are before the pilot, and another in front of the pupil.
The former, after warning his charge to be ready, relinquishes his hold
upon the levers, and the pupil takes charge of the machine. The
instructor, of course, keeps a keen eye upon the behaviour of the
machine; should the pupil make an error, the pilot is able to rectify it
before there is any chance of an accident.
By this admirably practical system, a pupil can be led to a satisfactory
state of proficiency without risk, either to himself or to his
instructor. After he has controlled the machine, for a spell, during
straight flights, he is given the opportunity of making a turn in the
air.
This operation requires the exercise of skill and judgment. Apart from
moving the rudder, or rudders, which send the machine round, the pilot
needs to operate his "ailerons," or wing-warping device, as the case may
be, in order to "bank" the machine over, and so facilitate the turning
movement.
As soon as he shows sufficient skill in controlling an aeroplane, while
with a pilot, the pupil is given an opportunity of flying by himself. As
a rule, his previous tuition has been so valuable to him that he finds
little difficulty in performing a solo flight, and so prepares himself
for the obtaining of his certificate from the French Aero Club.
This certificate of proficiency is obtained by making a series of
flights before official observers, and in maintaining a certain
altitude, while so doing. A descent has also to be made with the engine
of the machine stopped, so as to demonstrate the pilot’s ability to
effect a _vol plané_.
In the case of a civilian airman, the passing of this test is considered
sufficient evidence of his ability to control a machine; but, as regards
French military airmen, a greater degree of proficiency is required.
Therefore, when he has acquired his Aero Club certificate, the
officer-airman has to prepare himself for another ordeal.
The French military authorities demand that he should make a long flight
across country, that he should remain in the air for a couple of hours
without descending, and that he should demonstrate his capabilities by
piloting his machine in a fairly-high wind.
After this, he is regarded as a man well qualified to study the actual
work to be undertaken by an airman in war-time. The next stage, as a
matter of fact, is in learning to observe over a given tract of country.
In this test of his skill, a superior officer indicates for him an
aerial route, which covers a fairly-wide district in the vicinity of the
air-station. The pupil flies over this, and, on his return, presents a
report upon what he has seen while in the air.
This report—which deals with roads, railways, and the general
characteristics of the country—is examined by his chief, who points out
in whatever way it might have been improved, probably in the direction
of military precision, or in the statement of more detail. Then the
pupil flies over the same, or another route, on another day; and so on.
No pains are spared to make him acquainted with his work. It is an
axiom, at the French schools, that a pilot should be so accustomed to
flying that the actual manipulation of his machine becomes mechanical.
When such skill is attained, the airman is free to devote his mind to
whatever work is on hand; but such a state of proficiency can only be
acquired in one way—and that is by constant flying.
After he has become accustomed to observing from his machine while it is
in flight, the pupil is set a variety of other tasks, at the discretion
of his instructors. He is, for example, detailed to fly across country
from point to point, bearing a message, and to return with another
dispatch. Cross-country journeys, from one flying school to another, are
also encouraged.
In this way, by actual practice in the manipulation of his machine, and
in the carrying out of tasks such as he would be set in time of war, the
pupil gains skill and confidence, and eventually becomes a thoroughly
well-trained and proficient member of the air-corps.