One of the main causes of aeroplane accidents has been the breakage of
some part of the machine while in the air, due to defective work in its
construction. There is no doubt that air-craft are far more trustworthy
now than they were two or three years ago. Builders have learned from
the mistakes of their predecessors as well as profited by their own.
After every serious accident there is an official enquiry as to the
probable cause of the accident, and information of inestimable value has
been obtained from such enquiries.
The Royal Aero Club of Great Britain has a special "Accidents
Investigation Committee" whose duty it is to issue a full report on
every fatal accident which occurs to an aeroplane in this country. As a
rule, representatives of the committee visit the scene of the accident
as soon as possible after its occurrence. Eye-witnesses are called
before them to give evidence of the disaster; the remains of the
craft are carefully inspected in order to discover any flaw in its
construction; evidence is taken as to the nature and velocity of the
wind on the day of the accident, the approximate height at which the
aviator was flying, and, in fact, everything of value that might bear on
the cause of the accident.
As a good example of an official report we may quote that issued by the
Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club on the fatal
accident which occurred to Colonel Cody and his passenger on 7th August,
1913.
"The representatives of the Accidents Committee visited the scene of
the accident within a few hours of its occurrence, and made a careful
examination of the wrecked air-craft. Evidence was also taken from the
eye-witnesses of the accident.
"From the consideration of the evidence the Committee regards the
following facts as clearly established:
"1. The air-craft was built at Farnborough, by Mr. S. F. Cody, in July,
1913.
"2. It was a new type, designed for the Daily Mail Hydroplane Race
round Great Britain, but at the time of the accident had a land chassis
instead of floats.
"3. The wind at the time of the accident was about 10 miles per hour.
"4. At about 200 feet from the ground the air-craft buckled up and fell
to the ground. A large piece of the lower left wing, composing the whole
of the front spar between the fuselage and the first upright, was picked
up at least 100 yards from the spot where the air-craft struck the
ground.
"5. The fall of the air-craft was broken considerably by the trees, to
such an extent that the portion of the fuselage surrounding the seats
was practically undamaged.
"6. Neither the pilot nor passenger was strapped in.
"Opinion. The Committee is of opinion that the failure of the air-craft
was due to inherent structural weakness.
"Since that portion of the air-craft in which the pilot and passenger
were seated was undamaged, it is conceivable their lives might have been
saved had they been strapped in."
This occasion was not the only time when the Accidents Investigation
Committee recommended the advisability of the airman being strapped to
his seat. But many airmen absolutely refuse to wear a belt, just as many
cyclists cannot bear to have their feet made fast to the pedals of their
cycles by using toe-clips.
Mention of toe-clips brings us to other accidents which sometimes befall
airmen. As we have seen in a previous chapter, Mr. Hawker's accident in
Ireland was due to his foot slipping over the rudder bar of his machine.
It is thought that the disaster to Mr. Pickles' machine on "Aerial
Derby" day in 1913 was due to the same cause, and on one occasion Mr.
Brock was in great danger through his foot slipping on the rudder bar
while he was practising some evolutions at the London Aerodome. Machines
are generally flying at a very fast rate, and if the pilot loses control
of the machine when it is near the ground the chances are that the
aeroplane crashes to earth before he can right it. Both Mr. Hawker and
Mr. Pickles were flying low at the time of their accidents, and so their
machines were smashed; fortunately Mr. Brock was comparatively high up
in the air, and though his machine rocked about and banked in an ominous
manner, yet he was able to gain control just in the nick of time.
To prevent accidents of this kind the rudder bars could be fitted with
pedals to which the pilot's feet could be secured by toe-clips, as on
bicycle pedals. Indeed, some makers of air-craft have already provided
pedals with toe-clips for the rudder bar. Probably some safety device
such as this will soon be made compulsory on all machines.
We have already remarked that certain pilots do not pay sufficient
heed to the inspection of their machines before making a flight. The
difference between pilots in this respect is interesting to observe. On
the great day at Hendon, in 1913--the Aerial Derby day--there were over
a dozen pilots out with their craft.
From the enclosure one could watch the airmen and their mechanics as
the machines were run out from the hangars on to the flying ground. One
pilot walked beside his mechanics while they were running the machine to
the starting place, and watched his craft with almost fatherly interest.
Before climbing into his seat he would carefully inspect the spars,
bolts, wires, controls, and so on; then he would adjust his helmet and
fasten himself into his seat with a safety belt.
"Surely with all that preliminary work he is ready to start," remarked
one of the spectators standing by. But no! the engine must be run
at varying speeds, while the mechanics hold back the machine. This
operation alone took three or four minutes, and all that the pilot
proposed to do was to circle the aerodrome two or three times. An
onlooker asked a mechanic if there were anything wrong with that
particular machine. "No!" was the reply; "but our governor's very faddy,
you know!"
And now for the other extreme! Three mechanics emerged from a hangar
pushing a rather ungainly-looking biplane, which bumped over the uneven
ground. The pilot was some distance behind, with cigarette in mouth,
joking with two or three friends. When the machine was run out into the
open ground he skipped quickly up to it, climbed into the seat, started
the engine, waved a smiling "good-bye", and was off. For all he knew,
that rather rough jolting of the craft while it was being removed
from the hangar might have broken some wire on which the safety of his
machine, and his life, depended. The excuse cannot be made that his
mechanics had performed this all-important work of inspection, for
their attention was centred on the daring "banking" evolutions of some
audacious pilot in the aerodrome.
Mr. C. G. Grey, the well-known writer on aviation matters, and the
editor of The Aeroplane, says, with regard to the need of inspection of
air-craft:--
"A pilot is simply asking for trouble if he does not go all over his
machine himself at least once a day, and, if possible, every time he is
starting for a flight.
"One seldom hears, in these days, of a broken wheel or axle on a railway
coach, yet at the chief stopping places on our railways a man goes round
each train as it comes in, tapping the tires with a hammer to detect
cracks, feeling the hubs to see if there is any sign of a hot box, and
looking into the grease containers to see if there is a proper supply
of lubricant. There ought to be a similar inspection of every aeroplane
every time it touches the ground. The jar of even the best of landings
may fracture a bolt holding a wire, so that when the machine goes up
again the wire may fly back and break the propeller, or get tangled in
the control wires, or a strut or socket may crack in landing, and many
other things may happen which careful inspection would disclose before
any harm could occur. Mechanics who inspected machines regularly would
be able to go all over them in a few minutes, and no time would be
wasted. As it is, at any aerodrome one sees a machine come down, the
pilot and passenger (a fare or a pupil) climb out, the mechanics hang
round and smoke cigarettes, unless they have to perform the arduous
duties of filling up with petrol. In due course another passenger and a
pilot climb in, a mechanic swings the propeller, and away they go
quite happily. If anything casts loose they come down--and it is truly
wonderful how many things can come loose or break in the air without
anyone being killed. If some thing breaks in landing, and does not
actually fall out of place, it is simply a matter of luck whether anyone
happens to see it or not."
This advice, coming from a man with such wide experience of the theory
and practice of flying, should surely be heeded by all those who engage
in deadly combat with the demons of the air. In the early days of
aviation, pilots were unacquainted with the nature and method of
approach of treacherous wind gusts; often when they were flying along in
a steady, regular wind, one of these gusts would strike their craft on
one side, and either overturn it or cause it to over-bank, so that it
crashed to earth with a swift side-slip through the air.
Happily the experience of those days, though purchased at the cost of
many lives, has taught makers of air-craft to design their machines on
more trustworthy lines. Pilots, too, have made a scientific study of air
eddies, gusts, and so on, and the danger of flying in a strong or gusty
wind is comparatively small.