The Way of the Air 1

The Way of the Air 1

The Way of the Air

A Description of Modern Aviation

 

Author: Edgar C. Middleton

 

Dedication

 

TO THE MEMORY OF FRIENDS

WHO HAVE FALLEN IN THE GREAT FIGHT

 

Captain ADRIAN LIDDELL, V.C., R.F.C.

Flight Sub-Lieut. R. A. J. WARNEFORD, V.C., R.N.

Flight Lieut. ROSHER, R.N.

Flight Lieut. TALBOT, R.N.

Flight Lieut. GRAHAM, R.N.

Flight Commander BEARD, R.N.

Captain BASIL HALLAM RADFORD, R.F.C.

AND

Second-Lieut. ARTHUR FISHER, R.F.C.

 

“WHO FOUND GLORY ONLY BECAUSE

GLORY LAY IN THE PLAIN PATH OF DUTY”

 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

 

 

 

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE

 

 

The idea of this little book is to give as clear and graphic a

description of modern aviation as circumstances will permit; of the

new, heroic race of men to which Flying has given birth; of the

conditions under, and the elements in, which their work is carried

out, and the difficulties and dangers they have to encounter. Flying

is essentially a profession for the younger generation. The strain

is too great for men of more mature years. To withstand such strain

requires all the vigor, the recklessness, the iron nerve of youth. It

is a profession that offers an irresistible appeal to healthy-minded,

sport-loving youth, to whom adventure is the nectar of existence.

 

The writer’s chief endeavor in the opening chapters has been to help

the young man who wishes to adopt “Flying” as a profession. Part II

of the book is composed of a collection of incidents taken from the

diary of an air pilot on Active Service somewhere in the North of

France. They are given in their original form. I also wish to thank

the editors of the _Daily Mail_, _Daily Express_, _Daily Chronicle_,

_Evening News_, and _Boys’ Friend_ for their courtesy in permitting me

to use, in a few instances, material embodied in articles appearing in

their journals.

 

E. C. M.

 

_London, 1917._

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

CHAP. PAGE

 

PART I

THE SERVICE AIRMAN IN THE MAKING

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE vii

INTRODUCTION 3

I. JOINING THE SERVICE 10

II. THE AIRMAN’S FIRST DAYS 17

III. THE INITIAL FLIGHT 23

IV. THE PERILS OF THE AIR 28

V. THE SPIRIT OF THE AIR 34

VI. SEAPLANES 40

VII. A ZEPPELIN CHASE 48

VIII. THE COMPLETE AIRMAN 53

 

 

PART II

ON ACTIVE SERVICE

 

IX. BEHIND THE FIRING LINE 61

X. THE FIRST TRIP ACROSS THE LINE 66

XI. SOME ANECDOTES 74

XII. SPORT EXTRAORDINARY 81

XIII. A BALLOON-TRIP BY NIGHT 85

XIV. THE BATTLE OF THE WOOD 92

XV. A TIGHT CORNER 97

XVI. AN AIR FIGHT WITH A HUN 108

XVII. A GREAT RAID 114

XVIII. A DAY-DREAM 123

XIX. A MID-AIR BATTLE 127

XX. A BATTLE FROM ABOVE 132

XXI. A TRUE STORY OF THE WAR 136

XXII. HEROISM IN THE AIR 144

 

 

PART III

OTHER CRAFT AND THE FUTURE

 

XXIII. THE EVOLUTION OF THE AIRSHIP 151

XXIV. LAWS OF THE AIR 161

XXV. AERIAL COMBAT 166

XXVI. THE AIR--THE WAR--AND THE FUTURE 170

 

 

 

 

PART I

 

THE SERVICE AIRMAN IN THE MAKING

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

In writing of modern aviation it is to be regretted that the sport or

science, call it what you will, was developed more in two years by the

war than would have been possible in twenty-two years under normal

conditions. Prior to 1914 we did not look upon aircraft and aviation

with the degree of interest that their useful qualities warranted.

Instead we were apt to regard them rather in the manner of a sporting

spectacle, in much the same light as a football match, or a boxing

entertainment, or as the _pièce de résistance_ of the showmen; thus

aircraft, the greatest and most potential discovery of all the ages,

had to prove their worth in the maiming of humanity and the destruction

of property.

 

Quietly and unobtrusively they were introduced into the plans of war;

it must be admitted greatly despised and with a strong feeling of

repugnance. Gradually--so gradually as almost to be unnoticed--they

began to prove their worth.

 

From the very first days of the war it began to be realized that we

must have aircraft. Our large Navy was in desperate need of seaplanes

to hunt the enemy warships from their lairs and his merchantmen from

the seas. In the same way our tiny Army required aeroplanes, but for a

somewhat different reason: to be prepared against all enemy surprises,

which in those desperate days of early 1914 would have been fatal.

 

As the war developed, the various belligerents began to settle down,

to restore order from the chaos, and to prepare for a long and arduous

campaign. Then the cry came for aircraft, more and more aircraft. In

England the great engineering shops and factories were peremptorily

ordered by the Government to abandon their work and to construct

aeroplanes as fast as they were able. Meanwhile the enemy, who had

long been prepared, began to obtain an overwhelming mastery of the

air--it will always remain a mystery why he did not use his aircraft

to better effect at Mons and the Marne. After four and six months,

fresh craft came out from England, and it was then the enemy, in

his turn, was driven from the air. For some time we were allowed to

retain that mastery, then the enemy came along with a rush with the

new and powerful Albatross and Aviatik, and again we retired into the

background for a time. Meanwhile, aeroplane factories were springing up

all over the country, and the production of machines was going up by

leaps and bounds;--undeniable proof this of the value such craft were

to the military commanders. Thus the mad race went on. Fast, graceful,

single-seater scouts, slower and larger reconnaissance craft; huge,

powerful-engined battle-planes made their appearance in quantities

hitherto undreamt of, and were dispatched in never-ending stream across

the Channel, there to play their part in the war.

 

Dipping into the past, it may be said that by 1784 flight by balloon

was well under way, and that year a woman--Madame Thible--made a

trip in the presence of King Gustavus III of Sweden, that lasted

three-quarters of an hour. She reached an altitude of 9000 feet. The

following year the first cross-channel trip was made by Blanchard,

with an American doctor named Jefferies for passenger, together with

a supply of provisions and ballast. This weighed the balloon down to

so great an extent that she almost sank into the sea a few moments

after starting. Ballast was thrown overboard and she rose, only to sink

down again. Hurriedly more ballast was dropped, but it had no effect,

and was followed by everything on which the aeronauts could lay their

hands, including provisions, books and a mass of correspondence. At

last the French coast loomed into view, but the balloon was now sinking

rapidly. The wings were thrown overboard, but that had no effect.

The aeronauts commenced to strip themselves of their clothing. Then

Jefferies proposed to jump over the side into the water, and was about

to do so, when the balloon rose suddenly into the air, and they landed on the hills behind Calais.