Who
is bold enough to say what its limits shall be?
So ruminates this Pilot-Designer, as he puffs at his pipe,
until his reverie is abruptly disturbed by the return of the
Observer.
``Wake up, you AIRMAN,'' the latter shouts. ``Here's
the very thing the doctor ordered! A basket of first-class
grub and something to keep the fog out, too.''
``Well, that's splendid, but don't call me newspaper
names or you'll spoil my appetite!''
Then, with hunger such as only flying can produce, they
appreciatively discuss their lunch, and with many a grateful
thought for the donors--and they talk shop. They can't
help it, and even golf is a poor second to flight talk. Says
the Pilot, who must have his grievance, ``Just observe
where I managed to stop the machine. Not twenty feet
from this hedge! A little more and we should have been
through it and into Kingdom Come! I stalled as well as
one could, but the tail touched the ground and so I could
not give the Aeroplane any larger angle of incidence. Could
I have given it a larger angle, then the planes would have
become a much more effective air-brake, and we should
have come to rest in a much shorter distance. It's all the
fault of the tail. There's hardly a type of Aeroplane in
existence in which the tail could not be raised several feet,
and that would make all the difference. High tails mean
a large angle of incidence when the machine touches ground
and, with enough angle, I'll guarantee to safely land the
fastest machine in a five-acre field.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73