Air service

“ Regular air service, in either the Navy or Army, is reckoned more exacting than ordinary flying, and for the reason that—say when upon manœuvres or special tests—the pilot of war-craft may have to make long flights in treacherous, blustering winds. ”

“ Each contributes its due realistic share to the complete picture of an airman's life in war.
It is well that we should have every opportunity of estimating what that life is. For the air service is still quite a new service. ”

“ Dotted across country, and following the track of the main airways, will be a well-planned chain of landing grounds; and here local passenger craft will descend, and goods-carrying machines pause to set down their burdens. The national air service, in all details of its operation, will need to be well organised. Towns which are upon the air routes will set aside tracts of land, and upon these will be provided the facilities of an air-station. ”

“ The air service has its own advantages, its own trials, and its own marks of distinction. Life in the service was lived at high pressure, and was commonly short. Throughout the war our machines were continually at work over enemy territory, but the pilots of the beginning of the war were not crossing the lines at its close. ”

“ Flying School was to be used for experiment and for specialized training in naval air work. But the Naval Flying School continued throughout the war to train naval flying officers from the beginning, teaching them the art of flying as well as its special applications for naval purposes.
The question whether there should be a single air service, specialized in its branches, or separate air services, organized for mutual assistance, is a question that stirs deep feeling, so that the very virtues which make men serviceable to their country are ranged in opposition one to another. ”

“ The Work and Training of the Royal Flying Corps and The Work and Training of the Royal Naval Air Service.
All this to-day. To-morrow the Handley Page and Gotha may be occupying their respective niches in the museum of aerial antiquities, and we may be all agog over the aerial passenger service to the United States of America.
For truly, in the science of aviation a day is a generation, and three months an eon. When the coming of peace turns men's thoughts to the development of aeroplanes for commerce and pleasure voyages, no one can foretell what the future may bring forth. ”

“ The air service boys were soon at the hangars, where an animated scene was taking place. Any one could see that something unusual was about to take place, because of the numbers of men rushing this way and that, while motors were popping and machine-guns being tried out so as to be certain they were in prime condition for service. Scores of mechanicians, chauffeurs, observers, as well as other helpers, went about their work of getting "ready for business." ”

“ Another vitally important phase of the Air Service is that of ballooning, which during the war has been developing into a system of ever-watchful sentries on guard all the way from the North Sea to Switzerland. ”

“ In addition to operating Army transport planes, the Air Transport Command contracted with the country’s major airlines to fly Army men and materials. Thus many of the transport planes which in peacetime flew over our countryside went into war service and began to fly over distant lands. ”

“ There are many important problems which the Navy and the Air Service ought to work out together. A fleet without aircraft will be a fleet without eyes, and aircraft will, moreover, be necessary, not only for reconnaissance work, but for gun-spotting, as well as, possibly, for submarine hunting. Air power is regarded by many officers of wide practical experience as an essential complement to sea power, whatever future the airship and aeroplane may have for independent action. ”

“ Finally came the welcome signal that announced the arrival of the last of the air fleet. All was now ready for the start. Every pilot knew what place he was expected to occupy in the formation; and when another flash was seen they took up their positions. ”

“ But the two Americans had with them papers to prove just who they were, and why they were headed for France. They also met several men connected with the British air service, who were pleased to show them many little courtesies.
"But we do hope America will soon decide to come in and take her part in the job we've got on our hands," these men told them more than once. ”

“ Further, the air service is now actually engaged in creating those superb precedents which members of the older services find ready for their fortifying and encouragement when the crisis comes, and this fact alone entitles it to a most special sympathetic attention from the laity. ”

“ Within a year and a half the Air Service had been expanded from a beginning of little consequence to a size greater than that of the army in the years before the war and all of it had been trained in the technique of a new branch of warfare. In the production of aircraft and accessories 200,000 men and women were engaged, nearly all of whom had been trained for this skill-demanding work. There had been produced over 12,000 air and sea planes, more than 1,000 balloons and 31,800 aviation engines. ”

“ So aviation has two immense tasks ahead of it, instead of one. Not only must it create, by years of patient and determined effort, a flying service which will command the air, but craft must be designed and built also for the mail, goods, and passenger-carrying services, and to meet the needs of the aerial tourist. ”

“ The personnel side of the air service, including the selection, training, organization, and operation of the flying forces, developed within the fiscal year 1917-18 into an educational system on a scale infinitely larger and more diverse than anyone had anticipated. ”

“ To-day the airplane that is used for general service duties over the lines is a dreadnaught of the air, and although it may still take along with it on its errands a few scouts to give battle to the faster airplanes of the enemy, yet on the whole it is self-reliant and has little to fear. ”

“ There was a dearth of men in the British air service at the time competent for an observer’s duty, scarcely more than half enough to man the hundreds of aëroplanes that were being turned out under forced pressure. ”

“ It was a great day of rest to those hard-working air pilots, though from the look on their faces when they were greeting the incoming aviators one might have thought they rather envied them their latest achievements.
Such is the force of habit. ”

“ Even when an airman is off-duty his special delight lies in "hanging out" at the aviation field, seeing his fellow workers go forth, watching their return, and listening to the many thrilling accounts of battles fought, as well as perils endured. ”

“ There are cooks, photographers, mechanics of various sorts, telephone, telegraph and wireless operators, orderlies and servants.
Of these Tom and Jack had their share, for it is the business of an airman to fly and fight, and he does nothing except in that line. He is catered to and helped in every possible way when not in the air. He has some one to wait on him, to look after his machine, and to attend to his hurts, if he is unlucky enough to get any. Of course each flier goes over, personally, his own craft, but he has oilers and mechanics to do all the detail work. ”

“ Quietly, every man who had been called to duty presented himself at his special station equipped for work. The hostlers, under the supervision of the officer in command at the aviation field, had seen to it that every detail had been looked after. Tanks were filled, and each plane carefully examined for defects that might imperil the lives of those who were to trust themselves to its reliability. ”

“ The Navy also developed their own air transport service and operated in a manner similar to the ATC. This group was known as the Naval Air Transport Service or NATS. The Army Air Transport Command operated its own weather stations, radio ranges, and airfields in the same manner as the commercial lines did in peacetime. Planes flew vital war cargo and personnel on systematic airline procedure. Millions of miles were flown daily by planes rushing tons of men and materials to the far-flung battlefronts of the world. ”

“ Flying in single-engined, open-cockpit Army Jennies and DH-4’s, the unsung pioneers of our early air mail service were Army aviators. They had no reliable flight instruments. Roads, rivers, and railroad tracks were their only airway markers, and the family wash on a clothes line was the means by which the fliers ascertained their wind direction.{40}
PRECISION BOMBING IS BORN
The end of World War I found Army aviation with a personnel of 18,000 officers and 135,000 enlisted men. ”

“ Let us illustrate a bit from the Royal Air Force of Canada, which is as good as any other example. The experience of the flying service of one country has been essentially that of another country, and we Americans may yet learn of the air from the English. ”

“ THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON A SUBMARINE.
To the inventive genius—trade-school boy or mechanic—this story has special charm, perhaps, but to every reader its mystery and clever action are fascinating.
THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON AERO SERVICE.
Among the volunteers accepted for Aero Service are Ned and Herc. Their perilous adventures are not confined to the air, however, although they make daring and notable flights in the name of the Government; nor are they always able to fly beyond the reach of their old “enemies,” who are also airmen. ”

“ Unless— Well, every one knows what terrible risks aviators take in war times, and that even the best and most wonderful fliers are apt to meet their fate some day while on duty.
Wherever Tom and Jack went they were the center of an admiring and envious crowd. Indeed, for the morning it seemed as though the business of the school was to be sadly interfered with, for this was really the first break in their ranks. Still, the wind was blowing a little too stiffly for any novice to think of ascending, even in company with a skilled pilot.
To go to France! Ah! ”

“ The pupil is taken up in a double-seated plane, and operates the quick-firing gun or, as the French call it, a “mitrailleuse.” At first it [126] is exceedingly difficult to shoot down from a rapidly moving plane, but after considerable practice the eye becomes educated to the changing perspective, when the airman finds it as easy to register hits as though he were upon the solid earth.
Finally came the day when the two young Americans, having completed their schooling, were allowed to offer their services at the front to fill the sadly depleted ranks of the foreign Flying Corps. ”

“ Later on, Tom would discover that the necessities of modern warfare have compelled the cunning artificers of France and Germany and Great Britain to invent a variety of airplanes, each intended for a special purpose. ”

“ They were passing over a section of Northern France, keeping a mile and more above the surface of the earth, when Jack called out in this fashion. Talking is never easy aboard a working plane. The splutter of the motor, added to the noise caused by the spinning propellers, as well as the fact that as a rule pilot and observer keep well muffled up because of the chill in the rarified air, all combine to make it difficult. ”

“ They are the drivers, and there is a host of workers and mechanicians on hand ready to run the planes back into their hangars after the pilots have alighted, and to see that the machines are properly cleaned and have a full supply of petrol and oil ”

“ Each plane was marked with a big number so it could be distinguished, for the aviators themselves were so wrapped in fleece-lined clothes, so attired in gauntlets, goggles and fur boots, as protection against the terrible cold of the upper regions, that one's closest friend would not recognize him at a near view. ”

“ By July, 1924, a continuous chain of lighted airway beacons marked the air mail route from coast to coast. Lighted landing fields were established at 250-mile intervals and through transcontinental air mail service, with night-and-day flying, was an accomplished fact.{46}
AMERICA’S FIRST ALL-METAL TRANSPORT
We have spoken of the fact that in the early twenties aircraft designers were hesitant about attempting to overcome the prejudice of aviators against the internally braced monoplane design. ”

“ The place, though newly established just back of the French lines, where they opposed the German trenches, was well fitted up for the purpose to which it was to be devoted.
There were a number of canvas hangars for the aeroplanes, there were living quarters for the men, a wireless station and a well defended camp where the aviators might live in comfort during the periods between their flights. ”

“ Their very lives might depend on a little thing, and no one could afford to neglect even trifles.
63Every few minutes one of the planes would roll over the surface of the level ground in front of the long line of hangars. Then, when sufficient momentum had been attained, it would commence to climb swiftly upward. Soon the machine would get into spirals like a winding staircase, and mount toward an altitude of perhaps four thousand feet, there to await the coming of companion craft before heading toward the battleground, far distant. ”

“ For day operation applicant shall show that the airport to be used at each proposed route terminal, scheduled intermediate stop, and alternate terminal is deemed adequate by the Administrator for the service offered. For night operation applicant shall meet the foregoing requirements and, in addition, shall show that the proposed terminal, scheduled intermediate stop, and alternate airports are provided with such lighting facilities as are deemed by the Administrator to be adequate for safe air carrier operation at night. ”