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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0814.PDF
THE: REAL, 'ARTING OF TH] A¥S.! IN one of the leading London dailies we have come across a paragraph relating to the death of M. Chavez, written by one who, to judge from others of his essays into the realms of motoring and aviation, we take to be a journalist of the old Conservative style, who looks upon his mission in life to be the careful and judicial damnation of anything that is new. The name of the journal is immaterial, and so is that of the writer, for we are not greatly concerned—so far as the personality of paper or writer is concerned—with what is written in this or that newspaper upon subjects which are imperfectly under stood of those who conduct them. But when it comes to the diffusion of erroneous doctrine by an influential journal, which may be hurtful to the aviation movement by giving the public false impressions and ideas, then it certainly does concern us. The paragraph in question says, with perfect truth, that the aeroplane has come to the " parting of the ways," in that all has now been done that is necessary for it in the way of sensational advertisement. Truly, what is now wanted is progressive development along rational practical lines, and the kind of flying that is brought along for the purpose of satisfying a semi-morbid public taste is certainly of no further use, if, indeed, it ever had any use at all. As we have said, we are in agreement with the sentiments so far expressed; but when the writer proceeds to state—as if it were the accepted lesson of recent experiment—that " although the aeroplane may be invaluable in war, on its present lines it has no pleasure or business possibilities in peace," we take leave to dissent emphatically from the writer's dictum. It was just this species of cocksureness, combined with ignorance as to scientific fact, that made so many lay Press writers look ridiculous in the early days of motoring. Not to mention their erstwhile expressions of disgust concerning noise, smell and vibration, it was to them a suicidal idea to trust valuable lives to the reliability of any mechanical steering-gear, and could only be the feat of an athlete to steer a machine at twenty miles an hour between the kerbstones of an ordinary winding highway ! That there is a parting of the ways to which the aero plane has now come is perfectly true, just as the writer in question has felt; and if he had taken a little more trouble to look around and absorb the true indications of the times, he would have found them reflected to a nicety in the recent decision of the Royal Aero Club to put an end to all unnecessary flights over large towns. He mistakes the enthusiasm of the thousands who have welcomed the advent of the flying machine if he imagines that—with his own blindness—they too only see in it a sensational display that may lead to tragedy. He also misses the spirit in which we and other advocates of engineering progress have given our support to demonstrations calculated to prove to the public that human flight is at length a very real thing. And hence he has entirely missed the point as to the true parting of the ways, which is in reality nothing more nor less than that now the aeronautic industry, having definitely proved to the world that it has an existence—not to mention a brilliant future— must zealously guard itself against being confused with any mere gymnastic displays. To make our meaning clear, it may be confessed with perfect frankness that if a couple of years ago one of the very few successful flying men of that date had contemplated a flight from the suburbs of London over the City, and around St. Paul's, we should have joined our voice with that of the daily Press in extolling his skill and daring up to the very skies!; whereas now, even though this selfsame feat would probably be witnessed with exultation by as many thousands of interested spectators as then—and certainly could be accomplished with vastly greater certainty—yet we should feel compelled to protest against the unnecessary risk of conducting such a trial above a thickly-populated area, when it might equally well be carried out elsewhere. This question compels attention not only from the point of view of a critical section of the outside public, but also from that of those who are taking a foremost part in the splendid work that is now being carried on in the interests of the new art and industry. That this is so is evident from the numerous letters that we have recently received from flying men as well as from others, obviously inspired primarily by such accidents as that to poor Chavez last week. Closely wrapped up with the more general question is that as to whether the type of competition for prize money, which has been and still is in vogue, answers its intended useful purpose; or as to whether something considerably more specific as a scientific advance ought not rather to take its place. It has even been suggested to us by some that prizes like that won by Paulhan for the London-Manchester achievement are in reality out of all proportion to the value of the actual achievement; and hence we not only have this aspect put forward, but simultaneously the suggestion by others that no man ought to be tempted to risk his life in this way by the offer of so large a sum. On the one hand, however, we would point out that, as far as the benefits conferred by such prizes as that in question are concerned, it is not the individual performance that has to be taken into account. Nobody actually knows, but everyone can form some slight opinion, as to the great number of workers who, but for the offer of so big a prize, would have been unable to pursue their studies through lack of financial support; so that the real value of the prize money must have been vastly greater than any single individual can actually have cognisance of. Then, too, as regards the other contention, it is absurd to suggest that men of the Paulhan stamp would be deterred from attempting such glorious performances, even if the prize were a thousand pounds or even a hundred pounds, or possibly no money at all, instead of being ;£ 10,000 ; so that the mere talk of wealthy folk presuming upon the daring of those who are lacking in money is arrant nonsense, and is a mere excuse for stirring up antagonism against human flight. Generally speaking, therefore, let it be recognised that these big prizes which are offered for epoch-making achievements still serve an invaluable purpose, inasmuch as they introduce—indirectly quite as much as directly— the necessary sinews of war for enabling the inventor and the experimenter to keep on with their arduous task. But at the same time let it be equally recognised that we have come to a parting of the ways, where mere sensationalism cannot longer be tolerated, even if it does lend at times a glamour to the progress of the art of flight. And let all those who wish for the welfare of aviation add their protest whenever opportunity arises against such confu sion of ideas as is typified by the inclusion in the general Press, under one and the same generic heading, of reports of the doings of aviators with their machines and of some wretched parachute descent at a country fair or at some Bank Holiday display for the gaping masses. 812
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