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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0356.PDF
QfcKjHTj AP»IL 27, i9I& ^ m «o By THE rfi Flying, and Future Generations. WHEN I see those little urchins at play by the edge of the sea, I know them for natives. No teaching could instil that element of natural assurance so conspicuous in their movements, as little brown legs transport little brown bodies clad in but shirt and breeches, in and out the flotilla of boats gently rolling to the incoming tide. Surefooted as goats on the mountainside, they spring from dingy to yawl, from bow to gunwale, hardly heeding where they step. Born of generations of sailormen, the water is their natural element. They toddle to it so soon as they can toddle anywhere, and never leave it for very long periods until they die. Buried, they lie within sound of its restless rolling, lulled in their final sleep—it must be— by the hish-sh-sh of the pebbles as they roll gently down the beach after the receding wavelets. Water-wise from their cradles, no land-born child could ever hope to become their equals, because it is born in them. The salt of the mighty ocean is in their blood. It was in the blood of their fathers and fore fathers. The health-giving breeze is their inheritance. Their first breath unconsciously quickens in them the call of the sea. They do not have to be taught to row or to swim. So soon as they are strong enough to lift an oar, they thrust it out through the stern of a boat and wriggle round and about, in and out—true water-babies. Should one fall overboard, I verily believe he would strike out quite naturally, and regain his boat with no more trouble, and no more thought, than he would give to wading through a shallow pool at low water. Becoming older, they help their father to sail his boat, and seem to know exactly what is required without being told; they know every sail and rope by name, ostensibly without being taught. Nor is it only in those born to the sea that we find this natural fitness. The same thing may be noticed in other walks of life. There are those born to the horse. Children of both sexes born of generations of equestrian forefathers, take to, and can manage horses from their earliest days. They do not have to be taught to ride. Long before it has been deemed desirable by their parents that they should be instructed in the art of horsemanship, they have generally taken matters into their own hands, probably commencing operations by riding, without saddle or bridle, the donkey turned loose in the meadow. Failing all else, I have known the domestic cow to be their first mount. Ride they must—or drive. Because these things have come to us from earliest years we accept them as the commonplace. We look on without understanding ; we see without realising. Sons of horsemen always make good riders, sons of sailors excel in their father's calling—it is natural—we accept ® ® Germans Fear Air Raids. \VRUING from Copenhagen on April 14th the Daily Ttltgrapk correspondent says that it is reported from Flensburg, Slesvig, under date April J ith, that throughout the whole Kiel Canal district there EFLECTIONS DREAMER." • the fact without thought, let us come a little nearer to modern times, to something not of our ancestors. Those of my readers who remember the coming of the bicycle will recollect that to learn to ride was an achieve ment of which to be proud. Schools were established to teach the great art, the intricacy of balance appeared colossal, the perplexities of steering insurmountable. Suburban roads produced at eventide multitudes of heated, perspiring men running beside bicycles steering erratic courses. To-day, a would-be cyclist just simply takes his cycle out and rides it; children learn the art, nobody knows when or where. It appears as if the knowledge were born in them, certain it is that the first the parent generally knows of the matter is to see them gliding merrily along on the mount of a friend. And I venture to think that the time will come when flying will fell into line with these other things; when the offspring of flying men will take to the air naturally. This, of course, will take time, but time has also entered into the operations necessary to promote the natural aptitude for a nautical life in the sons of sailormen. The aeroplane of the future, also, may possibly be some thing altogether different to that which we know to-day. Again, we must not forget that up to a few years ago the ability of the human to fly on a heavier than air machine was thought to be impossible. The development of the petrol engine made the evolution of the power machine much easier, but had we known years ago what we know to-day, that anything will fly, given enough power, we should, I feel sure, have-evolved a light steam engine which, with all its drawbacks, would have at least demonstrated that it were possible to get into the air. It was just that it was deemed impossible that caused it to remain impossible for so many years. Look around, and you cannot fail to notice how easily men learn to pilot a machine now compared with but six years ago. Machines have improved wonderfully, of course, but the chief reason for the ease with which fly ing is learned is because there is no longer any doubt in the matter. Anybody can learn to fly, and in a few years flying will be looked upon as requiring little more skill than driving a car, and the generations to come, generations whose fathers and forefathers were flying men, will take to the air with as little conceit as the children of sailors take to the sea. It is in the nature of things, it must be so. All things of this description are looked upon in their initial stage as marvellous. A few years and they are commonplace. Yet a generation or two, and they almost become part of one's daily life- Aviation is going to make distance a negligible quantity, and thus is bound to bring about vast alterations in our daily lives, alterations of which I can tell nothing at this moment: I may only dream. 0 ® are many anti-aircraft precautions, as the military authorities are expecting an air raid from the north or over the Little or Great Belt- About eighteen flying machines and two of the older Zeppelm» guard the route from Holtenau to Brunsbuttelkoog. 356
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