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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0243.PDF
FLIGHT, MARCH 16, FLYING TRAINING -£4;"m Acquisition of the ability to land an aeroplane under difficult circumstances, particularly when the pilot has not the help of his engine, is, perhaps, due to the reliability of the modern aeroplane engine, a phase of the pilot's training which is often not given sufficient consideration. We here discuss how this is taught at one of England's most modern flying schools i PLUTTER—POP—SPLUTTER, the engine has diedon you ; silence reigns supreme, and many an amateur's heart begins to bang with apprehensionat the thought of the^forced landing to follow. We believe that we are by no means overstating thecase when we say that the ability to handle an aeroplane with accuracy under any circumstances without the useof the engine is the highest attribute of a pilot. Despite the reliability of our modern aeroplane engines, the ordi-nary non-flying public remains non-flying, in a large majority of cases, solely because of the idea that a crashis inevitable if the engine fails to function. Given a well- trained pilot, this idea is a fallacy, but it must be admittedthat, due to that very reliability, amateur pilots are prone to possess insufficient practice in this all-important branchof flying. . They receive some training during the time when theyare learning to fly, but whereas they perforce continue to get practice in everything else, they seldom, of necessity,have to make a landing in the best available piece of ground beneath them at any given moment. It ought to be emphasised at this point that we arenot referring to that type of landing which our daily Press —notoriously incorrect in aeronautical matters—alwayscalls a forced landing, but which is really nothing more than a landing in a carefully-chosen field for, perhaps,the purpose of inquiring the way, or may be due to incle- ment weather which the pilot wishes to let pass beforehe continues his flight. No, a forced landing is one which has to be made immediately without warning, due to somecause like an engine failure, and which only gives the pilot time to choose a field within gliding distance at thattime ; this will vary, of course, according to the altitude at which he is flying, hence the desirability of flying highwhenever it is possible to do so. It can easily be realised that landings of this nature,if they are invariably to be made safely, call for a high degree of skill on the part of the pilot and the ability tohandle his aeroplane with accuracy. This skill can be imparted by training, but it requires practice to retain it,and we suggest that all pilots—amateurs at any rate— would benefit greatly if they were to make at least oneimaginary forced landing during every cross-country trip by air. It is not always necessary actually to land, butthe engine can be throttled right back and an approach made until it is obvious that the machine could be landedin the field chosen ; then the throttle can be opened, and in many cases the pilot will continue on his way with anadded sense of well-being and superiority over those poor mutts on the ground who haven't learnt to fly. As we have already said, some forced landings have tobe trick ones, requiring, say, the ability to lose a lot of height without gaining forward speed when coming inover a high obstacle, like a bank of trees at the edge of a small field ; or in another case the only field of suffi-cient size may lie a long way down wind, so far that the pilot can only reach it without sufficient altitude to turninto wind and land in the normal way. He will then have to side slip during a steep gliding turn, while stillwell over the field, so that the drift due to the wind will not place him too far to the leeward side of the: field by the time he has finished his turn and is point- ..' ing into wind ready to land. These are but two veryordinary problems, but they suffice to show that confidence in his ability to handle his aeroplane accurately, in normaland abnormal positions, without the use of the engine, is ^- of great importance to the pilot. This point, we always*/ feel, is the strongest argument in favour of that school of thought which maintains that a knowledge of simpleaerobatics is necessary for pilots of light aircraft. Another A: point in favour of this contention is the fact that in veryboisterous weather light aircraft in particular may often be thrown about severely ; if, under these circumstancesthe pilot is still quite at home in his machine because he has practised aerobatic flying, then it is obvious that heis much safer than the man who has not done so. One of our flying training schools which makes a habitof teaching their pupils according to this dictum is Air Service Training, Ltd., at Hamble. Their methods aremodelled on those in use at the Central Flying School of the Royal Air Force, adapted where necessary to suitcivilian needs. For this particular phase of training they have the use of several fields where forced landing prac-tice can be carried out. All their pupils have not only to be capable of making forced landings under any circum-stances, but must also have a knowledge of aerobatics, for the reasons we have already stated. It may, perhaps, interest and help our readers if werun through the normal procedure for making a normal forced landing. Immediately the engine stops, the aeroplane is trimmedto its normal gliding angle, and the pilot selects the best field for landing within gliding range of his machine.Assuming that there is still a fair amount of height to be lost, a turn is made, to place the aeroplane on the lee sideand within easy gliding distance of the selected field. While this is being done the pilot takes a quick look roundthe cockpit, attempting to ascertain the cause of the engine failure should this not already be known, makingsure that he has not inadvertently knocked off the engine switches or turned off the petrol. In fact, he tries to seewhether there is any obvious and remediable cause for the stoppage. If there is not, then he puts the switches to offand turns off the fuel supply, so that there will then be no possibility of the engine suddenly starting again andcausing trouble just as he is about to land, and also to eliminate the danger of fire if the landing should unfor-tunately end in a crash. Next a series of " S " turns are made, the pilot glidinghis machine at right angles to the direction of the wind in between each turn, always turning into wind (i.e.,towards the field), regulating his distance from the field according to the strength of the wind—the glide at rightangles to the field gives him a good gauge of his drift— and guarding against " undershooting " as he wouldagainst the plague. He must avoid losing sight of the field, take care tomaintain his correct gliding speed and, during the earliest stages of the approach, have assured himself that the fieldwas clear of obstacles, like high-tension cables, wire fences and so on, so that there shall be no question of changingto another field. When he has lost the requisite amount of height, heshould be in a position to turn into wind, glide down, flatten out, and land in a normal manner. He will havetaken care to overshoot rather than the reverse. A crash from undershooting usually means running into a hedge orother boundary obstruction, with full flying speed, whereas overshooting merely gives the pilot the necessity of " slip-ping off " or otherwise losing a little more height before landing. On paper, it all sounds quite easy, but there are manyoccasions like those mentioned at the beginning of this article, which call for a high degree of skill. Such casesare capable of infinite variety, and it is impossible in a short talk like this to give more of them. Those givenshould, however, show the importance which must be attached to correct training. Pupils come from" every country in the world to ourflying training schools like that at Hamble, and all go back to their homes as advertisements of the thoroughnessand excellence of English flying training. This article will serve to show one, at any rate, of the reasons why wehave this name for thoroughness—a name of which we are justly proud and which will be maintained at all costs—British trained pilots are the equal, in their way, of- British aircraft. Can we say more? C. N. C. 243
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