Page:The Fun of It.pdf/58

42 be dizzy. It seems to me a fair statement that for the average landing, the descent of the plane is much less noticeable than the dropping of the mod­ern elevator. It comes down in a gentle glide at an angle often much less than that of a country hill. As a result, unless the passenger is actually watch­ing for a landing, he is aware that he is approach­ing the ground only when the motors are idled.

Trouble in the air is very rare. It is hitting the ground that causes it. Obviously the higher one happens to be, the more time there is to select a safe landing place in case of difficulty. For a ship doesn’t fall like a plummet, even if the engine goes dead. It assumes a natural gliding angle which sometimes is as great as eight to one. That is, a plane 5000 feet in the air can travel in any direc­tion eight times its altitude (40,000 feet) or prac­tically eight miles. Thus it has a potential landing radius of sixteen miles in still air.

Sometimes a cautious pilot elects to come down at once to make a minor engine adjustment. Something is wrong and very properly he is un­willing to risk flying further, even though he may be able to do so. Just so the automobile driver, instead of continuing with, say, poor brakes, would do well to stop at once at a garage and have them adjusted. He will then make better time more safely.

All of which obviously points to the necessity of providing frequent landing places along all air­ways. Few things, I think, would do more to