I am particularly drawn to the
ones titled No. 1 Brief and No. 2
Brief. Be sure to read these
absolute gems. Chuckling permitted.
Flying was a bit different in 1917!!!
Flying Reports: The
following safety tips from Daedalian Foundation are
excerpts from Royal Flying
Corps monthly report of December 1917.
The report was signed C. St.
John-Culbertson, Royal Flying Corps Colonel and
was dated 21 December, 1917.
INTRODUCTION
Another good month.
In all, a total of 35
accidents were reported, only six of which were
avoidable. These
represented a marked improvement over the month
of November during which 84
accidents occurred, of which 23 were avoidable.
This improvement, no doubt,
is the result of
experienced pilots with
over 100 hours in the air forming the backbone of all the units.
RESUME OF
ACCIDENTS
Avoidable
Accidents
1. There were six avoidable
accidents this last month.
a. The pilot of a Shorthorn,
with over 7 hours of experience, seriously damaged the
undercarriage on landing. He had failed to land at as fast a
speed as possible as recommended in the Aviation Pocket
Handbook.
b. A B.E.2 stalled and
crashed during an artillery exercise. The pilot had been
struck on the head by the semaphore of his observer who was
signaling to the gunners.
c. Another pilot in a B.E.2
failed to get airborne, by an error of judgement, he was
attempting to fly at mid-day instead of at the recommended
best lift periods, which are just after dawn and just before
sunset.
d. A Longhorn pilot lost
control and crashed in a bog near Chipping-Sedbury. An
error of skill on the part of the pilot in not being able to
control a machine with a wide speed band of 10 MPH between
top speed and stalling speed.
e. While low flying in a
Shorthorn the pilot crashed into the top deck of a horse
drawn bus near Stonehenge.
f. A B.E.2 pilot was seen to
be attempting a banked turn at a constant height before he
crashed. A grave error by an experienced pilot.
Unavoidable
Accidents
2.
There were 29 unavoidable
accidents from which the following are selected:
a. The top wing of a Camel
fell off due to fatigue failure of the flying wires. A
successful emergency landing was carried out.
b. Sixteen B.E.2's and 9
Shorthorns had complete engine failures.
A marked improvement over
November's fatigue.
c. Pigeons destroyed a Camel
and 2 Longhorns after mid-air strikes. COST OF
ACCIDENTS Accidents during
the last three months of 1917 cost 317 pounds, 10
shillings sixpence, money down the drain and sufficient
to buy new gaiters and spurs for each and every pilot
observer in the Service.
ACCIDENT
BRIEFS
No. 1
Brief No. 912
Squadron, 3 December 1917
Aircraft type B.E.2C, No. KY678, Total Solo - - 4.20
Pilot Lt. J. Smyth-Worthington, Solo in type - - 1.10
The pilot of this flying machine attempted to maintain
his altitude in a turn at 2,500 feet. This resulted in
the airplane entering an unprecedented maneuver,
entailing a considerable loss of height. Even with full
power applied and the control column fully back, the
pilot was unable to regain control. However, upon
climbing from the cockpit onto the lower mainplane, the
pilot managed to correct the machines altitude, and by
skillful manipulation of the flying wires successfully
side-slipped into a nearby meadow. Remarks: Although,
through inexperience, this pilot allowed his aeroplane
to enter an unusual attitude, his resourcefulness in
eventually landing without damage has earned him a unit
citation. R.F.C. Lundsford-Magnus is investigating the
strange behaviour of this
aircraft.
No. 2
Brief No. 847
Squadron 19 December 1917
Aircraft Type Spotter Balloon J17983, total solo 107.00
Pilot Capt. ***, Solo in type 32.10 Capt * * * of the
Hussars, a balloon observer, unfortunately allowed the
spike of his full-dress helmet to impinge against the
envelope of his balloon. There was a violent explosion
and the balloon carried out a series of fantastic and
uncontrollable maneuvers, while rapidly emptying itself
of gas. The pilot was thrown clear
and escaped injury as he was
lucky enough to land on his head. Remarks This pilot was
flying in full-dress uniform because he was the Officer
of the Day. In consequence it has been recommended that
pilots will not fly during periods of duty as Officer of
the Day. Captain* * * has requested an exchange posting
to the Patroville Alps, a well known mule unit of the
Basques.
No. 3
Brief Summary of No. 3 Brief dated October 1917
Major W. de Kitkag-Watney's
Neuport Scout was extensively damaged when it failed to
become airborne. The original court of Inquiry found
that the primary cause of the accident was carelessness
and poor airmanship on the part of a very experienced
pilot. The Commandant General, however, not being wholly
convinced that Major de Kitkag-Watney could be guilty of
so culpable a mistake ordered that the court should be
re-convened. After
extensive inquiries and
lengthy discussions with the Meteorlogical Officer and
Astronomer Royal, the Court came to the conclusion that
the pilot unfortunately was authorized to fly his
aircraft on a day when there
was absolutely no lift in the air and could not be held
responsible for the
accident. The Court wishes to take this opportunity to
extend congratulations to Major de Kitkag-Watney on his
reprieve and also on his engagement to the Commandant
Gereral's daughter, which was announced shortly before
the accident.
FLYING
SAFETY TIPS
Horizontal
Turns
To take a turn the pilot
should always remember to sit upright, otherwise he will
increase the banking of the aeroplane. He should never
lean over.
Crash
Precautions
Every pilot should
understand the serious consequences of trying to turn
with the engine off.
It is much safer to crash
into a house when going forward than to sideslip or
stall a machine with engine trouble.
Passengers should always use
safety belts, as the pilot may start stunting without
warning. Never release the belt while in the air, or
when nosed down to land.
Engine
Noises
Upon the detection of a
knock, grind, rattle or squeak, the engine should be at
once stopped. Knocking or grinding accompanied by a
squeak indicates binding and a lack of lubricant.
WATCH THAT
FIRST STEP
The First Marine Air Wing
had this write up in their safety publication, Wing Tips
of an AAR board's comments some 40 years ago: It was
conceded by all that the pilot had accomplished a
brillant piece of work in landing his disabled machine
without damage under the circumstances. It is not with
intent to reflect less credit upon his airmanship, but
it must be noted that he is a well experienced aviator
with over 40 total hours in the air, embracing a wide
veriety of machines, and this was his seventh forced
landing due to complete failure of the engine.
It was doubly unfortunate
that upon alighting from his machine he missed the
catwalk on the lower airfoil and plunged both legs
through the fabric, straddling a rib, from which he
received a grievous personal injury. Some thought should
be devoted to a means of identifying wing-traversing
catwalks to assist aviators in disembarking from their
various
machines.