JOURNAL 



OF THE 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Vol. VIII APRIL 19, 1918 No. 8 



AVIATION. — Aviation and the war.^ C. F. Lee, Commanding 

 Officer, British Aviation Mission. (Communicated by 

 L. J. Briggs.) 



I should much prefer to stand here and answer a few direct 

 questions rather than to try to give you miscellaneous informa- 

 tion on subjects connected with aviation. But there are repre- 

 sentatives here of so many different sciences, men who are in the 

 habit of asking and answering questions on such a variety of 

 topics, that it is probably better that I do not attempt to answer 

 any ^ientific questions at all on the theory of aviation, especially 

 as my scientific knowledge of it is nil. 



Not everyone realizes how long a time it takes to make a 

 service flyer. The average period, from the time that the pupil 

 is brought to the cadet schools of the Flying Corps to the time 

 he is ready to go over-seas and fly over the lines, is about seven 

 months. That is a very considerable length of time, especially 

 in these days of intensive training and preparation, yet the 

 actual training in flying is one of the simplest items. The 

 principal factor to consider in teaching flying in war time is 

 whether it is worth while to spend the necessary time on a pupil. 

 If a country is at peace and there are plenty of machines available, 

 it may pay to stick to a man who will undoubtedly make a flyer 

 sooner or later, for anyone can fly if sufficient time be given to his 

 instruction. But in times of war when, as at the present time, we 



1 Report of a lecture given before the Washington Academy of Sciences on 

 Thursday, March 7, 1918. 



225 



