Canadian Forestry Journal, April, ipi6. 



Success of Aeroplane Patrols 



Wisconsin's Experiment Proves Practical Use of Flying- Scouts 

 Aviator Vilas Surveyed Sixty Miles at a Glance. 



(Additional interest is given the following article by the knowledge that several Can- 

 adian forest protection officials have suggested the use of aeroplanes for patrol purposes. 

 One would be unwise to deny the adaptability of flying machines to protective work in 

 view of the good results obtained in Wisconsin.) 



By F. B. Moody, of Wisconsin, U.S.A. 



During the fire season of 1915 Wis- 

 consin was fortunate in having the ser- 

 vices of Mr. L. A. Vilas, who was 

 operating a hydro-aeroplane in the 

 vicinity of Trout Lake, where the 

 central station of the Forestry Field 

 Organization is located. ^Ir. Vilas 

 volunteered his services, and was 

 made a deputy forest ranger by the 

 State Forester without remuneration. 



The forest reserve region, although 

 of high altitude, is a great plain con- 

 taining many lakes and swamps, 

 though no abrupt hills, and from the 

 aeroplane some 200,000 acres of land 

 can be surveyed. A fire 30 or 40 

 miles away can be easily detected. 



The pilot should go over the coun- 

 try he is to patrol either on foot or 

 horseback, thoroughly familiarizing 

 himself with all lakes, rivers, rail- 

 roads, strips of timber and cleared 

 lands, and make it a point to find as 

 many land marks as possible, at least 

 one for each point of the compass such 

 as a lone settler's farm, a brightly 

 painted house, a railroad (the direc- 

 tion in which it runs, as the smoke of 

 a moving train is oftentimes useful in 

 keeping one located), a small town 

 or range of hills. All the above ob- 

 jects mentioned are very noticeable 

 10 or 25 miles awav at an altitude of 

 800 to 2,000 feet. 



Seeing for Sixty Miles. 

 At an elevation of 1,500 feet on a 

 clear day a fire 60 miles away in any 



direction is visible to the naked eye. 

 It isn't a case of finding a fire, but to 

 locate it correctly is the job. Smoke 

 will show up very plainly from the air. 

 ^Ir. Vilas reports that during a flight 

 across Lake ^Michigan from St. Joe, 

 ]\Iich., to Chicago, he was completely 

 out of sight of land, or anything else 

 for that matter, for over three-quar- 

 ters of an hour, and at an altitude of 

 4,600 feet. The first thing he saw 

 was the smoke from the South Chi- 

 cago Rolling Mills. This was in 

 sight over ten minutes before any 

 shore line was visible at all. 



People often ask what a country 

 looks like from the air. It's difficult 

 to describe it, except that it looks 

 like a large painted map on a small 

 scale, without section lines. 



The efficiency of an aeroplane in 

 spotting forest fires is without doubt 

 as practicable as any use to which it 

 could be put. I myself was very 

 much ourprised with what ease a fire 

 could be spotted and located, and there 

 is no qjcstion in my mind but what 

 the aeroplane will practically do away 

 wdth some observation towers. The 

 use of the aeroplane in the European 

 war in the way of spotting and locat- 

 ing gun fire, armies of men. supply 

 trains, etc., is well known, all of which 

 objects show up comparatively small 

 in comparison with forest fires. 



