Canadian Forestry Journal, December, ipi6 



871 



Study Maps First. 



"A pilot can familiarize himself very 

 readily with the country which he has 

 to patrol. A careful study of maps 

 before making his first flight will give 

 him a very good working idea of the 

 country which he is to cover. After 

 seeing the land from the air he should 

 be thoroughly familiar with it, provid- 

 ed he has suiliciently studied his maps. 



"The more conspicuous objects 

 which are used from on high to deter- 

 mine location, are railroad lines, high- 

 ways, streams and lakes. These are 

 all shown on the maps and are very 

 conspicuous from the air. As he be- 

 comes more familiar with his surround- 

 ings, building or groups of buildings 

 and clearings, after they have turned 

 brown during the late summer and 

 early fall months, will also serve in de- 

 termining location. It may be inter- 

 esting to add that hills and mountains 

 from the greater altitudes flatten out 

 and look like level country, likewise it 

 is sometimes impossible to distinguish 

 between forests and pastures. The 

 aeroplane used for fire detection or fire 

 spotting would be of considerable value 

 in being able to penetrate by observa- 

 tion distant sections of the country 

 which are sparsely inhabited and diffi- 

 cult of access, and where the chief 

 menace probably comes from campers. 



Wireless of Small Value. 



"The use of the wireless has been 

 suggested, but is not to be advised ; it 

 would only tend to add weight, com- 

 plicate paraphernalia and require some- 

 one skilled in its operation. Owing 

 to the speed at which an aeroplane tra- 

 vels and the resulting small amount of 

 time required to return to a base to re- 

 port, nothing would be gained by such 

 an installation and would have no value 

 in this particular connection. 



"It is somewhat difficult to estimate 

 the cost of an aeroplane patrol service, 

 however the following figures wiil 

 throw some light on the subject: The 

 initial outlay for each machine required 

 in this service would be in the neigh- 

 borhood of $8,000 to $10,000. In ad- 

 dition it would be necessary to provide 

 housing and appliances for the main- 

 tenance at the station from which the 

 machines would be operated. The 



building and appliances could probably 

 be installed at from $500 to $1,500. 

 Depending upon their character and 

 permanence. As the work done in 

 this connection would be during the 

 summer months, temporary housing of 

 canvas might be sufficient, which would 

 very materially reduce the expense. It 

 would be advisable to maintain two 

 machines from each base in order that 

 there would be no interruption of the 

 service. The approximate monthly 

 expense of maintaining a station would 

 be as follows : 



Salary of aviator $200 



Wages two mechanics $100 each. . 200 

 Gasoline, 15 gals, per day. 30 days, 90 

 Oil approximately 1 gal. per day. . 15 

 Miscellaneous supplies $20 and up- 

 wards 20 



Total $525 



"The above fuel and oil cost is based 

 on two hours flight per day, or an 

 average distance of 140 miles. Pos- 

 sible breakage to the equipment would 

 also have to be' considered." 



Discussion. 



Q. How would the roughness of our 

 territory afifect the proposition? As I 

 understand it, one would not circulate 

 aimlessly looking for fire, but make a 

 fairly straight course high enough to 

 see in all directions. 



A. At a mile high a man could glide 

 five or six miles, thus could reach one 

 of two landings 12 miles apart. 



Q. Would that be too high for locat- 

 ing fires? 



A. No, about right. x^nd he would 

 want to be at least 3,000 feet on account 

 of topography. 



Q. How about mountain air cur- 

 rents? 



A. We generally figure the air affect- 

 ed by obstacles on a plant surface to a 

 height 2y^ times the obstruction, but it 

 would be nothing like that with moun- 

 tains. I think by keeping abreast of 

 the higher peaks there would be nc- 

 trouble. 



Q. A mountain lookout sees through 

 a smoke blanket obliquely. Could an 

 aviator, by looking straight down, 

 penetrate smoke that would trouble our 

 lookouts? If so, perhaps we could 



