© Underwood & Underwood 



ADJUSTING SAND-BAG BALLAST PREPARATORY TO THE) ASCENT OP A CAPTIVE BALLOON 



While not as spectacular as the aviator's work, the aeronaut has an important role in 

 the "economy" of war. The information which he is able to obtain from his perch among 

 the clouds often saves the lives of thousands of his fellow-soldiers who otherwise would be 

 sent, unsuspecting, within the range of some battery cleverly concealed from observers sta- 

 tioned on the ground. 



nected with flying. Perhaps a truer per- 

 spective of the picture could be derived 

 from this angle than from that of the 

 aviator. Nevertheless, so much romance 

 and popular interest attaches to the latter 

 that a brief outline of his career would 

 be valuable. 



The difficulty in securing aviators is 

 not in securing enough applicants, but in 

 securing the right kind of applicants. It 

 is too obvious for statement that the man 

 who is to fly several miles above the 

 ground and upon whose reports may de- 

 pend the fire of half a dozen batteries, 

 the shifting of the steel wall of the bar- 

 rage, even the success of the whole battle, 

 must have a peculiar combination of both 

 physical and mental attributes. 



Some criticism has arisen as to the 

 severity of the tests ; but let it ever be 

 remembered that a poor aviator has all 

 the power of harm that a good aviator 

 has of good. Hundreds of applicants ob- 

 viously unfit have had to be turned away, 



both for their own good and for the good 

 of the service, but that most emphatically 

 does not mean that a good man is not just 

 as vitally, indeed more vitally, needed 

 than ever. 



A SENSE OP RESPONSIBILITY IS VITAL 



The whole emphasis of the service now 

 is to secure men who, besides perfect 

 physique, have a full sense of the respon- 

 sibility of their work to the men below. 

 An aviator sent to get a photograph, in- 

 vestigate an emplacement, or drop bombs 

 has no other business. He must carry 

 out his orders and, particularly, must 

 avoid jeopardizing himself and his ma- 

 chine unnecessarily. The air service to- 

 day is an earnest, responsible science, 

 where stunts have their place only as a 

 means to carry out a larger mission and 

 where "dare-devils" and circus perform- 

 ers must give way before the real team- 

 work of the air. 



Certain special physical qualifications 



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