l sink down almost vertically, and with very
little violence, on to the tops of the trees. The machine itself will
naturally be damaged, seeing that boughs will pierce its wings in many
places, and that one or more of its planes may possibly collapse. But
the net result of such a landing--and this is the point which is
important for the pilot--is that the machine will be caught up and
suspended on the trees, making a comparatively light and gradual
contact, instead of there being any risk of its driving through the
trees and making a heavy impact with the ground.

Humour, sometimes, may be extracted from such a predicament as engine
failure, though it needs an aviator with a very deeply ingrained sense
of humour to do so. The story is told, however, of a pilot who, flying
across difficult country with a passenger, found that his motor
failed--as they often will--just at a moment when there seemed no
possible landing-point below. Looking over the side of his machine,
and glancing quickly here and there, the aviator saw no alternative
but to bring his craft down in an orchard that lay below. Pointing
downward, to acquaint his passenger with their unpleasant situation,
and to call his attention also to the orchard, the pilot said with a
smile:

"I hope you're fond of apples!"

There is a risk in engine failure which has been emphasised more than
once; and it is that which may attend the pilot who, while prolonging
a glide in order to reach some landing-point, may be struck by a gust,
or enter some area of disturbed wind, just before he reaches the
ground and while his machine, moving slowly, is not in a position to
respond effectually to its controls. In one case an aviator,
struggling back towards the aerodrome with a motor which was not
giving its power, found that it stopped suddenly when he was not far
from a wood. Beyond the wood, which stood on a ridge, there was a
stretch of grassland. Endeavouring to reach this promised
landing-point, and holding his machine on a long glide, the airman
came across above the trees. He had almost reached his goal when his
machine entered a sudden down-current of wind--occasioned, no doubt,
by the proximity of the trees and ridge. Caught by this eddy, with no
motive power to help him and very little speed on his machine, the
pilot could not check its sudden dive; and the craft struck ground so
heavily that both he and his passenger were killed.

We have mentioned previously, as