ng needs not only to be a highly-skilled pilot, but a
man also of an exceptional temperament--a man whose familiarity with
the air never leads him into a contempt for its hidden dangers; a man
who will not, even though he is called on to repeat a feat time after
time, abate in any way the precautions which may be necessary for his
safety. In looping the loop, for instance, or in upside-down flying,
it is necessary always that the aeroplane should be at a certain
minimum height above the ground. Then, should anything unexpected
happen, and the pilot lose command temporarily over his machine, he
knows he has a certain distance which he may fall, before striking the
ground; and during this fall the natural stability of his machine,
aided by his own operation of the guiding surfaces, may bring it back
again within control. But if he has been tempted to fly too near the
ground, and has ignored for the moment this vital precaution, and if
something happens for which he is not prepared, then the impact may
come before he can do anything to save himself.

In the early days of flying, when aviators attempted an acrobatic feat,
they ran a far heavier risk than would be the case to-day; and for
the simple reason that their machines, not having a strength
sufficient to withstand any abnormal stresses, were likely to collapse
in the air if they were made to dive too rapidly, or placed suddenly
at any angle which threw a heavy strain on their planes. A machine for
exhibition flying needs to be constructed specially; but this was not
realised till accidents had taught their lesson.

It is a regrettable fact, one which emerges directly from a study of
aeroplane accidents, that many of them might have been avoided had men
been content to follow warily in the footsteps of the pioneers, and
not run heavy risks till they themselves, and the machines they
controlled, had been prepared, by a long period of steady flying, to
meet such greater dangers. The first men who flew realised fully the
risks they ran. But when flying became more general, and men found
machines ready to their hands, machines which it was a simple matter
to learn to fly, this early spirit of caution was forsaken, and feats
were attempted which brought fatalities in their train, and which
seemed to emphasise the risks of aviation, and did it the very bad
service that they fixed in the public mind a notion of its dangers,
and prevented men from coming forward to take up f