nd fro across the aerodrome on a straight course, and with
its tail raised off the ground; the latter action being obtained by
the pupil by means of a suitable movement of the vertical lever which
operates his elevating planes.

Now comes the time when a pupil, taking the pilot's seat, and with the
instructor sitting behind him--so as to be ready, if necessary, to
correct any error the novice may make--begins his first short flights
across the aerodrome. He rises only a few feet to begin with, and
flies on a straight course, alighting each time before he turns, and
running his machine round on the ground. He repeats this test until
his instructor feels he is sufficiently expert to take the machine
into the air alone. When this stage is reached, the instructor leaves
his position behind the pupil, and the latter goes on with his
practice till he can fly the length of the aerodrome alone, landing
neatly and bringing his machine round on the ground, and then flying
back again to his starting point.

In the early days of flying schools, before a pupil went through any
regular system of instruction, there were remarkable incidents in
regard to these first flights. In one case a pupil, having bought his
own aeroplane from the proprietors of a school, insisted on having
installed in it a motor of exceptional power. When the time came for
him to make his first flight alone, and he opened the throttle of this
engine and it began to give its full power, the aeroplane ran only a
short distance across the ground, and then leapt into the air. The
engine was in charge of the machine, in fact, and not the pupil. Away
above the aerodrome, and beyond its limits, in a strange, erratic
flight, the biplane made its way. As the pupil struggled valiantly
with his engine switch, which appeared to have become jammed, he made
unconscious and jerky movements of his control levers. One moment the
machine would ascend a little, the next it would approach nearer the
ground; then it would swing either right or left. Those watching from
the aerodrome held their breath. But with the luck of the beginner, a
luck which is proverbial and sometimes amazing, the pupil managed at
length to stop his motor and land without accident--though by no means
gracefully--in an abrupt gliding descent.

[Illustration: PUPIL AND INSTRUCTOR READY FOR A FLIGHT. _Photo by
Topical Press Agency._

The pupil, occupying in this case the driving seat, has in his right